Contentions At The Human-Wildlife Interface: An Analysis Of Chicago’S Coyote Management Plan, Ilanah Taves

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Urbanization and habitat fragmentation cause animal species to either adjust to human- dominated landscapes or suffer population loss. This paper examines the municipal challenges associated with coyotes, an animal successfully adapting to cities throughout North America. The presence of predators in highly developed areas challenges conceptual and spatial attempts to separate cities from nature. This report’s introductory sections critically examine the alienation of wildlife from the urban form. Theoretical perspectives from the discipline of animal geographies are employed to deconstruct problematic relationships between cities and animals, and reimagine a metropolis that considers the presence of nonhuman others. Engaging Jennifer Wolch’s …

Cluster Approach: Gaps And Shortcomings In Un Coordination Of Humanitarian Actors In Post-Earthquake Haiti And Implications For Policy Concerns Of The New Humanitarian School Of Thought, Naomi Vinbury

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This research analyzes the role of the UN OCHA Cluster Approach in the context of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Gaps and shortcomings of the current humanitarian model are identified and the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach is considered as a model to be used as an instrument to inform the New Humanitarian school of thought. A recent history of Haiti and the political relationship to the international community will be reviewed as context that outlines the vulnerabilities that created a risk society leading up to the disaster. A brief history of the recent trajectory of humanitarian aid will be reviewed and …

Inequity In Rebuilding After Disasters, Sara Brown

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Natural disasters are becoming more and more frequent. Policies that help rebuild residential areas after disasters need to be equitable. The five residential programs researched are The Road Home Homeowner Assistance Program, The Road Home Small Rental Property Program, LIHTC Piggyback Program, Hazard Mitigation Gram Program, and Non- Profit Rebuilding Pilot Program. Through a case study of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans this research reviews five residential rebuilding programs to see if its goals were written equitably. This research then compares the Lower Ninth Ward with the entire City of New Orleans as well as two other planning …

A Moment Became The Season: An Exploration Of Trauma Narrative Within The Community Development Context, Lydia Berry

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This research explores current methods of psychological trauma intervention within the community development context, namely the understandings that bound the clinical and diagnostic side of trauma, and the more recent victim centered approach: the trauma informed care method. The shortcomings of these approaches is that they individually lack the ability to establish the victim back into their sense of self or community, accordingly. This research argues that a narrative approach, a process by which a survivor of trauma has full agency to express their experience, used in conjunction with existing practices can rectify the shortcomings of both methods. The researcher …

Asset Assessment For Women: A Case Study Of Imasayi Village In Ogun State, Nigeria & Ngo Development: A Strategic Plan, Olamide Adeyinka

Student Works

This paper presents the findings of an asset assessment performed with women in a village southwest of Nigeria, Imasayi Ogun state. This paper not only describes the process and results of a qualitative study, but also presents the implementation plan for an NGO that will work with the women of Imasayi to implement community-wide development projects. The research upon which this paper is based used the framework of seven capital domains, which are then used in turn to structure findings, recommendations and NGO planning and analysis. For the purpose of this paper, the marketplace is identified as significant for Imasayi’s …

Gis Specialist 2016 Internship With Cdm Smith In Boston, Massachusetts, Suzanne L. Meek

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This report provides a detailed experience of my internship with CDM Smith during the summer of 2016. This was a formal 12-week internship that was extended an additional two weeks due to my success in the first few weeks. My title was listed as a GIS Specialist Intern. My responsibilities included applying GIS technologies to construction, water, and energy projects, digitizing various locations for cities and private clients, FEMA projects, and street light audits in two different towns in New England.

Trafficking Of Women In Nepal And Their Vulnerabilities, Sushmita Diyali

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

ABSTRACT

TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN IN NEPAL AND THEIR VULNERABILITIES

Sushmita Diyali

Around the world, women are marginalized and their liberty has been violated despite women rights and movement. The women and girls are still treated as subhuman. They are subject to sexual exploitation, sexual slavery, and a forced labor. The problems of women based discrimination are widespread all over the world and trafficking of women issues is taken as the most intolerant criminal activity in the earth. Though the world is advancing but Nepal is still dragging behind and its one of the problem is sex exploitation. Human rights of …

Defending Home: How Resistance Movements Are Framed Against Mineral Extraction In Cajamarca And Tambogrande, Peru, Anne B. Read

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper examines community resistance in the Peruvian communities of Tambogrande and Cajamarca to mineral extraction by the corporations Minera Yanacocha (MYSA) and Manhattan Minerals. It considers the fluid nature of the frames, strategies, and tactics that allow social movements to shape and reflect each other. This paper documents how ideas and symbols travel through space and time, in the form of community referenda, collective acts of resistance, and symbols of cultural patrimony, to resist mining projects in two emblematic conflicts. Social movement theory informs this study, in particular it explores the ways in which movements frame mining conflicts, build …

