Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Bottom up practices'

Appreciation of how forest land can be managed in a sustainable way in arid and semi-arid zones (ASAZs) of centralized countries is limited. Accordingly, this thesis seeks to analyse the role of government and communities, including women, in the formulation and implementation of sustainable forest management (SFM) policy and practices in the semi-arid environment of Syria where such land is limited in extent (e.g. 3% forest and 57% rangeland) and yet where its high biodiversity value is of international significance. The thesis employs a variety of methods: a case study approach (Syria); a questionnaire (i.e. 142 respondents); face-to-face interviews (i.e. 26 interviewees); participant observation and secondary data. The SFM model was used to organise and analyse the influences of environmental, economic, social, cultural and political issues on the state of forest land in Syria. Three contrasting forest areas were selected for detailed analysis at local level: Al Foronloq had the Arab Institute of Forestry close by and the area had a high biodiversity value for landscape; Abo Kbeis contained key genetic resources and a number of women there had been trained in forest management and Abd Aziz Mountain was characterised by rangeland with traditional grazing plus a very arid environment. The main results obtained from census data confirmed that Syrian forest lands have diminished considerably since 1900 with regard to their geographical extent due to agricultural development, expansion of rural-urban settlements as well as of agricultural land onto Syrian forest land. On a more general level, the political issues in Syria (i.e. centralization and independency of the country) demand development of the internal resources of the country, such as agricultural production, in order to cover the needs of human maintenance. Scrutinising forest documentation and using results of face-to-face interviews, it was found that there were considerable changes in forest policies in terms of forest protection and plantation. In addition, there was a recent indication of adopting SFM principles in the case study area, largely as a result of action by agencies external to Syria at the national level, and the new role of NGOs in forest management at the local level. The increasing level of awareness of environmental problems; the capacity of institutions; community participation in natural resources management and achieving international agreements were also found to be paramount in any contracts between the Syrian government and other organisations. This thesis, at the local level, showed that respondents in the mountains (in the Abd Aziz Mountain (AAM) study area) seemed to be older, poorer, mostly with non-educated background, with more than three children, than in the Al Foronloq (AF) and Abo Kbeis (AK) study areas. Respondent groups in AAM were found to be more dependent upon forest resources than respondents in AF and AK; and they occupied land illegally because of their mission to develop agricultural activities, including grazing. The study confirmed that educated households in AF and AK use forest resources more than non-educated households. Conversely, non-educated households in AAM suffer from gaining a local income which may in turn affect their attitudes and behaviours in using forest resources; and as consequence, householders suffering from financial problems may be less aware of the importance of forest protection and try to solve their individual needs by increasing the pressures on the forest resources. The major constraints affecting the formulation and implementation of SFM policy are insufficient financial resources, inadequate management from national to regional and local levels; the limitations are also related to local communities’ attitudes and ignorance of the role of women in forest management. This thesis found that the contribution of women in the labour force at the local level was high in Lattakia (Al Foronloq study area) compared with other study areas (e.g. 32.9% in Lattakia against 13.4% in Hamah and 18.8% in Alhasake) (UNDP: Syrian Human development, 2005); although, there was a significant relationship between income level, family size and women’s contribution in forest management at the local level and no significant relationship with the educational level. On a more specific level, the role of religious faith in AK affects the contribution of women in the society and the workplace generally and in forest management in particular. Finally, the application of the SFM model in this study provided a flexible approach for analysis of complicated interactions between the government and communities. It also provided a comprehensive framework for different types of analytical purposes. Each of the three main components (issues, state and political decisionmakers) was divided into several sub-components which facilitate the explanation and identification of the complexities affecting the formulation of SFM policy and the implementation of such policy. It helped to provide a set of policy recommendations which may help to increase future community participation in forest management and reduce the influences of community pressures on forest resources in Syria.

