Ecologia política: una lectura de cambios que promueve la educación ambiental no formal en Santiago de Cali -Colombia / Political ecology: a reading of changes promoted by nonformal environmental education in Santiago de Cali -Colombia / Ecologia política: uma leitura da mudança promovendo a educação ambiental não formal em Santiago de Cali -Colombia

RESUMEN Ante la presión antropogénica sobre el medio ambiente, es preponderante el rol de la educación ambiental para generar cambios que resignifiquen la relación ser humano-naturaleza en los territórios. Esta investigación cualitativa hermenêutica tuvo un enfoque descriptivo explicativo y en ella se estudiaron cambios culturales y socioambientales promovidos por procesos específicos de educación ambiental no formal realizados en Santiago de Cali - Colombia acerca de conservación de bienes ambientales y servicios ecosistémicos, embellecimiento del entorno, soberania alimentaria y preservación de la biodiversidad. Se identificaron indicadores de educación ambiental potenciales para valorar los cambios promovidos, se definieron indicadores específicos indagando experiencias, percepciones y motivaciones de actores sociales participantes y se contrastó su correspondencia desde la ecologia política y el pensamiento ambiental crítico. Se encontró que la definición de indicadores de educación ambiental presenta retos considerables y que, si bien los procesos educativos posibilitaron una mejor comprensión de las problemáticas medioambientales, los cambios culturales y socioambientales promovidos dependen de dinâmicas socioeconómicas, prácticas éticas, culturales y del ejercicio del poder político.

ABSTRACT In the face of anthropogenic pressure on the environment, the role of environmental education to generate changes that redefine the human-nature relationship in the territories is preponderant. This qualitative hermeneutic research had a descriptive explanatory approach and studied cultural and socio-environmental changes promoted by specific non-formal environmental education processes carried out in Santiago de Cali - Colombia regarding the conservation of environmental goods and ecosystem services, beautification of the environment, food sovereignty and preservation of biodiversity Potential environmental education indicators were identified to assess the changes promoted, specific indicators were defined by investigating experiences, perceptions and motivations of participating social actors and their correspondence was contrasted from political ecology and critical environmental thinking. It was found that the definition of environmental education indicators presents considerable challenges and that, although the educational processes enabled a better understanding of environmental issues, the cultural and socio-environmental changes promoted depend on socioeconomic dynamics, ethical and cultural practices and the exercise of political power.

RESUMO Diante da pressão antropogênica sobre o meio ambiente, o papel da educação ambiental na geração de mudanças que redefinem a relação homem-natureza nos territórios é preponderante. Esta pesquisa hermenêutica qualitativa teve uma abordagem explicativa descritiva e estudou as mudanças culturais e socioambientais promovidas por processos específicos de educação ambiental não-formal realizados em Santiago de Cali - Colombia sobre a conservação dos bens e serviços ambientais, o embelezamento do meio ambiente, a soberania alimentar e a preservação da biodiversidade. Indicadores potenciais de educação ambiental foram identificados para avaliar as mudanças promovidas, indicadores específicos foram definidos através de pesquisas sobre as experiências, percepções e motivações dos atores sociais participantes e sua correspondência foi contrastada a partir da perspectiva da ecologia politica e do pensamento ambiental crítico. Verificou-se que a definição de indicadores de educação ambiental apresenta desafios consideráveis e que, embora os processos educacionais tenham levado a uma melhor compreensão das questões ambientais, as mudanças culturais e socioambientais promovidas dependem da dinâmica socioeconòmica, das práticas éticas e culturais e do exercicio do poder politico.

A gender study of the social representations of dating violence in Chilean adolescents.

