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Coal gasification to manufacture dihydrogen (H 2) has long been known as a surface process. Recent works have also highlighted the H 2 generating potential of the Organic Matter (OM). The evolution of OM generates H 2 all along the process but this gas is only expected to remain as free H 2 after the maturation and expulsion of the hydrocarbons (HC) which means at a high temperature of above 200 °C. In this paper we studied the potential of three different tertiary coals from Amaga, La Jagua de Ibirico and Barrancas, all located in Colombia. Their H 2 yields were studied using a pyrolyser and the kinetic of the H 2 generation were quantified. All the studied coals are immature to early mature as source rock (SR) with large TOC content, between 66 and 83%, and good H 2 potential. The highest values were found for the Barrancas area where the potential reached 25 mg H 2 /g TOC. The temperature corresponding to the peak of H 2 generation is between 740 and 800 °C depending of the heating rate. This corresponds to the 200–300 °C for the H 2 kitchen, even if the H 2 generation starts before as already observed for continental organic rich source rock. Comparison with the other coals shows that H 2 potential is linear with TOC. In the Colombian coals, the H 2 yield in mg H 2 /g of rock is around 1/4 of the TOC content. In average, these coals have so a H 2 yield about 10 000 mmol H 2 /kg of rock, two orders of magnitude above the "best" olivines. It should nevertheless be kept in mind that the extrapolation of these laboratory data to sedimentary basins remains unconstrained and will need to be refined when well data and modelling tools are available. • The coals have significant H 2 potential in deep sedimentary basins. • High temperature open-system pyrolizer can be used to quantify these H 2 yield. • The reaction kinetic of the H 2 generation from coal is of order 1 and H 2 window generation can extend from 200 to 400 °C. • The Cenozoic Colombian coal's yield of H 2 in mgH 2 /g rock is ca ¼ of its organic carbon content in percentage. • A 80% TOC rich coal has a H 2 yield two orders of magnitude higher than that of olivines at a similar temperature of 250 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the recent experience of community water finance in Colombia, this paper contributes to a diversification of the literature on the financialisation of water and the commons governance by focusing on the perspective of grassroots organisations. It highlights the inclusion and exclusion mechanisms of water access in the rural Colombian context. As water communities continue to seek autonomy from state agencies and private providers and to affirm their own management model, the paper examines the ambivalent effects of finance and the use of the credit as a political instrument. In a context of public policies that pressurise communities to adopt water management and financing strategies based on profitability and efficiency, the paper considers how access to credit from local financial institutions contributes to this quest for autonomy. It highlights how the effects of these new financial practices are starting to bring about social change within communities, such as the redefinition of leaders' roles, or the transformation of relations with the state. The paper concludes by demonstrating how, in adopting entrepreneurial forms of management, the community water organisations assume the risks associated with the market-based model and thus expose themselves to significant change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The materiality of land also entails multiple temporalities. • Land can be as dynamic and shifting as water. • Hydrological changes shape and are shaped by local practices of land appropriation and ownership. • The materiality of property is as important as the social relations woven around it. • Floodplains might be better seen as human-water-land systems. Unlike water, land is usually conceived of as motionless and fixed in place. Because of these characteristics, land lends itself to the delineation of boundaries and spatial determinations of property relations. But what happens to those boundaries and relations when land is mobile, pliable, unfixed, and when its contours are transformed by the fluctuations of other elements such as water? How does an analysis of property relations under those changing material conditions shape our understanding of land as an object of ownership? This paper addresses these questions by analyzing how the socio-ecological dynamics of flooding environments destabilize static notions of property and land. Specifically, this paper criticizes widely accepted ideas that assume that land, as a material element, is temporarily and spatially static, and that property is a social relation between people with regard to an object, not to the object itself. This paper develops this discussion through the analysis of a conflict among peasants, landowners, and the state for the appropriation of newly emerged fluvial land and the definition of its boundaries in the floodplains of northern Colombia. This paper shows how the intricate and shifting connections between water and land make property a highly dynamic relationship. Furthermore, it emphasizes the property and land embed multiple temporalities associated with the socio-ecologies of flooding environments. This paper concludes with a reflection on the implications of this case study for broader discussions on the water-land nexus and for the conceptualization of floodplains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the 'war on drugs' in Colombia as its case study, this paper reflects on the recent findings and recommendations of Colombia's Truth Commission to make a case for a transformative approach to end ongoing cycles of drugs-related violence. In Colombia, the armed conflict and repressive prohibitionist drug policies are deeply entangled, and violence is ongoing. A peaceful future, we contend, requires thinking about a world in which we can live well with drugs. This would be a clear break from the goal of a 'drug free' world that has prevailed under the repressive prohibitionist regime. Legal regulation of drug markets is proposed here as a form of long-overdue reparations for victim groups in Colombia, which could address and repair past inequality and harms engendered by prohibition, and improve the living conditions of people involved in, and impacted by, illegal drug markets. Colombia, with its unique historical trajectory, has much to contribute towards future projections on the global legal regulation of drug markets. By positioning legal regulation of drug markets as reparation, this paper contributes to debates on drug policy reform and reparative justice, arguing that the two are very much connected. • The Colombian truth commission (CEV) concluded that the county's conflict has been transformed by the 'war on drugs'. • This chapter analyses the CEV's recommendation to transition towards a legally regulated drug market to end violence in Colombia. • Drug policy reform is not an end in itself; it should help to create a fairer and more inclusive world. • This chapter makes an important contribution from the Global South to debates about drug legalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the effects of inserting solar and wind power in a hydro-dominated electricity system that has been at risk of outages in the short term. The extent to which renewables could contribute to overcoming potential critical conditions has not received much attention given the intermittency of the sources. In this context, this paper proposes a robust optimization model that, under different scenarios, estimates the implications of building new power plants based on renewables and traditional technologies. It considers costs, average construction times, and blackout events. Hidroituango, a mega hydroelectric project – prone to non-completion due to failures during its construction phase – is considered here because it threatens Colombia's future energy security of supply. Model results indicate that investing in hydro or thermal power units could be risky and twice as expensive as investing in renewables. Findings show that solar and wind technologies, in a ratio of 2.5 to 1, make part of the optimal and secure expansion plan for the Colombian power system. Besides reducing the CO 2 emissions of the electricity sector, in the scenarios analyzed, these renewables show fewer blackouts (between 15 and 40% less) than the traditional technologies and more water savings in reservoirs. • Solar and wind power (RES) are the best options to face the Hidroituango crisis. • RES should replace Hidroituango's missing capacity rather than hydro, coal or gas. • RES scenarios could be twice as cheaper as the business as usual scenarios. • RES would allow more water savings in reservoirs than traditional technologies. • RES scenarios show lower blackout probabilities than traditional technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The article examines the effect of prestige on cooperation in social dilemma. • Actors cooperate in order to gain prestige by cooperating with prestigious others. • The paper analyses cooperation among art organizations in Bogotá (2011–2015). • The networks are modeled with a temporal exponential random graph model (tergm). • Prestige affects cooperation in social dilemmas, but depends on cooperation forms. What brings about cooperation in social dilemmas? The literature has proposed motivational and strategic solutions to social dilemmas. In motivational solutions, actors cooperate because they care about fairness. In strategic solutions actors cooperate because their chances to exploit others are reduced. This paper argues that actors also cooperate in order to gain prestige. The effect of prestige on cooperation is examined relying on a unique set of network and covariate data on art organizations (museums, independent art spaces, galleries and art foundations) in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. Bogotá is a not a very likely environment