Local Community Characteristics and Cooperation for Shared Green Reputation

This article examines how basic socioeconomic and political factors are associated with higher levels of cooperation to garner a local community's shared green reputation. We analyze panel data on participation efforts in a collective voluntary environmental program, the Ecological Blue Flag Program, by the entire population of beach communities in Costa Rica between 2001 and 2009. Collective voluntary environmental programs are relatively new and aim to improve environmental performance and shared “green” reputation through joint participation and certification of multisector groups comprising businesses, governmental institutions, and nongovernmental organizations. Our results indicate that higher levels of within‐community cooperation for shared green reputation are more likely in seashore localities with lower income inequality and/or a higher number of businesses. These findings run counter to research suggesting these same characteristics are associated with lower levels of cooperation in the management of common pool natural resources such as fisheries and forests. We also find that within‐community cooperation is positively correlated with a greater proportion of expatriates from industrialized countries and/or with higher levels of democratic political participation.     

Wet-Site Excavation and Field Methodology at Butrint,Albania: The Roman Forum Excavations Project

Since the start of archaeological research at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Butrint (Bouthrotos/ Buthrotum) in southern Albania, archaeologists have allowed the water table to serve as a limit to archaeological excavation. From 2011 to 2013, the Roman Forum Excavations (RFE) Project conducted the first wet-site excavations at Butrint, reaching depths of up to 4 m below the water table in the ancient urban center. Well-preserved wood and other organic remains were recovered from waterlogged deposits, dating as early as the 7th century b.c. Major changes in RFE Project methodology emerged in response to wet-site archaeology. Unskilled local workers were trained to become local excavators. This significantly improved excavation techniques and recording procedures and enhanced the quality of the archaeological data, showing the high degree to which seemingly disparate elements of field methodology are intertwined.     

Critical review of desalination in Spain: a resource for the future?

There have been significant territorial changes in the Spanish Mediterranean in the last few decades because of the important growth of residential tourism functions. The Spanish National Hydrological Plan ( 2001 ) and, to a greater extent, the Action for Management and Use of Water Programme ( 2004 ) advocated large‐scale desalination of seawater to guarantee a supply for urban, tourism, and even future agricultural demands. The paralysis of urban development planning caused by the financial crisis (2007/08), together with the downward trend in the consumption of drinking water in the last decade, highlighted a capacity to produce desalinated water that was far superior to actual needs. This study reviews the current context in which desalinated water is produced in Spain, weighs up the advantages and disadvantages of this method of water management, and considers the potential role that this non‐conventional source of water could play as a strategic resource in the future. The main findings of the study are that desalination is not a panacea; rather, it should be considered in terms of technological parameters tailored to the circumstances of each geographical and socioeconomic environment.     

Intended Ties with Local Institutions as Factors in Innovation: An Application to Spanish Manufacturing Firms

In this paper we seek to check for a number of interactions between firms and the external environment. We aim to contribute to the discussion on the role of the regional environment in a firm's innovation performance. We test the statistical significance of a number of particular interactions between institutions and firm innovation. In particular, we have hypothesized the association between trade and professional institutions, technological centres, and cooperation arrangements and innovation. In contrast with existing studies, we have provided empirical evidence of the impact of external factors on individual firms.     

Rapid response ethnographies in turbulent times: Researching mass grave exhumations in contemporary Spain (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

Sometimes a social process under engaged research can swiftly grow out of control, in scale and complexity. Such was the case in my ten‐year‐long study of mass grave exhumations from the Civil War (1936–1939) in contemporary Spain. In such circumstances, I argue for the deployment of a rapid response ethnography, an extreme modality of both public and/or engaged research. This type of instant engagement forces the ethnographer to constantly refashion research designs; recognize and reabsorb emerging social actors and research scenarios; reinvent ethnographic presence; face unanticipated ethical dilemmas; and reimagine how to transfer our acquired knowledge and reflection in (a) multiple non‐academic formats for a myriad of potential publics and (b), in time frames more attuned to the rhythms of fast‐moving public debates and technological transformations in communications. More importantly, rapid response ethnography takes place whenever there is swift and strong public demand for academic analysis within a broader process of social, political and media controversy. In turn, rapid response research is necessarily committed to the transformation of the social and political conditions under study.     

Correction: Native Providence: Memory,Community, and Survivance in the Northeast

Historical Archaeology -     

Native Providence: Memory,Community, and Survivance in the Northeast

Historical Archaeology -