Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2010. / The Millennium Development Goals were commissioned by the United Nations in 2002 under the auspices of the Millennium Project with the aim of addressing development challenges faced by countries around the world in the areas of health, education, infrastructure, hunger and poverty via a series of time-related targets with a deadline for full achievement by 2015. Energy has typically been shown to be significantly correlated with the Human Development Index for a given country. In a similar manner, it is postulated that the various millennium development goal indicators are significantly correlated with total energy and electricity consumption per capita for a given nation. This study commences with a literature review of the origins and objectives of the Millennium Development Goals, followed by a review of the individual goals, targets and indicators. Some current literature regarding the intent and success to date of the Millennium Development Goals was reviewed to provide context. The link between the social and economic development of man, and access to and usage of energy was also explored. To understand the potential role that energy access and usage plays in economic and social development better, a systems thinking approach was adopted and related to how energy access and usage can impact on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Potential problem co-factors relating to economic, social and sustainable development were identified, following which a system dynamic model is presented, illustrating the interaction between the various co-factors and access to energy and its use. Finally, a quantitative evaluation was performed to determine whether energy usage indicators do exhibit a relationship with the indicators of the Millennium Development Goals as proposed. This is illustrated for goals one through six. Where relationships were visible, empirical models were fitted to the energy and millennium development goal indicator datasets, and the coefficient of determination, which represents the strength of the relationship, was calculated. For each of the millennium development goal and targets, the models which exhibited the strongest relationships were used to assess what change in energy or electricity consumption would be required to accompany the desired change to meet the targets outlined in the Millennium Development Goals. / Sasol

This dissertation explored the perspectives of African American youth aspirations for college, their support systems, and their academic and social development towards college. The narratives of 7 student participants were used to gather perspectives of their supports and school circumstances in order to understand how some youth overcome or navigate the path towards higher education. This exploratory study was situated around two primary research questions: (a) In what ways do student aspirations intersect with capacity building systems (supports and interventions) for college, and (b) how does that intersection impact the academic and social development of students aspiring towards college? This study contributed to two areas. The first area had to do with providing an outlet for African American youth’s perspectives, particularly on the role that their aspirations and support systems play in their ability to access college. In the liberating tradition of critical race framework, accessing the experiences and perspectives “of the people” is the defining element of this study. We often hear about the pitfalls of minority students; their families and the communities from which they hail. There is general emphasis on this deficit perspective as the public education system strains under a multitude of contending factors. This dissertation, through the narratives of students, explored what students believed to work, what they perceived to fail, and the direction that their perspectives might contribute towards improved policy and practice. Thus, a second potential contribution of this study is its application for policy studies in that a participant-centered perspective is articulated. This multiframed approach demonstrated a more informed space from which to shape policy. / text

Child language brokers frequently translate in adult-level situations. Research has suggested that through translating, brokers may develop advanced language, cognitive, and social skills (De Ment, Buriel, and Villanueva, 2005; McQuillan and Tse, 1995), and these may lead to greater academic achievement and self-efficacy (Buriel, Perez, De Ment, Chavez,and Moran, 1998). Additionally, language brokers have been found to increase in biculturalism as they translate for people of different cultures (Acoach and Webb, 2004; Buriel et al., 1998). Brokers might experience reduced acculturative stress, for which biculturalism has been found to be a protective factor (Bacallao and Smokowski, 2005). Despite its possible benefits, brokering has been associated with negative emotions and behavioral problems for some children (Chao, 2006; Weisskirch and Alva, 2002). The mixed results of language brokering studies may partially be related to the age of participants, with translating appearing to be a more positive experience for older adolescents (Orellana and Reynolds, 2008). The purpose of this study was to test relations among language brokering, academic achievement, academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, and acculturative stress. I proposed and tested if language brokering was associated with more positive outcomes. In addition, I tested if older brokers had more positive outcomes than younger brokers. Participants included 207 Latino middle school students, aged 10 to 14 years, who completed self-report surveys. Measures included a background demographics questionnaire and scales for language brokering, academic self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, and acculturative stress. Achievement was measured with grades from school records. Results were non-significant for the relation of language brokering with achievement and social self-efficacy when controlling for other predictor variables. In contrast to expectations, translating for more people was associated with decreased academic self-efficacy and greater acculturative stress. Further analysis revealed that language brokering for parents and grandparents was associated with greater acculturative stress, while translating for other people was not. Although translating was associated with more acculturative stress, and older children reported less acculturative stress, age was not found to moderate the relation of language brokering and acculturative stress. Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future directions in language brokering research and clinical work are presented. / text