Over the last three years, Heimstaden, a real-estate company based in Sweden, has gone through a complex process of redefinition of its identity, defining values and principles. This process is especially delicate in one of the neighborhoods managed by the company, Flogsta, where Heimstaden owns and administrates 2014 student apartments. In the context of this identity definition process, this study analyzes the communication strategies and the organizational identity transmission practices within the company, focusing on the local-level employees’ understanding and experience of Heimstaden’s identity and strategies. From a theoretical standpoint, the research parts from Hallahan, Holtzhausen, van Ruler, Verčič and Sriramesh´s (2007) initial ideas on strategic communication, and implements van Ruler´s (2018) approach to the role that communication plays within strategic communication, as well as to the dichotomy between one-way vs two-way strategies of communication. The analysis also incorporates Schinoff, Corley and Roger’s (2016) views of organizational identity. The research consists of 6 semi-structured interviews with Heimstaden employees. In addition to that, participant observations were also carried out daily over a period of 5 months, due to my position as a Heimstaden employee stationed in Uppsala. The findings of the study reveal that many of the one-way communication strategies currently in use within Heimstaden, are failing at making the local-level employees aware and participant of the company’s identity and changes. Consequently, this study identifies great differences in the way that local-level employees relate to the company’s new identity and principles with respect to the way in which top-level employees do. These differences, in turn, generate that the company’s identity and new way of doing things is not projected properly towards the clients, generating, arguably, reputational problems for Heimstaden in the studied area.

