VOLUNTARIADO COMO FORMA DE AUXILIO NA IMPLEMENTAÇÃO E MANUTENÇÃO DO ORDENAMENTO DO ESPAÇO PROTEGIDO E TURÍSTICO- CASO DO PARQUE NACIONAL DO IGUAÇU

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi o de identificar como o voluntariado pode ser inserido na implementação e manutenção efetiva do plano de manejo do Parque Nacional do Iguaçu - PNI, como forma de contribuir no ordenamento do espaço desta área natural protegida com potencial para uso turístico. Este estudo é resultado de pesquisa documental, observação e entrevistas não estruturadas junto ao PNI, para fins de realização de uma monografia, do curso de Turismo da UNIOESTE – Campus de Foz do Iguaçu, estado do Paraná, divisa do Brasil com Argentina; realizada de maio a agosto do ano de 2009. Os aportes teóricos que deram base para esta pesquisa fundamentam-se em 03 áreas distintas, sendo o voluntariado em UC elemento base do estudo, bem  como as bases legais: (BRASIL, 1876); (BRASIL, 1985); (BRASIL, 1998); (BRASIL, 2004); (MMA, 2004) e (MMA, 2005); as bases teóricas em voluntariado em UC’s com: (KINKER, 2002); (ANDERSON, 1998); (DOMENEGHETTI, 2001); (PARKS, 2009) e, também, ordenamento territorial com: (ALFONSO, 2004); (CAMARGO, 2004); (REBOLLO, 2004); (SILVEIRA, 2000); (REDDAM, OLIVARES, 2008) e (KANFOU, 2006).

VOLUNTARIADO COMO FORMA DE AUXILIO NA IMPLEMENTAÇÃO E MANUTENÇÃO DO ORDENAMENTO DO ESPAÇO PROTEGIDO E TURÍSTICO- CASO DO PARQUE NACIONAL DO IGUAÇU

A pesquisa, “Urbanização turística e a produção do espaço nos centros do lazer: um estudo sobre Praia do Forte – Bahia” tem como objetivo analisar como o turismo promove a reestruturação urbana nas localidades litorâneas. Para a compreensão desse processo, tomou-se como exemplo a comunidade de Praia do Forte no estado da Bahia. Objetivando o desenvolvimento do estudo foi realizada uma pesquisa de gabinete e de campo junto aos moradores locais, turistas e veranistas, com o intuito de analisar o reordenamento de antigos espaços, a inserção de novas formas espaciais, assim como a construção da paisagem urbana, a inserção da população local no modelo turístico e se o mesmo vem contribuindo para o desenvolvimento local. Esse processo gerou a espetacularização do lugar, assim como uma imagem artificial de localidade simples e bucólica, visto que nada tem de autêntico em relação à antiga comunidade de pescadores. Assim, a urbanização turística transformou uma pequena e simples localidade pesqueira em um elegante destino turístico, representativo da nova forma de urbanização que vem se destacando no século XXI, onde a produção do espaço está assentada no consumo de paisagens e atividades de lazer e entretenimento.

SÃO PAULO, RIO DE JANEIRO E BELO HORIZONTE: A MANUTENÇÃO DA CONCENTRAÇÃO SOCIOECONÔMICA NAS METRÓPOLES DA REGIÃO SUDESTE DO BRASIL

Nos últimos anos o Brasil apresentou um crescimento econômico que atraiu a atenção de grande parte das agências socioeconômicas e centros de pesquisa do mundo. O impacto desse cenário econômico no território brasileiro pode ser visualizado e testemunhado nas três principais metrópoles do país. A construção do espaço brasileiro, através dos atributos históricos e geoeconômicos, e sua maior inserção na Divisão Internacional do Trabalho, desde o final do século XIX, acentuou a concentração socioeconômica nas cidades de São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro e Belo Horizonte em relação a outras áreas do país. O presente estudo busca relacionar através do corpo teórico da urbanização, produção do espaço, planejamento urbano e geografia econômica corroborados com os dados fornecidos pelos institutos públicos, especialmente IBGE, e agências de pesquisa compreender o grau de concentração que as metrópoles analisadas ainda possuem no quadro socioeconômico do país. Espera-se compreender as influências dessa manutenção da concentração impostas ao espaço geoeconômico brasileiro e contribuir para o debate em outros países, especialmente latino-americanos, que apresentam dinâmica socioeconômica similar.

Carbon and nitrogen stocks of an arenosol under irrigated fruit orchards in semiarid Brazil.

