Envisioning sustainable water futures in a transdisciplinary learning process: combining normative, explorative, and participatory scenario approaches

Competing water demands for household consumption as well as the production of food, energy, and other uses pose challenges for water supply and sustainable development in many parts of the world. Designing creative strategies and learning processes for sustainable water governance is thus of prime importance. While this need is uncontested, suitable approaches still have to be found. In this article we present and evaluate a conceptual approach to scenario building aimed at transdisciplinary learning for sustainable water governance. The approach combines normative, explorative, and participatory scenario elements. This combination allows for adequate consideration of stakeholders’ and scientists’ systems, target, and transformation knowledge. Application of the approach in the MontanAqua project in the Swiss Alps confirmed its high potential for co-producing new knowledge and establishing a meaningful and deliberative dialogue between all actors involved. The iterative and combined approach ensured that stakeholders’ knowledge was adequately captured, fed into scientific analysis, and brought back to stakeholders in several cycles, thereby facilitating learning and co-production of new knowledge relevant for both stakeholders and scientists. However, the approach also revealed a number of constraints, including the enormous flexibility required of stakeholders and scientists in order for them to truly engage in the co-production of new knowledge. Overall, the study showed that shifts from strategic to communicative action are possible in an environment of mutual trust. This ultimately depends on creating conditions of interaction that place scientists’ and stakeholders’ knowledge on an equal footing.

Adaptation to Changes in the Coffee Value Chain and the Price of Coiffee among Coffee Producers in Two Villages in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Market liberalization in Tanzania has eroded the monopoly of the cooperative unions by allowing private coffee buyers (PCBs) to compete with them on equal footing. Similarly, farmers groups and primary societies are now allowed to sell coffee at auction. Thus, farmers have various options for selling their coffee. Similarly, the coffee industry has experienced large fluctuations in prices and stagnation in production. How do farmers react to these changes? Can and do farmers profit from different market conditions and sell to different traders at the lower end of the value chain, or do they remain with cooperatives or farmers groups? This study was conducted in Mruwia and Mshiri villages in Moshi Rural district. Whereas Mshiri village remains attached to the Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU), Mruwia has detached from this organization and sells coffee independently. The sample (103) was randomly selected from the coffee farmers in the two villages. Data were collected through surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs), and socio-anthropological methods (participant-observation, biographies, and thematic interviews). Results indicate that the selection of whom to sell coffee depends largely on farmers’ dependence on coffee and prices, other benefits accrued, and whether the initial costs are covered by buyers. Additionally, most respondents did not sell coffee to PCBs. Thus, prices, the institutional infrastructure, and the structure of local communities were important when making decisions about how and with whom to trade.

Pasiones del riesgo y contacto con la naturaleza

Muchos deportistas aficionados en occidente, están emprendiendo hoy en día, largas e intensas ordalías donde la capacidad personal de resistir al sufrimiento en aumento constituye el objetivo principal. La carrera, el footing, el triatlón, el trekking, etc., son tipos de ordalías en las que la gente, sin apoyarse en una habilidad específica, no compite contra otros, sino que somete a prueba su propia capacidad para soportar el dolor creciente. El individuo se evalúa constantemente a sí mismo en una sociedad donde los puntos de referencia son incontables y contradictorios, donde los valores están en crisis, y busca entonces una relación cercana con significados profundos, probando su fuerza de carácter, su coraje y sus recursos personales. Seguir adelante hasta final de las ordalías autoimpuestas da una legitimidad a la vida y provee un umbral simbólico en el cual apoyarse. El funcionamiento en sí mismo tiene una importancia secundaria; sólo cuenta para el individuo. No se trata de luchar contra un tercero, es sólo un método para reforzar la voluntad personal y vencer el sufrimiento, justo al límite de una demanda personalmente impuesta. El límite físico ha venido a sustituir el límite moral que la sociedad actual no logra proporcionar. Sobreponiéndose al sufrimiento se templa el carácter del individuo, proporcionando así una importancia renovada y valiosa a su vida

