Henar Baldán

Understanding how vegetation is perceived, named and valued requires attention to the social positions from which these perceptions are produced. This article analyses vegetation perception from different social positions based on qualitative research conducted in the province of Jaén (Andalusia, Spain), a Mediterranean landscape characterized by high plant diversity and the predominance of olive cultivation. Drawing on discussion groups with the general population and in‐depth interviews with experts, the study applies sociological discourse analysis to identify patterns of vegetation perception and recognition. The results show that experts and the general population share references to a limited set of socially prominent species, but differ markedly in how vegetation is classified, prioritized and interpreted. Expert discourses rely on technical and ecological classifications, whereas those of the general population are shaped by everyday experience, social uses, memory and sensory recognition. These differences vary systematically according to social position, life trajectories and forms of practical engagement with the plant environment. The study highlights the existence of multiple forms of plant recognition and underscores the contribution of sociological approaches to understanding biodiversity perception and informing more socially attuned environmental management strategies.

The relationship between social inequality and residential segregation is neither linear nor straightforward, and the same applies to the link between segregation and the expansion of residential compounds – housing developments with shared amenities and varying degrees of physical or symbolic enclosure. While much of the literature assumes that these developments contribute to increasing segregation – particularly in the case of gated communities, which represent the most enclosed form of residential compounds – this relationship has rarely been examined empirically in Europe. A major limitation lies in the lack of systematic data to capture the scale, diversity and spatial embedding of residential compounds. This gap has constrained empirical assessments of their role in contemporary processes of urban differentiation and has tended to overemphasise their most enclosed forms. This article examines the evolution and spatial distribution of residential compounds in the Granada metropolitan area (Southern Spain) over the last four decades. It draws on an original and exhaustive inventory of 642 developments, combined with census-based socio-economic data (1991–2021) and income records from the Spanish Tax Agency (2021), to analyse their relationship with changes in social structure and residential segregation. The findings show that the expansion of residential compounds has not led to higher levels of residential segregation at the metropolitan scale. Instead, it has contributed to a more diffuse pattern of socio-spatial fragmentation, characterised by micro-scale forms of differentiation that are not fully captured by conventional segregation indicators. These results qualify prevailing assumptions about the segregation effects of residential compounds and provide new insights into the dynamics of urban inequality in Mediterranean metropolitan contexts.

The phenomenon of residential compounds is increasingly prevalent in today’s society. Fear of crime is one of the main explanations for the proliferation of gated communities, the most closed type of residential compound. They reflect a privatisation of public space and the desire of the most privileged groups to control access to their residential enclaves. Considering that in Southern Europe this phenomenon exhibits more morphological and social diversity and that crime levels are lower, this paper analyses what residents of these compounds value and explores security as a key residential value in this context. For this purpose, an empirical analysis of 20 interviews was conducted in 2020 in the Granada metropolitan area (Spain), where previous studies have highlighted a wide variety of residential compounds in the urban landscape. Contrary to the general assumptions reported in other studies, our results show that there are no significant concerns about security amongst the residents of residential compounds. Instead, their priorities emphasize a widespread interest in residential comfort, which encompasses various dimensions such as spaciousness, tranquillity and location. This interest is shared by both residents and non-residents of these residential compounds. Therefore, tranquillity emerges as central aspect of residential satisfaction, challenging the stereotypical view that gated communities are primarily associated with security anxieties.

Residential compounds have become a widespread and popular way of life. Today, we find a great structural and social diversity of compounds. While evidence suggests that living in the most closed settings, such as gated communities, is often linked to the desire of the upper-middle class’s desire to associate with people of similar status, research on what kind of elective belonging can be found among working classes remains limited. This qualitative study analyses how class identity is constructed through interviews with residents and non-residents of upper-middle and working-class compounds in the metropolitan area of Granada. The results indicate that residents of compounds value the development of a sense of belonging more highly, and reproduce it more noticeably in their discourses, than non-residents. Residential compounds appear to function as status drivers, both materially and symbolically, but operate differently depending on the social composition of the compounds themselves.

