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This study is a partial advance of ongoing research whose main objective is the creation, contribution, and analysis of cultural indicators in the Ecuadorian university context. This work focuses specifically on providing a series of indicators on the equipment, use, and consumption of the TIC of students of the National University of Education of Ecuador (UNAE). The methodology used is the quantitative of descriptive-analytical order, based on the data collected in a survey applied on a population sample, made up of 438 students of the total universe between the different careers and cycles offered by the UNAE. The sample has a margin of 95% reliability and an error of 5%. The obtained results showed a high level of equipment, use, and consumption of the different technological devices. Also, this university population spends daily hours in academic and free time activities in cellphones, television, videos, and internet.

Design science research was used for the generation, use and evaluation of a model for knowledge sharing in the user community through open educational resources (OER). The focus of interest was on the development process of a model for knowledge sharing that emphasizes the characteristics and the needs of the user community; the empowerment and democratic issues of openness; the collaboration between institutions and dialog with society; and the consideration of quality and sustainability issues. Initially, the community needs were analyzed through surveys and workshops, and the findings used, through negotiations, to formulate the development process. An open-training platform served as an infrastructure and included a repository with OER, a wiki and a discussion forum. The purpose of this article is an attempt to provide universities with a plan and template for integrated knowledge sharing that responds to societal needs. Usability and usefulness has not been evaluated. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Along with the technics that allows archaeology to adopt a precise knowledge about the composition of the materiality, also exists a critical thought that claims for take into account experience, perception and creativity. In the latter, we find Art-Archaeology approach. With this at background emerged the idea of the presence and the ontology of the 'dot' in archaeology, identified in the ongoing process of the attendance of a meeting at Kyoto, in the excavation of a simulated site, in the survey of an unidentified site and in a short research about Prehistoric tattoo. This idea, in its explicit simplicity, is part of a creative thought situated in the roots of the archaeological practice. In this paper I reflect about this through an artistic photo-essay that is at the same time an artistic and theoretical exercise, with the intention to identify the existence of the 'dot' in different dimensions of archaeology, and to make theory making art.

Preliminary Material -- Translating The Prince by Many Hands /Jacob Soll -- Translation and Circulation: Introduction to a research project /Roberto De Pol -- La première traduction française /Nella Bianchi Bensimon -- The first Latin translation /Caterina Mordeglia -- A Florentine Prince in Queen Elizabeth's court /Alessandra Petrina -- La primera traducción española /María Begoña Arbulu Barturen -- The first Dutch translation /Francesca Terrenato -- The first German translation /Serena Spazzarini -- The first translation in Scandinavia /Paolo Marelli -- The first Arabic translation /Arap El Ma'ani -- Chronological Summary -- Distribution of Manuscripts and Printings -- Comparison of Selected Passages -- The Introduction to the first Arabic translation -- Index.

Strindberg's strategies of commitment, disengagement and new commitment across the border between literature and politics represent an intriguing intellectual adventure we can follow throughout his life as a writer. My article focuses on Strindberg's dilemma as it took form in the first half of the 1880s, and observes it through his fundamental and controversial relationship with the Swedish journalist, literary critic and Social-democratic political leader Hjalmar Branting, with the Danish playwright, literary critic, journalist and radical liberal politician Edvard Brandes, and with the Norwegian writer, politically engaged intellectual and nasjonalskald Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. For a period they all experienced, along with Strindberg, the ambivalence of working in a social field where art and politics were intertwined, and were to a certain extent involved in the same project, each with his own interpretation. For Strindberg the writer, defending his autonomy from the political field in the end became crucial. What did his colleagues expect from his work? How did Strindberg react to their expectations? What is his legacy today with respect to stances such as intellectual autonomy from power, democratic rule, pacifism and critique of civilization, but also anti-feminism and anti-Semitism? Strindberg's unruly genius illustrates that it is at times difficult to draw the dividing line between radicalism and reaction, and that the great modernists were often also great anti-modernists.

While much has been written about the construction of the Guayaquil and Quito railroad, little has been written about the important connection between the subsidiary companies organized by the railroad and the development of the Ecuadorian Corporation, the first modern holding company to be organized in Ecuador. The objective of this article is to present the history of the Ecuadorian Corporation from its beginnings in 1897 with the organization of the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company to its dissolution in 1986 as a result of a hostile take over by the Rooney Pace corporation. In exploring the connection between the railway company and the Ecuadorian Corporation, emphasis has been placed on the roles of Archer Harman, the promoter of the railway company and its subsidiaries, Evermont Hope Norton, the founder of the Ecuadorian Corporation, and Hope Norton Stevens, his grandson and successor. The methodology for this article was based on an analysis of the unpublished primary sources of the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company and its subsidiaries and of the Ecuadorian Corporation. The article concludes with an analysis of the important contribution made by the Ecuadorian Corporation to the economic development of Ecuador.