Pasiones del riesgo y contacto con la naturaleza

Muchos deportistas aficionados en occidente, están emprendiendo hoy en día, largas e intensas ordalías donde la capacidad personal de resistir al sufrimiento en aumento constituye el objetivo principal. La carrera, el footing, el triatlón, el trekking, etc., son tipos de ordalías en las que la gente, sin apoyarse en una habilidad específica, no compite contra otros, sino que somete a prueba su propia capacidad para soportar el dolor creciente. El individuo se evalúa constantemente a sí mismo en una sociedad donde los puntos de referencia son incontables y contradictorios, donde los valores están en crisis, y busca entonces una relación cercana con significados profundos, probando su fuerza de carácter, su coraje y sus recursos personales. Seguir adelante hasta final de las ordalías autoimpuestas da una legitimidad a la vida y provee un umbral simbólico en el cual apoyarse. El funcionamiento en sí mismo tiene una importancia secundaria; sólo cuenta para el individuo. No se trata de luchar contra un tercero, es sólo un método para reforzar la voluntad personal y vencer el sufrimiento, justo al límite de una demanda personalmente impuesta. El límite físico ha venido a sustituir el límite moral que la sociedad actual no logra proporcionar. Sobreponiéndose al sufrimiento se templa el carácter del individuo, proporcionando así una importancia renovada y valiosa a su vida

Pasiones del riesgo y contacto con la naturaleza

Muchos deportistas aficionados en occidente, están emprendiendo hoy en día, largas e intensas ordalías donde la capacidad personal de resistir al sufrimiento en aumento constituye el objetivo principal. La carrera, el footing, el triatlón, el trekking, etc., son tipos de ordalías en las que la gente, sin apoyarse en una habilidad específica, no compite contra otros, sino que somete a prueba su propia capacidad para soportar el dolor creciente. El individuo se evalúa constantemente a sí mismo en una sociedad donde los puntos de referencia son incontables y contradictorios, donde los valores están en crisis, y busca entonces una relación cercana con significados profundos, probando su fuerza de carácter, su coraje y sus recursos personales. Seguir adelante hasta final de las ordalías autoimpuestas da una legitimidad a la vida y provee un umbral simbólico en el cual apoyarse. El funcionamiento en sí mismo tiene una importancia secundaria; sólo cuenta para el individuo. No se trata de luchar contra un tercero, es sólo un método para reforzar la voluntad personal y vencer el sufrimiento, justo al límite de una demanda personalmente impuesta. El límite físico ha venido a sustituir el límite moral que la sociedad actual no logra proporcionar. Sobreponiéndose al sufrimiento se templa el carácter del individuo, proporcionando así una importancia renovada y valiosa a su vida

Nd-Sr isotopic composition of foraminifera and bulk sediments

We present new isotopic data for sedimentary planktonic foraminifera, as well as for potential water column and sedimentary sources of neodymium (Nd), which confirm that the isotopic composition of the foraminifera is the same as surface seawater and very different from deep water and sedimentary Nd. The faithfulness with which sedimentary foraminifera record the isotopic signature of surface seawater Nd is difficult to explain given their variable and high Nd/Ca ratios, ratios that are often sedimentary foraminifera, ratios that are often much higher than is plausible for direct incorporation within the calcite structure. We present further data that demonstrate a similarly large range in Nd/Ca ratios in plankton tow foraminifera, a range that may be controlled by redox conditions in the water column. Cleaning experiments reveal, in common with earlier work, that large amounts of Nd are released by cleaning with both hydrazine and diethylene triamine penta-acetic acid, but that the Nd released at each step is of surface origin. While further detailed studies are required to verify the exact location of the surface isotopic signature and the key controls on foraminiferal Nd isotope systematics, these new data place the use of planktonic foraminifera as recorders of surface water Nd isotope ratios, and thus of variations in the past supply of Nd to the oceans from the continents via weathering and erosion, on a reasonably sure footing.

