Democracy on the edge: limits and possibilities for the implementation of an urban reform agenda in Brazil

In Brazil the 1990s constituted years of institutional achievements in the fields of housing and urban rights, given the incorporation of the principles of the social function of cities and property, the recognition of tenure rights for slum dwellers and the direct participation of citizens in the decision making process of urban policies, within the 1988 Constitution. These proposals have become the pillars of the Urban Reform agenda which has penetrated the federal government apparatus since the creation of the Ministry of Cities under Lula's administration. The article evaluates the limits and possibilities for the implementation of this agenda through the analysis of two policies proposed by the Ministry: the National Council of Cities and the campaign for Participatory Master Plans. The approach is based on the organization of the Brazilian State in terms of urban development, the relationship with the political system and the characteristics of Brazilian democracy.

Friere`s Dialogic Concept Enables Family Health Program Teams to Incorporate Health Promotion

Objective The study analyzes the possibility of incorporating health promotion measures into the work processes of Family Health Program teams at a primary health care clinic in Brazil. Design and Sample We used the participatory research concept developed in 1968 by Freire. The study sample comprised the end-users of the health care system, together with 3 multidisciplinary teams. A total of 77 health care users and 55 health professionals participated in the study. Measures Culture circles composed of health care professionals, and users from different areas investigated generative topics, encoded/decoded topics, and engaged in critical probing for clarification. Topics affecting quality of life and health were heuristically evaluated. Results Although most topics were related to changing the focus of health care facilities, some were related to subsidizing community-based interventions, improving environmental strategies, individual skills, and public policies. Incorporating the novel health promotion measures and creating an expanded full-treatment clinic are important steps toward that goal. Conclusions Topics that can stimulate dialogue among the members of the culture circles include creating an environment of closer cultural contact, with repercussions for work processes, family health models, and general health models, as well as the inclusion of social aspects in the decision-making processes related to health issues that affect the living conditions of the population.

Role of price and enforcement in water allocation: Insights from Game Theory

As many countries are moving toward water sector reforms, practical issues of how water management institutions can better effect allocation, regulation, and enforcement of water rights have emerged. The problem of nonavailability of water to tailenders on an irrigation system in developing countries, due to unlicensed upstream diversions is well documented. The reliability of access or equivalently the uncertainty associated with water availability at their diversion point becomes a parameter that is likely to influence the application by users for water licenses, as well as their willingness to pay for licensed use. The ability of a water agency to reduce this uncertainty through effective water rights enforcement is related to the fiscal ability of the agency to monitor and enforce licensed use. In this paper, this interplay across the users and the agency is explored, considering the hydraulic structure or sequence of water use and parameters that define the users and the agency`s economics. The potential for free rider behavior by the users, as well as their proposals for licensed use are derived conditional on this setting. The analyses presented are developed in the framework of the theory of ""Law and Economics,`` with user interactions modeled as a game theoretic enterprise. The state of Ceara, Brazil, is used loosely as an example setting, with parameter values for the experiments indexed to be approximately those relevant for current decisions. The potential for using the ideas in participatory decision making is discussed. This paper is an initial attempt to develop a conceptual framework for analyzing such situations but with a focus on the reservoir-canal system water rights enforcement.

Definition of priority areas for forest conservation through the ordered weighted averaging method

The general objective of this study was to evaluate the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) method, integrated to a geographic information systems (GIS), in the definition of priority areas for forest conservation in a Brazilian river basin, aiming at to increase the regional biodiversity. We demonstrated how one could obtain a range of alternatives by applying OWA, including the one obtained by the weighted linear combination method and, also the use of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to structure the decision problem and to assign the importance to each criterion. The criteria considered important to this study were: proximity to forest patches; proximity among forest patches with larger core area; proximity to surface water; distance from roads: distance from urban areas; and vulnerability to erosion. OWA requires two sets of criteria weights: the weights of relative criterion importance and the order weights. Thus, Participatory Technique was used to define the criteria set and the criterion importance (based in AHP). In order to obtain the second set of weights we considered the influence of each criterion, as well as the importance of each one, on this decision-making process. The sensitivity analysis indicated coherence among the criterion importance weights, the order weights, and the solution. According to this analysis, only the proximity to surface water criterion is not important to identify priority areas for forest conservation. Finally, we can highlight that the OWA method is flexible, easy to be implemented and, mainly, it facilitates a better understanding of the alternative land-use suitability patterns. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetic potential of a maize population from Southern Brazil for the modified convergent-divergent selection scheme

