Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Agric) Extension)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

In this work I have been looking at three small everyday sites that can tell big and unexpected stories of how we live together. These sites appear unremarkable at first glance, but on a second look are filled with contradictions and conflicts of interest. I speculate that these marginalised sites operate like “architectural footnotes” helping break the tempo, rhythm and tone of the city while expanding the scope of the narrative beyond the local and specific reading. I’m interested in how we can make sense of the city and critique it in a meaningful way when it appears so fragmented and seems impossible to define in single terms. I have been testing different approaches ranging from surveying, counting, measuring and mapping, to model making, interviews, drawing, film-making and texts. I have been interested in how these diverse methods can help me understand the city in different ways and what they do when used together.In part one: A Fence I investigate a trend towards the increasing enclosure of private courtyard/gardens and the severing of established pathways that are incredibly important for navigating the area. This led to questioning how ground-floor habitation, different forms of tenure, and regulation, affects public access and passage in the area.In part two: A Drinking Fountain I attempted to map the defunct drinking fountains in Stockholm and trace the origin of their (ubiquitous) design. Instead of finding fountains, however, I found a vacuum of responsibility, and questions were raised around why some infrastructures are more important than others and how shared/societal needs seem to have been increasingly privatised. In part three: Some Planting I looked at a recently built area of “urban-community-farming” in the middle of local park. Here tensions between the public, private and common are brought to the fore, questioning how attempts towards more local and participatory democratic processes affect rights of access to, and use of, public spaces, around flexibility and durability, and how we balance short term demands with long term visions.When seen together these “footnotes” can describe a trend towards withdrawal of the state and municipality through the dismantling of infrastructures, deregulation and outsourcing, resulting in an increasingly individualistic and privatised city. This is perhaps unsurprising in itself, but the work that comes out of these sites has helped reveal (to me at least) some of the surprising ways in which this has happened and continues to do so (albeit in different forms) and how this affects the ways in which we inhabit the everyday city.

"The potential hazard of using curbs on high-speed roadways has been a concern for highway designers for almost half a century. Curbs extend 75-200 mm above the road surface for appreciable distances and are located very near the edge of the traveled way, thus, they constitute a continuous hazard for motorist. Curbs are sometimes used in combination with guardrails or other roadside safety barriers. Full-scale crash testing has demonstrated that inadequate design and placement of these systems can result in vehicles vaulting, underriding or rupturing a strong-post guardrail system though the mechanisms for these failures are not well understood. For these reasons, the use of curbs has generally been discouraged on high-speed roadways. Curbs are often essential, however, because of restricted right-of-way, drainage considerations, access control, delineation and other curb functions. Thus, there is a need for nationally recognized guidelines for the design and use of curbs. The primary purpose of this study was to develop design guidelines for the use of curbs and curb-barrier combinations on roadways with operating speeds greater than 60 km/hr. The research presented herein identifies common types of curbs that can be used safely and effectively on high-speed roadways and also identifies the proper combination and placement of curbs and barriers that will allow the traffic barriers to safely contain and redirect an impacting vehicle. Finite element models of curbs and curb-guardrail systems were developed, and the finite element program, LS-DYNA, was used to investigate the event of a vehicle traversing several curb types. Finite element analysis was also used in the analysis of a vehicle impacting a number of curb-guardrail combinations. The results obtained from these analyses were synthesized with the results of previous studies, which involved full-scale crash testing, computer simulation, and other methods. The combined information was then used to develop a set of guidelines for using curbs and curb-barrier combinations on high-speed roadways."

No description available.