Jerónimo Sánchez Carranza y la Escuela Española de Esgrima

El deporte de la esgrima no siempre ha sido considerado como actualmente se conoce, ni tampoco el empleo de las armas ha sido el mismo en las diferentes épocas de la historia. Si nos centramos en la española, podemos decir que se hablaba de una forma particular de hacer esgrima, la cual era muy apreciada por el resto de los países europeos. También lo era la que se hacía en Italia. Como cualquier actividad que se desarrolla a lo largo del tiempo debe generarse desde unos comienzos. Estos comienzos siempre están en relación a alguna causa. Para centrarnos en nuestro estudio, los comienzos del manejo de la espada, de una manera lógica y razonada, se une en la persona y en la vida de Jerónimo Sánchez Carranza porque hasta que él no se decide a estudiar en profundidad la ciencia de las armas, no se ve con claridad si todo lo que se hacía con ellas era correcto o no y si todo lo que la inmensa mayoría hacía cuando tenía que utilizarlas estaba revestido de cierta coherencia y fundamento, es decir, tenía su verdad que se pudiera demostrar. Carranza estudia la esgrima que se empleaba en su época y en las anteriores y se da cuenta que tiene que dar una nueva visión de la forma de usar las armas, diferente a lo que la gran mayoría entendía hasta entonces. A Carranza se le ha considerado por muchos autores como el inventor de la esgrima española, hecho que se puede leer con bastante facilidad si se hojea algún tratado que hable de la esgrima española, sin embargo también se habla de Luis Pacheco de Narváez asignándole el mismo calificativo, aunn- ;o es posteriora Carranza. or tanto nuestro estudio se ha centrado en la vida de Jerónimo Sánchez Carranza y en ueva forma de emplear las armas por lo que hace que la tesis sea una tesis biográfica de dicho personaje, donde se ha resaltado mucho más el aspecto del manejo de las armas, de la Destreza. Partimos de las siguientes hipótesis: Carranza es el que sienta los principios técnicos dando forma y coherencia a la escuela de esgrima española gracias a sus aportaciones en los distintos aspectos metodológicos, técnicos y tácticos. La escuela de esgrima española tiene una estructura interna, responde a unas características determinadas y sirve de base a la esgrima que posteriormente se practica. Para que el estudio se pudiera llevar a cabo tuvimos que diseñar un esquema donde se pudieran recoger todos los aspectos que estuvieran relacionados con nuestro autor, de ahí surge el porqué de cada uno de los capítulos que hemos confeccionado. Dicho esquema responde a la visión actual de diferentes facetas de lo que hoy se estudia en diversas ciencias y que cuando Carranza vivía aún no se conocían. Para recoger información sobre su persona y su obra tuvimos en cuenta los distintos lugares donde se podía localizar la documentación necesaria, sobre todo Bibliotecas y Archivos, para ir confeccionando el método de trabajo que consistió en la recopilación de fuentes de todo tipo referidas al tema, pasando luego a la interpretación de las mismas. Esto nos dio una visión de conjunto que hizo que nos adentráramos en aquellos aspectos que más tarde tendríamos que analizar con mucho más detenimiento. En la tesis se puede observar dos partes bien diferenciadas que son las relacionadas; por un lado, a su vida y su tratado y, por otro, al contenido de sus teorías que son realmente las que se deben analizar necesariamente bajo unos conocimientos específicos de la actividad de la esgrima. En cuanto a su vida, se han destacado y estudiado los hechos más importantes de los que hay que resaltar, sobre todo, el que fuera considerado como el inventor de la destreza y de la manera tan particular de concebir dicho arte, diferente a lo que hasta ahora se venía haciendo y que dio paso a lo que se entendió por esgrima científica, quedando plasmada de tal manera que dio pie a la creación de una doctrina y una nueva forma de entender la esgrima la cual generó una línea de actuación que fue continuada por numerosos seguidores. Para todo ello tuvo mucho que ver el que Carranza fuera militar, la cultura y los estudios que poseía, así como la situación en la que se encontraba España además de la gente con quien se relacionaba, que por lo general, era gente culta y de clase social alta. Se ha estudiado también dentro del mismo apartado de su vida unos hechos que se le imputan y que en nuestra opinión son erróneos. Hemos considerado como más relevantes el que Carranza no fue quien riñó con Quevedo como se afirma en algunas de las obras que hemos tratado, sino que fue Pacheco quien tuvo dicha riña, ya que más bien Quevedo se mostraba partidario de las enseñanzas de Carranza, estando en contra de Pacheco. Tampoco fue quien inventó el florete como se dice en algunas ocasiones, ya que el florete aparece posteriormente