Digital Commons Network^™

Perceptions About Expatriate Leaders In Tanzanian Non-Governmental Organizations: Elevating Local Voices, Seth Diemond

Thinking Matters Symposium

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the perceptions that Tanzanian employees hold about white, expatriate leadership of non-governmental organizations working on children’s issues in Tanzania, East Africa. In Tanzania, foreign non-profit organizations, commonly referred to locally as NGOs, work to address various global issues. Many NGOs are led by white, expatriate leaders while staffed by local, black, Tanzanians. Through interviews with Tanzanian staff, this study helps determine whether the presence of white, expatriate leadership of NGOs in Tanzania is truly an effective approach to development as perceived by local staff. Interviews were conducted virtually with five Tanzanian …

Count The Uncountable: The Impact Of Population Density On The Landscape Of Haiti, Jarvis Thanex Louis

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

An understanding of population density is essential to addressing environmental issues in Haiti. Decades of significant political, economic, environmental, and social challenges have influenced both population density and the landscape of the country. Additionally, lack of consistent and reliable census data poses great challenges to tracking population growth in Haiti. Data from the US Census Bureau and USGS Global Visualization Viewer satellite images were used to analyze the impact of population density on Haiti’s landscape. A comparison of Haiti’s population density in 2007 and 2018 using remote sensing analyses offers insight into the landscape of the country. The images illustrate …

Mobilizing Community Support For Casco Bay (2015 State Of The Bay Presentation), Fred Dillon

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Living With A Changing Bay (2015 State Of The Bay Presentation), Curtis C. Bohlen Phd

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Coastal Stormwater Management Through Green Infrastructure: A Handbook For Municipalities, Environmental Protection Agency, Massachusetts Bay National Estuary Program

Publications

Coastal Stormwater Management through Green Infrastructure: A Handbook for Municipalities (Handbook) is designed to assist coastal municipalities within the Massachusetts Bays Program (MassBays) area to incorporate green infrastructure into their stormwater management planning as they respond to MS4 stormwater permit requirements, review development proposals, and retrofit existing municipal facilities and sites. The MassBays Program can assist those municipalities in using this Handbook to facilitate the use of green infrastructure and address stormwater runoff.

Issue Brief: Auditing Your Town's Development Code For Barriers To Sustainable Water Management, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This issue brief is intended for town officials who want to understand how development regulations in their community affect local water resources. Municipal development codes – the set of regulations that control the built environment – can have a great influence on the availability of clean and healthy water for drinking, recreation, and commercial uses. This in turn affects the community’s social, environmental, and economic vitality.

Comprehensive plans, zoning codes, and building standards are just a few examples of regulations that intentionally or unintentionally regulate the way water is transported, collected and absorbed. Regulations that produce dispersed development or large …

Presumpscot River Watershed Map: Combined Values For Conservation, Top 25% (Map), Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Center For Community Gis

Graphics, Maps, and Posters

No abstract provided.

Presumpscot River Watershed Map: Combined Values For Conservation (Map), Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Center For Community Gis

Graphics, Maps, and Posters

No abstract provided.

Presumpscot River Watershed Map: Agricultural Values (Map), Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Center For Community Gis

Graphics, Maps, and Posters

No abstract provided.

Sustainability Initiatives In East Bayside Neighborhood Portland, Maine, Garvan Donegan, Henry Heyburn, Caitlyn Horose, Matt Klebes, Jennifer Riley, Damon Yakovleff, New England Environmental Finance Center

Planning

This is a bundle containing research on sustainability initiatives that could be implemented in the East Bayside neighborhood of Portland, ME. These six essays were prepared by the Spring, 2010 Sustainable Communities Class known as CPD 602 at the University of Southern Maine. The class is part of the core curriculum of the Community Planning and Development program of the Muskie School of Public Service at the university. The instructor for the class was Samuel Merrill, Ph. D. who is also director of the New England Environmental Finance Center at the University. These papers were prepared in conjunction with Alan …

From State Of The Bay To Cbep’S Habitat Protection Fund: Land Conservation And The Future Of Casco Bay (2010 State Of The Bay Presentation), Curtis C. Bohlen Phd

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Protected Lands (2010 State Of The Bay Poster), Casco Bay Estuary Partnership

State of the Bay

No abstract provided.

