In this conceptual thesis I explore a paradox inherent in sustainability, namely that to 'sustain' something it needs to be allowed to emerge into something different than it currently is. Moreover, it is not always knowable in advance what that ‘something’ will be. I also argue that education is fundamentally about sustainability, as its role is to allow/encourage a human being to emerge into someone different than he/she currently is. I assert, however, that whilst this is education’s role, it currently, and paradoxically, works against itself by defining the human subject in advance (as a particular ‘ideal’ kind of rational autonomous being), hence closing the matter of what a human can grow into before education even starts. I argue that complexity thinking and what Osberg (2015) calls complexity- compatible thinking, posthumanist/posthuman and feminist thinking provide logics to approach the issue of emergence, including the emergence of what it is to be a human subject. It is through engaging with these logics to keep the abundant possibilities of the future radically open that my thesis makes a contribution to the field of education and sustainability. To make such a contribution I first of all identify that Biesta (2006, 2013) and his ‘pedagogy of interruption’ are working within the logic of complexity thinking. In his theory Biesta identifies how fleeting moments can interrupt existing rational autonomous understandings of human subjectivity. Whilst acknowledging that one cannot programme such ‘fleeting moments’ into education, I draw on ideas from Arendt, Mouffe, Rancière and Masschelein and Simons to encourage the possibility of such moments - moments which open up spaces in which, through acting and speaking with others, who one is as an initium, a beginner can emerge. However, emergence of the new raises the important issue of ethics. I argue that in her two-fold concept of forgiveness and mutual promising Arendt provides a way to develop an immanent ethics arising from horizontal relationships between people speaking and acting together. Finally, I focus on the fleeting moment or event of interruption itself. Drawing on Arendt, Loidolt, Keller and Braidotti I argue that this can be understood as a first-person intersubjective encounter under conditions of plurality. I understand plurality as speaking and acting together with unique others open to the stance one expresses and vice versa. In intersubjective encounters one does not reveal an inner essence to others. Instead who one is emerges intersubjectively, in and through the encounter, creating a surplus, something new that was not in the world before. I also argue how such encounters have the potential to be ethical encounters. I then go beyond Arendt and draw on posthumanist and posthuman thinking to consider the possibility of intersubjective first-being ethical encounters with(in) the wider natural world. I argue that allowing some time for school understood as skholé – a safe space, protected from politicisation by the issues of the day, to reflect and explore who one is, and how one can act in the world – has an important role in encouraging, valuing and reflecting on such encounters. I conclude that education which understands sustainability as an emergent process builds a bridge between education as a sustainable and education as a democratic process. In such an education who one is as a subject appears through intersubjective encounters, bringing into the world the possibility of the emergence of new, unexpected ways of knowing, being and acting essential for sustainability.

This research deals with the ways Corporate Social Responsibility is interpreted in a UK Higher Education Institution. It evolved from my initial curiosity about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), especially the way it is taken up in daily practices. Drawing on the pragmatic tradition of John Dewey (1859-1952), Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) and George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), which gives primacy to experience, I am paying attention to my daily interactions with others. I explore what is, rather what should be. I also draw on analogies from complexity sciences, as well as on insights from sociology, psychology, anthropology and philosophy, to reflect on how the everyday practice of CSR is evolving in the interactions of interdependent players. Reflecting on the assumptions that underpin my thinking about organisations and about research, and tracing my evolving beliefs and perceptions, I have become aware of my participation in the processes that sustain and at the same time disrupt the 'community engagement' narrative of my organisation. Iterating my reflective narratives reveals how change in practice and in ideas evolves. This research was prompted by my introduction to CSR early in my academic career. The idea of organisations being responsible to their stakeholders fitted with my personal values. The more I read about the topic, the more uncomfortable I became - CSR had usually been presented in vague, general and idealised terms. So, when faced with setting up a Unit that would address the CSR of my organisation, I was left with no manual for getting on with my work. Reflecting on the feeling of helplessness, revealed my assumption that such guidance should exist, and that CSR practitioners must know how to practice the generalised idea of CSR. Exposing this and other emotions, I demonstrate how assumptions and beliefs arise in society and in the individual simultaneously. This research contributes to knowledge in this field by establishing CSR not just as an abstract idea, but as a practice within an organisation. Many authors have called for exploring CSR at the individual level, yet this call seems to remain unanswered. My research addresses this gap in literature and explores CSR from my perspective as a practitioner, thus contributing to the nascent body of literature that focuses on individual and local practice. Exploring interdependence and the emergence of CSR meant understanding that my actions have consequences, and at the same time, neither I nor any one individually can control those 2 consequences. The outcomes of our working together are at times intended and at times unintended. But they are inevitably unpredictable, because they arise in complex webs of interactions. Thinking reflexively about practising CSR has had a significant impact on my practice. I believe that my reflections will resonate with other practitioners, thus contributing to their practice.