Ecological challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss lead to a need for change, but the radical changes that are required seem not to come about. One hot issue debated is who has the power and responsibility to change. This discussion has many different dimensions (e.g., between countries, or technological fixes vs radical system change) but here I base my study on the discussion of agency or structure. To put it simply, do we need to focus on structural political changes or rather on the level of the individuals and their consumerist lifestyles. This thesis aims to contribute to this debate by providing a better understanding of the (im)possibilities of individual lifestyle changes in a society that is largely organized to accommodate consumerist lifestyles. It does so by focusing on the example of Voluntary Simplicity, a lifestyle movement that advocates for a post-consumerist lifestyle. With the help of practice theory, which is especially fit to analyze everyday practices and change, and a qualitative interview study with seven voluntary simplifiers living in Sweden, I answer the following research questions: What are the motivations and drivers for having a voluntary simplicity lifestyle?, what are the challenges and obstacles that voluntary simplifiers need to overcome?, and does life, in consequence, get more complicated by striving for a "simpler" life because it is against the grain of society? The analysis demonstrates a motivation among the simplifiers to live sustainably and to reduce material possessions, working hours and stress. Impediments include the struggle of wanting to be part of a community but at the same time being different from the mainstream society, inflexible work structures and time and labor-intensive activities such as self-sufficiency. The question if life got simpler could not satisfactorily be answered and is connected to considerations on what life is about. In the discussion, I argue to consider social norms and values because they seem to exacerbate change both for politics and individuals. Future avenues for study could be based on participatory observation, autoethnography or doing research in non-capitalist-consumerist societies. This study is relevant because it opened up and contributed to the debate about change by acknowledging the entanglement of social structures and individuals.

This study looks at the adaptation and implementation of the E.I.T.I principles in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and assesses whether governance through transparency and accountability practices in its extractive sector have improved. It relies on 18 interviews with stakeholders implicated in the E.I.T.I implementation, a literature review, and reports from various stakeholders. The analysis of data is based on Michel Foucault's theory of governmentality as well as a review of key concepts such as transparency, accountability and governance. The study uncovers that a culture of transparency and democratic debate is gradually gaining ground, although there is still too much resistance that prevents the E.I.T.I from leading to profound changes in policies in the extractive sector. In line with the previous studies, the E.I.T.I institutional and operational goals are progressing at the macro level of institutions but progress is almost inexistent at the micro-level. It concludes that in the DRC, E.I.T.I's development goals are far from being achieved because all stakeholders do not fully understand the standard's objectives. The study proposes that government sticks to E.I.T.I's guidelines in administrating mining revenue's, setting clear and measurable targets, implementing efficient data collection systems, put together a review system mechanism, and set up a punishment/reward mechanism that works. In sum, this study contributes to the field of natural resource management by pointing out that internal motivation, internal capacity, and external pressure appear to facilitate or limit the success of the global standard in solving the resource curse in poor countries that are rich in natural resources.

Human activity affects planetary systems that support living on Earth and the food systems is a large contributor to overstepping the planetary boundaries. Global and national sustainability aims include targets for organic food production, during the latest years many countries have grown their organic food market share. However, the Swedish organic food market share growth stopped in 2016. The purpose of this study is to understand why the decline of the Swedish market share growth occurred and what the future might hold for the organic food category. This qualitative study has aimed to find answers through interviews with initiated persons in the Swedish food system. Results indicate that many changes in the political and societal landscape pressured the Organic food and the Organic food category transformed into the new Sustainability food category, presenting more competition for organic labelled food, together with plant-based, vegetarian and climate-friendly food. The rise of Swedish produced food, increasingly important from a national self-sufficiency and survival perspective, should be viewed as sustainable, and is also a competitor of organic food. The shine of organic food is often lost in the multi-faceted competition with the other sustainability and Swedish foods, but the market share has stayed at a stable level since 2016. Looking to the future, the new sustainability food category in Sweden will contain organic food but also locally produced food, that has been produced with more effective and environmentally friendly methods. The Swedish climate presents difficulties for year-round agriculture and the aim to become more self-sufficient needs to include locally produced meat, dairy, vegetable, and plant-based foods, indicating a need to focus innovation and development on Swedish food production and conservation methods. Socio-environmental sustainability aspects in Swedish food production, such as the unhealthy effects of mineral fertilizers and pesticide on all living species, should be ...