for cooperation, since distrust is still widespread after a long civil war. The temporal exponential random graph models predict dyadic cooperation (i.e., between two actors) based on past and present cooperation in the network as well as of the organizations' characteristics. The analysis thus controls for the effect of actors' past and present interaction on the present cooperation dilemma. The paper shows that prestige affects cooperation in social dilemmas independent of past and present interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging scholarship on urban land grabbing has urged researchers to take more nuanced perspectives on land appropriation. There is the need to understand the actions of and interactions amongst a multiplicity of local actors—beyond large-scale investors and global cities—when considering land grabs in the spaces of urban development. Therefore, this paper analyses what we conceptualise as the more 'gradual' and 'ordinary' dynamics of land dispossession in the peri-urban spaces of the small-scale city of Sogamoso, Colombia. Based on 38 semi-structured key-informant interviews, we explore everyday actions, actors and power relations involved in urban expansionism, mining, farming and ecosystems conservation as these activities seek to coexist and compete for the same, relatively sparse amount of peri-urban space. We find that land appropriation is facilitated by multi-level policy incoherence and the failures of municipal governance. Policy incoherence results in normative uncertainty and weak environmental governance, while a lack of coordinated municipal governance in peri-urban spaces leads to further small scale, 'ordinary' and therefore 'invisible' conflicts, to the detriment of citizens' livelihoods. This paper contributes to understanding spatially differentiated urban land appropriation, and its articulation with local, gradual, subtle and more hidden land use conflicts, governance regimes and power relations at the scales of the everyday. Our findings suggest the need to theorize urban land grab also as a result of ordinary, place-based, quotidian dynamics that emerge from governance problematics, including policy incoherence, and land use conflicts, and from the intersection of a more diverse set of drivers, mechanisms and actors than discussed in the extant literature with focus on large urban centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-state armed actors can shape provision of public goods by impeding provision, becoming providers themselves, or taking control of the means for provision. While the literature is prolific at analyzing the former two channels, the third one is underexplored. How does criminal governance affect public goods provisioning via state capture? And do these dynamics facilitate the survival of non-state armed groups? This paper seeks to answer these questions. I argue that institutional cooptation by non-state armed actors (NSAs) affects public goods provisioning negatively in contexts of institutional decentralization. In these circumstances, public resource transfers can strengthen rather than weaken NSAs. To test my argument, I analyze the Colombian case, where criminal insurgencies took control of and diverted public health funds toward their pockets. Using data on health care providers, as well as the presence of NSAs at the municipal level, I show via two-way fixed effects models that municipalities experiencing paramilitary cooptation see a decrease in public health care provision. Similarly, public resource transfers decrease paramilitary demobilizations. This has important implications for the evaluation of decentralization as a strategy for political stabilization, peacekeeping, and development in fragile contexts, as well as for understanding the impact of public spending in strengthening rather than weakening NSAs. • State capture by non-state armed actors (NSAs) hinders public goods provisioning. • Decentralization strengthens NSAs when criminal governance occurs via state capture. • NSA state capture in Colombia stalled health care expansion and NSA demobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper contributes to the economic analysis of illicit activities and money laundering. First, it presents a theoretical model of long-run growth that explicitly considers illicit workers, activities, and income, alongside a licit private sector and a functioning government. Second, it generates estimates of the size of illicit income and provides simulated and econometric estimates of the volume of laundered assets in the Colombian economy. In the model, the licit sector operates in a perfectly competitive environment and produces a good through a standard neoclassical production function. The illicit sector operates in an imperfectly competitive environment and is composed of two different activities: The first activity produces an illicit good that nonetheless is valuable in the market (for example illegal drugs); the second does not add value to the economy but only redistributes wealth (for example robbery, kidnapping, and fraud). The paper provides a series of comparative statics exercises to assess the effects of changes in government efficiency, licit sector productivity, and the demand for illegal drugs. From the model, the analysis derives a set of estimable macroeconometric equations to measure the size of laundered assets in the Colombian economy in the period 1985–2013. The paper assembles a dataset whose key components are estimates of illicit income from drug trafficking and common crime. Illicit incomes increased drastically until 2001, reaching a peak of nearly 12% of gross domestic product and then decreasing to less than 2% by 2013. The decline not only overlaps with a period of high economic growth but also occurs after the implementation of Plan Colombia. The dataset is used to estimate the volume of laundered assets in the economy by applying the Kalman filter for the estimation of unobserved dynamic variables onto the derived macroeconometric equations from the model. The findings show that the volume of laundered assets increased from about 8% of gross domestic product in the mid-1980s to a peak of 14% by 2002, and declined to 8% in 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes the concept 'necropolitics of peacebuilding' to analyse how contemporary geographies of peace and post-war violence are shaped by the articulation of race, space, politics and the coloniality of power. We explore how post-conflict programmes, plans and policies shape the uneven distribution of life and death, focussing in particular on the elimination of indigenous leaders. Drawing on research conducted in northern Cauca, Colombia, where many indigenous leaders have been threatened and murdered despite the signing of the Peace Agreement in 2016, our analysis reveals four key factors: 1) The coloniality of power that treats their bodies as disposable and not fully human; 2) The juxtaposition of illicit economies and neoliberal extractivist enterprises in their territories; 3) Violent opposition to their autonomous political projects that aim to defend their land and forms of being; and 4) The disputed presence of peacebuilding programmes seeking to substitute illicit crops. Analysing the relationship between necropolitics, racism and spatial segregation is shown to be crucial to understanding the violence faced by indigenous leaders and communities in post-conflict situations. This paper thus makes an important contribution to understandings of the continuity of necropolitics within the context of peacebuilding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• One of the most important achievements for Colombian women in the 20th century was the significant increase in their labor force participation. • The demographic transition had a significant impact on female labor participation until the mid-1980s. • Married women played a crucial role in boosting female labor force participation, thanks to legislative and social changes enabling them. • The study analyzes factors influencing women's employment opportunities over time and highlights the importance of the historical context. • Educational advances, economic growth, demographic transition, and changes in social norms have all contributed to women's labor dynamics. This paper examines the evolution of women's participation in the labor market from 1960 to 2018, shedding light on the complex factors that influence their labor opportunities. The study emphasizes the significance of the historical context in understanding these factors. This research uncovers nuanced insights using a two-step methodology involving principal component analysis and Time-Varying Effect Modeling (TVEM). The results indicate that the transition from high to low fertility rates significantly influenced female labor participation until the mid-1980s. Educational advancements, economic growth, and changing marital dynamics also played a role in shaping evolving patterns. From 1980 to 1995, factors such as diminishing fertility, declining infant mortality, and varying economic conditions influenced women's labor involvement. From 1995 to 2010, higher education emerged as a key driver, accompanied by shifting societal norms, and from 2010 to 2018, there were positive contributions from fertility rates, minimum wage, and male labor participation. This study underscores the intricate relationship between education, demographics, social norms, and economics in shaping women's labor force participation, providing valuable insights for gender-inclusive policies and promoting women's economic empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an assessment of the obstacles to the development of non-conventional renewable energy sources in Colombia. In the study, eleven barriers were included in three clusters: technical, social and economic. These barriers obstruct renewable energy sources from contributing to the electricity market in Colombia, mainly in its non-interconnected areas. The energy sources analysed are solar photovoltaic power, wind power, biomass, geothermal and small hydroelectric power (less than 20 MW electricity). Obstacles and energy alternatives are included in an assessment model by means of Analytical Network Process. The method permits ranking the barriers and energy sources according to their influence in the network. That means, the more conflictive the obstacles and the more obstructed the energy sources, the higher their values. Four experts participated in the procedure representing different stakeholders in the electricity market of Colombia. The research showed the most important barriers are costs of investment and operating, lack of public and private coordination and lack of development planning for renewable energy sources. The most influenced (hindered by barriers) sources are wind power and geothermal power. However, the experts did not fully agree on those results and differences are discussed. The paper ends with some recommendations for overcoming the main obstacles against the participation of renewable energy sources in the Colombian electricity market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the emerging concept of buen vivir – interpreted as integrative and collective well-being – as it is being envisioned and practiced by a network of sustainability initiatives in Colombia. As an example of a transition narrative currently taking place in Latin America and beyond, buen vivir represents a turn towards a more biocentric, relational and collective means of understanding and being in the world. Yet despite the many discourses into buen vivir (many of which tout it as an alternative to neoliberal models of development), there is a general lack of research into its varied forms of application, especially in terms of lived experiences. Drawing on the new ruralities literature, this paper explores the extent to which buen vivir visions and practices represent radical new ruralities – so-called alternatives to development. Data were collected from individuals and ecological communities in predominantly rural areas who are members of the Council of Sustainable Settlements of the Americas (CASA), a network which promotes many of the principles of buen vivir . Through participatory methods, results demonstrate that CASA visions are based on constructing territorial relations through intercultural knowledge exchange and experimentation into alternative lifestyles. Despite the substantial challenges and contradictions of putting these visions into practice, we argue that lived experiences promote processes of self-reflection on what buen vivir really is or could be. We hold that the inclusive nature of buen vivir offers opportunities for diverse peoples to cohere around shared meanings of the 'good life,' while providing the freedom to live variations depending on social and ecological context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between accessibility and agricultural production through a strategic freight transport model based on product analysis. Like most freight demand models applied in practice, we use an aggregate modeling approach. Zoning, infrastructure networks, and socioeconomic and nationwide agricultural data were adapted from the Colombian Strategic Freight Transportation model and the National Agricultural Survey. Data was stored, displayed, managed, and analyzed using a Geographic Information System. Three accessibility indicators entering the freight generation model are tested. The temporal accessibility index is the best-performing accessibility measure for the case study conducted in Colombia. The models exhibit that accessibility positively affects freight generation, proving a solid link between temporal accessibility and agricultural production. When using the models to predict the impact of new transport infrastructure projects, changes in agricultural production were not highly significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary In the context of de-regulation of the coffee sector, the registration of some Geographical Indications (GIs) has recently been implemented. This paper aims at answering to the following research question: how does GIs’ process (protection and management) help to rationalize the role of the state in the coffee sector? In Colombia, the National Coffee Growers Federation took all initiatives for the registration and implementation of Café de Colombia as a GI both in Colombia and in European Union and manages also the GI use. In Kenya, the Coffee Directorate registered the certification trademark “Coffee Kenya, So Rich So Kenyan” and acts as public body in charge of managing the coffee sector. Although both countries conceived different approaches, there is a common strategic line, which consists in attempting to secure downstream value of the long lasting origin coffee branding and in strengthening the quality management system. This paper shows that discrepancies in public intervention in the coffee industry depend on the empowerment of producers in this industry irrespective of the legal tool to protect GIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colombia's health sector reform has been recognized for its universal health (UHC) coverage scheme. However, this reform evolved without palliative care (PC), thereby omitting a core element of UHC. In this paper, we analyze the Colombian health system reform and health policies in relation to PC. We present the history, innovations, successes, and shortcomings of the reform and summarize the lessons learned to strengthen efforts leading to PC integration. Our analysis is based on the WHO public health framework for PC (policy, access to medicines, education, service provision). For several years and especially during the last decade, the government enacted laws and regulations to improve access to essential medicines and to integrate PC. Relative to other countries in Latin America, Colombia was the first to launch a PC service and to accredit palliative medicine as a specialty, the second to establish a national PC association and one of the few countries with a specific PC law. However, data shows that there are still too few services to meet the PC needs of approximately 250,000 adult patients annually. Our analysis shows that the country's failure to integrate PC most likely is a result of limited health worker education. Advocacy efforts should include deans of schools and provosts, in addition to policy makers and regulators. Other possible factors affecting uptake and implementation of existing national policies are civil unrest and limited collaboration between government offices. Additional research is needed to evaluate the impact of these and other related factors on PC integration in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The characteristics and baseline use of refrigerant gas in the food sector. • To identify the characteristics of refrigerants used in the three selected sectors. • The most used refrigerant gases are R22, R404, R507 and R134A in the three sectors. • A survey was carried out in meat, dairy, fruit and vegetable sectors. • Refrigerant changes are performed when leaks occur or equipment is damaged. This paper presents the characteristics and baseline use of refrigerant gas in the meat, dairy, and fruit and vegetable sectors. The data are based on different sources of primary information starting from a survey of the companies that constitute the three chains in different departments of Colombia. The results show that the management, use and handling of refrigerants is similar among the three productive sectors and that the most commonly used refrigerant gases are R22, R404, R507, and R134A. Moreover, 80% of refrigerants are traditional and 20% are natural refrigerants, especially in large companies that have managed to migrate to cleaner technologies that have less of an impact on the environment. The food sector with the highest use of refrigerant gas is the meat industry, followed by the dairy and fruit and vegetable industries. Except in the fruit and vegetable chain, the refrigerant charge for these sectors is less than 100 kilograms and refrigerant changes are performed in a period of six to twelve months. A consensus was reached that preventive maintenance and timely detection of leaks is essential for the efficient and rational use of refrigerant, and its reuse is not a practice that is evident in these sectors. The findings of this study are important for analysing how companies in the food sector, have implemented environmentally friendly practices related to vital refrigeration processes for the processing and conservation of products and for identifying controls and maintenance processes that generate refrigerant changes and reduce environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze the politics, experiences and dynamics of state formation in a particular context of climate crisis. Through the study of the implementation of state-led adaptation and mitigation projects in two rural localities of northern Colombia, we interrogate the ways in which these interventions shape the everyday lives of those who happen to be located in the targeted areas. We found that, in spite of the different goals and particular configurations of the adaptation and mitigation interventions, these climate projects engendered the same contradiction. They promised a resilient and environmentally sound future, but the path towards that future has not been available to everyone. Furthermore, we show that the subjects of climate interventions do not embrace state promises in the same way. Local expectations, desires and engagement with the state are ambivalent and heterogeneous, and cannot be taken as a given. This paper develops these ideas by way of three arguments. First, we argue that exclusion, dispossession and marginality are inherent to the promises of climate mitigation and adaptation in the cases we study in the Colombian Caribbean. Secondly, the goals of state-led adaptation and mitigation programs we study are at odds with the material and social conditions of the areas of implementation. And thirdly, paying attention to the dynamics of state formation in the Colombian Caribbean in relation to climate change challenges