Environmental education has been a prominent approach to achieve sustainable development and counteract the megatrend of environmental degradation. In Costa Rica, environmental education has been adopted as an essential tool for protecting and improving the natural environment. The people of Costa Rica have emphasized an awareness of environmental issues and an ability to actively engage in environmental education and sustainable development programs. International development organizations have invested in development programs to establish or improve sustainable development. In order to understand whether international development organizations are achieving their stated mission and goals for implementing development programs, donors and funding agencies usually require that the sponsored programs be evaluated. Unfortunately, there is a growing concern that the current practice of development evaluation limits the reporting of impacts to be fundamentally inconsistent which has created incentives for evaluations to include positive bias instead of serving the purpose to improve organizational decision-making. This research study proposed to evaluate the reaction of a community in Limon, Costa Rica to development programs using an operational framework of evaluation and logic models found in the review of literature. The researcher adopted a naturalistic case study approach intended to retain the natural context of the community setting and provide a holistic understanding of community perceptions. Qualitative methods based in rapid rural appraisal were used to collect data from a purposeful sample and a stratified purposeful sample within the population. Data analysis was conducted at both the research site during data collection and after all data was collected. The researcher incorporated the constant comparative method to determine consistencies, anomalies, patterns, and emerging themes during data analysis. Three overarching themes emerged as a result of the study: (a) community development with subcategories describing community improvement, collaboration with the international development organization, integration of individuals and groups within the community, and the sustainability of projects, (b) education with subcategories expanding on ideas and motivation, learning, and inspiration for the children, and (c) culture with subcategories that discussed community culture, the organizational culture of the international development organization, and relationships.

En el trabajo se establece una alternativa a la distribución actual de medios específicos de salvamento marítimos y aéreos españoles, utilizando una aplicación matemática genuina de los modelos de gravedad, se establece la ubicación adecuada de los medios de salvamento. El objetivo es conseguir una mayor eficacia de los recursos de salvamento disponibles en España. El período analizado abarca desde el año 1992 hasta 1998. Para ello se han utilizado una gran y pormenorizada cantidad de datos de accidentes ocurridos en la costa del Cantábrico y Galicia a lo largo del mencionado período. Igualmente se completa con una exposición sobre una actuación práctica de un supuesto de accidente que sucede en un ferry en un determinado punto de la costa cantábrica para determinar si en la misma hay medios suficientes para atender una contingencia de semejantes categoría. El trabajo presenta como posibles extensiones del mismo, previsiones a medio plazo de accidentes en la zona referida.

Pour une petite communauté autochtone du Costa Rica, la culture de bananes plantains constitue la plus importante source de revenus. Afin d'améliorer la qualité du produit et de répondre aux exigences des marchés d'exportations, les agriculteurs et les agricultrices ont recours aux pesticides. Ces derniers représentent toutefois des risques considérables tant pour leur santé que pour celle de leur famille. De surcroît, ces risques sont accentués par le contexte de pauvreté et d'isolement de la communauté ainsi que par l'usage abondant des pesticides dans des conditions peu sécuritaires. Dans l'optique où une appropriation des connaissances des risques des pesticides et des méthodes pour les réduire contribuerait à la santé de sa population, cette recherche vise à mieux comprendre les dynamiques de la diffusion d'informations dans le contexte d'isolement et de pauvreté de cette communauté. En partant du principe que l'adoption de comportements et les manières de percevoir des risques sont entre autres influencées par les relations interpersonnelles et leurs structures, des notions des approches sociales et culturelles de la perception du risque et des réseaux sociaux ont été utilisées pour découvrir les facteurs susceptibles d'influencer le processus de diffusion d'informations dans la communauté. En ce sens, des entrevues semi-dirigées ont été menées auprès d'agriculteurs, d'agricultrices et de leur conjoint, recrutés par la méthode d'échantillonnage partiellement stratifiée. Les résultats ont été analysés qualitativement et à l'aide des programmes Netdraw et Ucinet pour les réseaux sociaux et SPSS pour les analyses statistiques. D'une part, les résultats ont permis d'identifier certains facteurs qui risquent d'entraver la diffusion d'informations et l'adoption de comportements pour réduire les risques des pesticides sur la santé, notamment les bénéfices économiques à court terme de l'usage des pesticides primant sur les préoccupations pour la santé, une faible appropriation de la problématique des pesticides et une absence de sa prise en charge sociale. D'autre part, les résultats ont aussi mis en lumière l'importance des relations de discussions sur les pesticides et de l'information reçue de la part d'organisations dans l'adoption de comportements plus sécuritaires. Les résultats soulèvent également que les femmes exercent peu d'influence dans cette problématique et que leur position isolée dans les réseaux limite leur accès à l'information sur les pesticides. L'analyse des réseaux a aussi permis d'identifier des chemins de circulation de l'information sur les pesticides, distincts selon le genre et l'ethnie. Enfin, cette étude vient souligner l'intérêt à développer des connaissances sur les caractéristiques liées à la structure globale des relations interpersonnelles au sein de communautés et sur les manières dont elles peuvent influencer la diffusion d'informations et l'adoption de comportements. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Diffusion d'informations, Réseaux sociaux, Perceptions des risques, Pesticides en agriculture, Santé humaine.