Land Conservation And Land Use In New England: Trends, Challenges & Opportunities, Amanda Loomis, Tom Devine, Andrea Small, Brittany Howard, Brett Richardson, Stephanie Dulac

Land Conservation

Sprawling development patterns accelerated across the New England landscape in the last three decades and consumed the region‘s forests, farms, and open spaces at an unprecedented rate. New England‘ers in all six states formed land trusts, supported statewide conservation organizations, and collaborated with state and federal partners to protect some of their most-prized recreation lands, wildlife habitats, and working lands. The current economic recession has slowed development pressures across the region and offers an opportunity to build on recent successes. The time is right to plan a coordinated New England conservation strategy that protects and links the region‘s natural assets. …

South Burlington Vt: New Urbanist South Village, Jack Kartez, Richard Barringer

Planning

The 220 acre master plan for South Village, the largest project in the City of South Burlington’s history, encompasses multiple housing types and innovative provisions for affordable housing. It integrates housing with open space and natural resource conservation, including a major Community Supported Agriculture project developed by a nonprofit partner, the Intervale Foundation. While not a mixed-use project (that is, commercial as well as residential development), South Village nonetheless represents a qualitative change in approach for South Burlington by incorporating large-scale open space preservation as part of development and multiple housing-types in one project. The case study recounts events leading …

South Burlington, Vt: Mixed-Use Comes To O’Dell Parkway, Ryan Neale, Brett Richardson, Richard Barringer

Planning

The proposed redevelopment of an underutilized property along major travel routes in South Burlington presents possibilities for infill development. The City of South Burlington, the developer, neighbors, and a variety of public and nonprofit financial partners work together to create a mixed-use residential/commercial development to meet a variety of housing and community needs. The case study describes the obstacles overcome to make redevelopment possible through zoning and regulatory changes, negotiation with local residents over traffic and other concerns, support from state and local housing advocates, and political leadership; as well as the development’s application of smart growth principles.

Portland Me: Affordable Housing V. Open Space, Patrick Wright, Brett Richardson, Richard Barringer

Planning

Amid an acknowledged “affordable housing crisis”, a first-time developer approaches the City to release part of a tax-acquired property, promising a smart-growth development that would provide sorely needed starter homes for working families. The case highlights the complications of balancing competing interests in Portland ME. It shows where rational planning fails in the presence of strong neighborhood opposition, a disjointed city staff structure, and the absence of political will among City Councilors. It highlights the need for champions within local government when a project evokes competing interests. It demonstrates the extent to which “words matter” to policy outcomes, and who …

Brunswick Me: De-Militarizing The Bnas, Anne Holland, Brett Richardson, Richard Barringer

Planning

Closure of the Brunswick Naval Air Station in 2011 will have profound economic impacts on the entire mid-coast Maine region of Maine, with an estimated loss of 6,500 jobs and $330 million annual income. Throughout the Base Realignment and Closure process, Brunswick, the region, and the State of Maine followed federal rules and developed the federally-funded Brunswick Local Redevelopment Authority (BLRA) to plan for reuse of the 3300 acre base. In its planning process, the BLRA adhered to a number of well thought-out Guiding Principles, including the use of extensive public participation and the consideration of “smart growth” principles and …

Sebago Lake Ecology Center’S Pervious Pathway: A Low Impact Development Demonstration, Portland Water District

Publications

No abstract provided.

Policy Tools For Smart Growth In New England, New England Environmental Finance Center

Smart Growth

Across New England communities have been experiencing a rapid outward surge of development away from our community and downtown centers. Effects of sprawl include a loss of wildlife habitat, farm and timber lands; increased costs of community services and higher taxes; auto-dependency, longer commutes, and increased congestion; increases in air and water pollution; a sedentary lifestyle and increased obesity; and losses to one’s sense of place and social ties.

State-level responses to sprawl have surfaced throughout New England in recent years. This report describes 11 examples of these responses, representing all six New England states and a diversity of recent …

The Growing Together Guide: A Companion Resource To The New England Environmental Finance Center/Melissa Paly Film, New England Environmental Finance Center

Smart Growth

What local leader or public official wants to be faced with an SOS the “same old story” of public discord and confrontation over growth and development in one’s community? That situation has become a problem for efforts to promote smart growth. Investments are needed in the walkable, compact, traditional‐streetscape and mixed use neighborhoods and developments that are more sustainable and healthy than sprawl, for both people and the landscape. Yet attempts at such change all too often end up mired in costly public controversy and stalemate.

Mansfield Ct: Planning A New Village Center, Maggie Jones, Richard Barringer

Planning

The case follows the development of a plan for a new village center in Storrs, the central village of Mansfield, Connecticut. A process that was transparent and inclusive of the community members yielded a plan that gained the approval of the Town, the landowner (the University of Connecticut), and the citizenry. The process relied on the mending of fences, the leadership of key participants, and an innovative strategy that included development of a nonprofit corporation and creative use of grant money. While zoning changes are still in the works, the first stage of building goes forward.