common binaries opposing state absence/presence, failure/success, and retreat/return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Fiscal decentralization as an instrument to reduce poverty is an open debate that still takes place with little and contradictory empirical evidence regarding whether or not it has served the poor. This paper focuses on analyzing the impact of municipalities’ per capita property tax revenues on multidimensional poverty in the Colombian case. This locally raised tax is used as an indicator of the state capacity that municipalities exercise when fiscal decentralization takes place. To estimate its impact on poverty, we control for the possible endogeneity biases that might affect this relationship while taking into account that multidimensional poverty exhibits strong spatial correlation among Colombian municipalities. We find statistically significant results that demonstrate a causal and diminishing effect of property tax revenues on the poverty headcount ratio and gap. We also find that this effect has substantial spillovers across municipalities. The findings of the paper highlight the need to strengthen subnational revenue systems through policy designs to increase locally raised revenues. We simulate four different counterfactual scenarios to evaluate the potential effect of alternative policy designs on multidimensional poverty. The results of these policy scenarios demonstrate that spatially differentiated policy schemes have greater effectiveness in reducing multidimensional poverty than geographically mute designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Colombia as a practical case of branding and marketing within the context of conflict-ridden destinations. It will examine the history and development of the country brand from the tourism development point of view, relating it to the terrorism that has hit the country for the last half a century. This enormously diminished Colombia's reputation in many ways, substantially lowering tourism arrivals. This paper presents an account of how Colombia has reacted to this situation: it will show the efforts put into brand building and tourism promotion that has succeeded, inter alia, in attracting more tourists to the country in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Usual economic analyses skip the web of social relations rooted across global chains. • Social brokerage follows varied stances: as social broker, researcher or scientist. • An ethnographic approach proposes a relational pathway for social brokerage. • Material quality shall not be the only guiding knowledge and coordination constructs. • Collaborative approaches yield a sense of fairness and humanity across global chains. The usual economic analyses skip the web of social relations where economic but also social influences are equally relevant. Reinecke et al. (2018) offer a conceptual perspective to study social brokerage (the 'social turn') across global value chains. This paper aims: 1) to reveal how Colombian producers and Austrian roasters start social ties (i.e. through social brokerage) and eventually become business partners with the illustrative example of specialty coffee chains, 2) to propose a research-based relational pathway for social brokerage, and 3) to unpack how encounters between producers and roasters originated and developed as well as to identify the required knowledge and coordination devices used. The encounters follow an ethnographic approach relying on participant observation (e.g. in Vienna, Austria and in selected Colombian coffee regions). Coffee is one of the many commodities suitable to analyze social interactions across global chains. Colonial patterns are still embedded in the economic geography of global value chains. The involvement of researchers (including non-Europeans) was key to enhance social brokerage (e.g. structural holes, boundary work) and in that way allowed disadvantaged chain actors to uninhibitedly voice whatever discomfort resulted from those interactions. Although material quality is paramount in the trade of specialty coffee, it shall not be the only guiding coordination device and knowledge construct to be followed by chain actors. Building collaborative relationships is not an easy or static task. Nonetheless, it is key to encourage knowledge sharing, to yield a sense of fairness and humanity across global chains and to cope with opportunistic gatekeepers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Resource wars face greater difficulties to end conflict, as well as greater probabilities of relapse. In part, this is due to the persistence of resource-fueled criminal networks developed under the auspices of armed conflict. In this paper we focus on the Colombian armed conflict, one of the longest-lasting conflicts in the world. Recent evidence suggests that gold mining in Colombia has been permeated by illegal organizations linked to the drug trade, driving armed conflict and criminality. This reveals that attention to drugs alone as a conflict resource in this particular case has overshadowed the degree to which legal resources and economic activities have been permeated by illegal organizations and interests. This paper provides a framework of the gold–drugs relationship, which reveals the existence of resource portfolios , or the parallel participation and exchangeability of resources in the provision of funding for illegal organizations. We argue that, in addition to the impact of each resource on armed conflict and criminality, illegal organizations develop abilities to extract benefits of different resources at once or interchangeably (a resource portfolio), which should be taken into account when analyzing the consequences of war on countries’ social and economic institutions. In addition, political or reputational factors have been insufficiently considered in analyzing groups’ decisions to engage in or abandon specific economic activities. We show that, along with expectations of revenue, resource portfolios may also respond to political conditions, as illegal organizations accustomed to deriving income from coercive practices such as kidnappings—until recently a widespread phenomenon in Colombia—have caused increasing international and domestic outrage followed by pressure to stop this brutal violation of Human Rights. Based on field research in gold mining Colombian regions—combining more than seventy semi-structured interviews with first-hand observation during field trips—and a careful review of press, non-governmental organizations’ and official reports in local, regional, and national media, the paper provides a general framework of this complex relationship, paying specific attention to the evolution of the links and interchangeable nature of gold and drugs as conflict resources throughout the production phases of the gold extraction process. At a time when Colombia’s ongoing peace process is likely to put an end to the armed confrontation between guerrilla groups and the Colombian state, our paper raises a warning sign for scholars and policymakers to consider the potential transformations of illicit markets and their role in shaping the prospects of durable peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archaeological site of Checua is located at the north end of the Sabana de Bogotá, Northern South America. New archaeological research at the site has revealed significant evidence of well-preserved hunters and gatherers' funerary contexts which date back to 7580-5052 BP (cal 2σ). Former studies reported 33 human interments, and a recent excavation at the site revealed 24 additional individuals distributed in 18 ritual burials. In this occasion, a taphonomy-focused archaeothanatological protocol was implemented to determine the nature of the burials and to inquire into post-mortem manipulations of the bodies. This analysis revealed unknown funerary practices among hunters and gatherers in the region, such as occasional wrappings of the corpses before their disposal, unconventional rearrangements of the bodies in secondary burials, as well as intentional and well-planned post-depositional manipulations in primary inhumations. In this paper we select a sample of 10 individuals to illustrate the results of this analysis, and we highlight the relevance of archaeothanatology to obtain high-resolution data of mortuary practices. Here we focus on the process of ritualization by exploring the ways in which the living dealt with the dead by means of diverse treatments of human bodies and posthumous arrangements of graves. We argue that the study of these funerary practices opens up a wider range of possibilities to discuss how the living faced the experience of remembrance as they commemorated death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present a revision of the lithic industries of El Abra sites (Sabana de Bogotá, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia), among the most ancient and significant sites of Colombia. Dated to 12,400 ± 160 years BP, El Abra is an important reference for the prehistory of the country. Our review mostly deals with the: a) methodological approach adopted for the study of the lithic industry; b) interpretation of the lithic industry; c) chrono-stratigraphy. In 2017, 2019 we presented the revision of the lithic assemblages of the oldest levels of El Abra sites (Muttillo et al., 2019, 2017); here we integrate and complete the revision with the analysis of the lithic assemblages of the upper levels. This is the first revision of the historical lithic collections, adopting a technological approach and crossing the data with the chrono-stratigraphic context. Our results have highlighted several discrepancies and critical elements contained in previous studies, that mostly affect not only the interpretation of the lithic industries but also the chronology of the site, that turned out to be more recent than previously assumed, for at least three thousand years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Most analyzed countries implemented stringent measures to face pandemic. • Strategies were incomplete lacking extensive testing and tracking