Ecotourism from its genesis and founding theories has been set out to conserve and preserve the environment through sustainable operation that includes surrounding communities in efforts to reduce their poverty levels. Over the years ecotourism has been hypothesized to have departed from this ideal with several researchers, through social, qualitative analyses, have said that these non-sustainable ecotourism operations are simply due to poor management. This work sought to test this central hypothesis as a first approach to quantitatively linking ecotourism activities to management with surface water quality as the key indicator of sustainable ecotourism as a complex system through systems thinking. This pilot work was done by the use of two study sites in the Caribbean: Iwokrama, Guyana and Greencastle, Jamaica. From General Systems Theory, before systems dynamics can be applied there is a need to first observe components of the system in a reductionist view. This approach had to be taken also since the required data inputs for the systems approach were not available, as is the norm throughout the Caribbean. Thus by creating simple, easy-touse and transferrable sustainability indicator based reductionist-type assessment tools relevant data on ecotourism activities, management and water quality can be obtained in the future and acts as a start to understanding the true systems dynamics among these three entities. The creation of these quantitative reductionist tools utilized social surveying onsite, target plots, sustainability indicators and Social Network Analysis. Tools created were tested through what-if scenarios, with sensitivity analyses, and determined to be able to respond to societal, environmental and economic changes. The basic findings of these reductionist tools were used to establish and initial pathway for quantification inclusive of a framework in STELLA® for the numerical linking of ecotourism management, water quality and sustainability indicators in the Caribbean. This work also established water quality baselines for both study sites through in situ water sampling and testing and further ex situ analysis. As an indirect systems approach to linking sustainable development and the Caribbean, an audit of the Caribbean’s primary and secondary school’s system was conducted and recommendations suggested for the infusion of sustainability into formal education both during and after the United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).

Families migrate to improve their outcomes, however the process is very disruptive. My research asks and answers the question can scaffolding communication through technology mitigate the disruption caused to families by migration, and if so, how? In my work I have explored two forms of disruptive family migration—parental migration (where parents and children live in separate countries) and refugee resettlement (resulting from forced migration). In both forms, families are embedded in support networks of individuals they rely on to minimize vulnerabilities faced post-migration and to rebuild a stable family structure. My empirical results revealed barriers (distance, language, literacy and so forth) that render the communication between families and their support network less than effective. Through participatory approaches, I then design and evaluate separately, two systems to mitigate the barriers and improve communication in the various support networks. The end contributions of my work include: i) contributing a nascent agenda on migration for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and related fields through providing an increased understanding of the challenges that limit the livelihoods of migration-separated and refugee families; ii) demonstrating two communication scaffolding systems for transient use by migrants to mitigate communication barriers--- time and distance on one hand (to support transnational home-school communication) and language and literacy on the other (through mediated human-in-the-loop voice translations for everyday interactions with refugees); iii) putting forth a reflection on methods to guide others seeking to work with similar groups and establishing the notion of designing for transient use in the development of systems to scaffold communication.

By the latter quarter of the eighteenth century, as the movement against the slave trade increased in Britain, Creoles, those of British ancestry born in the West Indies, were increasingly criticized for their involvement in slavery. Simon Taylor, a Jamaican-born planter of Scottish ancestry who lived most of his life in the colony, attempted to negotiate competing and often contradictory sensibilities and subject positions as both British and Creole. One of the central challenges to Taylor’s negotiation of identity was his long-term relationship with Grace Donne, a free mixed-race woman of colour. An examination of their relationship highlights the ways binary discourses and exclusionary practices devised to create and reinforce rigid racial boundaries were regularly crossed and blurred, even by an individual like Simon Taylor, a person well placed to benefit from the policing and maintenance of those boundaries.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2000. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 4, 2006. Dissertation Committee: John Shields (chair), Lucia Getsi, Nancy Tolson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 179-190) and abstract. Also available in print.