In the scope of this study, a interdisciplinarity approach was sought for sustainable practices in the construction of fences and conservation with native species. The objectives of this work were to uncover the preferences of the rural owners of the Paulo Afonso-BA region, as well as the native species used in the construction of their dead fences and qualitatively evaluate the state of conservation of these woods. The interdisciplinary methodology allowed the discovery of the use of 8 species of wood being an exotic, The two species preferred by the rural producers, Braúna, Schinopsis brasiliensis Engl. Native species, and Algaroba, Prosopis julifora (Sw) DC, an exotic species from the Peruvian semi - arid and invasive of the NEB Caatinga. The scarcity of the native species in the fences, however, was verified through the process of replacing the native cuttings by the use of the cuttings of the exotic Algaroba. We evaluated interdisciplinary dendroecological, anatomical and technological aspects (physical and chemical) in the stage of living and dead wood (stakes) in order to validate the state of conservation of dead wood, and adaptive survival strategies and their responses to climatic conditions in Living wood. The results obtained for the anatomical, physical and chemical study of the state of biodegradation of the cuttings, indicated exhaustion of the native species used in the fences. The current stage of conservation of the fences compromises the native species, due to the imminent need for substitution of these stakes, suggesting immediate management of the P. juliflora species. The construction of chronologies of growth rings of these two species allowed to evaluate locally the influence of the climate of the region on its growth in the Caatinga, from the evaluation of different local environmental variables and global climatic events for ENSO and TSA. The chronology of P. juliflora occurred between the period 1975-2015, with an inter-correlation of 0.531 and an average annual rate of increase of 3.71 mm, while the chronology of S. brasiliensis occurred between 1963-2015, with inter- Correlation of 0.560, and mean annual rate of increase of 3.33 mm. P. juliflora showed a correlation with annual precipitation (52%), autumn / winter rainy season (0.57) and thunderstorms (0.35), being inversely correlated with mean temperature (-0.47), Maximum temperature (-0.31) and insolation (-0.43). The growth of S. brasiliensis showed a correlation with annual precipitation (0.71), rainy season autumn / winter (0.64), humidity (0.39) and thunderstorms (0.46), being inversely correlated with temperature Of the air (average: -0.59, maximum: -0.41), insolation (-0.51) and evaporation (-0.35). The conclusions reached were that the P. juliflora species, since its introduction in the mid-1960s, have expanded their living area by favoring them as a function of local climatic conditions and the action of the anthropic degradation processes of the Caatinga through the withdrawal of their Which is leading to scarcity of native species. On the other hand, the low cost of the P. juliflora cuttings, wood technologically resistant to biodegradation has enabled the process of native wood substitution. From the ecological and conservation point of view, mitigating measures of control of this exotic species are necessary. / No escopo deste estudo buscou-se na interdisciplinaridade uma solução para práticas sustentáveis na construção de cercas e conservação com as espécies nativas. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram desvendar as preferências dos proprietários rurais da região de Paulo Afonso-BA, quanto as espécies nativas utilizadas na construção de suas cercas mortas e avaliar qualitativamente o estado de conservação dessas madeiras. A metodologia interdisciplinar permitiu a descoberta de uso de oito espécies de madeiras sendo uma exótica, As duas espécies preferidas pelos produtores rurais foram a Braúna, Schinopsis brasiliensis Engl. espécie nativa, e a Algaroba, Prosopis julifora (Sw) DC, espécie exótica do semiárido Peruano e invasora da Caatinga do NEB. A escassez das espécies nativas nas cercas, no entanto, foi constatada através do processo de substituição das estacas nativas pelo uso das estacas da exótica Algaroba. Avaliou-se interdisciplinarmente os aspectos dendroecológicos, anatômicos e tecnológicos (físicos e químicos) em estágio de madeira viva e morta (estacas) com a finalidade de validar o estado de conservação da madeira morta, e as estratégias adaptativas de sobrevivência e suas respostas às condições climáticas em madeira viva. Os resultados obtidos para o estudo anatômico, físico e químico do estado de biodegradação das estacas, indicaram esgotamento das espécies nativas utilizadas nas cercas. O estagio atual de conservação das cercas compromete as espécies nativas, em função da necessidade iminente de substituição dessas estacas, sugerindo manejo/controle imediato da espécie P. juliflora. A construção de cronologias de anéis de crescimento dessas duas espécies permitiu avaliar localmente a influência do clima da região