Income generating projects represent one strategy adopted by the Department of Social Development to alleviate poverty and foster sustainable development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of beneficiaries of income generating projects regarding these projects and whether the income generating projects run by the Development Centres in the Sedibeng Region, Gauteng Department of Social Development were perceived to be making any impact and were responding to the needs of the poor. The research design for the study could be classified as qualitativedescriptive. A sample of 20 participants was drawn from two Development Centres. The sampling method for the study was partly purposive and partly availability sampling. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and responses obtained from the interviews were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis. The main findings that emerged from the study were that participants appeared to have a clear understanding of the fact that income generating projects represented a government strategy to fight poverty, create jobs and uplift the standard of living of the poor. However, most participants were dissatisfied with the lack of clearly defined expectations, planning and monitoring on the part of the Department of Social Development. Despite the fact that there were challenges and limitations encountered by beneficiaries during implementation of the projects, the Development Centre was perceived to be an effective service delivery model for alleviating poverty and enhancing the quality of life of beneficiaries. The conclusion drawn was that income generating projects conducted at the two Development Centres seemed to be achieving their aims even though there would seem to be room for improvement in terms of knowledge and skills imparted and participation of beneficiaries in decision-making. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for Development Centres, the Department of Social Development, social work practice and future research.

Hållbar utveckling har blivit ett begrepp på allas läppar under det senaste 60 åren. Långt ifrån alla är överens om vad en hållbar utveckling innebär men samhällets uppbyggnad, utveckling och förnyelse måste ske på ett hållbart sätt. Globaliseringen påverkar det hållbara utvecklingsarbetet på en global, nationell och lokal nivå. Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och förklara tillväxtperspektivet i relation till ekonomiska och ekologiska värden inom Malmö kommun. Arbetet ser till översiktsplanen där målet om en hållbar utveckling ska förhållas till. Studien ser även till att utforska hur den sociala hållbarheten kommer till uttryck i den fysiska planeringen. Den teoretiska referensram som studien förhåller sig till består av teorier och tidigare forskning som genom sina polariserade synsätt beskriver hållbar utveckling och hur dessa ska appliceras i planeringen. Studien har en kvalitativ utgångspunkt där primärdata samlats in i form av intervjuer. Genom ett målstyrt urval har endast relevanta planerare valts för empirisk insamling. Ett induktivt tillvägagångsätt har använts för studien där slutsatser arbetats fram utifrån det empiriska materialet. Efter analys av insamlad empiri påvisar studiens slutsats att det ekologiska hållbarhetsperspektivet påverkas av ekonomisk tillväxt genom exploatering och ökade arbetstillfällen. Det visar sig att grönstrukturen och höga naturvärden åsidosätts när det finns mål för staden att växa och bli attraktiv. Beträffande hur det sociala hållbarhetsvärdet speglas i planeringsarbetet visar resultatet att den sociala dimensionen har en primär prioritering. Detta kommer till uttryck i planeringsarbetet genom aktiva medborgardialoger, skapande av nya arbetstillfällen och utvecklingsarbetet för en funktionsblandad stad. / The term sustainable development has become an important concept during the recent decades. Far from everyone agrees on what sustainable development entails, however,society’s growth, development and renewal should take pace in a sustainable way.Globalization impacts on the work within sustainable development on a global, national and local level. The purpose of this study is to describe and explain the growth perspective in relation to the economic and ecological values within the municipality of Malmö. The study reviews the comprehensive plan where the goal of sustainable development should be addressed. The study also looks at how the social sustainability is described in the spatial planning. The theoretical frame of reference that this study relates to consists of theories and previous research which through their opposed views describes sustainable development and how these should be applied in the planning process. This study has a qualitative basis where primary data has been collected in the form of interviews. Only relevant planners have been selected through a targeted selection, for the empirical collection. An inductive approach has been used for this study in which the conclusions have been developed based upon on the empirical material. The study’s conclusion was based upon analysis of the empirical material, which showed that the ecological sustainability perspective is affected by economic growth through exploitation and increased job opportunities. The conclusion also shows that green structures and places with high natural values are neglected when there are goals for the city to grow and become more attractive. As to how the social sustainability is reflected in the planning process, the results shows how the social dimension has primary priority. This is reflected in the planning through active citizen dialogues, the creation of new jobs and the development of a mixed functioning city.