BEZERRA, Débora Andrade Pamplona. O movimento rastafári : da Jamaica para identidade e cultura em Fortaleza. 2012. 317f. – Tese (Doutorado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação Brasileira, Fortaleza (CE), 2012. / Submitted by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-03-10T14:12:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2012-TESE-DAPBEZERRA.pdf: 10869512 bytes, checksum: cfcc830f2b2eef0cea10ec2a085e1b4a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo(marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2014-03-10T16:45:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2012-TESE-DAPBEZERRA.pdf: 10869512 bytes, checksum: cfcc830f2b2eef0cea10ec2a085e1b4a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-03-10T16:45:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2012-TESE-DAPBEZERRA.pdf: 10869512 bytes, checksum: cfcc830f2b2eef0cea10ec2a085e1b4a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / This research aims to explore and describe how the Rastafarian movement has manifested their beliefs in Fortaleza, Ceará. After a comprehensive view of the movement as it originated in Jamaica, I tried to identify the diversity of the culture and ethos of some Rastafarians who reside in Fortaleza, comparing them to general aspects of the movement in Jamaica. I also attempted to point out some traces of their livity that may have been influenced by the culture and identity of Brazil and Ceará. By adopting as a theoretical basis the concepts of culture and identity, I investigated the identity aspects of people who classify themselves as Rastafarians in Fortaleza, Ceará, through semi-structured interviews and through records of their memories. Other than the interviews, participant observations were also conducted, where I took part in events promoted by the interviewees, whose purpose was to observe their contexts and collect data to be analyzed later. Through these instruments I was able to explore and describe the peculiar manifestations of these members of the Rastafarian culture who reside in the capital city of Ceará. / Esta pesquisa explora e descreve como o movimento Rastafári tem se manifestado em Fortaleza, Ceará. Após um abrangente panorama do movimento conforme se originou na Jamaica, busquei caracterizar a diversidade da cultura e da organização do viver de alguns adeptos residentes em Fortaleza, comparando-os com aspectos gerais do movimento na Jamaica. Busquei também apontar para traços das suas vivências que possam ter sido influenciados pela cultura e identidade brasileiras e cearenses. Adotando como base de referência teórica os conceitos de cultura e identidade, investiguei, através de entrevistas semiestruturadas e de registros de suas memórias, os aspectos identitários de sujeitos que se denominam adeptos da cultura Rastafári na cidade de Fortaleza, Ceará. Além das entrevistas, foram realizadas observações participantes, nas quais tomei parte em eventos realizados pelos sujeitos entrevistados, visando observar seus contextos e colher dados, que posteriormente foram analisados. Com esses instrumentos foi possível explorar e descrever as manifestações peculiares de alguns membros da cultura Rastafári na capital do estado do Ceará.

Submitted by MARYNA VIEIRA MARTINS ANTUNES null (maryna.martins@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-07-29T11:12:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_Maryna Vieira Martins Antunes.pdf: 5380314 bytes, checksum: 949c6ce6351879c800942768daf086a2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-08-02T12:59:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 antunes_mvm_me_prud.pdf: 5380314 bytes, checksum: 949c6ce6351879c800942768daf086a2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T12:59:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 antunes_mvm_me_prud.pdf: 5380314 bytes, checksum: 949c6ce6351879c800942768daf086a2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-12 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / O objetivo geral desta dissertação é realizar o levantamento, a compreensão e a reflexão das características econômicas, sociais e culturais engendradas na organização espacial dos distritos municipais de Jamaica e Jaciporã/Dracena/São Paulo, decorrentes das mudanças verificadas no setor agropecuário regional. Nossa problemática foi construída a partir da hipótese inicial de que a substituição da cafeicultura – central no processo de ocupação e formação dos núcleos estudados – por outros tipos de exploração agropecuária – especialmente a cana-de-açúcar – implicou em diferentes alterações nas funções exercidas e no cotidiano dos distritos. Em termos de metodologia, foi realizado um estudo de caso nos distritos de Jamaica e Jaciporã, cujas etapas incluíram revisão bibliográfica, sistematização de dados de fonte secundária e pesquisa de campo com a aplicação de questionário socioeconômico e realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com os moradores, buscando a produção de dados e informações de natureza qualitativa e quantitativa. Os resultados obtidos nos permitiram verificar que as mudanças, sobretudo no que diz respeito à estrutura fundiária e às relações de trabalho, fizeram com que a agropecuária influenciasse menos na organização espacial dos distritos, que se tornaram espaços, majoritariamente, destinados ao uso residencial para a população empregada no setor de serviços na cidade de Dracena. Constatamos também que houve diminuição da população vivendo nos distritos e, principalmente, no entorno – áreas do rural disperso, em consequência da decadência do café. Com isso Jamaica e Jaciporã passam a se caracterizar pela baixa densidade populacional; econômica; e de redes técnicas, pois perdem as funções relacionadas à organização do espaço agrícola do complexo cafeeiro. Ocorre um processo de “envelhecimento das formas” associadas ao café e alguns processos de refuncionalização podem ser notados no sentido, principalmente, de qualificar o uso residencial e de prestação de serviços públicos. Nos distritos nota-se que a ruralidade ultrapassa o (setor) agrícola e é marcada pela convivência, proximidade e laços de parentesco entre os moradores e pelas estratégias “solidárias” desenvolvidas pela população a fim de alcançar amenidades no cotidiano, solução de conflitos e melhorias nos distritos, por meio das articulações e reivindicações políticas perante a administração municipal. / The overall objective of this work is to survey, understanding and reflection of the economic, social and cultural characteristics engendered in the spatial organization of the municipal districts of Jamaica and Jaciporã / Dracena / São Paulo, resulting from changes in the regional agricultural sector. Our problem was built from the initial hypothesis that the substitution of coffee - central to the process of occupation and formation of the studied cores - for other types of agricultural exploitation - especially the sugarcane - resulted in various changes in his roles and the daily life of districts. In terms of methodology, we conducted a case study in the districts of Jamaica and Jaciporã. The steps were literature review, systematization of secondary data and field research with the application of socioeconomic questionnaire and carrying out semi-structured interviews with residents seeking production data and information qualitative and quantitative. The results allowed us to verify that the changes, especially with regard to land ownership and labor relations, ended up making the agricultural influenced less in the spatial organization of districts, which have become spaces, mostly intended for residential use for the population employed in the service sector in the city of Dracena. We also note that there was a decrease of the population living in the districts and especially in the vicinity - the dispersed rural areas, due to the decline of coffee. With that Jamaica and Jaciporã come to be characterized by low population density; economic; and technical networks, as they lose the functions related to the organization of the agricultural area of the coffee complex. Is a process of "aging forms" associated with coffee and some refunctionalization processes can be noticed in the direction primarily to qualify residential use and public services. In the districts the ruralities is more than agriculture, is characterized by the coexistence, proximity and kinship ties between the residents and the strategies "solidarity" developed by the population in order to achieve amenities in everyday life, conflict resolution and improvements in the districts, because there union to political demands for municipal administration. / FAPESP: 2013/03544-1