Conditional Cash Transfers For Education: A Comparative Analysis Between Funder And Country, Wesley Marcum-Mullins

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Educational Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) are market driven poverty alleviation interventions, which have been growing in popularity throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in the last 25 years. These are multilateral interventions with many different participants such as funders, national governments, municipal governments, school, teachers, students, and parents. This paper addresses the question: How are educational Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs discussed and rationalized by various state and funder participants? This paper compares funders, The World Bank and Inter-Americas Development Bank, and country CCT programs, Jamaica’s Program of Advancement through Health and Education and Brazils Bolsa Familia. The paper concludes …

Engaging In Effective Behavioral Health Treatment Methods: The Importance Of Building Trust And Relationships With High And Proven Risk Men With A History Of Childhood Trauma(S), Tracie Sullivan

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Nearly 60% of youth involved in the juvenile justice system in the United States have a diagnosable mental illness (Buffington, 2010; SAMHSA, 2012). These high and proven risk youth have fallen through the cracks in the behavioral health system, with a lack of prevention, intervention, and effective treatment methods being provided to them prior to incarceration. This paper presents connections between childhood trauma, undiagnosed and untreated mental illnesses, and delinquency in adulthood for high and proven-risk young men. It also investigates barriers to engaging high and proven risk young men in treatment with the concepts of stigma, and hyper-masculinity introduced. …

The Latina Women & The Informal Microenterprise, Ivette Olmeda

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

ABSTRACT

THE LATINA WOMEN & THE INFORMAL MICROENTERPRISE

Ivette Olmeda

The informal economy refers to economic transactions that are not generally recorded through formal business compliance systems such as licensing, taxes, permitting and others. Informal economic activities are primarily completed through cash transactions.

This research explores the perceptions, intentions, and motivations of Latina women to operate informal microenterprises in an open market. The research consisted of interviews with five Latina women from Worcester, Massachusetts to gather information and ultimately understand why they are not entering formal entrepreneurship systems. The interviews supported existing research in which women state that they operate …

Learning From A Mid-Term Evaluation Of Fonhdad In Haiti, Kelsey E. Hopkins

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This is a mid-term evaluation for FONHDAD’s REFERANS project in the communes of Ganthier and Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. The process of this collaboration with FONHDAD is outlined in a reflection which begins this report. The evaluation is based on a review of project documents including performance indicator reference sheets, indicator performance tracking tables, attendance records, work plans, activity reports, and numerous other project documents. Recommendations for better data management practices and the thoughtful inclusion of women in all project activities are included.

Refugee Self Organization : The Effects Of Organizations On Refugees, Ayfer Hurmuzlu

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Abstract

Refugee Self Organization: the Effects of Organizations on Refugees The following abstract will introduce research conducted to find how incoming refugees integrate themselves into American societies through the aid of organizations. The paper was divided into two main questions: 1. How do refugees self organize themselves upon arrival to a new country? 2. How do organizations help them transition into integration? The paper is serves to define ways that refugees integrate into new environments. The research was collected through conducting interviews to organizations that serve refugee communities. The findings presented in this paper were defined through a collection of …

Asset Assessment For Women: A Case Study Of Imasayi Village In Ogun State, Nigeria & Ngo Development: A Strategic Plan, Olamide Adeyinka

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper presents the findings of an asset assessment performed with women in a village southwest of Nigeria, Imasayi Ogun state. This paper not only describes the process and results of a qualitative study, but also presents the implementation plan for an NGO that will work with the women of Imasayi to implement community-wide development projects. The research upon which this paper is based used the framework of seven capital domains, which are then used in turn to structure findings, recommendations and NGO planning and analysis. For the purpose of this paper, the marketplace is identified as significant for Imasayi’s …

Barriers To Sustainable Hunting-Based Conservation Of Elephants In Zimbabwe, Jessica H. Cusworth

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The international demand for ivory has devastated African elephant populations. In 2015, more elephants were poached for ivory than were born. Many countries have sought to decrease poaching pressures through ivory trade bans. However, Zimbabwe, home to the second largest African elephant population, funds its anti-poaching efforts with revenue from ivory exports. The ivory bans implemented by other countries prevent Zimbabwe from generating many sources of ivory revenue. These bans hamper Zimbabwe’s ability to fund anti-poaching efforts and exacerbate the complex interactions between the social, economic, and political factors which contribute to poaching. Increasing the understanding of the relationships between …

Capturing The Resilience Dividend: Post Hurricane Sandy Insights From Brooklyn's Sea Gate Community, Alexander M. Rezk