measures. • Response effectiveness undermined by socioeconomic conditions and health capacities. • A poor pandemic management (communication and coordination) influenced results. • Large impact of COVID-19 on deaths in countries studied. COVID-19 reached Latin-American countries slightly later than European countries, around February/March, allowing some emergency preparedness response in countries characterized by low health system capacities and socioeconomic disparities. This paper focuses on the first months of the pandemic in five Latin American countries: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It analyses how the pre-pandemic context, and the government's responses to contain and mitigate the spread together with economic measures have affected the COVID-19 health outcomes. Extensive qualitative document analysis was conducted focused on publicly-available epidemiological data and federal and state/regional policy documents since the beginning of the pandemic. The countries were quick to implement stringent COVID-19 measures and incrementally scaled up their health systems capacity, although tracing and tracking have been poor. All five countries have experienced a large number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19. The analysis on the excess deaths also shows that the impact in deaths is far higher than the official numbers reported to date for some countries. Despite the introduction of stringent measures of containment and mitigation, and the scale up of health system capacities, pre-pandemic conditions that characterize these countries (high informal employment, and social inequalities) have undermined the effectiveness of the countries' responses to the pandemic. The economic support measures put in place were found to be too timid for some countries and introduced too late in most of them. Additionally, the lack of a comprehensive strategy for testing and tracking has also contributed to the failure to contain the spread of the virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By July 25, Colombia had confirmed 240 795 cases of COVID-19 and 8269 deaths (case fatality rate of 3.4%). All departments had reported cases, but 292 municipalities were apparently free of COVID-19 (26%) and 373 (33.2%) had seen limited transmission. Specific mortality rates by department ranged from 0 in Vichada to 1278 in Amazonas, which was 7.8 times the national rate (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 7.8, 95% confidence interval 6.4–9.5). Using a conservative approach to assess the potential underestimation of cases, it was estimated that, by July 25, Colombia should have detected 1 328 175 cases instead of the actual 240 795 observed, an underestimation of 82%. Colombia detected its first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case on March 2, 2020. From March 22 to April 25, it implemented a national lockdown that, apparently, allowed the country to keep a low incidence and mortality rate up to mid-May. Forced by the economic losses, the government then opened many commercial activities, which was followed by an increase in cases and deaths. This paper presents a critical analysis of the Colombian surveillance data in order to identify strengths and pitfalls of the control measures. A descriptive analysis of PCR-confirmed cases between March and July 25 was performed. Data were described according to the level of measurement. Incidence and mortality rates of COVID-19 were estimated by age, sex, and geographical area. Sampling rates for suspected cases were estimated by geographical area, and the potential for case underestimation was assessed using sampling differences. By July 25, Colombia (population 50 372 424) had reported 240 745 cases and 8269 deaths (case fatality rate of 3.4%). A total of 1 370 271 samples had been analyzed (27 405 samples per million people), with a positivity rate of 17%. Sampling rates per million varied by region from 2664 to 158 681 per million, and consequently the incidence and mortality rates also varied. Due to geographical variations in surveillance capacity, Colombia may have overlooked up to 82% of the actual cases. Colombia has a lower case and mortality incidence compared to other South American countries. This may be an effect of the lockdown, but may also be attributed, to some extent, to geographical differences in surveillance capacity. Indigenous populations with little health infrastructure have been hit the hardest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a synthesis on the existing of the role of plants on the adaptive strategies of human groups that settled in Northwest South America since the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. To contextualize the analysis, a brief description of the Colombian Pleistocene sites is presented. The paper presents a broad description of the lithic technology, archaeobotanical record and radiocarbon dates. Plant resources played a key role in the settling of human groups in the forests of the Neotropics. Furthermore, it is suggested that for some areas there is evidence of cultivation as a strategy to increase the carrying capacity of the surrounding environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology to estimate the biomass energy potential and its associated uncertainty at a country level when quality and availability of data are limited. The current biomass energy potential in Colombia is assessed following the proposed methodology and results are compared to existing assessment studies. The proposed methodology is a bottom-up resource-focused approach with statistical analysis that uses a Monte Carlo algorithm to stochastically estimate the theoretical and the technical biomass energy potential. The paper also includes a proposed approach to quantify uncertainty combining a probabilistic propagation of uncertainty, a sensitivity analysis and a set of disaggregated sub-models to estimate reliability of predictions and reduce the associated uncertainty. Results predict a theoretical energy potential of 0.744 EJ and a technical potential of 0.059 EJ in 2010, which might account for 1.2% of the annual primary energy production (4.93 EJ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1993 and 2015 the land planted to oil palm in Colombia increased fourfold, from 119,000ha to 484,000ha. This rapid growth coincided with a period of extreme armed conflict and displacement, with inequality in land distribution reaching the highest levels in Latin America (Oxfam, 2017). These occurrences spurred this inquiry into conditions on the ground in the palm growing zones and the political and economic forces promoting the crop. The theoretical underpinnings are derived from the literature on land grabbing, land control, land concentration and exclusion. Oil palm has been favoured by rural elites, conservative governments and right-wing paramilitaries in an attempted 'modernising' of the countryside through agro-industry. Neo-liberal ideas emphasising capital accumulation through the 'market' have minimised land reform efforts and impeded post-conflict land restitution. The paper is organised in three main parts. Part 1 introduces the crop and its importance, linked to oil palm's culture of continuous expansion. Relevant theoretical concepts are discussed, together with the background to land and violence in Colombia. Part 2 begins the more detailed analysis of the palm oil industry. A descriptive survey of historical beginnings, modern data availability and distribution of holdings is followed by a more nuanced analysis of industry-induced 'myths' and political 'enablers' through the Uribe years (2002–10) and the Santos era (2010–2018). In Part 3 the evidence for 'stolen land' is examined in representative oil palm locations. The findings are summarised in the conclusion. • Colombia's oil palm area quadrupled in a period of armed conflict and displacement. • The increase was officially attributed to state assistance and new lands from 'alliances'. • Peasant displacement and 'cleaning' of titles consolidated land control. • Despite patchy evidence, case studies have supported findings of 'stolen land'. • The rural lowlands are modernising but land access remains highly inequitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to establish the variables that explain the behavior of trademark applications in Colombia between 2012 and 2016. For the analysis, a fixed effects model with robust panel errors was used, for which a determination coefficient of 99% was obtained. From these, it was possible to establish that the number of patent applications, the number of industrial design applications, the number of establishments, professional technical and technological salaries of permanent production or indefinite term contracts, departmental GDP, national investment in administration and other support activities, sales of companies in the country and advertising expenditures are significant to explain the number of trademark applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colombia faces several challenges to secure a reliable, affordable, and climate-friendly energy supply. Persistently low reserve-to-production ratios in oil and gas, together with advancing climate change, are putting the country's energy system at risk. Heavily relying on hydro-power, Colombia's electricity system will become more vulnerable with extreme weather patterns such as El Niño. This paper offers a multi-method study of the role of photovoltaic (PV), specially prosumage systems, to support a slowly starting energy transition in Colombia. First, qualitative data from an expert elicitation in Colombia's energy sector is analysed. Second, a model to calculate the internal rate of revenue for households is used to identify optimal sizes for household PV or prosumage systems under the new regulatory framework. Key concerns emerging from the expert elicitation include lacking substantial financial aid, insufficient tax incentives, and high equipment prices, which raise investment and operation costs. Also, model results confirm net-metering implementation as an enabler of widespread