O acúmulo de matéria orgânica beneficia a produtividade do solo e reduz a concentração do carbono atmosférico. Entretanto, pouco é sabido a respeito do acúmulo de C e N em solos arenosos cultivados com culturas perenes irrigadas em regiões semi-áridas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito do cultivo de fruteiras irrigadas nos estoques de C e N de um Neossolo Quartzarênico em Paraipaba, CE. Foram coletadas amostras na linha e na entrelinha de pomares irrigados de banana, caju, manga, sapoti, goiaba e graviola. Em áreas adjacentes sob vegetação de Caatinga hipoxerófila e após dois anos de desmatamento foram coletadas amostras adicionais. As profundidades de amostragem foram: 0 a 0.1, 0.1 a 0.2 e 0.2 a 0.4 m. Os teores de C e N no solo foram mais altos na camada superficial (0 a 0.1 m). Não houve efeito da profundidade de amostragem sobre a densidade do solo. Os estoques de C e N na área com vegetação de Caatinga na camada de 0 a 0.4 m foram de 27,6 and 2,4 Mg ha-1, respectivamente. A retirada da vegetação natural e o cultivo das fruteiras levaram a reduções de 5 a 23% e 4 a 21% nos estoques de C e N do solo, respectivamente. As culturas do sapoti e da graviola contribuíram para o aumento dos estoques de C e N após a retirada da vegetação natural. As culturas da goiaba, graviola, manga e sapoti contribuíram para a melhoria do índice de estratificação deste solo.

PRESERVAÇÃO DO PATRIMÔNIO CULTURAL: PRÁTICA SOCIAL UTILIZADA PARA MANUTENÇÃO DO PODER POLÍTICO

Este trabalho se situa na continuidade do debate incitado por vários estudiosos sobre as metamorfoses dos centros históricos. Procura-se enunciar algumas contradições entre discursos e práticas manifestadas na cidade de São Luís - MA tendo como pano de fundo o protagonismo do programa de revitalização versus atuação do poder público sobre o legado cultural. O objetivo principal consistiu em analisar como determinados políticos se apropriaram da questão da proteção do patrimônio histórico-cultural. Os temas referentes a (re)apropriação das áreas centrais antigas adquiriram na atualidade incontestável relevância. Na maioria das vezes, os resultados das intervenções nos centros antigos são apresentados como fatos que só têm lado positivo, já que, o movimento que seleciona a “memória oficial”, escolhida por governos em nome da tradição dá supremacia para a valorização do acervo cultural arquitetônico. Do ponto de vista teórico-metodológico, a pesquisa é de caráter exploratório permeada pela interdisciplinaridade. Foram consultados documentos institucionais relativos ao programa de preservação, partindo para identificação de fatos, e estratégias desveladas para sua implementação. Percebeu-se que a prática preservacionista funcionou, um lócus privilegiado, de oportunidades de investimentos rentáveis ao poder político, o que acabou resultando em novas configurações urbanas com a manutenção do status quo de determinados indivíduos.

Geoprocessamento como ferramenta integradora para o planejamento do uso agrícola das terras e a manutenção da qualidade das águas subterrâneas nas áreas de afloramento do Aqüífero Guarani.

2008

Evaluation of functional performance in commercial buildings

This report fully summarises a project designed to enhance commercial real estate performance within both operational and investment contexts through the development of a model aimed at supporting improved decision-making. The model is based on a risk adjusted discounted cash flow, providing a valuable toolkit for building managers, owners, and potential investors for evaluating individual building performance in terms of financial, social and environmental criteria over the complete life-cycle of the asset. The ‘triple bottom line’ approach to the evaluation of commercial property has much significance for the administrators of public property portfolios in particular. It also has applications more generally for the wider real estate industry given that the advent of ‘green’ construction requires new methods for evaluating both new and existing building stocks. The research is unique in that it focuses on the accuracy of the input variables required for the model. These key variables were largely determined by market-based research and an extensive literature review, and have been fine-tuned with extensive testing. In essence, the project has considered probability-based risk analysis techniques that required market-based assessment. The projections listed in the partner engineers’ building audit reports of the four case study buildings were fed into the property evaluation model developed by the research team. The results are strongly consistent with previously existing, less robust evaluation techniques. And importantly, this model pioneers an approach for taking full account of the triple bottom line, establishing a benchmark for related research to follow. The project’s industry partners expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the project outcomes at a recent demonstration seminar. The project in its existing form has not been geared towards commercial applications but it is anticipated that QDPW and other industry partners will benefit greatly by using this tool for the performance evaluation of property assets. The project met the objectives of the original proposal as well as all the specified milestones. The project has been completed within budget and on time. This research project has achieved the objective by establishing research foci on the model structure, the key input variable identification, the drivers of the relevant property markets, the determinants of the key variables (Research Engine no.1), the examination of risk measurement, the incorporation of risk simulation exercises (Research Engine no.2), the importance of both environmental and social factors and, finally the impact of the triple bottom line measures on the asset (Research Engine no. 3).