Input-Output Assessment (IOA) was employed to quantify a likely range of annual lead and cadmium fluxes and to discern their possible flow paths in the water system of the Kingston hydrological catchment in south-eastern Jamaica. This technique was useful to understand how cross-sectoral mass exchanges of these heavy metals ultimately impacted the water resources of the basin. Initially, based on deterministic principles of the urban hydrological cycle, a foundational IOA matrix model was formulated to represent the basin’s typical annual hydrological regime. Here, flows of the water-using or water-impacting sectors that comprise the basin’s water system were identified and quantified. Hereafter the realistically possible cases of minimum, average and maximum direct cross-sectoral mass flows of lead and cadmium were estimated. The heavy metal mass flows of each case were calculated by multiplying the various annual cross-sectoral water flux volumes by corresponding lead and cadmium concentrations. The resulting direct flow matrices  were then stochastically recalculated to succinctly represent the most statistically likely coupled direct and indirect lead and cadmium mass flows in models. After the flux modelling was completed, backward and forward tracing of the mass fluxes identified natural water resources as recipient of most lead and cadmium in the basin. This is arguably the most noteworthy finding of the study as the natural water bodies were loaded even when the water system was modelled to show the minimum likely mass flows of lead and cadmium. From the average and maximum likely fluxes of lead and cadmium, not only did the loading of the natural water resources increase but they in turn started to distribute lead and cadmium to other water bodies. Tracing also identified anthropogenic activities as the driver of lead and cadmium cycling throughout the system. The study was concluded in the recommendation of a strategy to improve wastewater treatment facilities and coverage as the most efficient and cost effective way to ameliorate the degree of lead and cadmium cycling and loading in the water resources of the basin.