como un arma de estudio de la técnica de la esgrima. Con respecto al apartado de su obra, se debe decir que tan solo escribió un único tratado que se publicó en 1582, aunque estaba acabado desde el año 1569. En el apartado de su escuela se debe destacar los fundamentos en los que basó sus postulados para que la destreza alcanzara el mismo nivel de las demás artes liberales y que lo hizo a través del estudio de la propia destreza. A lo largo del estudio que hemos realizado se puede apreciar cómo se está generando un arte que hasta ahora no había sido estudiado, viéndose los problemas que ello suponía, desde la organización de la materia a tratar, hasta cómo se debía enseñar, pasando a veces a tener que denominar conceptos de nueva aparición o renombrar y modificar antiguos que estaban anclados en puntos de partida equivocados, siendo éstos los que mayor trabajo le supuso. Diferencia bien dos aspectos básicos que debían existir en cualquier arte y más concretamente en la destreza que son: la teoría y la práctica, ambas deben estar en base a la razón ya que sería una de las formas por la que la destreza perduraría en el tiempo, junto con que esta razón estuviera apoyada en otras ciencias y con los principios de ellas. Carranza fue de la opinión de que el diestro debía conocer mediante el estudio, los elementos fundamentales con los que había que trabajar la destreza, estos elementos son el cuerpo del diestro y las armas, porque ambos van a intervenir en cualquier gesto o acción que se vaya a realizar. Del cuerpo estudió cada una de las partes que más importancia tiene cada vez que el diestro interviene y lo hace sobre todo en base a la medicina, relacionándolo con las matemáticas para poder sacar el máximo provecho, aconsejando que por el conocimiento del propio cuerpo, como el del contrario, se podrá emplear en determinadas situaciones, que si no se supiera de ello, no se sacaría el mismo resultado. De las armas lo que más resaltó fue, por un lado, que la espada debía ser el único arma que el diestro debía utilizar y, por otro, el hecho de que la espada la graduara para poder demostrar que no se hacia todo igual con las distintas partes de la misma porque no todo el arma tenía las mismas propiedades cuando se actuaba con ella. Una de las recomendaciones que dio fue que con la parte más próxima a la empuñadura se debía practicar la defensa por tener más fuerza con esta parte que con la punta y lo demostró con principios matemáticos. Se puede ver con la lectura de la tesis cómo Carranza aporta una nueva forma de trabajo en la que le da mucha importancia a la aplicación de los conocimientos, que previamente se han adquirido y para ello, es importante conocer bien los puntos fuertes y débiles del adversario. La adquisición de la práctica se debe realizar a través de la repetición para crear el hábito necesario que haga que el gesto salga fluido en cada uno de los movimientos que el diestro ejecute. Todo esto no sería posible si quien lo enseña no conoce cada uno de los elementos que intervienen en la destreza, por tanto, a la figura del maestro le da un lugar de una gran relevancia, ya que va a ser él quien tenga que guiar a los alumnos que enseñe. Lo primero que debe hacer los maestros es procurar saber lo máximo de la materia que va a enseñar, por lo que el maestro debe saber casi todo sobre la teoría y la práctica de la destreza, pero además esta teoría y práctica debe ser la correcta. Carranza persigue con su estudio, establecer los principios de la destreza, por lo menos, los más importantes, aunque fueran elementales, para que posteriormente se siguiera trabajando sobre ellos y poder conseguir que la destreza tenga cuerpo y forma de arte liberal, pudiéndose estudiar como cualquier otra, así de esta manera se haría un bien público, ya que los jóvenes se instruirían eficazmente en el uso de las armas, aunque el verdadero fin se encuentra en la conservación de la vida como manda la Fe Católica, siendo la destreza uno de los medios más eficaces para conseguirlo. Hemos dedicado un apartado de técnica y de táctica donde se refleja todo lo relacionado con las posiciones y movimientos que debe realizar el diestro para llegar a conseguir su objetivo, que es herir sin ser herido. Se han analizado las distintas tretas y el porqué de cada una desde el punto de vista del gesto y del movimiento. Si lo que se hace en destreza se relaciona con el adversario, nos adentramos en el terreno de la táctica donde se han estudiado como más importantes los conceptos del tiempo y la distancia, así como las energías que debe conservar el diestro para poder llevar a cabo un combate y del mismo salir victorioso sin llegar al agotamiento. Concluimos diciendo que de todo el estudio que se ha realizado, se ha podido comprobar que Carranza fue quien dotó a la destreza de unos principios