L'accesso a un alloggio adeguato è stato riconosciuto come una condizione direttamente collegata al benessere umano, diventata purtroppo un bene strategico per il mercato finanziario globale, provocando tensioni strutturali che raggiungono il loro apice nei contesti urbani alla periferia dello sviluppo neoliberista. In America Latina, l’instabilità socio-politica, il pensiero progressista (ad esempio, le teorie della Teologia della Liberazione e della Pedagogia degli Oppressi), il know-how tradizionale, la solidarietà e il mutuo soccorso e il sincretismo locale-europeo, hanno creato le condizioni per una tradizione accumulata bottom-up di auto-fornitura di alloggi, dove le persone che sono sistematicamente oppresse ed escluse hanno (ri)rivendicato il diritto all'alloggio e si sono impegnate in progetti politici più ampi. Riguardo a questo, sono stati fatti notevoli sforzi per descrivere la tradizione empirica che si è accumulata, ma ciò che è carente è il tentativo di collegare tale tradizione alle teorie urbane e sociali. Pertanto, questa dissertazione contribuisce proponendo lenti concettuali per osservare e comparare esperienze empiriche locali, in modo che i dati possano essere raccolti su scala regionale e alla fine si possano tradurre tali osservazioni in teorie. Le condizioni abitative globali richiedono nuovi modi di pensare alla fornitura, alla gestione e al possesso di alloggi; quindi, dall'analisi di esperienze contro-egemoniche innovative si possono trarre lezioni preziose. Come metodologia è stata scelta l'analisi comparativa di casi studio e sono stati presi in considerazione alcuni principi derivanti da studi comparativi urbani postcoloniali. I casi di studio selezionati sono Sociedad Cooperativa de Vivienda Unión Palo Alto (Messico) e Asociación Cooperativa de Vivienda La Libertad 13 de Enero (El Salvador), entrambe hanno adattato i principi della rete uruguaiana di Cooperativismo de Vivienda por Ayuda Mutua (CVAM), che hanno ampliato in tutta l'America Latina e si distingue per la sua capacità di adattamento, resilienza, istituzionalizzazione e crescita. I principali risultati della ricerca includono: primo, un modello preliminare per l'analisi comparativa in cui le ipotesi sono delineate sulla base di collegamenti concettuali provenienti da diverse tradizioni accademiche. Social Innovation (SI) fornisce una comprensione più ampia dei processi sociali alla base delle esperienze di Producción Social del Hábitat (Produzione Sociale di Habitat); Hope è riconosciuta come una forza collettiva per contrastare la stagnazione, organizzare azioni di rivendicazione dell'alloggio e fissare orizzonti raggiungibili basati sulle capacità territoriali; e Autonomy rappresenta il processo spazio-temporale di allineamento delle azioni di resistenza in una ricerca collettiva di autodeterminazione che implica la partecipazione agli spazi decisionali. Secondo, un'analisi del quadro normativo nazionale, del sistema istituzionale del settore abitativo e dell'evoluzione di entrambi i casi studio. Terzo, un'analisi comparativa pilota di Social Innovation in Housing (SI-H) in cui le categorie concettuali del modello preliminare vengono messe a punto riflettendo sui risultati provenienti dal lavoro sul campo, inoltre, i dati vengono utilizzati per l'analisi incrociata. Quarto, i risultati delle interviste e delle testimonianze di esperti forniscono nuove prospettive per l'interpretazione dei dati e informano riguardo la mappatura dell'internazionalizzazione della rete di Cooperativismo de Vivienda por Ayuda Mutua (CVAM) in America Latina. Infine, le conclusioni sono organizzate sulla base dei quesiti di ricerca. Primo, sono conclusioni che riguardano collegamenti concettuali e alcune definizioni originali; secondo, sono conclusioni sul modello concettuale proposto e delle sue categorie più rilevanti; infine, c’è una serie di conclusioni del confronto pilota che potrebbero fornire ipotesi per la ricerca futura.
Access to adequate housing has been acknowledged as a condition directly linked to human well-being that has however become a strategic commodity for the global financial market, causing structural tensions that reach their apex in urban contexts on the periphery of the neoliberal development. In Latin America, neoliberal principles have been widely adopted, and urbanization dynamics have reproduced socio-spatial exclusion and inequality. However, socio-political turmoil, progressive thinking (e.g., theories of Liberation Theology and Pedagogy of the Oppressed), traditional know-how, solidarity and mutual-aid, and local-European syncretism, have created the conditions for an accumulated tradition of bottom-up housing self-provision, where people that are systematically oppressed and excluded have (re)claimed their right to housing and engaged in broader political projects. Since the 1970s in Latin America, exemplary practices of organized bottom-up housing claims have emerged, institutionalized, informed governance structures, and been impactful in terms of housing provision. Over this, considerable efforts for describing the accumulated empirical tradition have been done, but less in trying to link it with urban and social theories. Therefore, this dissertation contributes by proposing conceptual lenses for approaching and comparing local empirical experiences, so data can be collected at a regional scale, and theorization can eventually be produced. Global housing conditions demand new ways of thinking about housing provision, management, and tenure; hence, valuable lessons can be drawn from the analysis of innovative counter-hegemonic experiences. Comparative case study analysis has been selected as the methodology and some principles coming from post-colonial urban comparative studies are considered. The case studies selected are Sociedad Cooperativa de Vivienda Unión Palo Alto (Mexico) and Asociación Cooperativa de Vivienda La Libertad 13 de Enero (El Salvador), both have adapted principles of the Uruguayan Mutual-Aid Housing Cooperative Network (CVAM), which have extended across Latin America and stands out due to their adaptability, resilience, institutionalization and scaling-up capacity. The main outcomes of the research include: First, a preliminary model for comparative analysis where assumptions are outlined based on conceptual linkages coming from different scholarly traditions. Social Innovation (SI) provides a broader understanding of the social processes underpinning the experiences of Producción Social del Hábitat (Social Production of Habitat); Hope is recognized as a collective force to counteract stagnation, organize actions of housing claim, and set an attainable horizons based on territorial capacities; and Autonomy represents the spatial-temporal process of aligning actions of resistance in a collective pursuit of self-determination that implies participation in decision-making spaces. Second, a comprehensive analysis of the national regulatory framework, the institutional system of the housing sector, and the evolution of both case studies in different periods. Third, a pilot comparative analysis of Social Innovation in Housing (SI-H) where the conceptual categories of the preliminary model are fine-tuned by reflecting over the results coming from the fieldwork, and data is used for cross-analysis. Fourth, results of the interviews and testimonies of experts which provide new perspectives for data interpretation and inform the mapping of the internationalization of Mutual-aid Housing Cooperatives (CVAM) network in Latin America. Finally, conclusions are organized in accordance to the research questions. First, conclusions regarding conceptual links and some original definitions; second, conclusions on the proposed conceptual model and some of its most relevant categories; third, a series of conclusions from the pilot comparison that could inform hypotheses for future research.