En nuestra sociedad los derivados del petróleo son la fuente principal de energía. Los accidentes con hidrocarburos han protagonizado episodios de contaminación trágicos para la biosfera del océano. Se analizan algunos de ellos, sus efectos y sistemas de limpieza. La complejidad de los procesos físicos, químicos o biológicos que actúan sobre el crudo en el mar, hacen difícil su estudio en laboratorio. Para ello se hacen numerosas campañas de campo con distintas escalas y procesos físicos predominantes diferentes: zonas costeras (Delta del Ebro y playa de Vilanova); en aguas confinadas (puerto de Barcelona y puerto de Recife); y en aguas abiertas (Mediterráneo Occidental), con diferentes tecnologías (foto, vídeo, satélite), para seguir trazadores eularianos (manchas de leche y fluoresceína, flotantes o hidrocarburos) y lagrangianos (boyas lastradas), se miden los agentes forzadores: viento, oleaje, marea, etc. y se correlacionan para caracterizar los diferentes escenarios. También se revisa el estado del arte. El tratamiento digital de imágenes de vídeo permite numerosas aplicaciones en el campo de la hidromorfodinámica, pues es posible controlar la evolución espacial y temporal de cualquier parámetro con evidencias visibles y es una técnica no intrusiva que ofrece datos de oleaje de una zona, en contraposición a los datos puntuales de los sensores. Las imágenes sufren numerosas alteraciones, deformaciones, ruidos, etc., que hay que depurar previamente. Los coeficientes de difusión presentan una gran variedad condicionada a la dependencia característica con la escala temporal y espacial de los fenómenos predominantes. Los coeficientes de difusión medidos se agruparon según el número de Reynolds y se hizo una clasificación: hipodifusividad, hiperdifusividad y difusión anómala. Esta caracterización de escenarios permite parametrizar el medio para modelizar su comportamiento y poder predecir su evolución. En el campo del oleaje se pueden obtener espectros de energía y otros parámetros para su caracterización, detectar la morfología de barras sumergidas, identificar corrientes de retorno, caracterizar run-up, etc. En el puerto de Barcelona se tomaron numerosos datos de velocidades de viento (Vv) y corriente (Vc) llegando a una buena correlación entre ambas (Vcx (cm/s)= 2.306 Vvx (m/s)+ 0.148) y constatando que hay una influencia de otros efectos como la marea, reflexión de los muelles o difracción que no se pueden obviar. Las imágenes de Rádar de Apertura sintética SAR permiten detectar episodios de contaminación y analizar la vorticidad a gran escala del medio. Resultó sorprendente el gran número de manchas detectadas. Se comprobó que los vertidos siguen la Ley de Zipp (distribución hiperbólica entre los accidentes y su tamaño). Se vió que los remolinos siguen la dirección de los cañones submarinos. Con el análisis fractal y multifractal del contorno de la mancha se puede caracterizar su origen (antropogénico o natural como masas de plankton) y su envejecimiento o persistencia, etc. Se comprueba que es posible que la intermitencia de la turbulencia pueda parametrizarse mediante medidas fractales y que el uso de momentos de orden superior ayuda a comparar medidas de difusión a distintas escalas mediante la Ley de Richardson Generalizada. Así se relaciona la pendiente del espectro, la intermitencia y la dependencia temporal de la difusión efectiva. Los distintos agentes que producen difusión en el mar sufren interacciones no-lineales complejas. Con todo ello, se pretende contribuir a comprender mejor los procesos de dispersión de los contaminantes en el mar y, por consiguiente, ayudar en la lucha contra este fenómeno. / In our society the derivatives of petroleum are the main source of energy. The accidents with hydrocarbons have carried out tragic episodes of contamination for the biosphere of the ocean. Some of them, their effects and systems of cleaning are analyzed. The complexity of the physical, chemical or biological processes that act on the oil in the sea, makes their study in laboratory difficult. For it numerous campaigns of field with different scales and different predominant physical processes become: coastal zones (Delta of the Ebro and beach of Vilanova); in confined waters (port of Barcelona and port of Recife); and in open waters (West Mediterranean), with different technologies (photo, video, satellite), to follow Lagrangian tracers (milk spots and fluoresceine, floating or hydrocarbons) and Euler tracers (ballasted buoys), to measure the agents: wind, waves, tide, etc. and they are correlated to characterize the different scenes. Also the state-of-the-art is reviewed. Treatment digital of images of video allows many applications in field of hydromorfodynamics, because it is possible to control the space and temporary evolution of any parameter with visible evidences and is a nonintrusive technique that offers data of a zone, in contrast to the pointing data of the sensors. The images put up with numerous alterations, deformations, noises, etc., that have to purify previously. The diffusion coefficients present/display a great conditional variety to the dependency characteristic with the temporary and space scale of the main phenomena. The measured coefficients of diffusion were grouped according to the Reynolds number and a classification became: hypo-diffusion, hyper-diffusion and anomalous diffusion. This characterization of scenes allows obtaining the waves parameters, the average one to model its behavior and power to predict its evolution. In the field of the waves run-up, etc. can be obtained spectra of energy and other parameters for their characterization, the morphology of submerged bars, identification of return currents. In the port of Barcelona numerous speed data of wind (Vv) and current were taken (Vc) arriving at a good correlation between both (Vcx (cm/s) = 2,306 Vvx (m/s) + 0,148) and stating that an influence of other effects are as the tide, reflection of the wharves or diffraction that cannot be avoided. The images of Radar of synthetic Opening SAR allow to detect episodes of contamination and to analyze the vorticity on great scale of means. Was surprising the great number of spots identifies. It was verified that the spills follow the Law of Zipp (hyperbolic distribution between the accidents and their size). Saw that the eddies follow the direction of the submarine tubes. With the analysis fractal and multifractal of the contour of the spot it is possible to be characterized its origin (human or natural like masses of plankton) and its aging or persistence, etc. It is verified that it is possible that the intermitency of the turbulence can obtain parameters by means of measures fractals and that the use of moments of superior order aid to compare measures of diffusion on different scales by means of the Generalized Law of Richardson. Thus it is related the slope of the phantom, the intermitency and the temporary dependency of the effective diffusion. The different agents who produce diffusion in the sea undergo complex not-linear interactions. It, is tried yet to contribute to include/understand better the

Uppsatsen behandlar hur turismorganisationer på nationell och regional nivå arbetar med turismplanering och turismmarknadsföring för att skapa en bra och sanningsenlig image av Spanien och Costa del Sol i turismsammanhang. I uppsatsen tillämpas en kvalitativ metod. Analysen sker genom texttolkning efter hermeneutiska principer. Symboler tolkas även genom semiotik och metonymi. Uppsatsen beskriver hur turismplaneringen är organiserad i Spanien på nationell och regional nivå och hur dessa nivåers turismorganisationer arbetar med turismens utveckling. En överblick ges över Spaniens turismutveckling och turismmarknadsföring i historiskt och nutida perspektiv. Framtida turismutveckling analyseras med hjälp av främst olika planer – Plan 2020 på nationell nivå och Plan Qualifica på regional nivå. Tidigare forskning inom destinationsmarknadsföring, image och varumärken behandlas. Destinationsmarknadsföringen går ut på att ge turisterna positiva känslor för destinationen. Spaniens symboler och kampanjer tolkas enligt semiotiska modeller. Slutligen behandlas de destinationsproblem som finns på Costa del Sol inom miljömässiga, ekonomiska och sociala områden. Utifrån detta analyseras hur Spanien och Costa del Sol kan föra ut sitt marknadsföringsbudskap på bästa sätt. De slutsatser som dras i uppsatsen är att turismmarknadsföringsbudskapet från nationell och regional nivå måste koordineras. Det behövs också skapas en koherens mellan budskapet som förs fram till kunden och det som kunden upplever på destinationen. Om dessa faktorer samverkar med varandra blir destinationens image bätttre. För att illustrera detta har en modell skapats. Marknadsföringen bör också kombinera välkända symboler med mer nyskapande kampanjer för att få mer uppmärksamhet i den globala konkurrensen mellan olika destinationer. Dessa slutsatser baseras på uppsatsens studie av spanska förhållanden men kan generaliseras till andra destinationer.

