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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Studies

Understanding Campus Environmental Sustainability: A Thematic Analysis Of Interviews With Facilities Management Staff And Administrators At The University Of Denver, Alejandro Cerón, Dinko Hanaan Dinko, Izzy Beltran, Madeline Bonner, Mia Glover, Linh Nguyen, Madeline Ohaus, Maren Parchen, Quisi Rodriguez-Oregel, Delanee Taylor, Dani Thompson, Kansas Wood Apr 2022

Understanding Campus Environmental Sustainability: A Thematic Analysis Of Interviews With Facilities Management Staff And Administrators At The University Of Denver, Alejandro Cerón, Dinko Hanaan Dinko, Izzy Beltran, Madeline Bonner, Mia Glover, Linh Nguyen, Madeline Ohaus, Maren Parchen, Quisi Rodriguez-Oregel, Delanee Taylor, Dani Thompson, Kansas Wood

Anthropology: Undergraduate Student Scholarship

This project sought to understand what influences sustainability choices on the University of Denver campus. Universities and colleges play a pivotal and influential role in shaping sustainable future discourse in society. As centers for innovation and research, universities continue to generate new knowledge and skills necessary to create awareness of the negative impact of human activities on the environment and pathways to mitigate these impacts. Over the past decades, there has been a growing transformation of universities from places of knowledge creation to places where created knowledge is implemented. Thus, in the field of environmental change, there is a growing …


Reclaiming The Future Through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy And Sustainability In The Caribbean, Dana M. Conzo Mar 2022

Reclaiming The Future Through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy And Sustainability In The Caribbean, Dana M. Conzo

Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation, “Reclaiming the future through Small-Scale Agriculture: Autonomy and Sustainability in the Caribbean,” is a political-economic analysis of land politics, foodscapes and foodsheds, and small-scale agricultural activities in plantation economies on the Caribbean island of St Kitts. Using ethnographic and geographic methods, such as participant observation, interviews, social network analysis, and foodshed mapping, I investigate the cultural and economic niche of local farmers, documented and analyzed the island’s foodshed, and provide a historical and economic background of St Kitts to link historical processes to contemporary spatial organization and agricultural practices. I consider the complexities of food inequalities and food …


Avocado Mania: The Rise And Costs Of Our Obsession With Avocados, Rosa C. Lourentzatos Sep 2021

Avocado Mania: The Rise And Costs Of Our Obsession With Avocados, Rosa C. Lourentzatos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The past two decades have seen a surge in global demand for avocados, which have become popular among middle- and high-income fractions of society in developed regions of the world. Avocados are predominantly consumed far from their centers of origin and out of their traditional cultural context. The United States imports 87 percent of its avocados from a single region in Mexico, Michoacán. The systems of production and provision that have risen to meet the demand for this fashionable fruit have had devastating social and environmental effects, including deforestation, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, pollution, displacement of indigenous populations, food insecurity, …


Consumption Behavior Of Algerians During The Period Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis, Kamel Chikhi Jun 2021

Consumption Behavior Of Algerians During The Period Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis, Kamel Chikhi

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This Dialogue contribution is a reflection on the impact of crises and in particular that of Covid-19 on the behavior of Algerian consumers: before, during and post-crisis. It is recognized that during crises, consumers adopt unusual and more rational behaviors: buy basic necessities; save more to deal with possible difficult situations; place more importance on nutrition, health, food quality characteristics, price, psychological and socio-demographic characteristics; have purchasing and consumption intentions based on their cultural background and prefer to adopt planned behaviors. Observed events during the Covid-19 pandemic allows us to illustrate the evolution of consumption behavior of Algerians and to …


The Role Of Culture In Sustainable Communities: The Case Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), Pamela A. Mischen, Carl P. Lipo Apr 2021

The Role Of Culture In Sustainable Communities: The Case Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), Pamela A. Mischen, Carl P. Lipo

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

We explore how the combination of cultural heritage and present-day cultural affili- ations influences the construction of the concept of sustainability at the scale of the community using the case study of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). We argue that overlapping affiliations—expressed through administrative culture, organizational culture, and professional culture—influence the views held by governance leaders. Furthermore, the role of cultural heritage must be considered in efforts to change and perpetuate sustainability-related behaviors within a community. Using archeo- logical and historical evidence from the pre-contact and historical record of Rapa Nui, we discuss how cultural heritage evolved endogenously in response …


Contested Dam Development In Iran: A Case Study Of The Exercise Of State Power Over Local People, Elham Hoominfar, Claudia Radel Jul 2020

Contested Dam Development In Iran: A Case Study Of The Exercise Of State Power Over Local People, Elham Hoominfar, Claudia Radel