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This research project presents a resilience, governance, and vulnerability analysis of populations traditionally considered as non-vulnerable to natural disasters and climate related events. The paper examines how homeowners in Sea Gate, a neighborhood located on Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York, experienced systemic disruption following Hurricane Sandy. This research sets out to answer the following questions: How does the lived experience of homeowners in a coastal community reflect the creation of newly vulnerable populations in regard to natural disasters in New York City? How is the current municipal resilience strategy being perceived as managing these shifts? And finally, what avenues …

Searching For Ourselves: African Cultural Representation In Children’S Books In The United States, And Implications For Educational Achievement, Lulama Moyo

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Using documentary and discourse analysis of children’s literature I explore the extent to which there is a multicultural gap in children’s literature to reveal the prevailing challenges of the colonized and Eurocentric values embedded in the contemporary education system that supports the monocultural socialization of young children in their early formative years. I translate my research through examining four thematic ways on how the multicultural gap is manifested which are subject matter, the lack of African writers, degree of complexity of diasporic experiences, and confronting whiteness. By focusing more specifically on the gap in African diasporic children literature, I review …

Be Serious About Diversity: Exploring Why Innovation Communities Are Not Diverse, Julia Carrasquel

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

BE SERIOUS ABOUT DIVERSITY:

EXPLORING WHY INNOVATION COMMUNITIES ARE NOT DIVERSE

JULIA CARRASQUEL

Innovators and entrepreneurs rely on support, resources and collaboration to succeed, but who can access these resources? Failure is a constant variable in the learning progression of an entrepreneur, but who can afford to fail? There exist inherent biases that prevent women and minority entrepreneurs from entering entrepreneurial pipelines, which has led to a general lack of diversity within innovation communities. This paper, unlike other bodies of research, does not explore why diversity (or the lack thereof) is an important issue to consider in innovation and entrepreneurship. …

Impact Of Two Wars On The Educational System In Nigeria, Helena Onyemelukwe-Waziri

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Since the 1960's Nigeria has continuously been in a state of internal conflict, with different ethno-religious groups vying for social, economic, and political control. The situation has played out in extreme violence and has been on the international world's radar since the emergence of Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the late 2000's. Boko Haram translates to "Western education is forbidden," and the group has been behind the destruction of over 2,000 schools in Nigeria, killing hundreds of teachers and students, while displacing entire communities. As Nigeria holds the highest African population, it also has the highest number of …

Sweden’S Floating Refugee Camp: A New Form Of Spatial Segregation?, Miranda L. Weinstein

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper looks at the structure of discrimination and marginalization of refugees and asylum-seekers. The paper investigates a new form of housing –– floatels –– which was seen in Sweden in 2016. This paper explores the relevant literature on identity, biopower, and spatial segregation, to make the case that floatels are contemporary forms of encampment. Floatels are clear examples of the State’s use of biopower to spatially segregate certain undesirable populations. By providing a case study of the situation in Sweden, the overall goal of the paper is to highlight the issues and complexity involved in refugee housing. In particular, …

Examining The Intersection Of Refugee Policies And Contemporary Protracted Displacement, Christopher M. Owens

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees states that host nations shall not expel or return a refugee to their home nation ‘where his life or freedom would be threatened.’ However, as demonstrated in three contemporary case studies in protracted displacement the interests of the sovereign state drive nations to craft strategies to limit cross-border refugee mobility. The refoulement of refugees escaping drug cartel violence throughout the Americas, internally displaced Haitians, and Syrian refugees in Jordan are all ‘managed’ by one of two methods. First, some destination nations either strategically blur refugees into other mobility …

In Pawn: Kurdish Economic Development In The Context Of Conflict, Stephen E. Mcavene Iii

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

In this paper the author examines the struggle of the Kurdish people for self-determined social, political, and economic development in the whirlwind of conflict in the Middle East. It uses a case study of how a Kurdish minority in Iraq interact with multiple stakeholders in their struggle for nationhood, and implications of these interactions for overall Kurdish social and economic development. Studies on economic development while interested in social, economic and political aspect of development, are less concerned with the implications of right to self-determination on development; the unique case of the Kurdish struggle provides an opportunity to expand the …

Mitigating An Energy Utility Death Spiral In The United States: Applying Lessons From Germany, Eric W. Hopf, Will O'Brien, Timothy Downs, Alistair Pim

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The purpose of this paper is to present evidence that the United States is entering a "Utility Death Spiral" - a dramatic shift away from the utility based model of electricity supply to consumers. It also explores how U.S utilities can reposition themselves to best mitigate the economic losses associated with a Death Spiral. A Utility Death Spiral is currently taking place in Germany called the "Energiewende" and it is having immediate impacts on its energy landscape. The case study of the Energiewende is presented, its impacts, and the response taken by the country’s “big four” utility companies. After analyzing …

Environmental Justice/Urban Initiative Project: Summer Internship With Massachusetts Department Of Environmental Protection, Tiancheng Ouyang

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This report serves as a detailed description of my internship at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) in Worcester, MA, during the summer of 2016. The internship was proposed by Brian Postale, the Urban Compliance Initiative Project Coordinator as a way to automate the integration of GIS data and the computation of data used for visualization purposes. The purpose of this paper is to describe the structure of the organization, my responsibilities as an intern, and my assessment of the internship.