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a very important cereal to world-wide economy which is also true for Brazil, particularly in the South region. Grain yield and plant height have been chosen as important criteria by breeders and farmers from Santa Catarina State (SC), Brazil. The objective of this work was to estimate genetic-statistic parameters associated with genetic gain for grain yield and plant height, in the first cycle of convergent-divergent half-sib selection in a maize population (MPA1) cultivated by farmers within the municipality of Anchieta (SC). Three experiments were carried out in different small farms at Anchieta using low external agronomic inputs; each experiment represented independent samples of half-sib families, which were evaluated in randomized complete blocks with three replications per location. Significant differences among half-sib families were observed for both variables in all experiments. The expected responses to truncated selection of the 25% better families in each experiment were 5.1, 5.8 and 5.2% for reducing plant height and 3.9, 5.7 and 5.0% for increasing grain yield, respectively. The magnitudes of genetic-statistic parameters estimated evidenced that the composite population MPA1 exhibits enough genetic variability to be used in cyclical process of recurrent selection. There were evidences that the genetic structure of the base population MPA1, as indicated by its genetic variability, may lead to expressive changes in the traits under selection, even under low selection pressure.

Democracy on the Edge: Limits and Possibilities in the Implementation of an Urban Reform Agenda in Brazil

The 1990s in Brazil were a time of institutional advances in the areas of housing and urban rights following the signing of the new constitution in 1988 that incorporated the principles of the social function of cities and property, recognition of the right to ownership of informal urban squatters and the direct participation of citizens in urban policy decision processes. These propositions are the pillars of the urban reform agenda which, since the creation of the Ministry of Cities by the Lula government, has come under the federal executive branch. This article evaluates the limitations and opportunities involved in implementing this agenda on the basis of two policies proposed by the ministry - the National Cities Council and the campaign for Participatory Master Plans - focusing the analysis on government organization in the area of urban development in its relationship with the political system and the characteristics of Brazilian democracy. Resume Au Bresil, les annees 1990 ont ete marquees par des progres institutionnels en matiere de logement et de droits urbains, dans le sillage de la Constitution de 1988 qui integre les principes d`une fonction sociale de la ville et de la propriete urbaine, ainsi que la reconnaissance du droit a la propriete pour les squatters urbains et la participation directe des citoyens aux processus d`elaboration des politiques urbaines. Ce sont egalement les piliers du programme de reforme urbaine qui releve de l`executif federal depuis la creation d`un ministere des Villes par le gouvernement Lula. Pour evaluer les limites et potentiels lies a la mise en place de ce programme, cet article s`appuie sur deux politiques publiques proposees par le ministere, le Conseil national des villes et la campagne en faveur des Plans directeurs participatifs, en analysant plus particulierement l`organisation gouvernementale en matiere d`urbanisme par rapport au systeme politique et aux caracteristiques de la democratie bresilienne.

Development of the student placement evaluation form: A tool for assessing student fieldwork performance

Evaluation of students undertaking fieldwork education placements is a critical process in the health professions. As training programs and practice evolve, systems for assessing students need to be reviewed and updated constantly. In 1995, staff of the occupational therapy training program at the University of Queensland, Australia decided to develop a new tool for assessing student fieldwork performance. Using an action research methodology, a team developed the Student Placement Evaluation Form, a flexible and comprehensive criterion-referenced evaluation tool. The present paper examines action research as an appropriate methodology for considering real-life organisational problems in a systematic and participatory manner. The action research cycles undertaken, including preliminary information gathering, tool development, trial stages and current use of the tool, are detailed in the report. Current and future development of the tool is also described.