sobre seu crescimento na Caatinga, a partir da avaliação das diferentes variáveis ambientais locais e eventos climáticos globais para o ENSO e a TSA. A cronologia de P. juliflora se deu entre o período de 1975-2015, com intercorrelação de 0,531 e taxa média de incremento anual de 3,71 mm, enquanto a cronologia de S. brasiliensis ocorreu entre 1963-2015, com intercorrelação de 0,560, e taxa média de incremento anual de 3,33 mm. O crescimento da espécie P. juliflora apresentou correlação com a precipitação anual (52%), estação chuvosa outono/inverno (0,57) e trovoadas (0,35), estando inversamente correlacionada com a temperatura média (-0,47), temperatura máxima (-0,31) e a insolação (-0,43). O crescimento da espécie S. brasiliensis apresentou correlação com a precipitação anual (0,71), estação chuvosa outono/inverno (0,64), umidade (0,39) e trovoadas (0,46), estando inversamente correlacionada com a temperatura do ar (média: - 0,59; máxima: -0,41), insolação (-0,51) e evaporação (-0,35). As conclusões observadas foram que a espécie P. juliflora, desde sua introdução em meados da década de 60, ampliou sua área de vida através do seu favorecimento em função das condições climáticas locais e ação dos processos de degradação antrópica da Caatinga através da retirada de suas madeiras, o que está levando a escassez das espécies nativas. Por outro lado o baixo custo das estacas de P. juliflora, madeira tecnologicamente resistente à biodegradação tem viabilizado o processo de substituição das madeiras nativas. Do ponto de vista ecológico e de conservação, são necessárias medidas mitigadoras de controle dessa espécie exótica.

The practical thesis is based on a visual experimental poetry and its sign system. I am working with own sign system which was inspired by organized fence's structures. These structures were depicted by typographical signs which creates a new graphical compositions. Whole work is organized into three separated author's books. Their interconnection is emphasized by putting into a common case. The first book entitled Poetry of structure – Inspiration establishes contact with readers by means of photographs of spaces and fence's structures. The second book entitled Poetry of structure – Manual is an interlink of the work which informs readers both with the fence's structures and with the typographical compositions. Confrontation of the fence's photographs with the typographical compositions developed an advancement of the reality transformation to the abstract structure. The third book entitled Poetry of structure is the integral poetic anthology. The book presents both the blind blocking of typographical compositions themselves and the final experimental poems based on them.

The recovery of bushes and forests in small country properties, such as it comes being applied in Brazil, does not bring no incentive and orientation to the agricultural producer, leaving the relation between man, right, property and nature in charge of people who, many times, are not prepared to reduce the decurrent environment impacts of the production and maintenance of the property. In virtue of this, this dissertation aims at to stimulate, to demonstrate and to acquire knowledge that the plantation of native and ornamental trees in verge and confrontations significantly reduces onus with the maintenance of surrounds traditional, preventing the falling of trees for confection of stakes bordering landmarks, as well as the acquisition of barbed wires, cramps and manpower. Moreover, this alert work that severity of the necessary environmental legislation to be adapted to the reality of the small agriculturists, propitiating and stimulating the production of cutting of indispensable trees to the exercise of agricultural producer, for personal account or in regimen of familiar economy, so that it can produce devices for the tools (handles), improvements, necessary and firewood for the stove. / A recuperação de matas e florestas em pequenas propriedades rurais, tal como vem sendo aplicada no Brasil, não traz nenhum incentivo e orientação ao produtor rural, deixando a relação entre homem, direito, propriedade e natureza a cargo de pessoas que, muitas vezes, não estão preparadas para reduzir os impactos ambientais decorrentes da produção e manutenção do imóvel. Em virtude disso, esta dissertação visa incentivar, demonstrar e conscientizar que o plantio de arvores nativas e ornamentais em divisas e confrontações reduz sensivelmente o ônus com a manutenção de cercas tradicionais, evitando não só a derrubada de árvores para confecção de mourões e marcos limítrofes, mas também a aquisição de arames farpados, grampos e mão-de-obra. Além disso, este trabalho alerta que rigor da legislação ambiental precisa ser adaptado à realidade dos pequenos agricultores, propiciando e incentivando a produção de mudas de arvores indispensáveis ao exercício da profissão de produtor rural, por conta própria ou em regime de economia familiar, a fim de extrair madeiras para confecção de artefatos para as ferramentas, benfeitorias úteis e necessárias, para utilização de fogão à lenha.