Constraint problems are a powerful framework in which many common combinatorial problems can be expressed. Examples include graph colouring problems, Boolean satisfaction, graph cut problems, systems of equations, and many more. One typically distinguishes between constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs), which model strictly decision problems, and so-called valued constraint satisfaction problems (VCSPs), which also include optimisation problems. A key open problem in this field is the long-standing dichotomy conjecture by Feder and Vardi. It claims that CSPs only fall into two categories: Those that are NP-complete, and those that are solvable in polynomial time. This stands in contrast to Ladner's theorem, which, assuming P$\neq$NP, guarantees the existence of problems that are neither NP-complete, nor in P, making CSPs an exceptional class of problems. While the Feder-Vardi conjecture is proven to be true in a number of special cases, it is still open in the general setting. (Recent claims affirming the conjecture are not considered here, as they have not been peer-reviewed yet.) In this thesis, we approach the complexity of constraint problems from a descriptive complexity perspective. Namely, instead of studying the computational resources necessary to solve certain constraint problems, we consider the expressive power necessary to define these problems in a logic. We obtain several results in this direction. For instance, we show that Schaefer's dichotomy result for the case of CSPs over the Boolean domain can be framed as a definability result: Either a CSP is definable in fixed-point logic with rank (FPR), or it is NP-hard. Furthermore, we show that a dichotomy exists also in the general case. For VCSPs over arbitrary domains, we show that a VCSP is either definable in fixed-point logic with counting (FPC), or it is not definable in infinitary logic with counting. We show that these definability dichotomies also have algorithmic implications. In particular, using our results on the definability of VCSPs, we prove a dichotomy on the number of levels in the Lasserre hierarchy necessary to obtain an exact solution: For a finite-valued VCSP, either it is solved by the first level of the hierarchy, or one needs $\Omega(n)$ levels. Finally, we explore how other methods from finite model theory can be useful in the context of constraint problems. We consider pebble games for finite variable logics in this context, and expose new connections between CSPs, pebble games, and homomorphism preservation results.