A framework to monitor sustainability in the grains industry

Community awareness of the sustainable use of land, water and vegetation resources is increasing. The sustainable use of these resources is pivotal to sustainable farming systems. However, techniques for monitoring the sustainable management of these resources are poorly understood and untested. We propose a framework to benchmark and monitor resources in the grains industry. Eight steps are listed below to achieve these objectives: (i) define industry issues; (ii) identify the issues through growers, stakeholder and community consultation; (iii) identify indicators (measurable attributes, properties or characteristics) of sustainability through consultation with growers, stakeholders, experts and community members, relating to: crop productivity; resource maintenance/enhancement; biodiversity; economic viability; community viability; and institutional structure; (iv) develop and use selection criteria to select indicators that consider: responsiveness to change; ease of capture; community acceptance and involvement; interpretation; measurement error; stability, frequency and cost of measurement; spatial scale issues; and mapping capability in space and through time. The appropriateness of indicators can be evaluated using a decision making system such as a multiobjective decision support system (MO-DSS, a method to assist in decision making from multiple and conflicting objectives); (v) involve stakeholders and the community in the definition of goals and setting benchmarking and monitoring targets for sustainable farming; (vi) take preventive and corrective/remedial action; (vii) evaluate effectiveness of actions taken; and (viii) revise indicators as part of a continual improvement principle designed to achieve best management practice for sustainable farming systems. The major recommendations are to: (i) implement the framework for resources (land, water and vegetation, economic, community and institution) benchmarking and monitoring, and integrate this process with current activities so that awareness, implementation and evolution of sustainable resource management practices become normal practice in the grains industry; (ii) empower the grains industry to take the lead by using relevant sustainability indicators to benchmark and monitor resources; (iii) adopt a collaborative approach by involving various industry, community, catchment management and government agency groups to minimise implementation time. Monitoring programs such as Waterwatch, Soilcheck, Grasscheck and Topcrop should be utilised; (iv) encourage the adoption of a decision making system by growers and industry representatives as a participatory decision and evaluation process. Widespread use of sustainability indicators would assist in validating and refining these indicators and evaluating sustainable farming systems. The indicators could also assist in evaluating best management practices for the grains industry.

Experimental examination of solute transport by surface runoff from low-angle slopes

The removal of chemicals in solution, by overland flow from agricultural land has the potential to be a significant source of chemical loss from zero-till and surface mulched farming systems. The objective of this study was to determine the magnitude of solute loss by surface runoff from agricultural systems. Previous experiments have enhanced the understanding of the exchange process, but the initial soil conditions together with the tracer application method in these experiments have meant that in some cases the results have limited applicability to field situations. In this study, two different sets of experiments were carried out to determine the magnitude of solute loss by surface runoff. These experiments entailed the surface application of bromide to (1) field scale plots 18 m long by 2 m wide and (2) repacked soil cores 236 mm in diameter; followed by the application of simulated rainfall in both cases. The most substantial finding of the field experiments was that the quantities of solute in surface runoff varied greatly with soil type and structure (0.07-14.9% of the applied bromide). Also, on some soils, large quantities of tracer were measured in the surface runoff even after several hours of infiltration. The experiments on soil cores showed that soil structure plays an important role in the quantity of chemical that may be transported in the surface runoff. These field results showed that, in certain systems, solute movement by overland flow is an important transport mechanism, which should be considered when budgeting for chemical loss. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Some vocabulary and grammar for the analysis of multi-environment trials, as applied to the analysis of FPB and PPB trials

For the improvement of genetic material suitable for on farm use under low-input conditions, participatory and formal plant breeding strategies are frequently presented as competing options. A common frame of reference to phrase mechanisms and purposes related to breeding strategies will facilitate clearer descriptions of similarities and differences between participatory plant breeding and formal plant breeding. In this paper an attempt is made to develop such a common framework by means of a statistically inspired language that acknowledges the importance of both on farm trials and research centre trials as sources of information for on farm genetic improvement. Key concepts are the genetic correlation between environments, and the heterogeneity of phenotypic and genetic variance over environments. Classic selection response theory is taken as the starting point for the comparison of selection trials (on farm and research centre) with respect to the expected genetic improvement in a target environment (low-input farms). The variance-covariance parameters that form the input for selection response comparisons traditionally come from a mixed model fit to multi-environment trial data. In this paper we propose a recently developed class of mixed models, namely multiplicative mixed models, also called factor-analytic models, for modelling genetic variances and covariances (correlations). Mixed multiplicative models allow genetic variances and covariances to be dependent on quantitative descriptors of the environment, and confer a high flexibility in the choice of variance-covariance structure, without requiring the estimation of a prohibitively high number of parameters. As a result detailed considerations regarding selection response comparisons are facilitated. ne statistical machinery involved is illustrated on an example data set consisting of barley trials from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Analysis of the example data showed that participatory plant breeding and formal plant breeding are better interpreted as providing complementary rather than competing information.

Transformational leadership, corporate cultism and the spirituality paradigm: An unholy trinity in the workplace?

