Crowdsensing for Characterizing Mobility and Its Impact on the Subjective Wellbeing in an Underdeveloped Region

Living in an underdeveloped region implies a higher cost of living: access to services, such as school, work, medical care, and groceries, becomes more costly than those who live in regions with better infrastructure. We are interested in studying how mobility affects the cost of living and the subjective wellbeing of residents in underdeveloped regions. We conducted a four-weeks sensing campaign with 14 users in Camino Verde (an underserved region in Tijuana, Mexico). All of the participants used a mobile system that we developed to track their daily mobility. The participants were indicated not to change their daily routine for the study as they carried the tracking device. We analyzed 537 individual routes from different city points and calculated their mobility divergences, while comparing the actual route chosen against the route that was suggested by Google Maps and using this not as the optimal route, but as the baseline. Our results allowed for us to quantify and observe how Camino Verde residents are affected in their mobility in four crucial aspects: geography, time, economy, and safety. A posteriori qualitative analysis, using semi-structured interviews, complemented the quantitative observations and provided insights into the mobility decisions that those people living in underserved regions have to take.

Synergies Between Technology, Participation, and Citizen Science in a Community-Based Dengue Prevention Program

As mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and Zika continue to develop, traditional approaches have not curbed the epidemics, and evidence suggests that community-based programs are an effective alternative. In Paraguay, more than 8,300 cases of dengue were reported in 2019. Recent entomological surveys found that the percentage of houses with Aedes aegypti larvae is as high as 20% in the capital. In this context and based on the experiences of Camino Verde and DengueChat in Nicaragua, we started the TopaDengue project, a community-based intervention, supported by ICTs (information and communication technologies), in one of the most vulnerable territories of the Paraguayan capital, the Bañado Sur of Asunción. To inform our design of the socio-technical ICT platform, our fieldwork in this community explored the dynamic of interaction among researchers, facilitators, volunteers, the extended community, and technologies. Combining both paper and digital technologies with a continuous feedback loop among research, design, and community action, within a citizen science initiative, were key to strengthening the socialization and management processes of a community-based entomological surveillance program.

Organic Waste Composting at Versalles: An Alternative That Contributes to the Economic, Social and Environmental Well-Being of Stakeholders

Composting is one of the most widely used technologies for the recovery and use of organic waste from municipal solid waste (MSW); however, its implementation in some developing countries has mostly been ineffective. This chapter documents the experience of the composting of municipal organic waste in the urban area of ​the municipality of Versalles, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Within the locality, composting of organic waste occurs at an MSW management plant (SWMP), after being separated at the source and selectively collected. The information presented was generated through collaborative research projects, conducted with the cooperation of Camino Verde APC (a community-based organisation providing sanitation services) and Universidad del Valle (Cali, Colombia). The evaluations undertaken show that (i) within the locality, high rates of separation, at the source, in conjunction with selective collection and efficient waste sorting and classification processes in the SWMP, have significantly facilitated the composting process; (ii) the incorporation of locally available amendment or bulking materials (e.g. star grass and cane bagasse) improves the physicochemical quality of the processed organic waste and favours development (i.e. a reduction in process time), leading to an improvement in product quality; (iii) the operation, maintenance and monitoring of the composting process can be carried out by previously trained local human talent; and (iv) revenues from the sale of the final product (compost) are not sufficient to cover the operating costs of the composting process. Despite this current lack of financial viability, the application of technology entails environmental benefits (e.g. a reduction in the generation of greenhouse gases) and social benefits (e.g. employment opportunities), which, given the conditions in the municipality studied, highlight the relevance of this technological option.

Social capital is associated with lower mosquito vector indices: secondary analysis from a cluster randomised controlled trial of community mobilisation for dengue prevention in Mexico

Background Control of the Aedes aegypti mosquito is central to reducing the risk of dengue, zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. Randomised controlled trials, including the Camino Verde trial in Mexico and Nicaragua, demonstrate the convincing impact of community mobilisation interventions on vector indices. These interventions might work through building social capital but little is known about the relationship between social capital and vector indices. Methods A secondary analysis used data collected from 45 intervention clusters and 45 control clusters in the impact survey of the Mexican arm of the Camino Verde cluster randomised controlled trial. Factor analysis combined responses to questions about aspects of social capital to create a social capital index with four constructs, their weighted averages then combined into a single scale. We categorised households as having high or low social capital based on their score on this scale. We examined associations between social capital and larval and pupal vector indices, taking account of the effects of other variables in a multivariate analysis. We report associations as odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results The four social capital constructs were involvement, participation, investment, and communication. Among the 10,112 households, those in rural communities were much more likely to have a high social capital score (OR 4.51, 95% CIca 3.26–6.26). Households in intervention sites had higher social capital, although the association was not significant at the 5% level. Households with high social capital were more likely to be negative for larvae or pupae (OR 1.38, 95% CIca 1.12–1.69) and for pupae specifically (OR 1.37, 95% CIca 1.08–1.74). There was interaction between intervention status and social capital; in multivariate analysis, a combined variable of intervention/high social capital remained associated with larvae or pupae (ORa l.56, 95% CIca 1.19–2.04) and with pupae specifically (ORa 1.65, 95% CIca 1.20–2.28). Conclusion This is the first report of an association of high social capital with low vector indices. Our findings support the idea that the Camino Verde community mobilisation intervention worked partly through an interaction with social capital. Understanding such interactions may help to maximise the impact of future community mobilisation interventions.