técnicos, tácticos y metodológicos, por su forma de concebir este nuevo arte, así como que por la manera en que estableció sus teorías hizo que la destreza que se practicaba en España disfrutara de una estructura interna coherente que perduró a través de los años. SUMMARY The sport of fencing has not always been the respected sport that we know it to be today ñor has the use of weapons been the same throughout history. If we concéntrate on Spainish weapons, we can say that one particular type of sword ¡s spoken about. this sword being very respected by outher European countries, it was also the one that was respected and used in Italy. As with any activity that develops in time, it must evlove from some simple beginnings. Such basics beginnings are always in relation to a cause. To concéntrate on our study, the beginnings are, the use of the sword in a reasoned and logical manner, brought together in the life and times of Jerónimo Sánchez Carranza because until he decided to study in depth the science of weapons, we cannot see with calrity if their use was correct or not and if the vast majority , when they had to use them, used any foundation or coherence, that ¡s to say if any exactness of logical use could be demonstrated. Carranza studied the sword used in his time and those that had gone before, bearing in mind that he had a new visión of the form of use of weapons, different to what the vast majority had until then understood. Carranza has been considered by many historians as the inventor of the Spanish sword, a fact which can be seen with relative ease if one flicks through any work which deals with the Spanish sword, however, they also speak of Luis Pacheco de Narváez affording him the same title, even though he followed Carranza. In ar H our study has been centred on the life of Jerónimo Sánchez Carranza and his ne-" use of weapons. In effect this thesis is a biographical thesis of the said wherein the aspect of the use of weapons stands out more than their mastery. Given the following hypothesis: It was Carranza who evolved the first techniques giving form and coherence to the .Spanish School of Fencing, thanks to his contributions to the different aspects of method, íechnique and tactic. The Spanish School of Fencing had an ¡nternal structure anaswerable to pre-detremined characteristics and served as a base for the fencing that was to, in later days, be practised. For this study to come to a head, we had to design a plan wherein we could collate all of the aspects we could, related to our inventor. From there springs the reason for each of the chapters that we have put together. The said plan responding to the actual visión of different facets that are studied today in different sciences, that were not known in Carranza's lifetime. To collect information on his person and his works we bore in mind the different places in which we could lócate the necessary documentation, above all in libraries and archives. Developing the work-method that consisted in extracing from every source, every thing relative to the theme, re-writing later our interpretation of the same. This brought us closer and made us focus of those aspects that much later we would have to analize in greater detail. In the thesis one can observe two defferent parts that are related; on the one hand his life and works and on the other his theories, which are those that should be really analised and as such, necessarily analised within the confines of a specific knowledge of fencing. In that his life has been isolated and studied the most important facts that stand out above all, is that he was considered to be the inventor of swordmanship and the particular manner of interpreting the said art, different to its interpretaion uptil then. It gave a footing to what they understood as scientific fencing, giving shape and form to the creation of a doctrine and a new form of fencing which developed a line of action that was continued by numerious followers. For all that, much had to do with the facts that Carranza was a military man, the culture, the level of studies he had and the situation in which he found himself. What's more the people with whom he mixed were, in general, cultured and of high social standing. We have also seen in the same article on his life some dubious facts which in our opinión are erróneos. We have considered the most relevent to be that it wasnt Carranza who was in dispute with Quevedo as is stated in some of the works with which we have dealt but rather it was with Pacheco he had such disputes. What's more Quevedo demonstrated his partiality to the teachings of Carranza, going against Pacheco ñor was it him who invented The Florete, a famous Spanish sword, as was said on some ocassions, eventhough the florete appeared later as a weapon in the study of fencing technique. With