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Peace Connector Projects: Bishop Korir's Strategy For Grassroots Peacebuilding, William Kiptoo

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay is a narration of my personal experiences in peacebuilding in the North Rift region of Kenya as a resident of the region, and peace worker from 1995 to date. I draw from my work experiences with the National Council of Churches of Kenya (1995-2005), Catholic Relief Services and the Mennonite Central Committee (2007-2019). Specifically, how connector projects were used as a strategy for grassroots peacebuilding for the conflict-affected communities in the North Rift Valley region. The processes of mobilizing the communities, challenges, and outcomes of reconciliation efforts are discussed. The four connector projects discussed show the rewards attained …

Harmonizing Climate Change Mitigation And Adaptation In Transportation And Land-Use Planning In California Cities, Serena E. Alexander, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Ashley M. Hooper, Michael R. Boswell

Mineta Transportation Institute

Abstract: Recent extreme weather events in California—wildfires, drought, and flooding—make abundantly clear the need to plan effective responses to both the causes and the consequences of climate change. A central challenge for climate planning efforts has been identifying transportation and land-use (TLU) strategies that simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions (“mitigation”) and adapt communities so that they will be less affected by the adverse impacts of climate change (“adaptation”). Sets of policies that collectively address both mitigation and adaptation are known as “integrated actions.” This study explores municipal climate planning in California to determine whether cities incorporate integrated actions into their …

Leveraging The Power Of Mutual Aid, Coalitions, Leadership, And Advocacy During Covid-19, Daniela Domínguez, Dellanira García, David A. Martínez, Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga

Psychology

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the norms, patterns, and power structures in the United States that privilege certain groups of people over others. This manuscript describes COVID-19 as an unprecedented catalyst for social transformation that underscores the need for multi-level and cross-sectoral solutions to address systemic changes to improve health equity for all. The authors propose that the American Psychological Association and its membership can initiate systemic change, in part, by: (a) supporting mutual aid organizations that prioritize the needs of vulnerable communities; (b) leveraging the efforts and strides APA psychologists have already made within the association, in …

Organizational Capacity-Building To Battle Addiction In The Oneida Community, Anita F. Barber

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Oneida Nation community members created a new and developing organization The Healing Society (fictious name) operated by a volunteer board. The board needed strategic direction to build organizational capacity and sustainability to address the lack of awareness in the community about the increase in opioid and heroin abuse after a well-known community member died from an overdose. The purpose of this postpositivist constructionist qualitative case study was to gather empirical data from the perspectives of internal and external stakeholders through a SWOT analysis focused on their perspectives. Their answers addressed: (a) the organizational strengths and weaknesses of The Healing Society …

Does Public Ownership Of Utilities Matter For Local Government Water Policies?, George C. Homsy, Mildred E. Warner

Public Administration Faculty Scholarship

What differentiates local governments that implement water policies on equity and the environment? Analyzing a 2015 survey of 1,897 U.S. municipalities, we find municipalities that own their water utilities more likely have policies to protect low-income residents from disconnection and to implement water resource management. Respondents from 8% of municipalities report protecting residents from disconnection. State economic regulation of publicly owned utilities and Democrat-majority municipal governments are positively associated with policies protecting low-income households from shutoffs but bear no association with resource management. Public ownership of utilities and state economic regulation may play a role in meeting water policy goals.

Environmental Governance For Whom? Examining The Political, Institutional, Fiscal, And Legal Determinants Of State Environmental Agency Budget Policy In The Us, Andrew R. Duggan

Theses and Dissertations

Budgets are a prospective tool of governance, and appropriations are a planning vehicle reflecting: bureaucracies’ values, complex interactions, collective preferences, political influences, and available resources. Research spanning 30 years finds that environmental pollution is a key determinant of environmental budgets in the US, though myriad factors, actors, and subsystems are important to consider. Due to federalism and devolution of responsibilities and authorities, environmental governance falls largely to the states. While the dynamics that shape state environmental budget policy have received scholarly interest, theoretically-driven examinations of environmental appropriations remain limited within the public budgeting and environmental policy literature.

Using panel data …

Protect & Disinfect: Covid Upcycling, The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute At Virginia Commonwealth University, Ilvy Cotterell, Collin Cox, Parthenia Dinora, Zachary Hilpert, Veronica King, Carmen Rodriguez, Alexis Shockley

The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Publications

Students returning to campus will be responsible for the frequent cleaning and disinfecting of their living spaces to help limit and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Sterile, unused towels are thrown away every day in operating rooms at the VCU Health System. These towels will be collected and distributed to VCU residential halls, providing students with a free and accessible resource for the daily cleaning and disinfecting needed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Coalition Sustainability After Federal Funding Is Expended: A Case Study, Shawnee Marie Seese

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community coalition sustainability has been a focus of scholars as community coalitions deliver vital programs and services for communities in need. Despite the value coalitions bring to U.S. communities, they often become vulnerable after federal funding is expended. Researchers acknowledge the need to build understanding of coalition sustainability and have identified factors that contribute to the sustainability of programs, but studies on the topic remain quite limited. Federal funding requirements are more stringent than in previous years, requiring evidence of sustainability planning, which increases the urgency to identify those elements that ensure sustainability. The purpose of this study was to …

Women’S Perspectives On Human Security: Violence, Environment, And Sustainability, Richard Matthew, Patricia A, Weitsman, Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Nora Davis, Tera Dornfeld

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Violent conflict, climate change, and poverty present distinct threats to women worldwide. Importantly, women are leading the way creating and sharing sustainable solutions.