Gated communities have spread globally, though unevenly. However, their early popularity and expansion from North America to other different localities have led to their physical and social diversification (i.e., morphological design and locking mechanisms and their resident profiles, which are not limited to the richest classes). This diversity has resulted in varied and sometimes conflicting concepts and classification criteria. Given this situation, this study aims to propose a typology of these developments that encompasses all current forms, based on an exhaustive census we compiled. We used a broader concept adapted to the research context, that of the ‘Residential Compound’, based on the idea that total closure is not an essential condition for consideration. Although the empirical work is based on the metropolitan area of Granada (Spain), we believe it is representative of most Spanish and possibly European metropolitan areas. Using satellite images and the Spanish electronic cadastre, we compiled a census of 642 residential compounds, classified based on over 50 variables. These compounds were categorized into five types depending on the enclosure level: (1) protected compounds; (2) controlled compounds; (3) structurally self-isolated compounds; (4) individualistic compounds; and (5) symbolic compounds.

The training offered to university teaching staff tends to be scant, voluntary and heavily oriented toward novice teachers. With the arrival of Covid-19 and the sudden switch to online teaching, training became an urgent need for teachers. In this context, some faculty members of the University of *anonimizado* created a multi-cohort faculty peer-training group for collaborative learning in multimodal teaching methods. This paper describes the initiative and analyses the impact of the training on participating faculty members. The authors used a mixed methods research strategy with a sequential approach. Results indicate that training action’s collaborative dynamics contributed to the general well-being of the participants, bringing about a reduction in their feelings of isolation, insecurity and lessening their perception that they lacked the skills required for the new situation. Also, intergenerational differences were detected in the effects the training had on more novice and more experienced teachers.

Desde la implantación de los Sistemas de Garantía de Calidad, la enseñanza universitaria ha incorporado mecanismos y figuras de coordinación a la práctica docente. Sin embargo, su aplicación dista de ser homogénea. Un mecanismo diseñado originalmente para la mejora de la calidad docente ha cobrado una nueva significación e importancia debido al contexto de precarización generalizada de las plantillas de profesorado en la universidad. Este trabajo plantea un análisis del contexto, las bases teóricas y los distintos modelos de coordinación implementados en una serie de universidades donde se imparte el grado de Sociología en Andalucía, pero los resultados son perfectamente extrapolables a otras disciplinas y lugares. Empleando un análisis autoetnográfico, a partir de la experiencia de los autores del texto, se elaboran dos modelos típico ideales de coordinación. Las prácticas docentes reales en los diferentes departamentos analizados se mueven en un continuo que va desde la coordinación total a la autonomía total. Cada uno de estos modelos tienen una serie de ventajas e inconvenientes, y son fruto de una particular combinación de factores materiales, culturales y humanos. Nuestros resultados muestran la utilidad de un mayor grado de coordinación en contextos de plantillas inestables o en formación, frente a la adecuación de la autonomía a las situaciones de mayor estabilidad y experiencia. La coordinación puede servir para mitigar algunos problemas causados por la precariedad, pero no debería ser una coartada para profundizar en ella.

In recent decades and due to an increasing polarization of social structures, and the intensification of economic migration flows towards western countries, social segregation has become one of the main challenges for urban studies. However, both the scope of segregation and its effects in the short and long term are aspects that are still debated strongly within the European academic and political sphere. The goal of this chapter is to study the recent literature about urban segregation in southern European countries (2000–2018), in order to discover Mediterranean patterns and features and in order to light up the state of the art regarding the definition, operationalization and interpretation of the segregation process. Our results suggest that residential segregation could involve either negative synergies or positive ones regarding social cohesion. Thus, public agendas should take into the equation the complex links between residential and social outcomes.