Este trabalho analisa a criação da Universidade Federal do ABC e seu projeto pedagógico, que pretende trazer importantes inovações para o ensino superior brasileiro, avaliando sua implantação e seu impacto tanto no contexto regional quanto nacional de educação superior. Analisa-se sua capacidade transformadora da realidade, a partir de uma discussão sobre o conceito de desenvolvimento econômico e social contido em seu projeto. Para isso, em primeiro lugar situa-se seu aparecimento, apresentando-se um panorama do ensino superior na região do ABC, bem como o contexto de reestruturação produtiva naqueles municípios, com base na coleta de dados do IBGE e do INEP e na análise de documentos institucionais e na verificação bibliográfica. Em seguida, analisa-se o projeto pedagógico em si, problematizando-o e mostrando as principais visões de universidade e de sociedade atuantes e conflitantes em seu interior. Por fim, resgata-se o debate sobre o conceito de desenvolvimento social e econômico e as relações com a universidade, buscando entender a função social da UFABC. / This study examines the creation of the Federal University of ABC and its project, which aims to bring important innovations to the Brazilian higher education, evaluating its implementation and its impact both on the regional and national higher education. We analyze its capacity to transform reality, from a discussion of social and economic developments concept contained in the project. We present, then, an overview of higher education in the ABC region, and the context of productive restructuring on those municipalities, based on data collection and analysis of institutional documents and bibliographic verification. Next, we analyze the pedagogical project itself, questioning and showing the main visions of the university and society active inside. Finally, it\'s indicated the debate on the concept of economic development and relations with the university, trying to understand the social function of UFABC.

A Criação da CESP em 1966 e de suas antecessoras (USELPA, CHERP, e CELUSA), foi um fator decisivo para o desenvolvimento do ramo da construção hidrelétrica na engenharia brasileira: o planejamento e implantação das usinas, sistemas de transmissão e redes de distribuição demandou um intenso esforço da estatal, das empresas projetistas e das construtoras das usinas. Esse esforço traduziu-se, além da implantação do parque gerador, constituído por grandes centrais hidrelétricas, integrado, entre si e o mercado consumidor, por um conjunto de extensas linhas de transmissão; produziu experiências e conhecimentos que ainda hoje destacam a engenharia hidrelétrica brasileira no contexto internacional. Possibilitou a implantação da indústria de equipamento elétrico pesado, ainda que sob domínio de empresas de capital internacional; e o forte crescimento da indústria de material elétrico leve: e capitalizou e capacitou empresas privadas de construção civil pesada, muitas delas hoje constituídas como fortes grupos empresarias nacionais em processo de internacionalização. O conhecimento produzido não se resumiu às questões de engenharia e construção. Ao herdar as obras e projetos em execução por suas antecessoras, o corpo técnico da CESP precisou desenvolver a percepção de que construir uma grande usina pressupõe uma série de necessidades que, podem parecer apenas de como desenvolver a maior capacidade possível de produzir quilowatts/hora a partir da construção de uma barragem e de uma casa de máquinas. Desenvolveu-se métodos de trabalho que também deram conta das dimensões sociais, culturais, econômicas e ambientais de modo abrangente e complexo. O projeto das usinas de Urubupungá (Jupiá e Ilha Solteira), construídas distantes dos centros de consumo para os quais deveriam fornecer energia, previu a criação de um polo de desenvolvimento na região em que se instalava, o estabelecimento de novas vias de comunicação entre o então estado de Mato Grosso e o oeste paulista, e o desenvolvimento de estudos dos impactos sobre a natureza das áreas alagadas e na vida das populações ribeirinhas afetadas. / The founding of CESP, in 1966, and of its predecessors (USELPA, CHERP, and CELUSA), was a decisive factor for the development of the area of hydroelectric plant construction in Brazilian engineering. The planning and implementation of the plants, transmission systems, and distribution networks demanded intense efforts on the part of the State-owned company, of the design firms, and of the builders of