Le bégaiement est un trouble complexe, qu'il est encore difficile de définir de manière satisfaisante et complète. Outre les symptômes secondaires, et comportements accompagnateurs, des facteurs langagiers peuvent interférer avec ce trouble. Des difficultés dans les compétence phonologiques pourraient être concomitantes, voire en interaction avec le bégaiement, avec notamment dans la parole adulte, un impact non négligeable de la complexité phonologique. Par ailleurs, des difficultés coarticulatoires seraient au cœur du bégaiement. Mais les résultats des différentes études sont très disparates, tant dans la parole des enfants que dans celle des adultes qui bégaient. Enfin, l'influence du feedback auditif est surprenante puisque toute modification de ce type de feedback a un pouvoir améliorant chez un certain nombre de personnes. Ce constat questionne la définition du bégaiement en tant que trouble de la production et l'oriente plutôt vers un trouble perceptivo-moteur. Cette thèse se propose d'étudier la parole fluente et disfluente de personnes bègues françaises et italiennes. Etant donné que les différences entre personnes qui bégaient et personnes fluentes, apparaissent essentiellement quand le système moteur est soumis à un facteur déstabilisant, nous avons choisi d'étudier l'adaptation du comportement coarticulatoire lorsque la complexité phonologique augmente. Nous avons également voulu analyser l'impact de la modification du feedback auditif sur le comportement coarticulatoire. Enfin, nous avons étudié le rôle de la complexité phonologique sur les disfluences notamment, dans une situation de dialogue autour d'une image. Des adultes et des enfants, italiens, et français, bègues et fluents ont été enregistrés dans 4 situations de parole : lectures, discours spontané, tâche de répétition, et tâche de description d'image. Toutes ces tâches ont été réalisées dans deux conditions perceptives : une condition normale, et une condition avec feedback auditif modifié. En condition perceptive normale, la coarticulation des personnes qui bégaient est plus faible que celle des personnes fluentes. La langue semble jouer également un rôle important puisque les personnes qui bégaient des deux langues ne se comportent pas toujours de la même manière vis-à-vis de leurs homologues fluents. Le comportement coarticulatoire des personnes bègues semble également sensible à l'augmentation de la complexité phonologique. Les résultats sous feedback auditifs modifiés apparaissent contradictoires. Par ailleurs, les disfluences pourraient être influencées par la complexité phonologique, mais cette influence semble dépendre de la sévérité du bégaiement et de l'âge du sujet. Des perspectives cliniques sont évoquées. / Stuttering is a complex (complicated-intricate) disorder, and it is difficult to give a satisfactory and complete definition of it. As well as secondary symptoms and entailed comportments, language factors can interfere in this disorder. Difficulties in phonological competence might be concomitant if not interactive in stuttering, with, mainly in adult language, an inconsiderable impact of the phonological complexity Furthermore, the coarticulatory difficulties might be at the core of stuttering. But the results of different studies diverge on the subject when both children and adults' stuttering are considered. And let us note that the influence of the auditory-feedback is surprising as every change in this feedback seems to have an improving power in an appreciable number of patients. So the definition of stuttering, being a production disorder, can be questioned. Stuttering rather appears as a perceptual motor disorder. The aim of this thesis is to study the fluent and disfluent language in French and Italian stutterers knowing that the differences between stutterers and fluent persons mainly appear when the motor system is conditional to a destabilizing factor. We chose to study how the coarticulatory behavior adapts when the phonological complexity increases. We also tried to analyze how the modification of the auditory-feedback influences the coarticulatory behavior. And we studied the part played by the phonological complexity on disfluencies mainly in a situation of dialogue over a picture. Italian and French adults and children stutterers and their fluent counterparts were registered placed in four different situations of language: reading, spontaneous speech, repetitive task and picture description and in two perceptive conditions: a normal one and one with modified auditory-feedback. When placed in normal perceptive condition, the stutterers' coarticulation is weaker than that of their fluent counterparts. Besides, the language seems to play an important role since Italian and French stutterers have not the same response towards their fluent counterparts. Let us note that this stutterers' coarticulatory comportment is also sensitive to the increase of the phonological complexity. The results we have when the auditory-feedback is altered are contradictory. Disfluency could also be influenced by phonological complexity but this influence seems to be dependent on the acuteness of the stuttering as well as on the stutterer's age. A significant clinical breakthrough is evoked

The effects of habitat complexity and predation risk on community assembly in small standing waters are reviewed. Both lethal and nonlethal predator effects are discussed. Emphasis is put on the role of omnivorous predators which do not fit into the standard food chain model. The review is complemented by a manuscript intended for publication in Freshwater Biology. It reports the results of a mesocosm experiment focusing on the effects of both lethal and nonlethal predation risk, induced by the invasive crayfish species Orconectes limosus, and habitat complexity on the abundance and biomass of macroinvertebrates in a naturally assembled community.

