Esta dissertação tem um propósito ambicioso: procura repensar o modelo de integração econômica na América do Sul. O método escolhido para tanto foi o de analisar e extrair lições de outras experiências de integração econômica para balizar uma reflexão sobre este processo na região. Neste sentido, dividiu-se a dissertação em três capítulos, além de um breve capítulo introdutório e das considerações finais. No capítulo 2, “Considerações Gerais e Teorias sobre Integração Econômica Regional”, realiza-se apenas algumas definições conceituais e uma breve revisão das teorias sobre integração econômica regional. O intuito deste capítulo inicial é tão somente de “limpar o terreno” para a análise dos capítulos posteriores. Feito isso, no capítulo 3, “Lições das Experiências Internacionais Recentes: União Monetária Europeia, NAFTA e Cooperação Financeira no Leste Asiático”, analisa-se as principais experiências internacionais de integração, apresentando basicamente a racionalidade, a lógica básica de funcionamento e os resultados alcançados por cada uma delas, de tal forma a depreender algumas lições para a América do Sul. No capítulo 4, “Lições das Iniciativas Pretéritas de Integração na América do Sul: Uma Breve Análise do Caminho Percorrido da ALALC à UNASUL”, apresenta-se um apanhado histórico das iniciativas de integração econômica na América do Sul, seguindo essencialmente a mesma estrutura do capítulo anterior. Por fim, nas considerações finais, à luz das lições extraídas nos capítulos anteriores, são tecidos alguns comentários sobre as iniciativas integracionistas vigentes na região. / The dissertation has an ambitious intention: it aims at rethinking the model of economic integration in South America. The method chosen for such task was to analyze and extract lessons of other experiences of economic integration to define a reflection regarding this process in the region. In this direction, the dissertation was divided into three chapters, along with a brief introductory chapter and the final considerations. Chapter 2, “General Considerations and Theories on Regional Economic Integration”, presents some conceptual definitions and a brief revision of the theories on regional economic integration. The intention of this initial chapter is mainly to “clear the ground” for the analysis of the subsequent chapters. Once this is done, in chapter 3, “Lessons of the Recent International Experiences: European Monetary Union, NAFTA and Financial Cooperation in the East Asian”, the main international experiences of integration are analyzed, presenting basically the rationality, the basic logic of functioning and the results reached by each one of them, in such way to infer in the end some lessons for South America. Chapter 4, “Lessons of the Past Initiatives of Integration in South America: a Concise Analysis of the Way from ALALC to UNASUL”, presents a historical summary of the initiatives of economic integration in South America, following, essentially, the same structure of the previous chapter. Finally, in the final considerations, in light of the lessons extracted in the previous chapters, some comments are made on the effective integrationist initiatives in the region.

A côté des grandes ONG qui bénéficient d'une visibilité dans l'espace public national, de nombreux citoyens décident, suite à une expérience vécue dans ou avec le Sud (voyage, résidence, adoption, etc.), de « faire quelque chose » pour améliorer les conditions de vie des populations rencontrées et, avec le concours de quelques amis, créent leur propre association de solidarité internationale. Dans un contexte marqué par la recherche d'une meilleure efficacité des interventions menées dans les pays du Sud, leitmotiv de l'injonction à plus de professionnalisme de la part des acteurs, cette thèse étudie les discours et les pratiques de ces citoyens « ordinaires » afin de mettre en lumière le rôle qu'ils jouent dans le champ du développement à travers l'animation de ces « initiatives populaires de solidarité internationale » (IPSI). Plus précisément, dans la tradition interactionniste de la sociologie des groupes professionnels, nous nous intéressons au processus dialectique par lequel les responsables salariés des ONG et les responsables bénévoles des IPSl construisent et définissent leur légitimité d'amateur et de professionnel, en tant qu'acteur de développement. La sociologie de l'action publique nous invite également à étudier l'influence que les pouvoirs publics, par leurs instruments, ont sur la responsabilité et la légitimité des acteurs, sur leurs interactions, sur leur reconnaissance mutuelle. L'injonction externe au professionnalisme provenant également des exigences formulées par les partenaires du Sud, nous nous intéressons enfin, de manière transversale, aux perceptions de ces derniers, dans le cas de projets soutenus au Sénégal. / Alongside established, high-profile non-governmental organisations (NGOs), many individuals decide that they need to "do something" to improve the lives of the people they have met (while travelling, living in another country or adopting a child, etc.). These people join forces with a small group of friends to set up their own development organisations (referred, to hereafter as "popular development initiatives", or PDIs). At present, one of the major concerns in international development cooperation is to make development workers more professional in the interest of better aid effectiveness. This thesis therefore looks at the discourses and practices of these "ordinary" citizens, in order to highlight their role and to identify key issues for this sector. More specifically, we study the dialectic process by which NGO staff and PDI volunteers build and define their professional and amateur legitimacy as development actors, through the prism of the interactionist perspective of the sociology of professional groups. We also draw on the sociology of public action to consider how public authorities, through their policy tools, influence the responsibility and legitimacy of these actors, the interactions between them, and their mutual recognition. The need for professionalism also stems from demands by local partners in the developing world, so we have taken an interest in their perceptions in the case of Senegal.