Leadership is a perennially popular topic in the academic and practitioner literature on management. In particular, the past twenty years have witnessed an explosive growth of interest in what has been termed 'transformational leadership' (henceforth, TL). The theory is closely linked to the growth in what has been defined as corporate culturism - an emphasis on the importance of cohereat cultures, as a means of securing competitive advantage. This article outlines the central components of TL theory, and subjects the concept to a critical analysis. In particular, similarities are identified between the components concerned and the characteristics of leadership practice in organizations generally defined as cults. This connection has been previously unremarked in the literature. These similarities are comprehensively reviewed. Trends towards what can be defined as corporate cultism in modem management practice are also discussed. We conclude that TL models are overly concerned with the achievement of corporate cohesion to the detriment of internal dissent Such dissent is a vital ingredient of effective decision-making. It is suggested that more inclusive and participatory models of the leadership process are required.

Planning for institutional capacity building in war-torn areas: the case of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

This paper examines an attempt to build capacity and empower local institutions in war-torn Jaffna,, on the northern tip of Sri Lanka. A participatory approach that is aimed at social empowerment is seen to be possible even under the most restrictive of political environments. However, whether or not the development intervention provides a foundation for longer-term improvement depends on the extent to which institutional capacity is built. Through an examination of the Jaffna Reconstruction Project, it is argued that if any of the ingredients of this institutional capacity are missing, not only will the 'islands of participation and empowerment' that are built by the development initiative be short-lived, but there may also be a negligible contribution to building a foundation for longer-term improvement in quality of life. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

City profile - Colombo

Rooted in a history that dates back 1500 years, the concentration of economic activity and infrastructure in Colombo represents an extreme case of urban primacy within the national context of Sri Lanka. Located on the West Coast of the country, the Colombo metropolitan area accommodates a quarter of the country's 18.6 million population, and is the economic and political core of the country. However, Colombo is a city of extremes. Its modem and well-serviced core stands in stark contrast to the circumstances of more than half of its population, who live in poorly serviced shack and shanty settlements. The proportion of the population living in these areas continues to expand, notwithstanding a history of innovative and participatory approaches to development planning and management. Complicating these development challenges, the potential of the city is undermined by a civil war that has been under way since the early 1980s, taking an immense toll in loss of life, political polarization, and economic opportunity costs. This paper traces Colombo's historical development, provides a description of contemporary characteristics and challenges faced by the city, and examines the evolution of plans and programmes designed to improve the conditions of low-income settlements in the city. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Infusing the use of seasonal climate forecasting into crop management practice in North East Australia using discussion support software

Seasonal climate forecasting offers potential for improving management of crop production risks in the cropping systems of NE Australia. But how is this capability best connected to management practice? Over the past decade, we have pursued participative systems approaches involving simulation-aided discussion with advisers and decision-makers. This has led to the development of discussion support software as a key vehicle for facilitating infusion of forecasting capability into practice. In this paper, we set out the basis of our approach, its implementation and preliminary evaluation. We outline the development of the discussion support software Whopper Cropper, which was designed for, and in close consultation with, public and private advisers. Whopper Cropper consists of a database of simulation output and a graphical user interface to generate analyses of risks associated with crop management options. The charts produced provide conversation pieces for advisers to use with their farmer clients in relation to the significant decisions they face. An example application, detail of the software development process and an initial survey of user needs are presented. We suggest that discussion support software is about moving beyond traditional notions of supply-driven decision support systems. Discussion support software is largely demand-driven and can compliment participatory action research programs by providing cost-effective general delivery of simulation-aided discussions about relevant management actions. The critical role of farm management advisers and dialogue among key players is highlighted. We argue that the discussion support concept, as exemplified by the software tool Whopper Cropper and the group processes surrounding it, provides an effective means to infuse innovations, like seasonal climate forecasting, into farming practice. Crown Copyright (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Practices and attitudes to derivatives use in Australian commonwealth organisations

Little is known about risk management in the public sector This study reports on a survey of senior officers in Australian Commonwealth companies and statutory authorities concerning their practice and attitudes towards the use of derivative instruments for risk management. Using a variety of tests, the most important issue identified by respondents concerning the use of derivatives is for budgeting purposes. Of note, respondents rank commonly cited reasons advanced in the private sector such as reduced bankruptcy costs and taxation, as being relatively unimportant, which is consistent with arguments advanced in the paper The results also indicate that there are significant differences in the level of importance in some issues regarding derivatives use across public sector organisations, particularly those differentiated by a documented risk management plan. The study also documents for the first time the extent of derivatives use in the Australian public sector.