Managing knowledge in an outsourcing environment

What an organisation does versus what it out-sources to the market is a classic boundaries of the firm question that has previously been dominated by efficiency arguments. However, a knowledge-based view suggests these boundaries are integral to the ability of a firm to deploy existing knowledge stocks efficiently, as well as develop new knowledge through learning that will drive future competitiveness. Furthermore, the nature of these boundaries, in respect of their permeability is critical in understanding the likelihood of knowledge flowing into and out of the organisation. Using these concepts, we present a case study of Main Roads Western Australia to illustrate how these principles have allowed it to start rebuilding its internal capabilities through repositioning its operational boundaries and via ensuring their boundaries are highly porous as they move more major projects into alliance contracts.

An exploration of knowledge management and intellectual capital in a nonprofit organisation context

In recent years, practitioners and researchers alike have turned their attention to knowledge management (KM) in order to increase organisational performance (OP). As a result, many different approaches and strategies have been investigated and suggested for how knowledge should be managed to make organisations more effective and efficient. However, most research has been undertaken in the for-profit sector, with only a few studies focusing on the benefits nonprofit organisations might gain by managing knowledge. This study broadly investigates the impact of knowledge management on the organisational performance of nonprofit organisations. Organisational performance can be evaluated through either financial or non-financial measurements. In order to evaluate knowledge management and organisational performance, non-financial measurements are argued to be more suitable given that knowledge is an intangible asset which often cannot be expressed through financial indicators. Non-financial measurement concepts of performance such as the balanced scorecard or the concept of Intellectual Capital (IC) are well accepted and used within the for-profit and nonprofit sectors to evaluate organisational performance. This study utilised the concept of IC as the method to evaluate KM and OP in the context of nonprofit organisations due to the close link between KM and IC: Indeed, KM is concerned with managing the KM processes of creating, storing, sharing and applying knowledge and the organisational KM infrastructure such as organisational culture or organisational structure to support these processes. On the other hand, IC measures the knowledge stocks in different ontological levels: at the individual level (human capital), at the group level (relational capital) and at the organisational level (structural capital). In other words, IC measures the value of the knowledge which has been managed through KM. As KM encompasses the different KM processes and the KM infrastructure facilitating these processes, previous research has investigated the relationship between KM infrastructure and KM processes. Organisational culture, organisational structure and the level of IT support have been identified as the main factors of the KM infrastructure influencing the KM processes of creating, storing, sharing and applying knowledge. Other research has focused on the link between KM and OP or organisational effectiveness. Based on existing literature, a theoretical model was developed to enable the investigation of the relation between KM (encompassing KM infrastructure and KM processes) and IC. The model assumes an association between KM infrastructure and KM processes, as well as an association between KM processes and the various levels of IC (human capital, structural capital and relational capital). As a result, five research questions (RQ) with respect to the various factors of the KM infrastructure as well as with respect to the relationship between KM infrastructure and IC were raised and included into the research model: RQ 1 Do nonprofit organisations which have a Hierarchy culture have a stronger IT support than nonprofit organisations which have an Adhocracy culture? RQ 2 Do nonprofit organisations which have a centralised organisational structure have a stronger IT support than nonprofit organisations which have decentralised organisational structure? RQ 3 Do nonprofit organisations which have a stronger IT support have a higher value of Human Capital than nonprofit organisations which have a less strong IT support? RQ 4 Do nonprofit organisations which have a stronger IT support have a higher value of Structural Capital than nonprofit organisations which have a less strong IT support? RQ 5 Do nonprofit organisations which have a stronger IT support have a higher value of Relational Capital than nonprofit organisations which have a less strong IT support? In order to investigate the research questions, measurements for IC were developed which were linked to the main KM processes. The final KM/IC model contained four items for evaluating human capital, five items for evaluating structural capital and four items for evaluating relational capital. The research questions were investigated through empirical research using a case study approach with the focus on two nonprofit organisations providing trade promotions services through local offices worldwide. Data for the investigation of the assumptions were collected via qualitative as well as quantitative research methods. The qualitative study included interviews with representatives of the two participating organisations as well as in-depth document research. The purpose of the qualitative study was to investigate the factors of the KM infrastructure (organisational culture, organisational structure, IT support) of the organisations and how these factors were related to each other. On the other hand, the quantitative study was carried out through an online-survey amongst staff of the various local offices. The purpose of the quantitative study was to investigate which impact the level of IT support, as the main instrument of the KM infrastructure, had on IC. Overall several key themes were found as a result of the study: • Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital were complementary with each other, which should be expressed through measurements of IC based on KM processes. • The various factors of the KM infrastructure (organisational culture, organisational structure and level of IT support) are interdependent. • IT was a primary instrument through which the different KM processes (creating, storing, sharing and applying knowledge) were performed. • A high level of IT support was evident when participants reported higher level of IC (human capital, structural capital and relational capital). The study supported previous research in the field of KM and replicated the findings from other case studies in this area. The study also contributed to theory by placing the KM research within the nonprofit context and analysing the linkage between KM and IC. From the managerial perspective, the findings gave clear indications that would allow interested parties, such as nonprofit managers or consultants to understand more about the implications of KM on OP and to use this knowledge for implementing efficient and effective KM strategies within their organisations.