The thesis focuses on the relationship between the production of real estate values and radical spatial practices. The core of this work is investigating how symbolic (non-monetary) values produced by radical spatial practices may be impressed on land and converted into economic values. The starting point of the research and case study are the abandoned Victorian neighborhoods in West London and their reuse through the London squatters’ campaign started in 1969. In particular the work is focused on how these de-valued places were the scene where punk counterculture born and thrived. Part of my work starts from the research on London property market and social changes. It intersects the socio-economic changes happening in London in the 70s with Dick Hebdige’s work on youth, subcultures and style. The discourse on subcultures and style assumes that subcultures produce symbolic value out of objects of everyday use and then the market and the dominant culture de-code and translate these objects into commodities ready for commercial exploitation. In the thesis this discourse is applied to space. The assumption is that subcultures produce symbolic values also in the space they seize. They create a specific ambiance (Debord) and lifestyles that can be intended as semi-objects (Böhme), which can be codified and translated into values to enhance property market.

The increasingly entangled correlation between media, sport and activism in the United States has generated an upsurge in new media research that focuses on athletes’ political social media posts from an ‘outsider’s’ perspective. To clearer comprehend the complex relationship of media, sport and activism from an ‘insider’s’ perspective, this thesis aims to converse with collegiate athletes in the United States about how they experience their personalized politics on social media, as well as it observes the collegiate athletes’ activist practices on particularly Twitter and Facebook. As an auxiliary ‘prop’, I utilize former NFL (National Football League) player Colin Kaepernick’s approach to athlete activism to start the discussions about the topic with the collegiate athletes. Kaepernick’s kneel during the national anthem in 2016, prior to a football game displayed on national television, gained a variety of negative responses, but also sparked a difference in conversations about the politization of sport, and ultimately lead to a swift re-appearance of athlete activism on social media (Serazio and Thorson, 2020). Thus, by collecting interview data and observations of the media practices of collegiate athletes, the analysis draws on bottom-up framing and practice theory to better understand how such sportspersons experience the intersection between sports and politics on social media, the implications of athlete activism, and the media practices involved in such performance. Ultimately, the results of this study suggest that appearances of tensions, anxieties and pressures subsist in collegiate athletes’ activism practices on social media, making it an auspicious site for further research seeking to investigate the intersection of media, sport, and activism.