The internship proved to be a precious experience and provided the opportunity to apply and enhance my knowledge …

Understanding And Addressing Governance Dysfunction And Unsustainable Development In The Illegal Gold Mining Region Of Madre De Dios, Peru, Phyllis Duff

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This paper endeavors to explore the link between dysfunction in governance systems and persistent challenges to sustainable development in the illegal gold mining region of Madre de Dios, Peru. Through the use of stakeholder narratives, field observations and literature review, four questions were examined: 1) What are the existing social and environmental conditions in the case study area? 2) What are the existing relationships amongst stakeholders, and how do these illustrate dysfunction of the existing system of governance? 3) What gaps and/or deficiencies in the existing system are revealed by stakeholder narratives, and what are their visions for an alternative …

Addressing Conundrums For Urban Environmental Planning Under Climate Change In Mexico City, Mexico And Rosario, Argentina, Eric Pasay

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Urban centers in Latin America are experiencing rapid growth and a host of intertwined environment and development problems related to climate change. In response, cities have started implementing sustainability initiatives and climate action plans. These plans generally target key sectors, ranging from transportation to water and sanitation, and focus on infrastructure improvements. Often, the objectives of sustainability plans are not met and tend to be mitigation-centric, despite explicit calls to address urban poverty. This paper analyses two case studies in Mexico City, Mexico and Rosario, Argentina to illustrate three risk conundrums that limit the success of sustainability initiatives in cities. …

Reconstruction Of The Destroyed Sinjali Secondary School, Isabella Kaganowski

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This practitioner paper chronicles my involvement of the grant writing proposal that was designed on behalf of a non-for-profit organization, the Association of Dalit Women’s Advancement of Nepal (ADWAN), in order to secure funding and donations for the reconstruction of the destroyed Sinjali Secondary School in Gorkha district, Taklung village, after a 2015 earthquake struck Nepal. The proposal was guided by and collaborated with Professor Jude Fernando of Clark University, as Professor Fernando was able to visit Taklung village and gather information about the needs in the educational sector damaged by the earthquake. Literature review and research was gathered to …

Worcester Black Small Businesses And Racial Inequality In Wealth, Shamen Laquan Radcliffe

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

This research presents findings from scholarly literature, two background cases, and three key informant interviews about why Black small businesses might receive less loan assistance through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) than White small businesses. Specifically, it addresses whether racial inequality in wealth explains why Black small business owners receive less loan assistance than their White counterparts in the City of Worcester. By examining existing literature around topic, this research offers policy recommendations to improve conditions for Black small businesses and their minority counterparts in the small business market.

An Analysis Of Corruption In China: The Guanxi Network Of Chinese High Level Officials And Governors, Xiangru Yin

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

ABSTRACT

AN ANALYSIS OF CORRUPTION IN CHINA: THE GUANXI NETWORK OF CHINESE HIGH LEVEL OFFICIALS AND GOVERNORS

Xiangru YIN

Corruption is considered as one of the biggest hurdles faced by the Chinese government, as it has the effect of thwarting economic growth by perpetuating poverty and income inequality, and discouraging foreign investments into the country. However, unlike other countries, China is a special case because of the Chinese concept of guanxi that highlights the importance of maintaining relationships and networks. This system helps to better understand corruption in the Chinese context. The rules of guanxi are deeply embedded in Chinese …

A Tanzanian Woman's Place Is On Top: An Exploration Of Women's Participation In Kilimanjaro's Trekking Tourism Industry, Margeaux Prinster

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

While high poverty rates persist for women in Tanzania, the growing trekking tourism industry surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro and its resulting demand for labor presents these impoverished women with a potential avenue for economic empowerment. This paper examines the national and local realities of women’s work in Tanzania, analyzing culturally informed gendered patterns of employment against the colonial and sexist histories of tourism and commercial mountaineering on Mount Kilimanjaro to identify barriers to women’s economic participation in Kilimanjaro’s trekking tourism industry. This analysis is followed by a cross-cultural comparison with Nepal, focusing specifically on women’s barriers to participation in commercial mountaineering, …