SDG

Introduction to the third edition of the UAUCU Student Research Exchange Collected Papers

This volume presents academic papers and personal reflections written by the twelve participants of the UAUCU student research exchange project 2017. The texts in this volume reflect a wide diversity of academic disciplines and approaches, as well as the wide diversity in cultural background of this year’s participant cohort. The program, which offers students from the University of Aruba (UA), University College Utrecht (UCU) and University Utrecht (UU) the opportunity to conduct research in a multidisciplinary international student team, has already proven to be a successful formula: work presented in the 2015 and 2016 volumes led to international publications, and several program alumni received thesis awards. We anticipate similar achievements for contributors to the 2017 edition.

The academic works included here treat culture, language, psychology, policy, law, environmental sciences and sustainability. The scope of the research ranges from pilot projects, to theoretical explorations verified with respondent data, to in depth sociocultural and psychological studies that explore fundamental issues confronting society. The diverse papers show a common interest in sustainable societies, reflecting a strong sense of community awareness, and providing research findings that are meaningful for Aruban society. The papers further demonstrate how the student researchers’ collaboration in a multidisciplinary team has influenced their approach to their topics. The papers here are products of peer-to-peer learning: the program participants provided each other with feedback on content, method, style, language and structure. In general, the papers appear here as they were submitted by the student-researchers -- including the odd spelling mistake, grammatical error, raw opinion or hasty generalization. Some of the student-researchers are still working on the interpretation and presentation of their findings, and will later finalize project papers, or bachelor or master theses, based on results of fieldwork presented.

Our 2017 multidisciplinary team is also remarkably multicultural: it includes students with personal connections not only to Aruba, but to Belgium, Colombia, Curaçao, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Myanmar, Russia, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Venezuela. The cultural and ethnic diversity of the group has contributed to an extraordinarily rich social environment for this year’s participants. All of them have written individual pieces reflecting on their personal experiences. These reflective texts show how strong the collaboration and mutual support within this diverse group has been. The texts reveal much about the core of this project: it is not only about doing meaningful research as a student; it is also about the realization that we can achieve more in the world when we approach problems from several perspectives at the same time, and when we work together by building on each other’s complementary strengths. Here, too, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

This third year of the project has involved many people crucial to its success – it is impossible to name them all. But to all who have been part of this project as (guest) lecturer, supervisor, manager, initiator, facilitator, student, interviewee, respondent, guide, coach or mentor: thank you very much for your contribution to this greater whole.

Eric Mijts & Jocelyn Ballantyne Project coordinators UAUCU

Culture, language, media and psychology

Louisa Maxwell

Calypso and cultural commodification in Aruba

Yun Lee

A correlation between cultural identity and juvenile delinquency in Aruba

Tanya Kirchner 

Understanding the roots of parasuicide among the adolescence in Aruba: associated risks and protective factors

Melany Llocclla

Volunteerism: an approach to encouraging more volunteering in Aruba

Zita Ngizwenayo

Adolescent perceptions on language and professional communication

Rachel Tromp

Social media use on Aruba in the business perspective

Policy, law, environmental sciences and sustainability

Rotem Zilber

Assessment of endemic fauna in key biodiversity areas

Larisa Leeuwe

Environmental law: national and international perspectives

Ben Bultrini

Community participation in solid waste management in Aruba

William Cruice

Entrepreneurial governance and sustainable development on Aruba: a cultural political economy approach

Rodolfo Rodriguez

The synergy between academia and industry: success factors towards a healthy partnership

Nayla Yarzagaray

The importance of tax compliance among SME’s in Aruba for business continuity

Introduction to the sixth edition of the UAUCU Student Research Exchange Collected Papers

This volume presents research reports and personal reflections written by the 2020 participants of the UAUCU student research exchange program. This program, now in its sixth year, is founded on the principle that education should challenge students to engage actively not only with the content of their studies, but with the world at large.

As in previous years, students from the University of Aruba (UA) and from University College Utrecht (UCU) of Utrecht University carried out empirical research in and about Aruba, and supported each other in that process. Like the students of cohorts before them, they defined their own guiding principles and goals for their participation in the project during the orientation period. These ideas reflect their hopes of working in ways that could be meaningful to others as well as to themselves.

As in previous years, the topics of the students’ research are wide-ranging, drawing on the diverse backgrounds of their study programs, and yet all related to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 agenda. The works included here deal with issues of culture, employment, equality, leadership, media, policy and the rights of the state and of its people. The type of research ranges from studies on governance to studies on anthropology, economy and sociology. We think that the papers also show how participation in a diverse team influenced the authors’ approach to their work. The students provided each other with feedback on approaches to their research, and on the content, style, language and structure of their papers. The papers appear for the most part as submitted by the authors, including the occasional raw opinion or as yet underdeveloped conclusion. Some of the contributions reflect completed studies, some of the contributions are preparatory explorations. Most of the student-researchers are still working on interpretation and presentation of their findings and will finalize these soon in bachelor theses based on the results of the projects presented here.

This year’s research cycle, though, was anything but typical: 2020 brought COVID19 to Aruba along with the rest of the world. The extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic created an extra set of challenges for the students participating, beyond the challenges usually faced by students in their first serious efforts in empirical research. As of mid March, Aruba went in lock down, and the participants from UCU had to leave Aruba by the end of that month. These challenges, and the rewards of meeting them, are reflected in the personal reflections that all the contributors to this volume have written as a preface to the summary of their own research.