the plants. Those efforts resulted in, not only the implementation of the widespread energy generating system, consisting of large hydroelectric plants that are integrated among themselves and the consumer market by an extensive complex of transmission lines, but they produced experiences and knowledge that continue to highlight Brazilian electrical engineering on the international scene. It established the heavy electrical equipment industry, although under the aegis of companies backed by international capital, resulting in strong growth for the light electrical materials industry. It also brought capital and capacity to private heavy construction companies, many of which are strong national corporate groups that are in the process of becoming international. The knowledge that was produced is not limited to engineering and construction issues. Upon inheriting the works and projects of its predecessors, which were already underway, CESPs technical staff was forced to perceive that building a large plant presupposes a whole series of needs that might seem, at first, to be related only to how to develop the largest capacity possible for producing kilowatts/hour by building a dam and a machine hall. Working methods were developed that also handled the social, cultural, economic, and environmental dimensions in a broad a complex manner. The project of Urubupungás Jupiá and Ilha Solteira plants, which were built far from the consumer markets they were to supply with energy, provided for the creation of a development hub in the region where they were installed, the establishment of new means of communication between the then-State of Mato Grosso and western State of São Paulo, and the performance of studies regarding impacts on Nature in the flooded areas and on the lives of the river dwellers, who were affected.

Esta dissertação visa estudar a indústria do gás natural da Venezuela a partir da Teoria Marxista da Dependência (TMD). Mudanças estruturais acontecem nesse país desde o início do século XXI, e esse processo não pode ser entendido sem se observar o papel fundamental da energia. O termo energia refere-se, neste trabalho, ao petróleo e gás natural. O primeiro tem sido o responsável pela penetração do capital estrangeiro no país e o segundo foi historicamente tratado como subproduto da indústria petroleira. A principal mudança nessa perspectiva foi introduzida pelo atual processo político, que usa ambos os recursos como instrumento para superar a relação de subordinação aos países industrializados. Portanto, objetiva-se analisar, com base na TMD, se, dada uma ampliação da indústria do gás natural da Venezuela estarão presentes os elementos capazes de promover uma ruptura com a forma subordinada em que se inseriu o país na economia mundial. Entende-se essa ampliação como um projeto nacional que procura a diversificação da economia e a conquista do desenvolvimento, entendido nos termos expostos pela TMD. Para facilitar o uso da TMD, foram selecionados três de seus expoentes, a saber: Vânia Bambirra, Theotônio dos Santos, e Ruy Mauro Marini. No que concerne à indústria do gás natural, a mesma foi avaliada seguindo parâmetros estabelecidos no Programa de Massificação do Uso do Gás Natural da Petrobras (2004). Por fim, foram contrastados os segmentos da cadeia produtiva do gás avaliados com os parâmetros da TMD, permitindo, por um lado, elucidar o processo que contribuiu para o subdesenvolvimento no país, e, por outro, avaliar o potencial dos atuais planos da IGN para estimular a industrialização nacional e a integração regional. / This document aims to study the Venezuelan natural gas industry using the Marxist Dependency Theory (MDT). Structural changes have been occurring in this country since the early twenty-first century, and those transitions cannot be understood without observing the fundamental energys role. The term \"energy\" refers, in this research, to oil and natural gas. The first one has been responsible for the foreign capital penetration in the country and, the second has been historically treated only as an oil industry derivate. The main change in this perspective was motivated by the current political process, which uses both resources as a tool for overcoming the subordinated relationship with the industrialized countries. Therefore, the objective is to analyze, based on MDT, if an expansion of Venezuela\'s natural gas industry will change the subordinated Venezuelan role in the global economy. This expansion is understood as