<div> <div> <div> <p>Puerto Rico’s lack of effective and affordable energy substitutes after Hurricane Maria resulted in a mortality increase of 4,970 residents (Verma, Murray, and Mamdani, 2018). Puerto Rico’s Island dependency on electric power and no energy substitutes available have provoked a risk to human life after catastrophic events. The problem was measured by comparing Puerto Rico’s reliance on fossil fuels with accessible and economical renewable energy options. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies are the optimum alternative to transition from fossil fuel usage to renewable energy. Previous research has demonstrated the impact of using solar panels instead of an electric grid due to the constant solar radiation throughout the year. The analyzed data and projections showed a reduction in fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions by implementing solar photovoltaic technologies. The installation of PV systems in landfills, household roofs and transitioning to solar public lighting positively impacts the atmosphere carbon dioxide emissions. </p> </div> </div> </div>

Art has a long and nuanced history within the context of the prison. Prisoners have utilized wall drawings, tattooing, journaling, and other forms of creative expression to break the monotony of prison life. Over time, art has evolved in the prison context and has been utilized by researchers, therapists, and teachers as a method of rehabilitation that falls outside of more conventional methods such as talk therapy, drug treatment, and anger management programs. Arts programming allows prisoners to express themselves in new and creative ways, as well as the ability to build new skills and foster better relationships with themselves and each other. A review of the literature discusses the negative effects of imprisonment on the body. As a result of the violent and incapacitating nature of being caged, prisoners become mirrors of the carceral space. Bodies become rigid, condensed, hunched, or even bulky in order to survive. Dance is an opportunity for prisoners to find freedom within the walls of a prison, as well as more tangible benefits such as improving posture, flexibility, and giving prisoners new ways to express themselves through movement. This can lead to improved self-esteem, a sense of accomplishment, and fostering better relationships with themselves and others. Using Foucault’s concept of docile bodies as well as Goffman’s theory dramaturgy, this research serves to fill in gaps in the literature around how dance impacts the body and emotional well-being. Through one-on-one interviews with members of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, this paper will examine dance’s ability to free the body and help prisoners find a sense of belonging and identity unrelated to their criminality.

There have been a number of support initiatives rendered to the small-scale sugarcane farmers in Mpumalanga but the sugarcane production there has remained low. This raised some questions on the efficient use of available resources and the fruitfulness of the Producer Development Initiatives (PDIs). Justification for further assistance to the small-scale farmers requires empirical evidence of efficient resource use. This study employed the stochastic frontier production function to calculate the technical, allocative and cost efficiency. This study provides insight into three issues: the levels of technical, economic and allocative efficiencies of small-scale sugarcane farmers; the relationship between efficiency level and various farm/farmer specific factors; and implications of policy and strategies for improving small-scale sugarcane production. The technical, allocative and economic efficiencies of small-scale sugarcane farming were estimated in order to identify the potential increase in production without incurring additional costs. The study used data obtained from a field survey covering 231 small-scale sugarcane farmers in the Nkomazi region for the 2009/2010. sugarcane production season. According to the stochastic frontier production function using the Cobb-Douglas model, labour, herbicides and fertilizer showed significant positive effects on sugarcane production. The results also indicated that the small-scale sugarcane farmers suffer from considerable lack technical, allocative and cost efficiency. The mean technical, allocative and cost efficiency estimates are 68.5%, 61.5% and 41.8% respectively. A Tobit regression was used to analyse the impact of the farm/farmer characteristics on efficiency. The impact analysis revealed that age, level of education and gender are significant determinants of technical efficiency. On the other hand, level of education, off-farm income, land size and experience are significant determinants of allocative efficiency. In so far as cost efficiency is concerned, the significant determinants are level of education, land size and experience in sugarcane farming. The findings of the study justify the need for improved agricultural partnerships between the sugar mills and the sugarcane farmers. An example of such collaboration would be if millers were to not only give credit to the farmers, but also give technical guidance to small producers in return for the delivery of a specific quantity and quality of cane at a stipulated time. The collective efforts of these farmers and millers, once harmoniously co-ordinated, can enhance production efficiency and economic prosperity. Also, appropriate policy formulation and implementation is an effective instrument to improvement in farm efficiency and productivity which promotes overall growth of the economy. Therefore, there is need for all stakeholders (both private and public sector) to make combined efforts to remove the bottlenecks that have constrained effective policy implementation in, and its accrued benefits to, South African agriculture. / Dissertation MSc (Agric)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