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Student Research

In this article, we address the interaction of the Iranian State, an agent of power, with affected village residents, as four dam projects are planned and implemented. Dams, recently positioned as a green energy source, are a central component to Iran’s national development strategies; yet historically their construction has been a source of significant conflict and resistance around the world. We focus on ten villages facing displacement or partial loss of lands at the time of the research, and we answer the question: During dam building and resettlement processes, how have residents experienced their role in decision making and the …


Gen Z Perspectives On Climate Change And The Future: Having The Courage To Imagine And Fight For A Better World, Isabelle Graj Apr 2020

Gen Z Perspectives On Climate Change And The Future: Having The Courage To Imagine And Fight For A Better World, Isabelle Graj

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I conducted 6 interviews with Gen Z students to investigate how they think climate change will impact their future and how they frame the issue in general. I communicate my findings and analysis with visual context through a zine, which is a form of alternative media created in the 1930s. Today, zines provide a creative approach to exchange ideas and explain contemporary culture (Gisonny and Freedman, 2006, 26). My zine is not meant to be utterly educational but rather it is meant to convey the emotion, confusion, and chaos associated with my findings. The interviews collectively created an image of …


In The Name Of Profit: Canada’S Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve As Economic Development And Colonial Placemaking, Richard M. Hutchings, Marina La Salle Apr 2019

In The Name Of Profit: Canada’S Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve As Economic Development And Colonial Placemaking, Richard M. Hutchings, Marina La Salle

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

Taking a critical heritage approach to late modern naming and placemaking, we discuss how the power to name reflects the power to control people, their land, their past, and ultimately their future. Our case study is the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve (MABR), a recently invented place on Vancouver Island, located in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Through analysis of representations and landscape, we explore MABR as state-sanctioned branding, where a dehumanized nature is packaged for and marketed to wealthy ecotourists. Greenwashed by a feel-good “sustainability” discourse, MABR constitutes colonial placemaking and economic development, representing no break with past practices.


Sustainable Messaging In Film: A Survey Of A College Community, Chelsea Faught Apr 2019

Sustainable Messaging In Film: A Survey Of A College Community, Chelsea Faught

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The concept of sustainability encompasses environmental, social, and economic issues. A sustainable approach encourages a balanced earth in both well-being and resource conservation for the sake of future generations. Unfortunately, awareness of and participation in various dimension of sustainability are currently inadequate given the current projections of the negative impact of climate change to humanity. Therefore, this project was designed to research if there was a relationship between viewing sustainably themed films and becoming more sustainably-conscious as a way to explore a potential avenue for mental and behavioral change. Furthermore, this project examines audience perception of sustainable messaging and content …


Weaving Sustainability, Carving Identity: An Exploration Of Artisan Livelihood In Oaxaca, Mexico, Mariana Sanchez Castillo Jan 2019

Weaving Sustainability, Carving Identity: An Exploration Of Artisan Livelihood In Oaxaca, Mexico, Mariana Sanchez Castillo

Summer Research

The southwestern region of Mexico is world known for its beautiful folk art that is high in quality and variety, and which derives from ancient indigenous traditions. Weaving and woodcarving are such pre-Hispanic traditions that have taught artesanos to care for the gifts that nature can provide. However amidst a global environmental crisis and a rise in socioeconomic barriers to indigenous community development, artesanos have had to find ways to uplift their families from poverty resulting in the exploitation of primary resources. This ethnographic exploration of two aspects of folk art production in Oaxaca, Mexico uncovers the ways in which …


Climate Change And Threatened Heritage: Archaeology's Burden, Barry R. Gordon May 2018

Climate Change And Threatened Heritage: Archaeology's Burden, Barry R. Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change and archaeology are currently intertwined, as more and more archaeologists around the world must deal with the effects it causes on the sites they work on. Threatened cultural resource sites are being swept away at alarming rates, and excavation projects are becoming more and more like salvage digs.


Eco-Tourism And Sustainable Community Development In Cuba: Bringing Community Back Into Development, Jack Thornburg Ph.D. Dec 2017

Eco-Tourism And Sustainable Community Development In Cuba: Bringing Community Back Into Development, Jack Thornburg Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This paper focuses on community development and its relationship to eco-tourism as a means of creating a sustainable future for local Cuban communities. If communities control local resources to create economic opportunities for local goals, there is a greater chance that community development will be more effective and sustainable. Local empowerment can play a key role in community development through ecological and cultural tourism. The focus of this paper is Cuba’s potential to develop into a major ecological and cultural tourism center within international tourism. Recent policy announcements regarding the intention to diversify Cuba’s economy and move people into private …


Hydropower, Oil Palm, And Sustainability, Fernando Salud '17 Jan 2017

Hydropower, Oil Palm, And Sustainability, Fernando Salud '17

EnviroLab Asia

This reflection touches on the writer’s experiences during the EnviroLab Asia Clinic trip in early 2016 to Borneo, Malaysia and Singapore. The reflection involves two events: a visit to a blockade protesting the construction of a hydroelectric dam and a meeting with the sustainability department of Wilmar, one of the world’s leading palm oil producers. The first event comments on the tension between the need for renewable energy and the destruction of the natural environment and communities due to the particular energy generation technology chosen. This event highlighted the importance of understanding the societal constraints a technology is being installed …