Role of timberland in us investment portfolios

Timberland is now regarded as a long-term investment with both institutional investors and absentee owners. This paper utilises the NCREIF Timberland index to examine the performance of US timberland over the period of 1987-1999. US timberland was found to provide significant risk reduction and portfolio diversification benefits in the portfolio resulting from the low risk and low correlation with stocks and bonds. Timberland was also found to make a significant contribution to a portfolio of stocks, bonds and real estate, particularly at low to midrange portfolio risk levels.

The role of U.S. timberland in real estate portfolios

Timberland is seen as a long-term investment which has recently received increased institutional investor attention in many countries and potentially provides added value in a mixed-asset portfolio. Using the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) timberland series, this paper analyses the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of timberland in the United States over the period of 1987-2007. U.S. timberland is seen to have been a strongly performed asset class with significant portfolio diversification benefits over this period; with a significant portfolio role separate to that of real estate. However, recent years have seen reduced risk-adjusted returns, with some loss of portfolio diversification benefits of timberland with stocks and real estate. Global drivers are likely to see increased future demand for timberland investment.

The appropriateness of default investment options in defined contribution plans : Australian evidence

For participants in defined contribution (DC) plans who refrain from exercising investment choice, plan contributions are invested following the default investment option of their respective plans. Since default investment options of different plans vary widely in terms of their benchmark asset allocation, the most important determinant of investment performance, participants enrolled in these options face significantly different wealth outcomes at retirement. This paper simulates the terminal wealth outcomes under different static asset allocation strategies to evaluate their relative appeal as default investment choice in DC plans. We find that strategies with low or moderate allocation to stocks are consistently outperformed in terms of upside potential of exceeding the participant’s wealth accumulation target at retirement as well as downside risk of falling below that target outcome by aggressive strategies whose allocation to stocks approach 100%. The risk of extremely adverse wealth outcomes for plan participants also does not appear to be very sensitive to asset allocation. Our evidence suggests the appropriateness of strategies heavily tilted towards stocks to be nominated as default investment options in DC plans unless plan providers emphasize predictability of wealth outcomes over adequacy of retirement wealth.

Conditional coskewness and asset pricing

We explore the empirical usefulness of conditional coskewness to explain the cross-section of equity returns. We find that coskewness is an important determinant of the returns to equity, and that the pricing relationship varies through time. In particular we find that when the conditional market skewness is positive investors are willing to sacrifice 7.87% annually per unit of gamma (a standardized measure of coskewness risk) while they only demand a premium of 1.80% when the market is negatively skewed. A similar picture emerges from the coskewness factor of Harvey and Siddique (Harvey, C., Siddique, A., 2000a. Conditional skewness in asset pricing models tests. Journal of Finance 65, 1263–1295.) (a portfolio that is long stocks with small coskewness with the market and short high coskewness stocks) which earns 5.00% annually when the market is positively skewed but only 2.81% when the market is negatively skewed. The conditional two-moment CAPM and a conditional Fama and French (Fama, E., French, K., 1992. The cross-section of expected returns. Journal of Finance 47,427465.) three-factor model are rejected, but a model which includes coskewness is not rejected by the data. The model also passes a structural break test which many existing asset pricing models fail.