respect to the article on his works, we must say that there was only one article which was published in 1582, even though it was finished in 1569. In the article on his life one must distinguish between the foundations on which he based his teachings in which swordmanship reached the same levéis as other libral art forms and what he did through the study of the self same mastery. Throughout the study which we have done, one can appreciate how he was developing an art which uptill then had not been studied, seeing for himself the problems he had fortold, from the organisation of materials at hand to how it should be taught, at times having to domínate comparative concepts again or clarify and modify ones which were anchored in erróneos points of a fencing match, feeling these to be the main forseeable jobs-at-hand. Differenciating between two basic concepts which must exist in whatever arte form and more concretly in the skill that is; the theory and practice , both being fundamental to the reason why the skill endured through time, together with this reason he was supported by other sciences and the beginnings of such. Carranza was of the opinión that the swordsman must acquired by way of study, the fundemental elements with which he had to work, these elements being the body of the swordsman and the weapons, because both were going to intervene in whatever movement or action that was going to be taken. The body studied, each of the parts having more importance each time the skill intervened and above all what it did based on medicne relating it to matemathics to exact the máximum advantage, one could employ in certain circumstances, that if they were not employed, the same advantages would not result. On weapons, what resulted best was, on the one hand, the sword should be the only weapon that the swordsman should use and on the other hand, the sword should be graded to show that one cannot do the same with the different parts of the same because not all of the weapon had the same properties when used. One of the recomendations he made was that the part nearest to the hand-guard should be used for defence because one could use more forcé with it than the point and he demonstrated this with mathematical principies. One can see on reading this thesis how Carranza brought forth a new work form, in which he put much importance on the application of experience that had previously been acquired and because of it, it was important to know well the strenghts and weaknesses of an adversery. The acquisition of technique should be realised through repetition to form the habit necessary for movement to flow freely each time the swordsman executed a movement. None of this would be possible if whoever was teaching did not know each one of the elements that intervened, affording the fencing master a great reverence, in that it was he who had to guide the students he was to teach. The first thing that the master had to do was to make sure he had the maximun knowledge over which he was going to teach, to that end, the master had to know almost everything about the theory and practice of the skill of fencing but what's more that such theory and practice had to be the correct one. Carranza persued his studies, establishing the principies of technique, at least, the most important ones even though they were elementary, so that later they could continué working on them and it could be seen that the technique had a shape and form of any other art form, allowing it to be studied like any other form, as such it had a good following, even young people could be instructed in the correct use of weapons, however the real end could be found in the conservaron of life as ordered by the Catholic Church, feeling that skill with the sword was one of the most effective methods for assuring it. We have dedicated an article to technique and tactics wherein is reflected everything related to positions and movement that the swordsman must do to achieve his objective, that is, wound without being wounded. We have analised the different tricks and the reasons from every point of view of movement and action. If what is done by technique is related with the adversery we enter in the territory of tactics wherein we have studied, most importantly, the concepts of time and distance just as, the energy the swordsman muse conserve to bring to a head a bout and arrive victorious without being exhausted. We conclude by saying that everything that has been realised by this study, has shown that it was Carranza who gave to the skill, the first basic techniques, tactics and methodology, by his conception of this new art form, just as the manner in which he established his theories, made possible the tecnhiques practiced in Spain would enjoy an intemal coherent structure, which would endure throughout the years.