a \"national project\", which looks for economic diversification and achievement of development, understood in the MDTs terms. To make easier to use the MDT, three exponents was selected: Vania Bambirra, Theotônio dos Santos, and Ruy Mauro Marini. The assessing for the natural gas industry expansion follows the parameters stablished in the National Gasification Program of Petrobras (2004). Finally, the segments of the productive gas chain was contrasted with the MDT parameters, allowing to understand the process that contributed to the country underdevelopment and, evaluating the potential of current plans in natural gas industry for stimulating national industrialization and regional integration.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:27:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 cristina bachert.pdf: 4914041 bytes, checksum: b7236aaf768e5928d27ba3f5f4131936 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-04-12 / The goal of this research was to evaluate the Social Ability Development Program structured to guide students with disciplinary problems. Following the model proposed by the Developmental Bibliotherapy, it used texts and images to present information that emphasize the revision and enhancement of abilities concerning the cognitive, personal and social fields. Twenty-seven teenagers took part in this research, twenty-one boys and six girls, aged between 10 and 14, all of them students of a private school located in a town in S?o Paulo. The students accomplished the suggested activities during the extra curricular time. For the assessment of the program the following tools were used: questionairy for the definition of the reader s profile and a scale of self-evaluation, answered before the beginning of the activities and 15 days after its end. The readers of this group have easy access to a wide range of media, but they mainly read books with subjects of their interests. The most frequent reading difficulties refer to the structure of the texts and are solved with the help of parents and friends. The application of the Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed Ranks Test to compare the answers chosen in these two moments were promising toward improvement in social performance, showing the efficacy of the program, reinforced by the low reincidence index of the participants (11,11%). Therefore, having given these students the opportunity of reviewing their attitudes using personal qualities to solve the eventual problems, they had the reinforcement of their selfsteem estimulated because they realized they were able to reach the aimed results what motivated them to be far from new situations which involved risky behavior. / Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo avaliar o Programa de Desenvolvimento de Habilidades Sociais, estruturado para orientar alunos com problemas disciplinares. Seguindo o modelo proposto pela Biblioterapia do Desenvolvimento utilizou textos e imagens para apresentar informa??es que enfatizem a necessidade de revis?o e aprimoramento de habilidades nas esferas cognitiva, pessoal e social. Participaram desta pesquisa 27 adolescentes, sendo 21 meninos e 6 meninas, com idade entre 10 e 14 anos, alunos de uma escola particular situada no interior do Estado de S?o Paulo, que realizaram as atividades propostas durante o per?odo extracurricular. Para avalia??o do Programa foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: question?rio para defini??o do perfil de leitor e a escala de auto-avalia??o, respondida antes do in?cio das atividades e 15 dias ap?s seu encerramento. Os leitores deste grupo tem acesso facilitado aos mais diversos tipos de m?dia, mas l?em preferencialmente os livros que tratam de assuntos de seu interesse. As dificuldades de leitura mais freq?entes referem-se ? estrutura do texto e s?o resolvidas por meio de consulta aos pais e amigos. A aplica??o do Teste da Soma de Postos com Sinais de Wilcoxon para comparar as respostas assinaladas pelos participantes nesses dois momentos apresentou resultados promissores rumo a melhorais no desempenho social, comprovadas pelo baixo ?ndice de reincid?ncia (11,11%). Portanto, ao oportunizar a estes alunos rever suas atitudes utilizando qualidades pessoais para resolver os desafios que se apresentam, foi estimulado o fortalecimento de sua auto-estima, pois se perceberam capazes de chegar aos resultados pretendidos, o que os motivou a se afastar de novas situa??es que envolvessem comportamentos de risco.