In this thesis, I contemplate the ecotourism in theory and in practice. I use the case study of a solid waste crisis (2002-2004) in Tortuguero, Costa Rica, a turtle tourism destination, to explore: the consumptive nature of ecotourism, tourist perceptions of the environment, ecotourism aesthetics, local resistance to ecotourism development, local perceptions of ecotourism's environmental impacts, and the future of ecotourism. I used mixed methods including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and on-site surveys to collect data. I conducted mainly qualitative analysis (thematic coding; adapted grounded theory) influenced by political ecology, environmental justice, resistance studies, tourism studies, and the geography of tourism. My use of environmental justice concepts to frame the solid waste crisis in Tortuguero, and the application of key concepts from Scott's (1981) Weapons of the Weak to local behavior and narratives both represent fairly novel applications in an ecotourism context. I attempted to move beyond a restricted case study by emphasizing characteristics shared between Tortuguero and other sites, in the hopes of contributing towards efforts to inject new theoretical applications into tourism studies. This case study reveals the consumptive side of ecotourism, and the analysis of tourist survey responses highlights the central role of aesthetics in ecotourism. This project challenges simplistic portrayals of ecotourism as 'benevolent and benign' (e.g. by highlighting its consumptive impacts and related injustices), and of ecotourists as more aware and altruistic than mass tourists (e.g. by presenting a heterogeneous group of respondents who none the less, stress aesthetics). It updates existing literature on Tortuguero by presenting data on tourist and local perceptions of Tortuguero, and by suggesting explanations for divergent perceptions of the park's role in ecotourism, for example. The evidence that I present of local resistance and waste-related injustices suggest that despite its high profile reputation, multimillion dollar annual revenues, improved local standards of living, and green turtle conservation successes, critical details and key voices have largely been 'left out of the story of ecotourism in Tortuguero'. I hope that his study contributes to encouraging the culture of 'greater ecotourism realism' that is needed in order to move forward. / Dissertation

<p>Remote sensing technologies offer an innovative way to study tropical forests and complement research from forest inventory plots. From a logistic standpoint, remote sensing mitigates some of the physical, political, and economic challenges that complicate terrestrial studies of tropical forests. From a biological standpoint, remotely sensed data can elucidate ecological phenomena and dynamics of tropical forests that may be challenging to observe on the ground. I conducted a digital aerial survey during the peak blooming period for <em>Dipteryx panamensis</em>. <em>D. panamensis</em> is a canopy emergent, keystone tree species within the lowland Atlantic forests of Costa Rica. The aerial survey occurred over Maquenque National Wildlife Refuge, which is situated in the proposed San Juan-La Selva Biological Corridor. Maquenque was decreed in 2005 to protect the last breeding habitat for the endangered Great Green Macaw (<em>Ara ambigua</em>) in Costa Rica. The Great Green Macaw depends on <em>D. panamensis</em> as its primary food and nesting resource. However, because of Costa Rica's complex deforestation history, the Great Green Macaw remains imperiled due to habitat fragmentation, degradation, and loss. Only 25 to 35 breeding pairs and 250 individuals likely persist in the country. My research had three main objectives. First, I evaluated a classification technique that capitalized on the unique spectral signature of blooming <em>D. panamensis</em> in order to detect this species using a pattern recognition approach. Second, I determined the landscape density and distribution of this tree species using results from the aerial survey and classification. I also noted environmental factors predicting potential <em>D. panamensis</em> habitat using a classification and regression tree (CART) model, and I subsequently calculated how much potential habitat exists in Costa Rica. Third, I identified environmental conditions that indicate potential breeding habitat for the Great Green Macaw using a CART model, and I calculated how much potential breeding habitat exists in Costa Rica. Results of the classification work indicate that <em>D. panamensis</em> can be identified based on its unique spectral signature. In particular, the IHS (intensity, hue, saturation) color space was effective at resolving this tree. Results of the density analysis suggest that canopy emergent <em>D. panamensis</em> trees occur at densities as high as 2 trees/hectare. This work demonstrates that <em>D. panamensis</em> exists in denser patches than previously determined from forest inventory plots. Environmental conditions that will support high densities of <em>D. panamensis</em> habitat occur between 45 and 125 meters in elevation and on soil with an acid and clay profile. Nearly 240,000 hectares could support high density patches of <em>D. panamensis</em> in Costa Rica. Potential Great Green Macaw breeding habitat is defined by the density of <em>D. panamensis</em> trees within its 550-hectare breeding territory. Approximately 67,000 hectares of Great Green Macaw breeding territory exist in Costa Rica. Ultimately, the conservation of both <em>D. panamensis</em> and the Great Green Macaw in Costa Rica may require a multinational partnership between Costa Rica and Nicaragua.