deployment of household PV systems. Most profitable system configurations include PV systems without storage technology. Our findings show that financial instruments are still insufficient to scale-up household level PV deployment. • Photovoltaics are an important element for Colombia's energy transition. • For Colombian households, small-scale PV without batteries are the most profitable. • Additional support is needed regarding regulatory framework & financial instruments. • Interviewed experts would prefer the introduction of power purchase agreements. • Net-metering can act as an enabler of deployment of household PV in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We provide new evidence on the effectiveness of PAs and the role of institutions. • We use high-resolution satellite imagery and regression discontinuity methods. • PAs significantly reduce deforestation in both national PAs and collective lands. • National PAs are only effective near human settlements, in more developed regions. • In contrast, Collective lands avoid deforestation in remote, less developed regions. Protected areas (PAs) are a cornerstone of conservation policy. While evidence shows that, overall, PAs have contributed to preserving forests, their impact varies greatly depending on the institutional context. This paper provides new evidence on the mechanisms through which local institutions shape the effectiveness of PAs. We use high-resolution satellite imagery of deforestation and illicit activities in Colombia and spatial regression discontinuity methods to estimate the causal effect of PAs in different institutional contexts. Our main results indicate that PAs significantly reduce deforestation, with larger effects for collective lands than national (strict-use) PAs, and no impact for regional (multiple-use) PAs. However, national PAs are only effective near human settlements, in municipalities that provide more public goods and are less violent. In remote areas, national PAs are particularly vulnerable to the expansion of coca crops and gold mining. In contrast, collective lands reduce coca crops and avoid deforestation in remote, less developed regions. These results highlight the extent to which natural PAs rely on the institutional capacity of the national and local governments, while collective lands protect forests even when state presence is weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years the literature on mobility of care has rapidly expanded, and the concept offers a powerful lens to highlight how everyday mobilities are organised, undertaken, and experienced in gendered ways. The concept can nonetheless benefit from further theoretical development. In this paper we enrich the mobility of care concept by drawing on influential conceptualisations of care from feminist theory and analysis of data collected during the COVID-19 lockdown among a group of 40 low-income women living in peri-urban areas of Itagüí, a municipality in the south of the Medellín metropolitan area, Colombia. Through this approach we first argue that relying on a taxonomy of trip purposes limits the understanding of the role of care in urban mobilities and risks underestimating the prevalence of mobility of care. Second, we suggest that activities of self-care also generate mobility of care and that their consideration allows practices and experiences of receiving care to be considered. Finally, we show how care activities are part of, and generate, intertwined mobilities and immobilities, and argue that rendering visible the full extent of mobilities of care demands that careful consideration be given to immobilities as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the area of development, one of the defining characteristics of the Latin American and Caribbean Region is the persistent inequality that can be observed between many of its territories. This inequality is particularly evident in Colombia, a country that has been strongly affected both socially and politically by the internal armed conflict that was going on for over 50 years. Moreover, the effects of this conflict have increased territorial imbalances between departments and municipalities in the country. Therefore, in the postconflict context that Colombia finds itself in, it is relevant to pursue research that addresses the current challenges faced by its territories in terms of cohesion. Thus, this paper analyzes territorial cohesion in the municipalities that make up the Caldas Department, which possesses several characteristics that make it an ideal location for carrying out this type of analysis. To this end, a methodological proposal has been designed to allow for an empirical study, from a multidimensional and dynamic perspective, the measurement of territorial cohesion, and the identification of different factors associated with this process. The results obtained will be useful for the design and implementation of public policies aimed at achieving harmonious and balanced development of the concerned territories. • Colombia is one of the countries with the highest levels of inequality in Latin America. • The armed conflict in Colombia has led to profound territorial imbalances. • The achievement of a stable and lasting peace agreement must be interpreted and addressed from a territorial perspective. • In a context of territorial disparities, it is relevant to consider the concept of territorial cohesion. • Economic, institutional, and digital infrastructure factors are related to high levels of territorial cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar-generated energy supply has been applied as a solution to address the increasing global population, global warming challenges, and the search for alternative sources of renewable and clean energy supply. Regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean have a significant rural population that lacks access to electricity, impeding their development, and increasing unemployment rates. This paper presents a system dynamics model (SD) for assessing the implementation of a solar energy supply chain (SESC), combining the analysis with the national industry's development for the manufacture of solar modules used in the implementation of solar farms and individual solution projects, especially in the non-interconnected zones of Colombia. This case study examines three scenarios in Colombia: national government-implemented solar farm projects; development of national supply chain implementation; and development of the solar energy market. These scenarios are evaluated using performance indicators for supply chain variables, including coverage, diversification, emissions, and job creation. The results indicate that implementing a supply chain and developing solar module production in Colombia can positively impact the proposed indicators, resulting in improvements of 5.9% in coverage, 6.3% in diversification, 6.7% in emission reductions, and 13% in job creation. • A novel model is developed for the solar energy supply chain. • The solar energy supply chain modeled prospectively and sustainably. • Analysis of energy, economic, environmental and social sustainability performance indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health emergency caused by COVID-19 produced important changes in the way people relate and like they carry out their work activities. Thus, this paper analyzes the probability of carrying out work activities remotely by constructing the Remote Working Index (RWI) in Colombia for the year 2019, using data from 93,927 individuals employed. The above led not only to show the inequalities between regions and economic sectors, but also allowed to establish a social profile of the agents who are most likely to work from home. The results show that ethnic-racial minorities, women, people aged 60 and over and those ones belonging to the health-care contributory system are the least likely to carry out their remote work. Consequently, they are the ones who face the highest disadvantages in the labor market when it faces confinement environments. Our results allow us to profile the population that requires higher attention in environments that restrict work activity, while identifying the work activities most likely to be performed remotely. This consolidates a contribution to the emerging literature on remote work and focuses the discussion on the identification strategy of indicators from Household Surveys. • The research presents the remote workin index (RWI) as an input for policymakers. • Only the 20.9% of jobs can be done from home in an economy like Colombian. • The literature on the measurement of remote job was expanded through micro-data. • The methodology can be replicated in many economies in developing countries with household survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we show how the materialisation of chemical harms linked to the cultivation of coca and its processing into coca paste reside in a wider politics of structural violence which is also situated ecologically. Drawing on the qualitative interview accounts of coca farmers in Putumayo, Colombia, we attend to practices of care in the field and in the laboratory. We look first at chemicals used in coca's cultivation (herbicides, fertilizers, pesticides), and second at chemicals (such as sulphuric acid, sodium carbonate, magnesium permanganate) used in the processing of coca leaf into paste (before the paste is sold on for refinement into cocaine). Our analysis highlights the tensions which inevitably arise in the balance and multiplicities of care – for crops, livelihood, and environment. We trace how farmers' narratives of the neutralisation of chemical risks habituate chemical harms as mundane, even uneventful, in an economic imperative to 'carry on as normal' in the coca economy. We emphasise health and harm as matters of care which not only affect humans but living environments. Accounts of 'risk environment' can give insufficient attention to Nature, and this leads us to consider 'ecological harm reduction'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic recognition and collective titling have since the second half of the 20th century been promoted as ways of compensating for historical injustices and countering the destructive effects of capitalist development. While holding promise of autonomy, territorial rights, and resource control, they have also been seen as political technologies governing, spatially tying identities to place, and incorporating new areas into capital market relations. This paper draws on and contributes to these debates by exploring how the Colombian legislation for Afro-descendants ethnic recognition and collective titling is understood, employed and 'reworked' from below as well as from above. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and document analysis, the paper follows the case of an Afro-descendant sand-extracting community in the Cauca Valley Region, Colombia. Threatened by a competing mining claim, the villagers seek to gain ethnic recognition among other things to secure rights and control mining resources. In the process, the villagers are offered a land plot away from where they live and work to title as their collective territory; a mechanism that I term 'ex-situ titling'. As the villagers have no prior relation to the land, nor intend to resettle there, I argue that the ex-situ land titling only serves as a procedural step in the process of ethnic recognition, which, nevertheless, contributes to the uncertainty and incertitude around the villagers' ethnic rights and resource control. • Ethnic recognition for Afro-descendants in Colombia is premised on collective title. • Legislation for Afro-descendant ethnic recognition is reworked from above and below. • Reworking results in 'ex-situ titling' as a new form of collective titling. • Ex-situ titling implies titling land outside villagers' residence and production. • Potential implications of ex-situ titling on resource rights are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Payment for Watershed Ecosystem Services (PWES) have been widely implemented in both, developing and developed countries as an instrument to resolve upstream – downstream conflicts with effective results. Despite the growing interest in PWES only a few attempts have been made to assess the necessary conditions for designing and operating enduring schemes. This paper addresses the issue of PWES durability from an institutional perspective, drawing on research on the sustainability of common pool resource institutions. This framework is applicable for PWES analysis because of the difficulty of exclusion and rivalness characteristics of watershed ecosystems. Based on this framework, this paper presents an institutional analysis of two different PWES cases: the Bolo River water user association, Colombia; and the organic farming in the catchment area of Mangfalltal, Germany. The results from the analysis showed that despite the context differences, the cases presented more similarities than differences in all the set of conditions analysed, shedding light on relevant conditions for the design and operation of enduring PWES. In addition, the results suggest that lessons learned from common pool resources can be extended to the analysis of resource regimes other than common property, and emphasize the potential applicability of the framework used for assessing lessons about institutional durability from ongoing PWES. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In environmental impact assessment, qualitative methods are used because they are versatile and easy to apply. This methodology is based on the evaluation of the strength of the impact by grading a series of qualitative attributes that can be manipulated by the evaluator. The results thus obtained are not objective, and all too often impacts are eliminated that should be mitigated with corrective measures. However, qualitative methodology can be improved if the calculation of Impact Importance is based on the characteristics of environmental factors and project activities instead on indicators assessed by evaluators. In this sense, this paper proposes the inclusion of the vulnerability of environmental factors and the potential environmental impact of project activities. For this purpose, the study described in this paper defined Total Impact Importance and specified a quantification procedure. The results obtained in the case study of oil drilling in Colombia reflect greater objectivity in the evaluation of impacts as well as a positive correlation between impact values, the environmental characteristics at and near the project location, and the technical characteristics of project activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A common drug policy in source countries -forced eradication- has unintended consequences in multiple dimensions. Aerial spraying in particular, has social and environmental costs including, increased violence, deforestation, and adverse health outcomes. However, there is less evidence of the unintended consequences of illicit crop substitution programs, another widely used intervention. This paper illustrates an unintended effect of the largest crop substitution program in the world, namely increased violence against social leaders. Examining the recent Colombian illicit crop substitution program implemented in 2017, this paper estimates the effect on violence towards social leaders employing an event study econometric strategy. The program increased the rate of social leader killings by 481% and the probability of a killing by 122%. The findings reveal a greater effect on municipalities where leaders oppose the expansion of illicit crops, where organized crime does not hold consolidated power, and where there is a presence of illegal armed groups. This study contributes to the literature on antidrug policies by providing empirical evidence of unintended consequences for local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper examines the effects of tariff removal on consumers’ welfare focusing on the Colombian trade liberalization process and its automobile industry. Using product level data this paper calculates the post-reform gains in consumers’ welfare to be just below three thousand dollars per purchaser. Counterfactual simulations suggest that the gains achieved are due, for the most part, to increased variety rather than to price competition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Following developments responding to the need for transition from a fossil fuel to a bio-based economy, the concept of bioeconomy has become increasingly present in the global economic agenda. Alongside ongoing debates about the understanding and implications of this concept, the definition of national approaches in regards to bioeconomy is a work in progress for many countries around the world. This paper explores this process for the case of Colombia, as a promising national context on the cusp of formulating its national strategy, and examines the variety of actors participating in this transition and the sources of assigned authority governing it. By taking a network perspective of agency theory, this research intends to answer: Who (actors) governs bioeconomy transitions and how (agency) these transitions are governed? By applying social network analysis and directed content analysis to interviews with actors from various sectors in Colombia, our results show that central actors are not necessarily also the relevant agents with the capacity to change the course of events or the outcome of transition processes. At the same time, our results illustrate that agents in bioeconomy transitions can play key roles from a variety of structural positions, as their relevance depends on the assigned authority and not primarily on their relative position in the actor network. Expert and capacity-based authority are the most relevant ones in determining agency for the Colombian context; even so, most of the agents identified mix different sources of assigned authority to legitimize their power regarding the direction of this transition. Image 1 • 55 central actors and 56 agents were identified in the actor networks governing the Colombian bioeconomy transition. • Agents depend on the assigned authority and not primarily on their relative position in the actor network. • Most relevant agents for Colombia belong to government and international research. Private actors also play a key role. • Expert and capacity-based authority are the most important types in determining agency for the Colombian context. • With its approach to bioeconomy Colombia has continued to be a trend-following country of the global economic agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Global offshore wind technology shows increasing progress evidenced in the recent reports of wind power capacity, expectations of market expansion and international research projects. Colombia is privileged with several types of natural resources (e.g. wind, sun, water) but there is not a clear legal context to regulate sustainable and safe exploitation of the offshore wind energy considered non-conventional. The development of offshore wind technology in Colombia could attend the energy demand when the hydroelectric system presents low electricity generation during dry hydrological conditions and El Niño – South Oscillations events. This paper analyses international actions that have motivated different countries to establish strategies to reduce CO 2 , and their advances and challenges in implementing offshore wind technology. The review of the administrative framework of renewable energy in Colombia proved the lack of information for implementing offshore wind technology. Furthermore, the analysis of several studies of marine energies showed the need to increase the knowledge of offshore wind energy. The local applying projects to generate electricity from non-conventional renewable energies are not considering offshore wind energy projects. Hence, this research analysed wind speed and calculated wind power density at different height levels, what evidenced magnitudes and positive trends what justify to increase the research in offshore wind energy in Colombia. As a result, the present document compiles technical, economic, administrative and legal information of the renewable energies in Colombia that may be used for taking decisions of different stakeholders and evidences the potential implementing offshore wind farms in areas near to the Colombian Caribbean coast. Colombia has great resources to implement offshore wind energy technologies, reducing the dependence on fossil fuels and substituting other systems when they cannot guarantee the energy offer. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Advances and challenges of the offshore wind energy around the world. • Legal and administrative framework of the renewable energy of Colombia. • Wind speed trends and power density results justify offshore wind energy research. • El Niño (2015–2016) put at risk to the Colombian electric system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We analyze the inequality of opportunities at two successive levels of education. • Inequality of opportunity in Colombia persists from secondary to undergrad studies. • Students' predetermined circumstances increasingly affect their performance. • Finishing undergrad faster mitigates part of the initial inequalities. Abstract Education is an instrument for citizens to improve their welfare and income, but opportunities to access and attain education are unequally distributed. This paper analyzes how predetermined characteristics affect students' achievement in two standardized tests, one taken at the end of their secondary education (between 2000 and 2007) and the other when finishing their undergrad studies (2011). The results, using data from Colombia, indicate that the inequality of educational opportunities at both levels of education has increased over time, but that students who finish their undergrad studies in less time manage to mitigate part of the inequality of opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A process safety education approach for undergraduate engineer students is exposed. • The approach use required skills for engineers in process safety by ABET-SAChE. • The results of the first semester of implementation are presented and evaluated. One of the biggest challenges in modern engineering education is to raise awareness about the basic principles of process safety. Although several organizations such as AIChE—through CCPS and SAChE—, IChemE and ABET are trying to seek suitable learning environments, there is still lack of courses or programs aimed at making students conscious about accident causes and prevention. This paper presents a strategy to raise awareness in undergraduate engineering students about this topic. Our strategy consists of four educating modules that can be taught as part of core courses. We have implemented our strategy in 14 Colombian universities in five undergraduate engineering programs: Chemical, Industrial, Mechanical, Environmental, and Process Engineering. This pedagogical material was validated by experts in process safety from the Colombian Oil Company (ECOPETROL), faculty from various universities, and the Process Design group at Los Andes University. This proposed open education approach, which is a shared initiative between industry-academia, has been well received by all stakeholders. During 2016, it has incorporated 28 faculty and the enrollment of more than 1732 students. This process needs long-term sustainability to fulfill the primary purpose of including process safety in the engineer's education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigates the relationship between economic inequality and crime in Colombian municipalities. Following recent scholarly research that suggests that the legacy of slavery is largely manifest in persistent levels of economic inequality, we instrument economic inequality with a census-based measure of the proportion of slaves in each municipality before the abolition of slavery in the 19 century. We also explore the robustness of our estimates to relaxing the exclusion restriction, as the slavery instrument is only plausibly exogenous. We document a strong association between inequality and both violent and property crime rates at the municipal level. Our estimates are robust to including traditional determinants of crime (like population density, the proportion of young males, the average education level, the quality of law enforcement institutions, and the overall economic activity), as well as current ethnic differences and geographic characteristics that may be correlated both with the slave economy and with crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper summarizes the results of on-going archaeological and palaeoecological research on the floodplain of the river Cauca and adjacent piedmont, with the aim of reconstructing an outline history of the human occupation of the region and its interaction with the environment, beginning in the Late Pleistocene. The difficulties of locating occupation sites in this landscape cannot be overestimated. Although valuable for its preservation of palaeosols, the accumulation of sediment deposited by the river Cauca and its tributaries during periods of flooding can be extremely rapid and the earlier archaeological sites (1000 B.C. to 500 A.D.) are generally buried beneath several metres of alluvium. Under these circumstances, traditional site survey has limited potential and the most promising strategy is the location of palaeosols with evidence of human activity based on soil analysis and palaeobotanical studies. Sedimentology from a dozen deep cores is providing invaluable information on the environments that early human populations in the area would have enjoyed or coped with. The cores testify to a highly dynamic river Cauca and its tributaries resulting in a series of rapid local environmental changes. Besides extensive periodic flooding, past populations were probably affected by tectonic events since numerous faults cross the region. Volcanic ash is a component of many of the soil cores but much was redeposited material from earlier falls, probably during the Pleistocene. Direct archaeological evidence of human activity during the Early and Middle Holocene is limited to a mastodon skeleton with butchering marks on its ribs, and to a surface find of a stone tool (azada) characteristic of this period. Of the numerous fertile palaeosols detected in cores, some have agricultural characteristics and there is evidence of fires, possibly for clearing fields, from the late seventh millennium B.C. while by the third millennium B.C. a site provides evidence of burning in combination with the cultivation of maize (Zea mays) and arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea). While a relatively large number of archaeological sites testify to human activity over much of southwestern Colombia during the Early and Middle Holocene, research has drawn attention to a period of archaeological silence between 2500 and 1000 B.C. when Formative societies were developing in other regions of South America. An important focus of this project is the search for traces of human activity during this period. The palaeosols have important potential for acquiring information on this question since stratigraphical evidence suggests that many lie within this time range. By the Late Holocene (c. 500 B.C.) the Ilama population was established in that region of the alluvial valley centred on Lake Sonso and the town of Palmira, followed by Yotoco and, further south, Malagana; in contrast, in the northern sector of the valley evidence for this sequence remains tentative. Here the only settlement site located so far with very late Formative characteristics produced an entirely new style of pottery. This site (first century B.C.) was in wooded marshland where houses must have been built on stilts, contrasting with Late Period sites (c. AD 500–1500), occupied by a sequence of different cultural groups of the Sonsoide tradition and located on slightly higher ground within the flood plain or in the piedmont. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Coffee price shocks spur public land grants where coffee suitability is greater. • Organized cultivators out-compete squatters in leveraging price shocks to win land grants. • Longstanding political and economic inequality facilitate the power of organized cultivators. • Public land distribution continues to diminish national patrimony and natural spaces in many developing countries. Abstract How do commodity shocks impact the privatization of public lands? This paper examines this question through the lens of the establishment of private property rights over public lands in Colombia, which has had one of the Western Hemisphere's largest public land distribution programs during the last century. Using data on exogenous international coffee price shocks along with data on land suitability for coffee production as determined by agro-climatic conditions and roughly 250,000 public land grants, I find that coffee price increases generate more public land grants in municipalities where land is more suited to coffee production. Additional tests suggest that the findings are driven by the power of organized cultivators to steer the land grant process in their favor. The findings shed light on the role of organized actors in the countryside extending private extension of control over public territory – a phenomenon that has drastically diminished public lands and natural spaces in numerous countries over the last two centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper contributes to existing discussions of global value chains (GVC) and industrial upgrading by examining observations from eight months of field research in Guatemala and Colombia, where upgrading firms have their own nationally distinct form of labor relations, despite producing the same products for the same overseas buyers. Analysis of these observations leads to the conclusion that labor relations show significant leeway in relation to upgrading outcomes, and that local history merits more attention as a driver of management strategy. The paper concludes with a discussion of relevant theory and implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]