In Sweden, 23% of young women and girls between 16-24 reports to have been abused at least one time by a current- or ex-partner. Youth intimate partner violence is a critical issue with great negative impact on both individuals and society if not prevented early. Women and girls are recognized as essential actors in the 2030 Agenda, and strengthening the rights women and girls is an important step for achieving gender equality. The Foundation 1000 Möjligheter is a youth centre working to address the issue of youth intimate partner violence through support of young victims of abuse as well as to acknowledge young perpetrators of violent acts. The aim of this thesis was to examine the Foundation 1000 Möjligheter and their project UngaRelationer.se and how their work affects the knowledge gap of youth intimate partner violence in Sweden. Another aim was to investigate the consequences of youth intimate partner violence on sustainable development. This was studied through five qualitative semi-structured interviews; two with the Foundation 1000 Möjligheter, two with volunteers of UngaRelationer.se, and one with an employee of the Swedish Gender Equality Agency. The results were analysed through a literature review of the field of violence against women, feminist social movements and the gender and development theory. This study discovered that the lack of knowledge of youth intimate partner violence among youth, parents and other adults’ in proximity to youth is a hindrance to further initiatives to ending the violence. The Foundation 1000 Möjligheter addresses the knowledge gap on youth intimate partner violence through educating youths and adults on factors and perspective that are essential to understand and recognize violence and abuse. The efforts of the women’s movement to raise the issue and push for policy change is fundamental in the case of both adult and youth intimate partner violence and further mobilization is needed. The health effects as consequences of youth intimate partner violence risk to exclude young women and girls from higher education, meaningful interactions and influential positions in society. As women and girls are important actors of change, these consequences pose a threat to sustainable development.

The risk assessment process and the subsequent risk management measures need tobe constantly evaluated, updated and improved. This thesis contributes to that workby considering, and suggesting improvements, regarding aspects like userfriendliness,transparency, accuracy, consistency, data reporting, data selection anddata evaluation.The first paper in this thesis reports from an empirical investigation of themotivations, intentions and expectations underlying the development andimplementation of a voluntary industry owned environmental classification systemfor pharmaceuticals. The results show that the purpose of the classification systemis to provide information, no other risk reduction measures are aimed for.The second paper reports from an evaluation of the accuracy and the consistency ofthe environmental risk assessments conducted within the classification system. Theresults show that the guideline recommendations were not followed in several casesand consequently alternative risk ratios could be determined for six of the 36pharmaceutical substances selected for evaluation in this study. When additionaldata from the open scientific literature was included the risk ratio was altered formore than one-third of the risk assessments. Seven of the 36 substances wereassessed and classified by more than one risk assessor. In two of the seven cases,different producers classified the same substance into different classificationcategories.The third paper addresses the question whether non-standard ecotoxicity data couldbe used systematically in environmental risk assessments of pharmaceuticals. Fourdifferent evaluation methods were used to evaluate nine non-standard studies. Theevaluation result from the different methods varied at surprisingly high rate and theevaluation of the non-standard data concluded that the reliability of the data wasgenerally low. / QC 20100929