The thesis results of two laboratory experiments focusing on the impacts of predation risk, prey density and habitat complexity on predator-prey interaction strengths and predator metabolic rates, complemented by a brief review of the subject. The experimental system used in the first experiment consisted of cladoceran prey, larvae of three dragonfly species (Sympetrum sanguineum, Libellula quadrimaculata, Ischnura cf. elegans) as intermediate predators, and larvae of a large dragonfly species (Aeshna sp.) as a top predator. The second experiment of investigated how predation risk influences metabolic rates of the intermediate predators.

O objetivo do trabalho é estudar a viabilidade de tratar problemas de otimização, considerados intratáveis, através de Algoritmos Genéticos, desenvolvendo critérios para a avaliação qualitativa de um Algoritmo Genético. Dentro deste tema, abordam-se estudos sobre complexidade, classes de problemas, análise e desenvolvimento de algoritmos e Algoritmos Genéticos, este ultimo sendo objeto central do estudo. Como produto do estudo deste tema, é proposto um método de desenvolvimento de Algoritmos Genéticos, utilizando todo o estudo formal de tipos de problemas, desenvolvimento de algoritmos aproximativos e análise da complexidade. O fato de um problema ser teoricamente resolvível por um computador não é suficiente para o problema ser na prática resolvível. Um problema é denominado tratável se no pior caso possui um algoritmo razoavelmente eficiente. E um algoritmo é dito razoavelmente eficiente quando existe um polinômio p tal que para qualquer entrada de tamanho n o algoritmo termina com no máximo p(n) passos [SZW 84]. Já que um polinômio pode ser de ordem bem alta, então um algoritmo de complexidade polinomial pode ser muito ineficiente. Genéticos é que se pode encontrar soluções aproximadas de problemas de grande complexidade computacional mediante um processo de evolução simulada[LAG 96]. Como produto do estudo deste tema, é proposto um método de desenvolvimento de Algoritmos Genéticos com a consciência de qualidade, utilizando todo o estudo formal de tipos de problemas, desenvolvimento de algoritmos aproximativos e análise da complexidade. Uma axiomatização tem o propósito de dar a semântica do algoritmo, ou seja, ela define, formalmente, o funcionamento do algoritmo, mais especificamente das funções e procedimentos do algoritmo. E isto, possibilita ao projetista de algoritmos uma maior segurança no desenvolvimento, porque para provar a correção de um Algoritmo Genético que satisfaça esse modelo só é necessário provar que os procedimentos satisfazem os axiomas. Para ter-se consciência da qualidade de um algoritmo aproximativo, dois fatores são relevantes: a exatidão e a complexidade. Este trabalho levanta os pontos importantes para o estudo da complexidade de um Algoritmo Genético. Infelizmente, são fatores conflitantes, pois quanto maior a exatidão, pior ( mais alta) é a complexidade, e vice-versa. Assim, um estudo da qualidade de um Algoritmo Genético, considerado um algoritmo aproximativo, só estaria completa com a consideração destes dois fatores. Mas, este trabalho proporciona um grande passo em direção do estudo da viabilidade do tratamento de problemas de otimização via Algoritmos Genéticos. / The objective of the work is to study the viability of treating optimization problems, considered intractable, through Genetic Algorithms, developing approaches for the qualitative evaluation of a Genetic Algorithm. Inside this theme, approached areas: complexity, classes of problems, analysis and development of algorithms and Genetic Algorithms, this last one being central object of the study. As product of the study of this theme, a development method of Genetic Algorithms is proposed, using the whole formal study of types of problems, development of approximate algorithms and complexity analysis. The fact that a problem theoretically solvable isn’t enough to mean that it is solvable in pratice. A problem is denominated easy if in the worst case it possesses an algorithm reasonably efficient. And an algorithm is said reasonably efficient when a polynomial p exists such that for any entrance size n the algorithm terminates at maximum of p(n) steps [SZW 84]. Since a polynomial can be of very high order, then an algorithm of polynomial complexity can be very inefficient. The premise of the Genetic Algorithms is that one can find approximate solutions of problems of great computational complexity by means of a process of simulated evolution [LAG 96]. As product of the study of this theme, a method of development of Genetic Algorithms with the quality conscience is proposed, using the whole formal study of types of problems, development of approximate algorithms and complexity analysis. The axiom set has the purpose of giving the semantics of the algorithm, in other words, it defines formally the operation of the algorithm, more specifically of the functions and procedures of the algorithm. And this, facilitates the planner of algorithms a larger safety in the development, because in order to prove the correction of a Genetic Algorithm that satisfies that model it is only necessary to prove that the procedures satisfy the axioms. To have conscience of the quality of an approximate algorithm, two factors are important: the accuracy and the complexity. This work lifts the important points for the study of the complexity of a Genetic Algorithm. Unhappily, they are conflicting factors, because as larger the accuracy, worse (higher) it is the complexity, and vice-versa. Thus, a study of the quality of a Genetic Algorithm, considered an approximate algorithm, would be only complete with the consideration of these two factors. But, this work provides a great step in direction of the study of the viability of the treatment of optimization problems through Genetic Algorithms.