La vie en collectivité confère de nombreux avantages, mais aussi des inconvénients avec lesquels l’animal doit s’accommoder. Afin de maintenir la cohésion sociale, les membres d’un groupe doivent donc faire des compromis et résoudre rapidement les conflits d’intérêts. Comprendre comment les individus arrivent à des décisions communes et optimales permet d’en savoir plus sur l’organisation sociale, les patterns de mouvements et l’utilisation de l’habitat de l’espèce. En retour, ces informations sont essentielles au développement de nouvelles stratégies de gestion. Dans ce contexte, je me suis intéressée à la vie de groupe et aux déplacements collectifs chez le bison d’Europe, espèce expérimentant son grand retour sur son continent d’origine. Mes travaux ont pu mettre en évidence que (1) les liens matrilinéaires étaient au cœur de la vie sociale de l’espèce, (2) le bison européen, contrairement à l’idée populaire, était loin d’être un animal strictement forestier et (3) les déplacements de groupe étaient préférentiellement menés par les femelles dominantes les plus âgées et ayant un veau à leur charge. La prise en compte de ces résultats pourrait grandement améliorer la réintroduction et la gestion des populations de bisons et permettre, par là même, une meilleure cohabitation avec l’Homme. / Community life gives many advantages, but also disadvantages with which animal must accommodate. In order to maintain social cohesion, group members must therefore make compromise and resolve quickly conflicts of interest. Understanding how individuals reach common and optimal decisions helps to learn more about the social organization, movement patterns and habitat use of the species. In return, this information is essential to the development of new management strategies. In this context, I was interested in group life and collective movements of the European bison, species which experiencing its great come back on its continent of origin. My works have shown that (1) matrilineal ties were at the core of the species’ social life, (2) the European bison, contrary to popular opinion, was far from a strictly forest animal and (3) group movements were preferentially lead by the oldest dominant females which had a calf. Taking into account these results could be greatly improve the reintroduction and management of bison populations and, thereby, allow a better cohabitation with humans.

Thesis (Master of Military Studies)-Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 2008. / Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Feb 11, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Quoi de plus naturel qu’une clôture ? Parmi les images d’Epinal qui nous viennent spontanément à l’esprit, le bocage avec ses haies bien ordonnées, évoque une relation apaisée, rationnelle, arcadienne avec une nature nourricière et bienveillante. Pourtant, la prolifération des clôtures en milieu rural depuis un siècle a suscité la curiosité de nombreux chercheurs dans des disciplines variées. Qu’il s’agisse de protéger la nature de dégradations engendrées par les populations humaines - dans le cas d’espaces protégés -, ou à l’inverse de protéger les humains contre des dangers « naturels » - comme dans le cas de la prévention routière, ces clôtures semblent répondre à une nécessité absolue de ségrégation spatiale entre les hommes et la nature : Quoi de moins naturel qu’une clôture ? Vu sous cet angle, le conflit politico-environnemental engendré par la propagation récente des engrillagements forestiers en Sologne reflète assez bien l’ambiguïté de nos perceptions vis-à-vis du caractère naturel ou non de ces clôtures. La Sologne est une région naturelle Française couvrant près de 500 000 hectares délimitée au nord par la vallée de la Loire et au sud par la vallée du Cher. Fruit d’une occupation humaine attestée depuis le XIe siècle, conjuguée à des contraintes écologiques spécifiques, le paysage Solognot est aujourd’hui caractérisé par son couvert boisé important (environ 50% de la surface) et ses populations importantes de grand gibier, qui entretiennent la longue réputation cynégétique de cette région ; la propriété privée y est largement majoritaire (plus de 90% de la surface forestière). En 2012, une agitation médiatique (film, articles de presse, sites internet) cristallisent un conflit environnemental latente, faisant intervenir des éléments écologiques – les effets supposés bénéfiques ou néfastes de ces engrillagements sur la grande faune, mais aussi politiques – la nécessité de réglementer les engrillagements, et culturels - la sauvegarde du « paysage Solognot ». Afin d’analyser ce conflit, une approche interdisciplinaire de type Political Ecology a été menée, mêlant travail d’enquête auprès de la population et étude du fonctionnement écologique des espaces engrillagés. Ces travaux ont montré que les engrillagements modifient la répartition spatiale des cerfs. La recherche d’effets cascades sur les oiseaux forestiers - résultants des surdensités locales de cerfs en espace engrillagé - n’a cependant