The experiences and viewpoints of adolescents as regards dating violence in southern countries remain poorly documented. It is thus difficult to have an overall understanding of the phenomenon. Based on social representation theory, this paper attempts to fill this gap by answering the question: What is dating violence for Chilean adolescents? Knowing what adolescents consider to be dating violence and the contextual elements that influence their perceptions is essential to developing effective prevention strategies. This is particularly important as prevention policies are currently non-existent in Chile, despite the fact that adolescents living there must deal with many risk factors. In this context, a qualitative multi-methodological study (free association and focus groups) was conducted with 142 Chilean adolescents from public and private schools. This study showed that the explanations of dating violence given by boys and girls were influenced by gender and a context of ambivalent sexism. It also took place in a changing socio-cultural Chilean context. Dating violence used by boys was driven by machismo and its exercise by girls was perceived to come from cultural changes concerning women's rights. In addition, the physical nature of dating violence was deeply entrenched in the study participants' social representations, the figurative image being hits. Based on these results, we recommend that future research and prevention strategies should consider the sociocultural context and gender as aspects likely to influence both the adolescents' social representations of dating violence and their behaviors. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43545-022-00407-7.

How does urbanization affect perceptions and traditional knowledge of medicinal plants?

BACKGROUND: The use and knowledge of medicinal plants play an essential role in community health in rural Mexico. Medicinal plants are part of the local heritage and provide a source of economic income. Nevertheless, knowledge of their use has declined due to factors like accelerated urbanization. Some authors have proposed that by reducing natural spaces, urbanization generates changes that impact the recognition, use, and management of natural resources. Here, we evaluate how urbanization affects the knowledge, use, and perception of medicinal plants in a Biosphere Reserve in Mexico. METHODS: Using a mixed methodology including quantitative and qualitative analyses, we generated a list of medicinal plants, methods of preparation, prevalence of illness, and use in two communities with different degrees of urbanization. RESULTS: A total of 217 medicinal plants were identified. The more urbanized community had greater knowledge of, and used, a larger number of introduced plant species, while the less urbanized community used and had more knowledge about wild plants. One of the factors explaining these differences was occupation, with people who work outdoors showing greater knowledge of wild plants. CONCLUSIONS: Urbanization can lead to a loss of knowledge of the use and management of local wild species, with implications for the conservation of biocultural heritage. Substitution of native medicinal plants by introduced species shows disinterest and disuse in the local medicinal flora, which could be reflected in their ecosystems.

An exploration of differences in sleep characteristics between Mexico-born US immigrants and other Americans to address the Hispanic Paradox.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Decreased sleep duration and quality are associated with poor health. Given that Mexico-born US immigrants (MI) often have favorable health status relative to the general US population (USALL), we tested the hypothesis that MI have better sleep as compared to USALL and to Mexican-Americans (MA) born in the US. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of a stratified multistage probability sample of 18 years and older civilian non-institutionalized USALL enrolled in NHANES during 2005-2006. Age-adjusted population prevalence rates and adjusted odd ratios of short habitual sleep time (SHST) and insomnia were calculated using weighted analyses. SETTING: Computer assisted personal bilingual (English/Spanish) interviews in the participants' home using a sleep questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS: 5160 USALL participants, including 1046 MA, of whom 620 were MI. RESULTS: In logistic regression models unadjusted and adjusted for socioeconomic characteristics, health related behavior risk factors, health status, and depression, MI status was significantly associated with lower odds of SHST (OR = 0.7, 95%CI [0.6-0.9]), insomnia (OR = 0.3, 95%CI [0.2-0.5]), and sleep-associated functional impairments (OR = 0.4, 95%CI [0.2-0.8]). In MA males, MI status was associated with reduced odds of SHST < 7 h/weeknight and insomnia symptoms. Cultural changes measured by increased levels of English compared to Spanish language spoken at home were associated with an increased risk of poor sleep in MA men in univariate models, and may partially explain better sleep in MI men compared to their US-born counterparts. CONCLUSION: Compared to the general US poplulation, Mexican-born US immigrants have more favorable sleep, possibly contributing to their lower reported risk of diabetes, hypertension, CVD, and all-cause mortality (the "Hispanic Paradox").