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Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) and large-scale mining in the Ecuadorian Amazon region is potentially harmful to nature, and its impacts are associated with environmental degradation and deterioration of people's health. So far, limited efforts have been directed at exploring the current situation and challenges facing the implementation of environmental policies in the country. The objective of this study focused on analyzing the historical and current situation and challenges of ASGM in the Amazon region of Ecuador in relation to a political perspective (laws), socioeconomic impacts (population displacement, loss of livelihoods, migration of people, cost of living, water scarcity, and health impacts), and environmental impacts (biotic and abiotic). The methodology used was based on a literature review and interviews, and information that was discussed through an expert judgment allowed for establishing challenges to improve ASGM management. The main results indicate that lack of community participation in decision-making, insufficient coordination between government institutions, communities, and miners, and lack of control of mining activities are factors that contribute to ineffective compliance with environmental policies in the gold mining sector in the Amazon. Finally, the study concludes by considering the socioeconomic and environmental scopes within its findings for implementing effective environmental and social policies in the Amazon region of Ecuador.

Socio-Anthropological Approaches to Religion demonstrates various interpretations and phenomena of the "environmental hope" from a multi-disciplinary perspective to enhance the prosocial characteristics of religion in the humanities and the social sciences.

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the potentiality of using narratives and field diaries for and in health education in the module 'Encounters and Production of Narratives' of the Work in Health Axis, which is part of the curriculum of Health Courses of the Health and Society Institute of the Baixada Santista Campus of the Federal University of São Paulo. Discourse analysis was used as a tool for analyzing field diaries and narratives from 2017 and 2019. Gradual changes promoted by narrative encounters linked to the social-environmental health content introduced in the module can be seen in the statements. The discourse in the diaries and narrative is permeated with polysemic gaps that give new meanings to the learning. Thus, a shift from the familiar and reproduction of the hegemonic become evident, adopting a perspective that advocates for the guarantee of rights, including the right to health, and expresses an expanded understanding of the health and disease process and its relationship to the socio-environmental issue.

Defining environmental history -- Forerunners of environmental history -- The emergence of environmental history in the United States -- Local, regional, and national environmental histories -- Global environmental history -- Issues and directions in environmental history -- Thoughts on doing environmental history -- Conclusion: The future of environmental history

Abstract In this article, the concept of socio-environmental vulnerability is empirically operationalized, with the objective of analyzing situations of socio-environmental vulnerability on intra-urban scale, in a group of 62 municipalities in the three main metropolitan regions of the Macro-metropolis of São Paulo State. The methodology associates two concepts from the recent literature on vulnerability - one social and the other physical-environmental - through an index that integrates socio-demographic indicators from the 2010 Demographic Census with cartographies of areas susceptible to floods and landslides. The results show that 1.8 million people live in areas with high socio-environmental vulnerability that have significantly worse socioeconomic conditions than areas with low and moderate vulnerability, especially regarding the differences in sewage coverage, in the surroundings of households and in the population living in substandard settlements (slums).

A recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) showed that toxic chemical substances are responsible for 4.9 million deaths every year, i.e. 8.9 per cent of annual deaths. This report also highlights the fact that these figures are largely underestimated, given the significant knowledge gaps. Not only is the number of deaths and diseases caused by pollutants unknown, but most of the very large number of chemical substances in circulation have not been even minimally investigated for potential toxicity.1 The first four of these five books, and certain chapters of the last one, provide important contributions to the growing historical and sociological literature on toxicants and their governance. This literature sheds light on the paradox of the increasingly massive development of (potentially) toxic chemical substances for over a century: while knowledge—especially scientific knowledge — of these substances has been continually expanding, movements denouncing them have constantly evolved, and complex regulatory systems to prevent and improve the substances' effects have been gradually developed. The books presented here provide insightful and detailed analysis of several major issues underpinning the literature on environmental chemicals. I shall present the five reviewed books focusing on four of those issues.

Ranging from prehistory to the present and encompassing the whole of South Asia, this new volume offers the first chronological history of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka from the perspective of the crucial reciprocal relationship between humankind and the environment. South Asia: An Environmental History shows how the civilizations of this geographically diverse region were formed (physically, ethically, and culturally) by their interactions with the environment--a relationship with particularly strong social and spiritual dimensions because of the interdependence of the predominantly agrarian population and the land. Specific topics range from ancient irrigation techniques and peasant adaptation to the environment, to the impact of imperialism on nature, the effect of post-colonial technology on contemporary life, and the enduring influence of religion on the way South Asian societies address ecological issues