pas mis en évidence d’effet négatif. A partir des enquêtes, il apparaît que le conflit est pluridimensionnel et que l’aspect écologique – bien réel – ne suffit pas à lui seul pour comprendre l’enjeu de ce débat au sujet des engrillagements. Ces résultats génèrent une réflexion sur la complexité des conflits environnementaux, et la nécessité d’envisager ces conflits sous des angles différents. Cela implique d’utiliser des outils et des approches issues de plusieurs disciplines, mais aussi et surtout de parvenir à mettre en résonance le matériel hétérogène ainsi obtenu, afin de proposer une approche multifacette mais cohérente. Dans ce cas d’étude, les résultats sur les effets cascades se sont par exemple révélés extrêmement marginaux, alors qu’une étude parallèle sur le comportement du sanglier en milieu engrillagé aurait probablement été très pertinente. Cela amène plus largement à réfléchir sur le « cadrage » des problèmes environnementaux, et sur les choix conscients ou non que nous faisons lorsque nous décrivons une situation comme problématique pour « la nature ». Plus généralement, ces résultats incitent à (re)placer le politique au cœur de nos réflexions sur ce qu’est la « nature », y compris dans la façon dont nous écologues posons nos questions de recherches. / What could be more natural than a fence? Among the traditional images in our collective heritage, a pastoral landscape with well maintained hedges evokes a calm, rational, Arcadian relationship between man and a benevolent, sustaining ature. Yet the century-long proliferation of fences in our rural landscapes has attracted the curiosity of numerous researchers from a variety of disciplines. Whether the goal is to protect nature from the degradations caused by human populations - as in the case of natural protected areas, or inversely, to protect humans from “natural” dangers – as in the case of accident prevention and road safety, fences seem to respond to a primordial necessity to segregate man and nature in space: What could be less natural than a fence? With this in mind, the political/environmental conflict over the recent propagation of forest fences in Sologne reflects quite well the ambiguity of how we perceive such fences – or they “natural” or not? The Sologne is an officially designated “natural region” in France. It extends over nearly 500,000 hectares bordered on the North by the Loire valley and on the South by the Cher valley. The Sologne landscape is the fruit of human occupation, certain since the XI century, combined with specific ecological constraints. Today, Sologne is characterized by extensive forest cover (around 50% of the surface area) and by large populations of big game animals, maintaining the region’s a long history of hunting. Furthermore, land ownership in Sologne is mainly private and more than 90% of the forested area is in private holdings. In 2012, some media excitement (film, newspaper articles, internet sites) crystallized an environmental conflict calling on ecological arguments – the supposed beneficial or detrimental effects of the fencing networks on big game, but also on political arguments – the need to regulate these networks, and on cultural arguments – preserving the Sologne landscape. In order to disentangle the structural lines of this conflict, we applied an interdisciplinary, Political Ecology approach; we combined opinion polls among the inhabitants with the study of ecological functions within the fenced zones. We observed that fences induced modifications of deer habitat use. However, our investigations into a possible cascade effect on forest birds resulting from localized deer over-population in fenced areas revealed no evidence of any negative impact. From our opinion polls, we found that the conflict seems to be multi-dimensional and that the ecological aspect – whose existence is indeed supported by fact – is not sufficient alone to understand what is at stake in this fencing dispute. Our results highlight the complexity of environmental conflicts, and the importance of viewing these conflicts from many different angles. Apprehending this complexity implies using tools and approaches from several different disciplines, but also – and above all – making the heterogeneous results obtained resonate together, in order to propose a coherent, multi-facetted approach. In this study for example, the results obtained for potential cascade effects on birds were extremely marginal, whereas a parallel study on wild boar behavior patterns in an environment with a fencing network would probably have been very pertinent. This leads us to the broader question of the “framework” of environmental problems and to the question of the choices we make – whether consciously or not – when we describe a situation as detrimental to “Nature”. More generally, the results from this study encourage us to put politics (back) into the center of our reflections surrounding the question: What is nature? – and to keep this in mind when we as ecologists define our research hypotheses.