In the face of climate change, our planet is going through unprecedented changes, making international governance and cooperation on this issue a necessity. Recent studies indicate that the window to act to stay within the 1.5 °C target of the Paris Agreement has narrowed, and that strong and urgent action is needed. Furthermore, there are indicators that Sweden will not reach its national emission reduction goal of net zero emissions by 2045. Many researchers point to the Paris Agreement's increased focus on non-state actors as contributors to climate change governance, and their ability to 'bridge the gap' between current actions and the actions needed to limit global warming. Businesses and the private sector are prominent non-state actors because of their financial and technological power. Hence, this study investigated how Swedish climate change initiatives that gather companies can assist with the transition to net zero emissions by 2045. Utilizing a mixed methods research design, this study has conducted both a survey as well as several in-depth interviews to investigate how climate change initiatives are perceived to affect member companies to reduce their emissions. It also explored the larger impact of climate change initiatives on non-members and society. The findings show that the main influence of climate change initiatives happens through lobbying. Lobbying is both described as one of the main reasons behind companies joining an initiative, as well as where climate change initiatives are perceived to have the largest impact. Furthermore, the study found that participation in initiatives may lead companies to reformulate their internal reduction targets into being more ambitious. It is, however, difficult to determine whether participation leads to actual emission reductions. Finally, climate change initiatives may also lead to impact further down the value chain of a company and facilitate knowledge sharing both internally and externally.

Uppsatsens syfte var att undersöka socialarbetares erfarenheter av att stödja deltagare i arbetsmarknadsinsatser. För att undersöka detta genomförde vi fem kvalitativa intervjuer med socialarbetare som är verksamma inom arbetsmarknadsenheter i två olika kommuner. Efter intervjuerna genomfördes en innehållsanalys. Resultatet av denna visar att socialarbetarna upplever att klienten påverkas positivt av rutiner och känsla av sammanhang, samt får en viktig referens att tillföra i CV:et. Respondenterna beskrev även ökad självkänsla och ett kontaktnät som främjande för individen. Enligt resultatet finns det faktorer som hindrar socialarbetarna i arbetet med individen. Dessa faktorer är otydlighet i rollfördelningen mellan arbetsförmedlingen och kommunen, otydligheter i lagen samt att det ibland infinner sig en känsla av tvång hos individen avseende deltagande i en arbetsmarknadsinsats. Slutsatsen är att arbetsmarknadsinsatser ger individen möjlighet att utvecklas på individuell nivå för att på sikt nå ett arbete. Direkta resultat av en arbetsmarknadsinsats är ovanligt, då det tar lång tid att se resultat. / The purpose of this essay was to investigate social workers experiences of supporting participants in labor market initiatives. By interviewing social workers in labor market units, in two different municipalities, and by analyzing their narration of what factors increase a client's chance of employment. After the interviews we performed a content analysis. The result of the analysis shows that the social workers feel that the client is positively affected by routines, the sense of context and receive an important reference to add on the resume. The respondents also described increased self-esteem and a network of contacts as promotion for the individual. According to the result, there are factors that prevent social workers from working with the individual. These factors are ambiguity in the division of roles between the employment service and the municipality, ambiguities in the law and that there is sometimes a feeling of coercion in the individual regarding participation in a labor market initiative. The conclusion is that labor market initiatives give the individual the opportunity to develop on an individual level in order to eventually reach a job. Direct results from a labor market effort are unusual, as it takes a long time to see results.

Climate awareness is growing every day and pressure and expectations of powerful measures from companies are increasing. At the same time, the incentives for many companies to address climate change are small due to limited economic benefits. This master thesis will therefore examine how external certificates that address carbon neutrality can act as a motivator for more sustainable environmental initiatives. The work will also examine the important success factors that exist regarding the design of environmental certificates. The study was conducted through qualitative semi-structured interviews with representatives from several large companies and pro-environmental organizations. Through a detailed analysis, the results showed that an external certificate can strengthen a company's legitimacy and competitiveness, which in previous studies have proven to be motivators for increased environmental initiatives. The certificate itself cannot, however, be seen as a motivator. The conclusion further showed that a global standard is more sought after than a certificate. The study also resulted in the identification of three cornerstones for a successful certificate. These are: working with a credible NGO to achieve high credibility, base all criteria on research, and take into account the views of the industry. Three separate in-depth technical advancement studies have also been carried out and are presented separately in the appendix.