</p> / Dissertation

<p>Over the last thirty years successful national economic development is considered participation in global industries, particularly in global value chains. Frequently, however, inclusion in these chains brings forth varied socioeconomic benefits for chain actors, acutely different ethnic and racial groups. Costa Rican participation in the tourism global value chain while heralded as a success story shows varied impacts for ethnoracial groups who are incorporated, excluded, and stratified in various forms. By comparing two communities in Costa Rica, Tamarindo and Cahuita, three main practices are apparent in determining the position of foreigners from the global North, Costa Ricans from the Central Valley, Afro-Costa Ricans, and Guanacastecans in the industry as workers or entrepreneur suppliers: (1) the role of <italic>governance structures</italic>, i.e., power dynamics between firms along the value chain and the importance of standards, formal and subjective; (2) <italic>institutions</italic>, including global private travel fairs, national tourism boards, and specific development policies; and (3) the dominance of environmental imagery and rural democracy narratives to <italic>market</italic> Costa Rica. Concretely, the development of global tourism in Costa Rica and its impact upon different groups is nuanced and it is a testament to both opportunities for local economic and social empowerment and stratification and marginalization.</p> / Dissertation

In the Central Valley of Costa Rica in the Department of Heredia, I investigated the soil chemical properties and microbial communities under four native shade tree species in a coffee agroforestry system. In the second year of the study, Effective Microorganisms, a microbial inoculant, was applied to examine its effect on soil chemistry. The shade tree species included in this study were Anonna muricata L., Diphysa americana Mill., Persea americana Mill., and Quercus spp. L. Plots measured 20 by 30 meters and were replicated three times for each shade tree species except for Quercus spp., which only had two replications. Twelve composite soil samples were collected from each plot in 2008 and again in 2009, and twelve composite foliar samples were taken from the coffee plants in each plot in 2008. The results of this study indicated that the species of native shade tree had a significant effect on soil ammonium-N, nitrate-N, total dissolved nitrogen and magnesium. Sun or shade position had a significant effect on dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon. The species of native shade tree also had a significant effect on the composition of soil microbial communities. PLFA analysis revealed a significant difference in soil fungi abundance in soil samples from Annona plots relative to those from Persea plots. Effective microorganisms in combination with the tree species, as well as in combination with species and sun or shade position, had a significant interaction effect on soil ammonium-N, with the EM-treated plots showing higher concentrations of soil ammonium-N. There was a significant positive correlation between soil pH and foliar calcium, as well as soil dissolved organic nitrogen and foliar %N, at p< 0.01. This study suggests that Quercus spp. is a tree species that may help to regulate the cycling of nitrogen in the coffee agroecosystem. Annona muricata appears to inhibit the action of some fungal species and may reduce the occurrence of fungal pathogens in the soil, although the present study did not explore this issue. Although Diphysa americana is a legume, it does not appear to increase the amount of soil nitrogen in the vicinity of the coffee plants themselves. All four tree species in this study improve coffee soils by increasing soil concentrations of dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon. Coffee yield data and long term observations on the health of the coffee plants would clarify whether one of these species is particularly beneficial, from an agronomic perspective, for the productivity of this coffee agroecosystem.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Communication, Information and Library Studies." Includes bibliographical references.