The primary aim of this thesis was to examine the nature of the representation developed during observational practice. Chapter 2 (Experiment 1-2) investigated the stimulus properties required to learn novel motor skills and the processing mechanisms responsible for learning. Participants attempted a novel relative timing pattern performed on a computer. Following the observation of a novel relative timing pattern via an expert human model (biological motion, BM), constant velocity model (non-biological motion, NBM) or end-state timing information without the trajectory (goal-directed model, GOAL), there was significantly more accurate relative timing error for BM and NBM groups (BM < GOAL, CTL; NBM < CTL (ps < 0.05)) (Experiment 1). Therefore, sequence learning through observation requires the presence of motion information, irrespective of the biological properties. These findings were extended with participants observing biological- or non-biological motion after receiving an instruction that the stimuli were in fact human- or computer-generated (BM-H, BM-C, NBM-H, NBM-C) (Experiment 2). In addition to the test of motor learning, participants completed a crecognition test featuring the detection of previously observed (trained) or novel (new) sequences. The results confirmed significantly more accurate relative timing error for the experimental groups compared to a CTL group. However, the recognition test revealed an attenuation of explicit recognition toward the observation of new sequences for the BM-H group compared to BM-C (p = 0.06), NBM-H and NBM-C groups (ps < 0.05). This indicated implicit motor learning that was specific to BM-H group. Thus, the coding of motion information was subject to top-down processes (i.e., belief), which modulate automatic bottom-up processes sensitive to biological motion. 3 Chapter 2 (Experiment 3-7) focused on the coding of biological kinematics. Thus, the natural movement profile adopted by humans was manipulated by forming an unnatural biological motion model featuring a shift in the proportion of time to peak velocity. The coding of biological kinematics would be indicated by the transition from natural movement kinematics, characterised by an early-to-mid time to peak velocity, toward a novel movement profile featuring a delayed time to peak velocity. Performance was measured by calculating the absolute difference between participant and model pTTPV (imitation error) and pTTPV of segment 1. The results revealed that the observation of unnatural biological motion produced significantly more accurate imitation error and an extended pTTPV, as per the unnatural model (p < 0.05) (Experiment 3). Subsequent experiments were intended to examine the processing mechanisms responsible for the coding of kinematics. Indeed, issuing a secondary movement task during observational practice led to an attenuation of the unnatural kinematics as indicated by no significant differences in imitation error and pTTPV between participants observing natural and unnatural biological motion (p > 0.05) (Experiment 4). This motor interference was effector-independent as indicated by the corresponding attenuation of imitation error and pTTPV after performing secondary movements of an unrelated effector (i.e., foot) (Experiment 5). These results indicate the coding of novel biological kinematics incorporate motor processes typically associated with action-execution. Meanwhile, the coding of biological kinematics was also subject to the direction of attention. That is, a secondary attention demanding counting task attenuated the coding of biological kinematics as there were no significant differences for imitation error and pTTPV (p > 0.05) (Experiment 6). Finally, the instruction to primarily attend to the trajectory compared to a general pre-cue led to a significantly more accurate imitation 4 error score, although significantly attenuated relative timing ~rror (ps < 0.05) (Experiment 7). Together, these results demonstrate the contribution of bottom-up and top-down processes during observational practice.

In 1994, South Africa's post-apartheid government inherited a highly-centralised energy sector, in which all aspects including planning, procurement, generation, distribution, pricing, and management were determined through top-down institutional arrangements and investments, centred around Eskom. In 2016, however, following rounds of energy sector reform, and the successful implementation of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), this centralised configuration of power showed signs of disruption. Municipalities began to ambitiously redefine their role by building on opportunities related to renewable energy, resulting in an emergent challenge to centralised energy policy and planning. This dissertation sought to explore how this contestation took shape and to explain how seemingly ad hoc actions have created new possibilities, as well as new regulatory frameworks, by municipalities for municipalities. To achieve this, an analysis of the evolution of decentralised renewable energy generation in South Africa between 2008, when it first began, and 2016, was undertaken, applying the method of process tracing to two case studies. In order to contextualise these bottom-up processes within the national political economy of energy, process tracing was also applied in a high-level analysis of countervailing movements that consolidate centralised energy planning and procurement during the same period, with a particular focus on national plans to undertake massive investments in nuclear energy. It was found that municipalities' bottom-up actions have positioned them to drive renewable energy in such a way that seriously challenges the historical configuration of power that has determined South Africa's energy future up to now.

This research focuses on storytelling as bottom-up educational leadership and policy making. The researcher examines language policy in practice at a Canadian post-secondary institute, following an institutional ethnographic approach and using discourse analysis tools. Stories about everyday experiences with English language placement testing, communication course marks reassessments, plagiarism, and prior learning assessment and review (PLAR) of communication skills are collected from 9 students, 6 instructors, 5 program heads, and the researcher herself as an associate dean. The researcher’s own identity negotiation as an insider at the institute is explored through discussion of tensions around the handling of people’s stories and the role of reflexivity in shaping the research. The research links the personal to the institutional while exploring connections between everyday experiences and processes of administration and governance. Exploration of policy moments in participants’ stories uncovers a discourse of control and homogeneity where difference is constructed negatively, several language myths operate as forms of domination, and storylines suppress conflict. Exercises highlighting dilemmas that people face at the institute are presented to enable dialogic politics. It is argued that storytelling proved to be a powerful method for surfacing everyday struggles, and the sharing of stories led to a new awareness for participants. Storytelling proved to be a generative form of talking back to policy and policy making as it repositioned policy review as a bottom-up exercise and captured moments of policy as struggle and change. Dialogic exercises are presented as tools for reconstruction of language practices that are more equitable and humane.