Immigration Law by Proxy: The Case of Colorado’s Human Smuggling Crime

Despite the federal government’s well known expansive reach in creating and enforcing immigration law, the states retain substantial authority to play an important role in migrants’ lives. Through their traditional powers to adopt criminal statutes and police their communities, states can indirectly — but intentionally — inject themselves into the incidents of ordinary life as a migrant. Colorado’s human smuggling statute, currently being challenged before the state supreme court, illustrates this type of state regulation of migration. This essay addresses the statute’s reach, its shaky constitutional footing, and places it in a broader context in which states criminalize immigration-related activity.

Consequences of Kondo exchange on quantum spins

When individual quantum spins are placed in close proximity to conducting substrates, the localized spin is coupled to the nearby itinerant conduction electrons via Kondo exchange. In the strong coupling limit this can result in the Kondo effect — the formation of a correlated, many body singlet state — and a resulting renormalization of the density of states near the Fermi energy. However, even when Kondo screening does not occur, Kondo exchange can give rise to a wide variety of other phenomena. In addition to the well known renormalization of the g factor and the finite spin decoherence and relaxation times, Kondo exchange has recently been found to give rise to a newly discovered effect: the renormalization of the single ion magnetic anisotropy. Here we put these apparently different phenomena on equal footing by treating the effect of Kondo exchange perturbatively. In this formalism, the central quantity is ρJ, the product of the density of states at the Fermi energy ρ and the Kondo exchange constant J. We show that perturbation theory correctly describes the experimentally observed exchange induced shifts of the single spin excitation energies, demonstrating that Kondo exchange can be used to tune the effective magnetic anisotropy of a single spin.

A Unique Prestressed Concrete Pedestrian Bridge in Spain

This paper describes the so-called Kiss Bridge. This structure resembles a kiss, a subtle touch of structures. The beams have been structurally designed to adapt the Japanese art of paper folding called "origami." The material used for constructing the floating beams is white reinforced concrete in the form of folded shells. The two geometrically different parts have distinct structural behaviors. The length of the main pathway of both structures is over 60 m. The pedestrian bridge crosses an artificial rainwater channel with a skew of 45° with respect to the referred channel. The joint between the cantilever structure and the Y-shaped one is located over the middle of the channel. Each stretch has different transversal sections. The pedestrian bridge is made with prestressed self-compacting reinforced concrete of 60 MPa. The foundation is shallow, comprising footings and footing beams made of 25 MPa conventional concrete. The cantilever structure with its foundations is designed as a semi-integral bridge whereas the Y-shaped one is an integral structure. The dynamic behavior of the structure was carefully studied to ensure that the dynamic loads generated by pedestrians do not cause excessive vibrations, especially to the cantilever structure, which could present dynamic interactions with the pedestrians walking. The bridge was recognized, in the 2014 edition of the fib Awards for Outstanding Concrete Structures, for having made a valuable contribution to the image and promotion of concrete structures.

The Great Transformation: Memo to the Incoming EU Presidents. Bruegel Policy Brief 2014/04, July 2014

The European Union’s leadership spent the last five years fighting an acute and existential crisis. The next five years, under your leadership, will be no less difficult. You will have to tackle difficult economic and institutional questions while being alert to the possibility of a new crisis. You face three central challenges: (1) The feeble economic situation prevents job creation and hobbles attempts to reduce public and private debt; (2) EU institutions and the EU budget need reform and you will have to deal with pressing external matters, including neighbourhood policy and the EU’s position in the world; (3) You will have to prepare and face up to the need for treaty change to put monetary union on a more stable footing, to review the EU’s competences and to re-adjust the relationship between the euro area and the EU, and the United Kingdom in particular.

ECB Policy and Eurozone Fragility: Was De Grauwe Right? CEPS Working Document No. 397, June 2014

Paul De Grauwe’s fragility hypothesis states that member countries of a monetary union such as the eurozone are highly vulnerable to a self-fulfilling mechanism by which the efforts of investors to avoid losses from default can end up triggering the very default they fear. The authors test this hypothesis by applying an eclectic methodology to a time window around Mario Draghi’s “whatever it takes” (to keep the eurozone on firm footing) pledge on 26 July 2012. This pledge was soon followed by the announcement of the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme (the prospective and conditional purchase by the European Central Bank of sovereign bonds of eurozone countries having difficulty issuing debt). The principal components of eurozone credit default swap spreads validate this choice of time frame. An event study reveals significant pre announcement contagion emanating from Spain to Italy, Belgium, France and Austria. Furthermore, time-series regression confirms frequent clusters of large shocks affecting the credit default swap spreads of the four eurozone countries but solely during the pre-announcement period. The findings of this report support the fragility hypothesis for the eurozone and endorse the Outright Monetary Transactions programme.