Within urban design there is increasing interest in the close relationshipbetween social, economic and political processes and the production of public spaces. Thisrelationship, however, often remains abstract and is rarely illustrated in empirical studies.This paper introduces an institutionalist understanding to the production of public spaces,whereby emphasis is placed on the analysis of structuring forces and actors as a way toapprehend the complexity of the social processes guiding and influencing the planning,design and management of public spaces. The institutionalist understanding is illustratedin the case study of an urban renewal project in Barcelona. The results of the case studyshow the contrasts and tensions between the structuring forces and the different actorsoperating in the project, how structuring forces favoured the interest and claims of someactors over those of others, and the potential risks and challenges that this has for the useand value of the public spaces produced by the project.

Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. is a troublesome weed, causing economic losses by reducing crop yield, increasing herbicide and tillage costs, and degrading soils due to increased tillage requirements. The major control method for C. arvense is herbicide application, but this poses socio-environmental and herbicide resistance risks. The European Union promotes reduced dependence and sustainable use of herbicides, combined with cultural and mechanical weed control. This thesis assessed the effects of integrated weed control on the population dynamics of C. arvense. For mechanical control, farmers are recommended to act when C. arvense is most sensitive to disturbance, i.e. at the point of minimum belowground weight, coinciding with 7-10 leaves per shoot. However, many farmers believe that this is too late. To estimate the compensation point (CP), defined as the minimum weight of the entire belowground structure of C. arvense, and identify links between initial root weight, planting depth and crop competition, three outdoor pot experiments were performed. For chemical control, farmers are recommended to spray when the majority of C. arvense shoots are 10-20 cm high. To assess the effects of timing and dose of herbicide application (MCPA), and crop competition on growth and development of C. arvense, one outdoor pot experiment and one field experiment were performed. The field experiment also assessed the effects of selective cutting. It was found that CP for C. arvense occurred before 3-leaf stage and that treatment effects were minor (<0.5 leaf stages). Depletion of planted root fragments ceased on average around leaf stage 3-4, indicating that CP occurs at early leaf stages. In the pot experiment, the strongest effect of herbicide treatment was obtained by spraying with the recommended dose in the presence of a crop when the largest C. arvense shoot had 3-4 leaves, corresponding to maximum height 13 cm and median height 6 cm. Crop competition reduced biomass, shoot height and leaf production of C. arvense regardless of herbicide dose. In the field experiment, herbicide treatment at 4-5 leaves or 8-10 leaves gave similar control effects as selective cutting. Herbicide application had a more immediate effect on growth and development of C. arvense while selective cutting depleted the below-ground structures more gradually. The results indicate that mechanical control of C. arvense should be performed earlier than previously recommended, probably before C. arvense reaches 3-4 leaves per shoot. Also early herbicide spraying seems to be as efficient as spraying later in the season.

During the 1990's the diversity idea entered the Swedish socio-political debate under the name 'mångfald'. The concept originated in the United States and discusses how organizations can be more efficient if they combat discrimination and acknowledge differences. This development attracted the attention of mass-media and led to the publication of books, articles and reports that advocated or commented the concept. It had also had effects on policymaking and various types of consultancy work. The present thesis focuses on studying the dissemination of the diversity concept. This is a way of describing how change takes place through the introduction of new ideas and practices and how various forces and obstacles influence this process. In this dissertation it is the ethnic dimension of the diversity concept that is under the spotlight because this is the aspect which has been given most attention in Sweden. Another limiting factor is that the main object of interest it is diversity as a question involving working life and organisation. This thesis consists of three parts. The first part focuses on how the concept was developed in the USA and discusses the prerequisites in Europe for the dissemination of the diversity idea. The conclusion is that although some economic and structural developmental trends are basically the same in Europe and the United States, there are some obstacles due to contextual differences. In the second part the introduction and the dissemination of the diversity concept in Sweden in the 1990's is studied. The main conclusions of this study are that the idea is 're-invented' in a number of different ways as it is diffused in the Swedish context. The idea, that can be labelled as an essentially contested concept, is modified by different actors in several ways. The contextual differences between the USA and Sweden are another reason that the idea becomes modified and watered down during the dissemination process. The third part investigates how the diversity concept is disseminated and implemented in the municipal organization the City of Malmö. Several obstacles to the dissemination process are revealed, for example the complex nature of the organization and the different views on the benefits of a diversity management strategy. These studies of the dissemination of the diversity idea in Sweden points to the fact that the impact of the idea is rather shallow despite the attention that it has attracted in different arenas.