Previous studies have demonstrated that observers may ignore highly salient feature singletons during a conjunction search task through focusing the attentional window (Belopolsky, Zwaan, Theeuwes, & Kramer, 2007), or by the suppression of bottom-up information (Treisman & Sato, 1990). In the current study, observers’ eye movements were monitored while performing a search task in which a feature singleton was present and corresponded with the target at a chance level. With practice, observers were less likely to make an initial saccade toward the singleton item, but initial saccades directed at the target were likely throughout. Results demonstrate that, in an effort to ignore the singleton, observers were more likely to suppress bottom-up information than adjust the size of the attentional window.

The main theme of this thesis is the contradiction between discourse and practice in health promotion. Many health promoters continue to exert power-over the community through top-down programming whilst at the same time using an emancipatory discourse. The thesis has addressed this contradiction in three parts. The first part determines how the emancipatroty discourse has evolved and eplores the role of social movements in the development of contemporary health discourses and their influence on the legitimisation of empowerment. Central to this discourse is the empowerment of communities. To understand the role of this concept the thesis provides an interpretation of the different meanings of power and community, and the different levels of analysis of empowerment in the context of health promotion programming. The second part identifies the nature of health programming and the dominance of top-down, and to a much lesser extent, bottom-up approaches. The thesis argues that these two approaches are not, and do not have to be, mutually exclusive. To address this issue the thesis presents a new methodology is situated within a framework developed for the accomodation of empowerment goals within health promotion programmes. The study also identifies the organisational areas of influence on the processs of community empowerment and it is these which are used for the assessment of this concept. Both the framework and the methodology address the contradiction in health promotion by making community empowerment operational within a programme context. The third part of the thesis supports the rationale for the design of the methodology with field work in rural Fijian communities. The findings are presented as a composite case study to highlight the experiences of implementing the methodolgy and the main themes that emerged during the field work. the final chapter of the thesis brings together the central themes of the study and draws from these and 'emergent agenda' as a way forward for health promotion research and practice.

A wide range of additional forward chaining applications could be realized with deductive databases, if their rule formalism, their immediate consequence operator, and their fixpoint iteration process would be more flexible. Deductive databases normally represent knowledge using stratified Datalog programs with default negation. But many practical applications of forward chaining require an extensible set of user–defined built–in predicates. Moreover, they often need function symbols for building complex data structures, and the stratified fixpoint iteration has to be extended by aggregation operations. We present an new language Datalog*, which extends Datalog by stratified meta–predicates (including default negation), function symbols, and user–defined built–in predicates, which are implemented and evaluated top–down in Prolog. All predicates are subject to the same backtracking mechanism. The bottom–up fixpoint iteration can aggregate the derived facts after each iteration based on user–defined Prolog predicates.

