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Portland State University

2011

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Raps Sheet, November 2011, Retirement Association Of Portland State Nov 2011

Raps Sheet, November 2011, Retirement Association Of Portland State

RAPS Sheet: Monthly Newsletter

No abstract provided.

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Integrating Ecosystem Services, River Restoration And Community: A Case Study At Fisher's Bend, Michael Carlson Oct 2011

Integrating Ecosystem Services, River Restoration And Community: A Case Study At Fisher's Bend, Michael Carlson

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Natural areas and ecosystem services at the edge of urban areas are threatened by increasing development. This paper examines how community based restoration partnerships can work to identify, protect and restore ecosystem services provided by salmon and our local rivers. Floodplains provide a wide range of ecosystem services to urban and rural communities and we should work collaboratively to protect and restore them. Floodplains are especially valuable and important for salmon recovery. By using a case study, we explore the process and feasibility of restoring off-channel salmon habitat at Fisher's Bend in the lower Clackamas river. A feasibility study was …

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Teaching For Transformation: (Re)Designing Sustainability Courses Based On Ecological Principles, Heather Burns Mar 2011

Teaching For Transformation: (Re)Designing Sustainability Courses Based On Ecological Principles, Heather Burns

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

If educators are to effectively prepare learners with the knowledge, skills, and values they will need for creating more sustainable places and communities, a transition must be made from transmissive teaching models to transformative learning processes. But how can courses be designed or redesigned so that they create opportunities for transformational sustainability learning, and how can ecological principles guide this process? The Burns model of sustainability pedagogy provides a practical model for course design that is rooted in ecological principles. The Burns model is comprised of five key dimensions: (1)Content; (2)Perspectives; (3)Process; (4)Context; and (5)Design and seeks to: (1) increase …

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Living Soil And Sustainability Education: Linking Pedagogy And Pedology, Dilafruz R. Williams, Jonathan D. Brown Mar 2011

Living Soil And Sustainability Education: Linking Pedagogy And Pedology, Dilafruz R. Williams, Jonathan D. Brown

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Sustainability is now permeating educational institutions. Yet the emerging discourse on sustainability education is in many ways caught in a modern web of theoretical, ontological, and epistemological assumptions that are incongruent with sustainability. We introduce an ecologically grounded metaphoric language rooted in living soil as an alternative regenerative framework for linking sustainability pedagogy with pedology (the study of soil). Five principles that guide this relationship are presented: valuing biocultural diversity, sensitizing our senses, recognizing place, cultivating interconnection, and embracing practical experience. Nurtured within an environment of curiosity, wonder, and questioning, and set to the rhythm and scale of localized ecologies, …

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Making Ecodistricts: City-Scale Climate Action One Neighborhood At A Time, Ethan Seltzer, Ellen M. Bassett, Joseph Cortright, Vivek Shandas, Timothy W. Smith Jan 2011

Making Ecodistricts: City-Scale Climate Action One Neighborhood At A Time, Ethan Seltzer, Ellen M. Bassett, Joseph Cortright, Vivek Shandas, Timothy W. Smith

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

As part of its approach to meeting Climate Action Plan goals, the City of Portland has joined with the Portland Sustainability Institute to create "EcoDistricts" in Portland neighborhoods to seek neighborhood engagement on behalf of city climate action goals. EcoDistricts, like neighborhoods, offer a scale at which individuals can be affective and empowered to make climate-positive choices, but in a manner that can scale up to make citywide climate action real.

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Portland State University's Second (R)Evolution: Partnering To Anchor The Institution In Sustainable Communities, Wim Wiewel, Kevin Kecskes, Shelia A. Martin Jan 2011

Portland State University's Second (R)Evolution: Partnering To Anchor The Institution In Sustainable Communities, Wim Wiewel, Kevin Kecskes, Shelia A. Martin

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Portland State University has become internationally known for its whole-university approach to community-university engagement. Many academic leaders from around the world are now drawing on models for engagement that originated at Portland State. As the university takes stock of its successes, of changing economic conditions, and of the increasingly urgent need to focus on sustainability, the campus with its new leadership has begun to look closely at how to expand and refine the models. This paper on Portland State's Second (R)evolution provides models and ideas that show great promise of reinvigorating community-university partnerships nationally and internationally.

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Using Brownfields To Think Green: Investigating Factors That Influence Community Decision-Making And Participation, Charissa Ruth Stair Jan 2011

Using Brownfields To Think Green: Investigating Factors That Influence Community Decision-Making And Participation, Charissa Ruth Stair

Dissertations and Theses

Brownfield restoration and remediation is a growing concern across the United States. Brownfields are vacant or abandoned properties with real or perceived contamination. Successfully restoring these properties requires strong stakeholder collaboration, including the local community. The purpose of this study was to explore the complexities of creating a community garden on a residential brownfield site located in a low-income, high-minority neighborhood and to gain a better understanding of how a community based project develops and impacts individuals from the community. Specifically, the study investigated who chose to participate in the project, what motivated individuals to become involved and remain committed, …

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Sustainable Event Management Of Music Festivals: An Event Organizer Perspective, Stephanie L. Stettler Jan 2011