Trudny "Sojusznik" Bialorus w polityce Rosji. Prace OSW 2008. = Difficult "ally." Belarus in Russia's foreign policy. OSW Study 28/2008

Belarus holds a special position in Russian policy due to its geopolitical, military and transit significance. Russia's influence and position in the entire Eastern European region largely depend on how strong Russian influence in Belarus is. The process of Russian-Belarusian integration began in 1994, when Alyaksandr Lukashenka came to power in Minsk. At the time, Russia's policy towards Belarus was based on twomain assumptions. Firstly, the Kremlin supported Lukashenka's authoritarian regime. This allowed Russia to keep Belarus within its orbit of political influence and prevent other states from getting involved, since an undemocratic Belarus could not count on closer contacts with the West. Secondly, Russia heavily subsidised Belarus with cheap energy resources (way below the market price) and allowed the duty-free access of Belarusian goods to its market. Thus Belarus became a kind of 'sponsored authoritarianism' with a specific economic model, owing its existence to Russia's economic and political support. At the same time, Moscow's key objective in its policy towards Belarus was to make Minsk accept the Russian conditions concerning integration, which would in fact lead to Belarus' incorporation by the Russian Federation. However, Belarus managed to maintain its sovereignty, while Alyaksandr Lukashenka bandied the term 'integration' about in order to maintain the preferential model of his state's relations with Russia. Russia's intention to alter the nature of these bilateral relations became evident when Vladimir Putin took power in 2000. However, Moscow faced Minsk's refusal to accept the Russian integration plan (which, among other measures, provided for the takeover of Belarusian economic assets by Russian companies). This forced Russia to use its main tool against Minsk: the supplies of cheap gas and oil that had been sustaining Belarus' archaic economy. The most serious crisis in Russian-Belarusian relations broke out at the beginning of 2007, following Moscow's decision to raise the energy resource prices. This decision marked the beginning of the application of market principles to settlements between Moscow and Minsk. The key question this study is meant to answer concerns the consequences of the aforementioned decision by Russia for future Russian-Belarusian relations. Are they at a turning point? What are Russia's policy objectives? What results can come from the process of moving mutual relations onto an economic footing? What policy will replace Russia's 'sponsoring of Belarusian authoritarianism', which it has been implementing since 1994? Finally, what further measures will Russia undertake towards Belarus? The current study consists of five chapters. The first chapter offers a brief presentation of Belarus' significance and position in Russian policy. The second analyses the development of Russian-Belarusian political relations, first of all the establishment of the Union State, Belarus' position in Russian domestic policy and Russia's influence on Belarusian policy. The third chapter presents bilateral economic relations, primarily energy issues. The fourth chapter describes the state and perspectives of military cooperation between the two states. The fifth chapter presents conclusions, where the author attempts to define the essence of the ongoing re-evaluation in Russian-Belarusian relations and to project their future model.

Is the EU-Central Asia Strategy running out of steam? EUCAM Policy Brief No. 17, May 2011

The EU’s Central Asia Strategy approaches its fourth anniversary. In that time the EU has placed its relationship with Central Asia on a more structured footing. Although progress has been made in building dialogue and in furthering engagement, the strategy’s limitations are increasingly obvious. This brief argues that the driving force of the EU engagement should be based on a closer link between security and development. Engagement in this broad field should be underpinned by a values based approach that seeks to promote more explicitly reform on human rights, rule of law, governance and democracy. The momentous changes sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa have demonstrated that even the most apparently durable authoritarian regimes are vulnerable to sudden political shocks.

Outing and the wheelman

Title from cover.