Rwanda has made significant progress in decreasing the number of maternal deaths and increasing the number of antenatal care visits and childbirths at health facilities. This thesis seeks to illuminate potential barriers for Rwanda’s goal for maternal survival. The studies explore the bottom-up perspective of policies and practices in regards to maternal care in Kigali. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between 2013 and 2016 with women who nearly died (‘near-miss’) during pregnancy, their partners, and with other recent fathers and community members, as well as healthcare providers who work within abortion care. The framework of naturalistic inquiry guided the study design and data collection. Analysis was conducted using framework analysis, thematic analysis and naturalistic inquiry. The findings identify paradoxical outcomes in the implementation of maternal care policies. Despite recent amendments of the abortion law, safe abortion was identified as being non-accessible. Abortion-related symptoms continue to carry a criminalized and stigmatized label, which encourages risk-taking and clandestine solutions to unwanted pregnancies, and causes care-seeking delays for women with obstetric complications in early pregnancy. Healthcare providers had limited awareness of the current abortion law, and described tensions in exercising their profession due to fear of litigation. The first antenatal care visit appeared to require the accompaniment of a male partner, which underpinned women’s reliance on men in their care-seeking. Men expressed interest in taking part in maternal care, but faced resistance for further engagement from healthcare providers. Giving birth at a health facility was identified as mandatory, yet care was experienced as suboptimal. Disrespect during counseling and care was identified, leading to repeated care-seeking and may underpin the uptake of traditional medicine. An enhanced implementation of the current abortion law is recommended. Reconsideration of policy is recommended to ensure equitable and complete access to antenatal care: women should be able to seek care accompanied by their person of choice. These findings further recommend action for improved policy to better address men’s preferred inclusion in maternal health matters. The findings of this thesis promote continued attention to implementing changes to strengthen quality, and trust, in public maternal care.

The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which verksamhetsidé is seen within the Swedish educational context. In Sweden, the concept verksamhetsidé is used for an idea or a set of ideas related to the practice of an organization, for instance a school or a school district. Although the importance of such shared ideas is often pointed out by practitioners as well as researchers within the field of school development, there is little consensus about their meaning. When it comes to questions about the actual function and character of such an idea, or set of ideas, little guidance is found in the literature. This thesis seeks to contribute to such knowledge. In order to describe variations in the ways such ideas are seen as well as in the ways working with such ideas are seen, a phenomenographic study was carried out. The empirical data consist of deep interviews with 14 school directors of education in one larger city in Sweden; each responsible for several schools and preschools in one district. As directors they were all involved in the process of developing a verksamhetsidé, to guide all educational activities in the area. Results suggest that verksamhetsidé can be seen as a trademark, as putty, as a compass, as a map, or as a shared perspective. Each of these conceptions is used as a label for a category of description, and together they constitute one of the study’s outcome spaces. When it comes to working with such ideas, another variation is found. This variation is described through the concepts of top-down implementation and bottom-up sensemaking. Moreover, the data suggest no correlation between a certain way of seeing a verksamhetsidé and a certain way of seeing how to work with it.
Människors sätt att se varierar. Samtidigt verkar det vara av betydelse att medarbetare i skolan och förskolan utvecklar gemensamma sätt att se åtminstone vissa aspekter av verksamheten. Att bygga upp och fördjupa förståelsen av en gemensam idé framställs i skolutvecklingsforskningen som en viktig aspekt av skolans och förskolans ledarskap. I den här avhandlingen beskrivs variationen i sättet att se verksamhetsidéer, och arbetet med sådana, som den framträder i en grupp skolchefer med övergripande ansvar för pedagogisk verksamhet. Variationen diskuteras sedan i relation till olika sätt att se skolutveckling och ledarskap, samtidigt som avsaknaden av koppling mellan specifika sätt att se verksamhetsidéer och specifika sätt att se arbete med sådana problematiseras. I den avslutande diskussionen framhålls särskilt betydelsen av att de som befinner sig i skolans eller förskolans praktik utvecklar kunskap om variationen och använder sig av den för att bygga upp ny kunskap med relevans för verksamheten och arbetet i den. Till grund för de resultat som presenteras ligger en intervjuundersökning genomförd i en större svensk stad, i vilken det vid tiden för studiens genomförande pågick ett arbete med att bygga upp en, för all pedagogisk verksamhet i staden, gemensam verksamhetsidé.

The original ISBN number of this work ( 978-91-7063-520-5 ) has been replaced by a new one: 978-91-7063-571-7.