Sustainable Event Management Of Music Festivals: An Event Organizer Perspective, Stephanie L. Stettler

Dissertations and Theses

Sustainably managed music festivals have significant value and can provide a multitude of benefits to a healthy, sustainable and desirable society if their negative impacts are mitigated and positive impacts cultivated. To reach this great potential, sustainable event management of music festivals must become widely adopted and expanded as common practice. To drive this improvement of sustainable event management, there is a need to first understand the barriers and success factors event organizers face moving their music festivals toward sustainability. This study uses a research design of mixed quantitative-qualitative methods: a survey of thirty diverse music festival organizers across the …

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Effects Of Evaporative Cooling In The Thermal Performance Of Green Roofs, Giorgina Beatriz Castillo Garcia Jan 2011

Effects Of Evaporative Cooling In The Thermal Performance Of Green Roofs, Giorgina Beatriz Castillo Garcia

Dissertations and Theses

Green roofs have become an important urban mitigation technology due to their ability to address multiple environmental issues. One of the most common benefits attributed to green roofs is the reduction in heating and cooling loads in buildings by dissipating heat through evaporation. This study focuses on evaluating the effect that evaporative cooling has on the thermal performance of green roofs. Sponge and floral foam were used as porous media for their ability to retain water inside its body, transport it to the surface, evaporate it at a constant rate and for their different pore sizes. Test trays containing sponge …

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Transforming The Soul Of Education: Sustainability At The Center Of Teaching And Learning In Secondary Schools, Thomas Eugene Kane Jan 2011

Transforming The Soul Of Education: Sustainability At The Center Of Teaching And Learning In Secondary Schools, Thomas Eugene Kane

Dissertations and Theses

Humanity is facing problems on a scale never before encountered. This dissertation traces the roots of modern culture's destructive relationship to the planet with its habits of over-consumption and exceeding the limits of the planet's ecological systems. Educational institutions are embedded in and replicate an unsustainable culture. As educational leaders, we need to challenge a system that is morally and ecologically bankrupt while providing a path toward sustainability at the center of teaching and learning. Using a narrative scholarship approach and theoretical frameworks drawn from ecological thinking and place-based learning, this dissertation provides models for transforming secondary education. While critiquing …

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Prediction Of Soil Layer R-Value Dependence On Moisture Content, Ziyang Liu Jan 2011

Prediction Of Soil Layer R-Value Dependence On Moisture Content, Ziyang Liu

Dissertations and Theses

This study focuses on how green roof thermal performance is affected by the soil moisture in summer condition. It aims to determine whether moist soil is a better insulator during the summer months than dry soil. A soil model is developed to predict simultaneous conduction, convection, and surface evaporation for a layer of moist soil representing a green roof. It used to analyze evaporation process and its affect on the soil resistance. The model considers only bare soil without vegetation on the roof. The model predicts the soil surface temperature as it is affected by soil moisture content, which can …

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Why The Block Is The Block: Reinforcing Community Through Casual Conversation, L. David Ritchie Jan 2011

Why The Block Is The Block: Reinforcing Community Through Casual Conversation, L. David Ritchie

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study combines Discourse Dynamics (Cameron, 2007) with Perceptual Simulation Theory (Barsalou, 2007; Gibbs, 2006), to analyze a sample of talk among residents of an urban neighborhood about topics related to community safety and the quality of life in their community. The results demonstrate the role of casual conversation in structuring complex social relationships, and the usefulness of close attention to metaphors, story-telling, and humor. By their use, re-use, and development of metaphors and stories the participants in this conversation express and reinforce the patterns of sociability and mutual watchfulness that contribute to a feeling of safety and comfort in …

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Town Center Vision, Caroline Chapman, Jacqueline Gruber, Neil Riordan Jan 2011

Town Center Vision, Caroline Chapman, Jacqueline Gruber, Neil Riordan

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

In December 2010, City Council passed Resolution 2261 which directed the City’s Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI) to prepare a more formal action plan for smart growth and sustainability. Emerald Solutions, a team of Portland State Master’s students, was tasked with furthering these efforts by completing a Sustainability and Smart Growth Pilot Plan for the Town Center Pilot Area (TCPA). The plan works to develop a complete concept, structure, and community outreach process that will guide the City in the creation of a broader, citywide plan. This project was conducted under the supervision of Sumner Sharpe and Ellen Bassett.

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Exploring Traffic Safety And Urban Form In Portland, Oregon, Kristie Werner Gladhill Jan 2011

Exploring Traffic Safety And Urban Form In Portland, Oregon, Kristie Werner Gladhill

Dissertations and Theses

Street layout and design, once established, are then not easily changed. Urban form affects community development, livability, sustainability, and traffic safety. There has been an assumed relationship between urban form and traffic safety that favors designs with less through streets to improve safety. An empirical study to test this assumed relationship was carried out for crash data for Portland, Oregon. This thesis presents an empirical methodology for analyzing the relationship between urban form and traffic safety utilizing a uniform grid for the spatial unit. Crashes in the Portland, Oregon city limits from 2005-2007 were analyzed and modeled using negative binomial …

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