A presente pesquisa versa sobre a possibilidade ou não da alfabetização geográfica por meio do Teatro de Fantoche como possibilidade de uma prática lúdica, mais envolvente e que permita a autonomia do sujeito em sala de aula. Na coxia buscamos as informações por meio de entrevistas realizadas com sujeitos alunos e professores de terceira série/ano do Ensino Fundamental, em três escolas de Porto Alegre. O Objetivo geral que buscamos foi observar se o lúdico do teatro de Fantoches é uma possibilidade facilitadora da construção do Conhecimento Geográfico. Trabalhamos com a dialógica, a recursividade e o princípio hologramático, na crença não de uma única verdade, mas das verdades serem muitas e também provisórias. Nossos procedimentos no palco basearam-se na Pesquisa Qualitativa. Na primeira cena exercitamos o ato do conhecer os atores, o palco e o Teatro. As reflexões sobre essa cena dizem respeito à construção do conhecimento geográfico com ênfase nos conceitos de Espaço, de Lugar e de Orientação por meio do Teatro de Fantoches. Para tanto buscamos o apoio da Epistemologia Genética para compreender provisoriamente como a criança constrói o conhecimento. Na segunda cena tratamos das questões metodológicas. A terceira cena é dedicada às leituras produzidas na coxia e no palco: no primeiro ato desta cena encontramos as Representações das entrevistas com os sujeitos professores e sujeitos alunos. No segundo ato as representações das oficinas que, nesse momento, analisamos as oficinas de contação de histórias e de construção dos Fantoches. No terceiro ato as Represent(ações) das Apresent(ações); o estudo das representações espaciais e sociais dos sujeitos alunos para a construção do conhecimento, por meio da apresentação teatral com os Fantoches, foi vista como importante para a compreensão do conhecimento geográfico. No último ato, mas nem tão final da peça, dedicamos às reflexões de nossos objetivos com as práticas adotadas no palco. Observamos que há um predomínio nas narrativas dos sujeitos alunos quanto ao brincar, em especial ao lúdico. Procuramos analisar os significados que os sujeitos atribuem ao brincar, bem como o seu papel nas representações espaciais e sociais. / This research deals with the possibility or not geographic literacy through the Puppet Theatre as a practical possibility of entertaining, more engaging an denabling the autonomy of the subject in the classroom. Backstage seek information through interviews with subject teachers and students of third grade / year of elementary school, in three schools of Porto Alegre. The general objective was to observe whether we seek to play the puppet theater is a possibility of facilitating the construction of geographical knowledge. We work with the dialogue, theholographic principle and recursion, a belief in not only truth but many truths are also provisional. Our procedures were based on the stage in Qualitative Research. In the first scene exercise the act of knowing the actors, the stage and theater. Reflections on the scene to the construction of geographical knowledge with emphasis on the concepts of space, place and guidance through the puppet theater. To this end we seek the support of Genetic Epistemology to provisionally understand how the child constructs knowledge. In the second scene of treat methodological issues. The third scene is devoted to the readings produced backstage and on stage: in the first act of this scene we find the representations of the interviews with the subjects and subject teachers students. In the second act the representations of the workshops at that time, we analyze the storytelling workshops and construction of puppets. In the third act represents (shares) of Presentations (actions), the study of social and spatial representations of the subjects students to construct knowledge by means of theatrical presentation with puppets, was seen as important for the understanding of geographical knowledge. In the last act, but not as the final piece, dedicated to the reflections of our goals with the practices adopted on stage. We note that there is a predominance in the narratives of the subjects students about the play, especially to play. We tried to analyze the meanings individuals give to the play, as well as its role in social and spatial representations.