Tese de doutoramento em Biociências, no ramo de Ecologia Marinha, apresentada ao Departamento de Ciências da Vida da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra
The creation of protected areas for nature conservation is usually a cause of disagreement between the different users of the territory, particularly in coastal zones, where the highest densities of human populations can be found and several economic and urbanistic interests are overlapped. The Municipalities have a growing interest in the management of these areas, assembling greater efforts to preserve its natural resources, particularly in the coastal areas that are deeply dependent of their touristic activity, aiming at an environmentally sustainable differentiated touristic product. The Biophysical Interest Zone of Avencas created in 1998 was reclassified as Marine Protected Area in 2016 (POOC, 2016). This reclassification process used a bottom-up approach with strong engagement with the public. As a result, several changes were made to the regulation in order to approach the population’s usages and conservation objectives for this intertidal rocky shore. The recently created Marine Protected Area is now a case study that will allow to test if a correct planning, systematic surveillance, and strong local support will result in a recovery of a distressed rocky shore habitat, essential to the ecosystem equilibrium at a regional level. Along with the biological surveys to evaluate the evolution of the intertidal communities, usage characterization enable to evaluate the short term effect of the outreach initiatives triggered in the reclassification process. Finally enquires were made to the population in order to determine the value assigned to the ecosystem services of this MPA and determine the main causes for this valuation. Short term results indicate a greater compliance with the regulations; the local population is informed and values the several ecosystem services provided by this MPA. However the results from the biological surveys don’t show a direct recovery from the communities due to these changes in behavior. Long series of data are necessary to verify the true biological impact of this recently created Marine Protected Area. This will be the next challenge to pursue evaluating the area, which is an innovative study both at national and international level, due to its establishment with a strong inclusive and environmental awareness process and to its posterior co-management with the several stakeholders.
A criação de áreas protegidas para a conservação de natureza é normalmente causa de conflitos entre os vários utilizadores do território, particularmente em zonas costeiras onde a pressão antropogénica é muito elevada e vários interesses económicos e urbanísticos se sobrepõem. Os Municípios têm um crescente interesse na gestão destas áreas, reunindo vários recursos para a conservação do seu património natural, particularmente nas zonas costeiras fortemente dependentes da atividade turística, tendo como objetivo a oferta de um produto turístico diferenciado e ambientalmente sustentável. A Zona de Interesse Biofísico das Avencas foi criada em 1998, tendo sido reclassificada como Área Marinha Protegida em 2016 (POOC, 2016). Este processo de reclassificação usou uma abordagem “bottom-up” com uma forte componente de sensibilização e comunicação com o público em geral. Como resultado, várias mudanças foram feitas ao regulamento de forma a aproximar os usos da área, dos objetivos de conservação para as costas rochosas. Esta nova Área Marinha Protegida é um caso de estudo que irá permitir testar os efeitos do correto planeamento com um forte apoio da população local, assim como da fiscalização eficiente, na recuperação de comunidades intertidais de costas rochosas essenciais ao equilíbrio do ecossistema a nível regional. Além da monitorização biológica para avaliar a evolução das comunidades intertidais, a caracterização de usos permitiu avaliar a curto prazo o efeito das ações de sensibilização para a população em geral desencadeadas durante o processo de reclassificação. Finalmente os inquéritos à população foram realizados para determinar o valor dos serviços do ecossistema desta AMP e as causa para esta valorização. Os resultados de curto prazo indicam um maior cumprimento dos regulamentos; a população local está informada e valoriza os vários serviços de ecossistema assegurados por esta AMP. No entanto, os resultados da monitorização biológica não mostram diretamente uma recuperação das comunidades intertidais devido a estas mudanças de comportamento. São necessárias séries de dados longas para verificar o verdadeiro impacto biológico desta recém-criada Área Marinha Protegida das Avencas. Este será o próximo desafio para a continuação da avaliação desta área que é um caso de estudo inovador a nível nacional e internacional, quer pela sua constituição com uma forte componente inclusiva e de sensibilização ambiental quer pela sua posterior co-gestão com os seus vários stakeholders.
FCT - UID/MAR/04292/2013, e CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000006