What Does “Sustainable Development” Mean?, Grace Stewart '17 Jan 2017

What Does “Sustainable Development” Mean?, Grace Stewart '17

EnviroLab Asia

A recurring theme throughout the EnviroLab Asia clinic trip to Singapore and Malaysian Borneo was the concept of "sustainable development." In this essay, I explore my own thoughts and concerns regarding this phrase, such as the tension that exists between "sustainability" (the maintenance of resources) and the conventional concept of "development" (which consumes resources and can often wreak environmental destruction). I reflect on this tension within the context of environmental issues faced by the Dayak people in Sarawak--the building of the Baram Dam, and the prevalence of oil palm plantations.


Transformation, Wallace M. Meyer Iii Jan 2017

Transformation, Wallace M. Meyer Iii

EnviroLab Asia

Prior to leaving for Claremont Colleges’ Envriolab Asia trip to Malaysia and Singapore, I was conflicted by the question: Do we have the moral authority to interfere with resource extraction and oil-palm development in SE Asia? At that time, the trip seemed imperialistic. Why should people from Malaysia, Indonesia or any developing SE Asia country listen to a group of liberal arts college faculty from a city where widespread habitat modifications have led to significant loss of native habitats, declines in biodiversity, and changes in how these ecosystems function? Many observations transformed my opinion and have inspired me to advocate …


Institutional Responses To Pressures For Sustainable Palm Oil, Stephen Marks, Justin Lauw '18, Shivang Mehta '19, Fernando Salud '17 Jan 2017

Institutional Responses To Pressures For Sustainable Palm Oil, Stephen Marks, Justin Lauw '18, Shivang Mehta '19, Fernando Salud '17

EnviroLab Asia

As the two leading palm oil producing countries, Indonesia and Malaysia have come under external pressures to limit deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions related to land use conversion for oil palm cultivation. We examine various institutional frameworks that have emerged to mediate these pressures. These frameworks can be distinguished by their geographic scope—domestic, region, and global—as well as by the nature of control—private, non-profit, and governmental. The frameworks have taken the form of sustainability certification systems from non-profit organizations or governments, corporate sustainability policies, or the setting through global or bilateral negotiations of voluntary national targets for limiting deforestation or …


Electronic Waste And Sustainability: Reflections On A Rising Global Challenge, Bipul Kumar, Kalyan Bhaskar Jul 2016

Electronic Waste And Sustainability: Reflections On A Rising Global Challenge, Bipul Kumar, Kalyan Bhaskar

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Globalization, technological advancements, advent of the internet, near-universal availability of mobile phones and changing consumer preferences have led to a boom in the electrical and electronics industry. Such products are now available in almost all countries of the world. The increased availability and consumption of electronic products have also led to rapid rise in the volumes of electronic waste (e-waste) globally. Markets have traditionally not paid sufficient attention to post-consumption behavior for electronic products and hence safe disposal and management of e-waste has always remained a critical issue. There are significant sustainability issues related with e-waste at local as well …


School Gardens: Cultivating A Child’S Nutritional Habits, Environmental Knowledge, And Sustainability Practices, Jeffrey Meltzer Jan 2015

School Gardens: Cultivating A Child’S Nutritional Habits, Environmental Knowledge, And Sustainability Practices, Jeffrey Meltzer

Honors Theses

School gardens have existed since the late nineteenth century and today are becoming increasingly popular in many parts of the world, including where I studied in Maine and Australia (AUS). Multiple organizations support school gardens in Maine, including the Maine School Garden Network, which has over 125 registered school gardens. In AUS, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation primarily supports the school garden movement and has over 800 registered school gardens. While many researchers have studied school gardens, few have compared two countries, focused on environmental sustainability, or investigated Maine in particular. This thesis combines information from literature reviews, and …


Self-Reliance Beyond Neoliberalism: Rethinking Autonomy At The Edges Of Empire, Karen Hébert, Diana Mincyte Jan 2014

Self-Reliance Beyond Neoliberalism: Rethinking Autonomy At The Edges Of Empire, Karen Hébert, Diana Mincyte

Publications and Research

Across scholarly and popular accounts, self-reliance is often interpreted as either the embodiment of individual entrepreneurialism, as celebrated by neoliberal designs, or the basis for communitarian localism, increasingly imagined as central to environmental and social sustainability. In both cases, self-reliance is framed as an antidote to the failures of larger state institutions or market economies. This paper offers a different framework for understanding self-reliance by linking insights drawn from agrarian studies to current debates on alternative economies. Through an examination of the social worlds of semisubsistence producers in peripheral zones in the Global North, we show how everyday forms of …