South Kingstown Ri: New Zoning For An Historic Mill, Maggie Jones, Richard Barringer

Planning

The village of Peace Dale in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, developed around several mills that commenced operations in the 1800s. One mill, known as the Palisades, is still partially active and in excellent condition, but much of its square footage is unutilized. A citizens’ group of artists and business people joined with the mill owners and the town of South Kingstown to develop new zoning regulations to make more flexible the permitted uses for the mill site. The proposed zoning will allow the mill complex to feature a mix of retail, residential, and manufacturing uses, while preserving …

Augusta Me: The New Bridge Begets A New Planned Neighborhood, Molly Pulsifer, Richard Barringer

Planning

Construction of a new Third Bridge over the Kennebec River in Augusta offered the prospect of a new and handsome gateway to the city. Further, the resulting change in traffic patterns offered the City the chance to plan for a pattern of development quite different from what the city had experienced for the past half-century. The case study describes the planning and construction of the new bridge and corridors that re-routed traffic out of Augusta’s downtown and older neighborhoods, and created the opportunity for planned development adjacent to the corridor created by the new bridge. It goes on to describe …

Amherst Ma: A New Village Plan For Atkins Corner, Maggie Jones, Richard Barringer

Planning

The case study describes a successful smart growth initiative in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, at an intersection known as Atkins Corner. The initiative grew from two motivating factors: the necessity of realigning Route 116, a major north-to-south artery through the town, to decrease traffic accidents at the intersection and improve pedestrian safety; and a desire on the part of Hampshire College and the Town to create a village center at the intersection. Through a consensus-building process involving key town officials, Hampshire College, neighbors, and the design firm of Dodson Associates, agreement on the project was reached with local stakeholders …

Mapping Sand And Gravel Mining Within The Presumpscot River Watershed, Maine, Using Remote Sensing And Other Digital Data In A G.I.S. Environment, Chris Jones Jones, Justin Rich, Irwin D. Novak

Publications

No abstract provided.

Trust, Collaboration, And Financial Return In Conservation/Development Partnerships, New England Environmental Finance Center

Economics and Finance

In early 2002 the New England Environmental Finance Center hosted a series of roundtable discussions among municipal officials, residential developers, land trust representatives, and others about "Innovative Approaches to Land Conservation and Smart Growth". Among our observations was that for many of the over 20 conservation/development partnerships we discussed in the series, creation and maintenance of trust was central to success or failure of various stages of the partnership. This suggested a link between creation of trust and financial return for traditionally opposed project partners.

To further examine this matter, we interviewed 11 round table participants and asked questions about …

Designed To Fail: Why Most Commonly Used Designs Will Fail And How To Fix Them, Richard C. Cote, Matthew Lundsted, Rebecca Balke, Eileen Pannetier

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Protecting And Enhancing Open Space Along The Presumpscot River, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Presumpscot River Plan Steering Committee, Land & Water Associates

Publications

CBEP looked at the ten of the fourteen municipalities that line Casco Bay to identify potential areas of marsh migration and possible impacts to existing developed areas due to tidal inundation from sea level rise.

Presumpscot River Corridor maps associated with this report as Figures 1 to 7 can be found by following the links below:

Presumpscot River Corridor Map 1: Developed and Undeveloped Areas (Map)

Presumpscot River Corridor Map 2: Open Space with High Natural Resource Values (Map)

Presumpscot River Corridor Map 3: Public Recreation Lands and Public Access (Map)

Presumpscot River Corridor Map 4: Resource Protection Zones (Map) …

Model State Land Use Legislation For New England, New England Environmental Finance Center, Muskie School Of Public Service

Legislation

Sprawl is neither the ordained nor the inevitable outcome upon the New England landscape. A coordinated response to sprawl by the public and private sectors is possible, and could dramatically improve land use patterns and reduce the cost of local government. For the New England states, such a response would include, among other elements, legislation to eliminate existing gaps in the land use laws of each state – gaps that presently encourage or sanction sprawling development. It would also include incentives for municipalities to think beyond their borders and to act with greater efficiency and effect. It is the purpose …

Smart Growth And Land Acquisition Priorities: A Cursory Review, New England Environmental Finance Center

Smart Growth

It is well-known and generally accepted that all undeveloped land in New England cannot forever be protected from development; nor would this be a desirable goal, as continued economic development and population growth are near certainties. For these and other reasons, private land trusts and government agencies generally use explicit criteria to prioritize their land acquisition activities and prospects.