The village-based microfinance approach Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) has been implemented in developing countries for three decades, and is found to be an effective tool in alleviating poverty and facilitating access to financial services in rural areas.  This study, done in collaboration with Vi Agroforestry, aimed to investigate the impact of VSLA activities on female empowerment in Rwanda, and more specifically, how women's access to and control over assets have been affected by VSLA participation. The term 'female empowerment' refers to the process by which women gain control and power over their own life situations and their ability to make strategic choices, that is, the capacity to turn choices into desired actions and outcomes.  A qualitative methodology has been used, where the main data collection consisted of six individual interviews with VSLA staff responsible for implementing, monitoring and evaluating VSLA groups in six different districts, and two focus group interviews with female VSLA participants in two different districts, carried out during April and May 2021.  The findings show that VSLA participation significantly accelerates the process of female empowerment in both household and community domains for women in Rwanda and that VSLA is an efficient first step in moving from a marginalised position in the society. However, women are still in many cases restricted from claiming all potential benefits from VSLA participation by structures that dictate normative gender roles and power structures. The findings highlight the importance of continued gender-related and financial training in order to further increase female access to and control over resources through VSLAs.

This research is an exploratory investigation of the potential of New Urbanist planning and design principles to create thriving and successful neighborhoods. New Urbanism is an urban design movement started in the early 1980s that promotes the development of walkable, compact, and diverse neighborhoods. It is the objective of this research to shed light on the value of creating a higher quality of life and more time for ourselves and our families. I hypothesize that New Urbanism may pave the way for recapturing commute time for time with family, creating authentic and successful communities, and engaging with neighbors. Furthermore, by utilizing the design principles of New Urbanism, traditional neighborhoods that re-integrate the activities of daily living may be possible. In short, this research is an explanatory and exploratory investigation that examines whether incorporating the design principles of New Urbanism can create walkable and successful communities that promote community-making with urban patterns that facilitate knowing neighbors, communication among neighbors, community activities, and a long term sense of belonging. This research focuses on three case studies of New Urbanism: a large scale development in Atlanta, Georgia with approximately 3,500 residents, a moderate scale development in Tampa, Florida with approximately 2,000 residents, and a small scale development in Fernandina Beach, Florida with approximately 700 residents. These three case studies provide successful examples of the integration of the design principles of New Urbanism. New Urbanism can be used as the stimulus for the types of neighborhoods Americans has been missing since World War II. At each of these sites, observations were made of the ways in which the design of the development has fostered community and created walkable and livable neighborhoods.

Orientador: José Geraldo Alberto Bertoncini Poker / Banca: Miriam Cláudia Lourenção Simonetti / Banca: Gabriel Cunha Salum / Resumo: O presente trabalho é a continuação das pesquisas de campo desenvolvidas em 2014 e 2015 como trabalho de conclusão de curso e que se expandiu devido a sugestão da banca examinadora que indicou a sua continuação para o mestrado devido à importância do tema. A relevância da discussão sobre a condição no campo nos convida a pensar como um bairro rural estruturado se encontra majoritariamente rural em tempos de hegemonia urbana. Assim, pelas contribuições feitas pelos estudiosos que se debruçaram em compreender as diversas representações e interpretações do modo de vida rural e suas permanências e modificações. Foi por meio da continuação da pesquisa de campo que analisaremos as mudanças atuais no mundo rural através das entrevistas feitas com os sitiantes da região rural de Frutal do Campo (SP). O trabalho parte do método da História Oral, a fim de resgatar pela memória das famílias que residem a sua história e os elementos fundamentais para a compreensão do que permaneceu e o que vem mudando e os motivos que levaram a saída, ou não, deste bairro rural. Os resultados das pesquisas um novo olhar sobre um novo rural em transformação, os efeitos modernizadores e a expansão da "racionalidade urbana" leva a questão da necessidade de romper com a referência da cultura urbano-industrial e não congelar o conceito de "camponês" como modo de vida, assim, apresentamos neste trabalho o que chamamos de permanências em movimento. / Abstract: The present work is the continuation of the field research carried out in 2014 and 2015 as a course completion work and which was expanded due to the suggestion of the examining board that indicated its continuation to the master's degree due to the importance of the subject. The relevance of the discussion about the condition in the countryside invites us to think about how a structured rural neighborhood is mostly rural in times of urban hegemony. Thus, for the contributions made by scholars who have focused on understanding the various representations and interpretations of the rural way of life and its permanences and modifications. It was through the continuation of the field research that we will analyze the current changes in the rural world through interviews with the farmers of the rural region of Frutal do Campo (SP). The work starts from the Oral History method, in order to rescue the memory of the families that live their history and the fundamental elements for understanding what has remained and what has been changing and the reasons that led or not to leave this neighborhood. rural. The research results a new look at a new rural in transformation, the modernizing effects and the expansion of "urban rationality" leads to the question of the need to break with the reference of urban-industrial culture and not to freeze the concept of "peasant" as way of life, we present in this work what we call permanences in motion. / Mestre