O Índice de Desenvolvimento Rural Sustentável (IDRS) foi elaborado com o objetivo de caracterizar, no espaço rural (local predominantemente ocupado pela agricultura e pecuária), o desenvolvimento econômico (IDE), social (IDS) e ambiental (IDA) por intermédio de três índices primários, sete índices secundários e sete parâmetros. Os índices secundários foram calculados utilizando os valores médios dos diferentes parâmetros, por município, por intermédio de variáveis normalizadas. O índice de desenvolvimento econômico utilizou as seguintes variáveis normalizadas (variando de 0 a 1): produto interno bruto (R$.município-1.ano-1) (parâmetro 1) relativo, renda per capita relativa (R$.pessoa-1.ano- 1) (parâmetro 2) (em relação aos valores máximos de um dado município). O social utilizou a relação entre a escolaridade (número de anos) (parâmetro 3), a expectativa de vida (anos) (parâmetro 4) e o nível de emprego (%)(parâmetro 5) e os respectivos valores máximos de um dado município. O ambiental utilizou a relação entre as áreas de reserva legal (ha) (parâmetro 6), bem como as áreas de preservação permanente (ha) (parâmetro 7), atualmente usadas pelos agricultores e as correspondentes áreas mínimas exigidas pela lei 12.651 (publicada no Diário Oficial da União em 25 de maio de 2012). O modelo universal, de crescimento tipicamente exponencial, foi proposto para o cálculo do índice secundário (variável dependente) utilizando a variável normalizada como variável independente. Aplicando essa metodologia de caracterização especificamente para o CODEMAU (Conselho de Desenvolvimento Regional do Médio Alto Uruguai), localizado na região norte do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, verificou-se que: (i) Rodeio Bonito e Dois Irmãos das Missões, Alpestre e Frederico Westphalen, e Vicente Dutra e Taquaruçu do Sul foram os municípios que apresentaram, respectivamente, os menores e maiores valores de IDE, IDS e IDA; porém, (ii) Vicente Dutra e Dois Irmãos das Missões foram os municípios que apresentaram, respectivamente, os menores e maiores valores de IDRS. O índice de desenvolvimento rural sustentável apresenta-se como uma excelente ferramenta para comparar regiões (propriedades rurais, municípios, estados e países, por exemplo). / The Sustainable Rural Development Index (IDRS) was elaborated with the purpose of characterizing, in the rural space (predominantly occupied by agriculture and livestock), the economical (IDE), social (IDS) and environmental (IDA) development through three primary indexes, seven secondary indexes and seven parameters. The secondary indexes were computed using the mean values of different parameters, by county, trough normalized variables (range from 0 to 1). The economical index used the following normalized variables: Gross Income Product (R$.county-1.year-1) (first parameter), per capita income (R$.person-1.year-1) (second parameter) (in relation to their maximum values for a specific county). The social index used relative values of scholarity (number of years) (third parameter), life expectance (years) (fourth parameter) and employment level (%) (fifth parameter) (also in relation to their maximum values for a specific county). The environmental index used relative values of Legal Reserve area (ha) (sixth parameter), as well as the Permanent Preservation Area (ha) (seventh parameter), actually used by farmers and the correspondent minimum areas required by the law 12.651 (published at DOU in 25 May 2012). The universal model, that typically presents exponential growth, was proposed for computing the secondary index (dependent variable) using a normalized variable as independent variable. This methodology was applied for characterizing the CODEMAU (Association for Developing the \'Médio Alto Uruguai\' region) area (23 counties), located at North region of \'Rio Grande do Sul\' State. It was verified that: (i) \'Rodeio Bonito\' and \'Dois Irmãos das Missões\', \'Alpestre\' and \'Frederico Westphalen\', and \'Vicente Dutra\' and \'Taquaruçu do Sul\' were the counties that presented, respectively, the lowest and highest values of IDE, IDS and IDA; but, (ii) \'Vicente Dutra\' and \'Dois Irmãos das Missões\' were the counties that presented, respectively, the lowest and highest values of IDRS. The sustainable rural development index presents as an excellent tool for comparing regions (rural properties, counties, states and countries, for example).