Exercises: Analyzing links

A nopal cactus farm in Milpa Alta installs a biodigester: with the pruning waste it produces biogas for cooking and biofertilizer for the cornfields. Identify one link of this system with each dimension (science, society, the economy and nature) and explain it in one sentence.

The know-how of pottery communities about clay and fire made clay pots possible; today materials science designs ceramics for stoves and water filters. Explain how traditional know-how and science feed back into each other in this example.

In one region, factory-made shoes began to displace artisanal huaraches: they cost less, but the family workshops closed and know-how was lost. Analyze the effects of this change on the four dimensions (science, society, the economy and nature) and argue whether the balance is positive or negative for the community.