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo a compreensão dos processos de transformação do espaço público na sociedade contemporânea. Dentro desse contexto, nossa investigação foi realizada em três parques urbanos de Porto Alegre, na tentativa de mostrar suas origens, suas características, suas diferenças e similaridades, procurando destacar a produção (ou não) de sociabilidades. Nesse sentido este trabalho se apóia no paradigma da complexidade de Edgar Morin, visando romper com os mecanismos disjuntivos e reducionistas. O olhar sobre os processos que ocorrem no espaço público passa a ser multidimensional. O espaço público em nossa pesquisa é visto além da dimensão política originária, ressaltando as transformações decorrentes da maior densidade de interações com outras dimensões, tais como a econômica e a cultural. Dentro deste contexto, nossa pesquisa se propôs a estudar a gestão do espaço público e a relação entre sociedade civil e Estado, assim como analisar o processo de transformação do valor de uso desse espaço em valor de troca. Desse quadro de interações o que se visualiza nos parques urbanos de nossas cidades é a (não) produção de sociabilidades, quando os espaços públicos além de gerar o encontro passam a promover, concomitantemente, o desencontro. Ao fim deste texto, discutimos a questão da democracia aliada à complexidade, enquanto possibilidade para a construção de um espaço público mais próximo do ideal. / This work aims at comprehending the transformation processes of public spaces in our contemporaneous society. Within such a context, the investigation took place in three urban parks of Porto Alegre, in an attempt to exhibit their origins, features, differences and similarities, with an emphasis on production (or not) of sociabilities. Taking this sense into consideration, the study has Edgar Morin’s “Paradigm of Complexity” as its framework, having in mind the rupture of disjunctive and reductionist mechanisms. The survey over the processes occurring in public spaces was transformed into a multidimensional aspect. The public space is seen, in our research, beyond the originary political dimensions, pointing out the transformations which resulted from an increased density of interactions with other dimensions, such as the economical and cultural ones. In relation to this context, our study intended to scrutinize the management of public spaces and the contact between the civil society and State, as well as analyse the transformation processes of usage value of the given space in terms of exchange value. From the examination of this scene of interactions it is made possible to observe in the urban parks of our cities the (non) production of sociabilities, where the public spaces lead to gatherings but, a the same time, disbandings. At the end of this work, the matter of democracy (together with complexity) is discussed as a way of promoting the construction of a public space as close as possible to the ideal condition.

Four groups of equids, "Anchitheriinae," Merychippine-grade Equinae, Hipparionini, and Equini, coexisted in the middle Miocene, and only the Equini remains after 16 million years of evolution and extinction. Each group is distinct in its occlusal enamel pattern. These patterns have been compared qualitatively but rarely quantitatively. The processes controlling the evolution of these occlusal patterns have not been thoroughly investigated with respect to phylogeny, tooth position, and climate through geologic time. I investigated two methods of quantitative analysis, Occlusal Enamel Index for shape and fractal dimensionality for complexity. I used analyses of variance and an analysis of co-variance to test hypotheses of process. Results suggest that enamel shape was controlled by phylogeny, tooth position, and climate. The lower taxonomic levels are shown to have a strong effect on complexity, suggesting behavior is driving complexity rather than overarching phylogenetic constraint.