As in previous years, a range of people have also made crucial contributions to the students’ success. We, and our students, appreciate the importance and power of their input to this project as a whole. Among those, we especially want to thank UA’s Carlos Rodriguez-Iglesias for his help in proofreading the papers in preparing them for publication here. And to the many others who have had roles as guides, lecturers, mentors, advisors, facilitators, respondents, interview participants, and engaged citizens, thank you! We hope that you are as excited about the work presented in this volume as we are.

Keti Kapanadze

Beyond Opinion Polls: Multiple Voices of (non)sovereignty from Aruban People

Jairzinho Croes

Leadership and Good Governance in Public Organizations in Aruba

Charlotte Mehlhart

The Ocean Paradox: Values Held by Resource Users in Aruba’s Fisheries

Mikayla Quijada

Treating education as a business

Michele Li

Adolescent Health Issues on Aruba: A Children’s Rights-Based Approach

Hannah Mayr

The Condition of ‘Illegality’: Deconstructing the ‘Illegalization’ of Undocumented Venezuelans on Aruba

Introduction to the seventh edition of the UAUCU Student Research Exchange Collected Papers

This volume includes research reports and personal reflections written by the 2022 participants of the UAUCU student research exchange program. This year’s studentresearchers are 17 students from the University of Aruba and Utrecht University, six from UA’s Sustainable Islands through STEM (SISSTEM) program and 11 from UU’s University College Utrecht. They have been working on research in and about Aruba, and supporting each other in that process. Their texts reflect the fundamental aims that the program has had since its inception in 2015: to challenge students to engage actively not only with the content of research, but with each other and the world at large. These challenges, and the rewards of meeting them, are reflected in the personal reflections that contributors to this volume have written as a preface to the summary of their own research.

As in previous editions, the topics of the students’ research are wide-ranging, drawing on the diverse backgrounds of their study programs, and yet all related to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 agenda. The works included here treat, for example, issues of sustainability in tourism and in transportation, coastal ecologies, public participation, food security & food sovereignty, science communication, biodiversity, vertical farming, circularity and waste. The type of research ranges from studies on governance to studies on technology and engineering, anthropology, geology and sociology. We think that the papers also show how participation in a diverse team influenced the authors’ approach to their work. The students provided each other with feedback on approaches to their research, and on the content, style, language and structure of their papers. The papers appear as submitted by the authors, including the occasional raw opinion or as yet underdeveloped conclusion. Some of the contributions reflect completed studies, others are preparatory explorations. Most of the student-researchers are still working on interpretation and presentation of their findings and will finalize these soon in bachelor theses based on the results of the projects presented here.

The 2022 program nevertheless differs from the earlier cycles. The student-researchers taking part find themselves on an island, and in a world, changed by the COVID19 pandemic. We program coordinators have also re-booted the research exchange in a new form, after a year of hiatus forced by lockdowns around the world. The students from Utrecht prepared in November and December for their participation in a renewed preparatory module (Community-engaged research in the Caribbean), and joined the UA students in a new bachelor course at SISSTEM (Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to sustainable development in small island states). Together in a classroom at UA, they defined their guiding principles and goals for their participation in the project. These ideas reflect their hopes of working in ways that could be meaningful to others as well as to themselves.

A range of people have also made crucial contributions to the students’ success, this year as in 2020 and earlier. We, and our students, appreciate the importance and power of their input to this project as a whole. We especially want to thank UA’s Carlos Rodriguez-Iglesias for his help in proofreading the papers in preparing them for publication here and for, together with Tobia de Scisciolo, fostering the collaboration between the UAUCU students and the Academic Foundation Year students in the Research Aruba Program. There are, in addition, many others who have had roles as guides, lecturers, mentors, advisors, facilitators, respondents, interview participants, and engaged citizens: thank you! We hope that you have anticipated work presented in this volume as eagerly as we.

Milena Stoilova

Sustainable tourism in Aruba: a myth or reality? A case study from the Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort

Klara Röhrs

Remembering the Coast: Assessing the coastline and coastal changes on Aruba by using volunteered geographic information (VGI)

Carlotta M. Henning

Learning to play it by ear: Understanding barriers to public participation in urban planning on Aruba

Karlijn van der Loo

If the Ship Stops Sailing: How can food sovereignty in Aruba be protected in public policy and developed as a notion in international human rights law?

Lynn Smeets

Impacting the island’s future: an insight into the effect of perceived efficacy of young Arubans on their civic and political engagement in environmental action

Maro A. Savvides

Communicating the Geologic History of Aruba: Contextualizing Gold and Incorporating Human Activity as a Geologic Force

Joao Wendrich Teixeira

Winds of change in Aruba: a Push For The Return of higher Biodiversity

Tracy van der Biezen

How citizen science can contribute to Aruba’s SDG indicators: Creating a framework for meta-analysis

Endy Brooks

SIDS vertical farming: water- and energy assessment on Albion strawberry production in Aruba

Nigel de Cuba

The challenges of implementing circularity in the flow of waste tyres on Aruba

Alejandra Moreno

Food security perceived by Aruban households

Armand Kelly

Electrification of airside equipment at Aruba Airport Authority

Rachel Nel

Fostering community stewardship: The role of sense of place in participation in environmental initiatives

Sophia Klaußner

Water = Water, right? Comparing wetlands on the island of Aruba to determine influences of wastewater effluents on the water quality of a wetland area

Laura Mathieu

Breathing Unevenly: Community Response to Environmental Injustice. A case study of Aruba’s Landfill and the Parkietenbos community

Michel Frank

Citizen science, a tool to fill the plastic waste data gap in Aruba

Daniel Balutowski

Brown Tides: Assessing the Past, Present, & Future State of Sargassum in Aruba