Energy sector transformation is of interest to policy makers and energy researchers. Critical to this transformation is efficient (i.e. least-cost) infrastructure investment planning for new generation and transmission infrastructure investments. Similarly, energy policies designed to encourage low carbon electricity generation have fueled much of the transformation globally over the past two decades. However, knowledge gaps remain with respect to the unique economic and geographic features of Small Island Developing States (SIDS); recommendations from previous studies often have limited applicability to the SIDS context. This dissertation addresses these concerns, contributing to our understanding of least-cost planning methods for new infrastructure investments as well as energy policies appropriate for small, isolated and often heavily indebted nations. The island of Jamaica is used as a case study to gain insights more applicable to the broader SIDS context.<div><br></div><div>The first problem this dissertation addresses is the impact of simultaneously planning for generation and transmission infrastructure instead of sequentially optimizing these decisions, as is commonly done. Energy infrastructure planning in SIDS treats transmission infrastructure as an afterthought once generation investments have been determined, potentially leading to sub-optimal investments. Using a dynamic optimization model of generation and transmission infrastructure, we find that it is more cost effective to co-optimize generation and transmission investments. The substitutability between local generation and remote generation, facilitated by transmission infrastructure, underpins this result. <br></div><div><br></div><div>The second empirical problem we address is the impact of loop flow on optimal infrastructure investment decisions. The Energy Information Agency (EIA) defines loop flow as “the movement of electric power from generator to load by dividing along multiple parallel paths; it especially refers to power flow along an unintended path that loops away from the most direct geographic path or contract path” (EIA, n.d.). We find no evidence that loop flow affects optimal investment decisions in Jamaica. We attribute this to an abundance of transmission capacity and the relative simplicity of Jamaica’s network design. Results may differ for other SIDS with different starting configurations.<br></div><div><br></div><div>The third problem this dissertation addresses centers on energy policy. We quantify the cost to the Jamaican society under four different policy scenarios: a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 30% by year 2030, a carbon tax, a production tax credit and an investment subsidy for specific renewable energy resources (solar and wind). We find that if the decision makers’ primary concern is reducing carbon emissions, a carbon tax is the economically efficient choice (of the four options); an RPS has the second-lowest cost to society. Assessing the tradeoffs associated with each option, a carbon tax is efficient but increases the average annual cost of electricity. If, however, the decision makers’ primary objective is energy independence and not carbon emissions reduction, then the RPS may be a better alternative than a carbon tax.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Collectively, this dissertation demonstrates a method for improving long-term planning in the electricity sector in SIDS. It also quantifies the cost to society of implementing a menu of carbon mitigating policies, removing the ambiguity that persists in energy policy setting. Not only does this dissertation advance the energy economic literature by specifically addressing the economic and geographic features of SIDS, but we make our data and program files freely accessible. This is one measure that helps to overcome the data limitation hurdle that is a main contributor to the dearth of energy economics research more applicable to SIDS.<br></div>

La presente investigación busca demostrar la utilidad del uso de los principios del baile de la cultura dancehall en el entrenamiento del actor en formación y el subsecuente aumento de sus competencias para el trabajo con las acciones físicas. Se eligieron, en específico, los conceptos groove y feeling; entendiéndose por groove a la manera en que se manifiestan, en el movimiento, las sensaciones estimuladas por la música del dancehall., funcionando estas como estímulo para la creación y escucha de impulsos; y por feeling, a la escucha y la percepción de uno mismo y de su alrededor. Dicho feeling vendrá a ser el que permite entrenar en la acción y reacción de movimientos con el cuerpo. A partir de ellos, se formula la siguiente pregunta: ¿De qué manera el groove y el feeling aportan al actor en formación en su trabajo con las acciones físicas? Para responder la interrogante se planteó un laboratorio de actores donde se integraron pasos de baile en la rutina de entrenamiento corporal. Estos pasos fueron seleccionados porque en ellos están codificados movimientos exclusivos del baile que lo identifican. Se hizo una clasificación de los pasos que sirviera para el calentamiento, para el entrenamiento del groove y para el entrenamiento de pequeñas actividades físicas. Finalmente se analizaron los procesos de diez estudiantes de la especialidad de Teatro de la PUCP para describir los avances. Por último, esta investigación surge por la búsqueda de una solución diferente a la problemática del “bloqueo”, estado de inactividad o movimientos torpes y entrecortados, que los alumnos de esta carrera suelen experimentar con frecuencia durante el inicio de su formación. Se espera, por tanto, que esta investigación aporte a incrementar la consciencia del cuerpo y de sus movimientos para el correcto desenvolvimiento de los alumnos en posteriores cursos de su proceso formativo.

This study will be investigating the perceptions of the implementation and modelling of best practices in technical vocational education and training (TVET) areas of endeavour. Four lecturers from three selected programmes will be investigated see how well they are preparing their students to enter the technically advanced workplace in an urban tertiary TVET institute in Jamaica. It has been reported by employers that graduates’ performance has been unsatisfactory in the sectors which require technically skilled professionals (HEART Trust, 2012). This investigation will incorporate a literature review of the apprenticeship system, and the current occupational training requirements as well consider competency based methods of teaching used in the TVET classroom. This will be in the context of career development theories, and constructivist and social learning theories. A qualitative research design method will be applied, using a case study approach. In addition to data collected from the lecturers, interviews, observation and focus group discussions with three groups of 15 students will also be collected. Additionally, the Director/ Principal of the Vocational Development Training Institute (VDTI) will be interviewed. Finally, a stakeholders’ report based on employee attitudes in various industries will be used to attain their perspectives on the preparedness of the TVET graduates for the workplace. The results and recommendations will be used to evaluate the best practices of the TVET lecturers. / Educational Leadership