Women’s security is a valuable analytical tool as well as a political agenda insofar as it addresses the specific problems affecting women’s ability to live dignified, free, and secure lives. First, this collection focuses on how conflict impacts women’s lives and well-being, including rape and gendered constructions of ethnicity, race, and religion. The book’s second section looks beyond the scope of large-scale violence to examine human security in terms of environmental policy, food, water, health, and economics. …

Arising: Hurricane (Superstorm) Sandy’S Impact On Design/Planning Professionals, Maxinne R. Leighton

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Standing by my bedroom window, looking out at the ocean, a huge wave comes and swallows up my building. Everything around me is gone, including me. I wake up. I am 13 years old and living in the Coney Island Houses on Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. With ongoing anthropogenic changes to the natural environment such as sea level rise and intensifying storms, coastal communities, especially ones segregated by class and culture, are particularly vulnerable in this context that challenges a way of life, and in some instances, threatens that life's survival. This dissertation focuses specifically on what one massive …

An Evaluation Of California’S Continuously Appropriated Programs Funded Through Cap-And-Trade, Domingo Candelas

Master's Projects

In 2006, the State of California passed AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. Through this legislation, the state sought to reduce its carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) was tasked with doing so and thus instituted the Cap-and-Trade program, a market-based mechanism to reduce emissions. Additionally, legislation has further directed funding on an annual basis for various continuously appropriated programs. This paper will examine the efficacy of those continuously appropriated programs and their legislative intent.

Empowering Rural Participation And Partnerships In Morocco’S Sustainable Development, Yossef Ben-Meir

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This essay explores the vast potential for participatory and sustainable human development in Morocco. Though Morocco is a country with many diverse resources, it remains burdened by severe levels of poverty and illiteracy, and now growing social discord. There have recently been increased public calls for participatory development programs designed and implemented by and for local people. The essay identifies six existing Moroccan Frameworks intended to initiate decentralized human development programs, and critically examines their efficacy. Ultimately, the purpose of the article is to suggest a new model to implement these Frameworks with maximum impact. The six Frameworks deal with …

Sustainable Solutions, Fall/Winter 2020, Issue 41

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Restoring The Damaged Pieces: Practicing Graduate Service-Learning In Hurricane Harvey–Wrecked Houston, Desiree Shannon, Genny Fultz

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Hurricane Harvey was an astonishingly destructive Category Four hurricane that made landfall in South and Coastal Texas. This destructive storm left numerous people dead and thousands displaced. It created record levels of flooding damaging over 200,000 homes, businesses, and facilities. Harvey’s disaster destruction will have lasting impacts on Texas, and beyond, for months to years of repair. A group of students, from a variety of Masters programs, set out with the goal to serve those affected by the hurricanes. Desiree Shannon and Genny Fultz had the opportunity to lead this team of nine Krannert Masters students to Houston to help …

Sustainable Communities, Fall/Winter 2010, Issue 21

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice, Spring/Summer 2004, Issue 10

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Active Transportation, Spring/Summer 2012, Issue 26

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Behavior, Spring/Summer 2013, Issue 28

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Federal Forest Working Group: Retrospective Of Accomplishments And Ongoing Considerations 2009–2018, Pete Dalke

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

The collaborative efforts of the Federal Forest Working Group to address issues, challenges, and opportunities facing the health of Oregon's federal public forests and that of neighboring human communities has spanned three Oregon governors over more than a decade. The engagement and related direct efforts of each of these gubernatorial administrations and the state’s executive branch agencies, federal management agencies, including the US Forest Service, and many diverse partners have been essential to the advancement of this work. This report attempts to capture the underpinnings of the Federal Forest Working Group, the accomplishments over time, and considerations for future focus. …

Strengthening Support For Grantees: Four Lessons For Foundations, Anna J. Bettis, Susan Pepin

The Foundation Review

As society becomes more interconnected, the problems nonprofits are tasked with addressing require systems work. It is imperative for funders to adapt not only to the challenges faced by the organizations they fund, but also to the dynamic social systems within which they aim to effect change. This requires new approaches that are responsive to community needs and address the known challenges in grantor-grantee relationships.

This article offers a new perspective on the role of private foundations and four key lessons for strengthening funder support. These learnings build upon existing research and were gleaned from a qualitative analysis of data …

Lands Of Opportunity: An Analysis Of The Effectiveness And Impact Of Opportunity Zones In The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act Of 2017, Joseph Bennett

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Below The Waterline: Developing A Transformational Learning Collaborative For Foundation Program Officers, Annie Martinie, Jaime Love, Michael Kelly, Kirsten Dueck, Sarah Strunk

The Foundation Review

Learning from fellow grantmakers is imperative in today’s ever-changing world. In late 2016, four health legacy foundations partnered to launch the Health Legacy Collaborative Learning Circle, creating an opportunity to understand not just the participating foundations’ visible investments and programs, but also the underlying behaviors, structures, and mindsets that ultimately explain why certain results were or were not achieved.

This article describes the yearlong process of creating the collaborative, and presents a new learning framework — based on the iceberg metaphor — that can be used to create learning environments that test and expand assumptions about promising approaches to common …

Executive Summary

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Dynamics Of Public Space: Zoning, Urban Design, And Use Value. A Case Study Of Downtown San Francisco, Joaquin Cabello Silva

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper seeks to understand how zoning, urban design, and use value control the dynamics of a city and the public space, from the way they are shaped, to the way they are built, and finally to the way they are used. In this research the first step is to recognize that the strategies of zoning in a city are a way of governing and guiding the development of the space, followed by the urban design—which is a more tangible way of interpreting the different rules because it is the actual form zoning takes—to then see how they generate an …

“Greening” Worcester: Municipal Best Practices For Sustainability, Erin Mckeon, Charline Kirongozi, Jared Duval, Antannia Greene, Qianshu Sun, Zewei Yao

School of Professional Studies

In response to the urgent threat posed by climate change, more and more cities, including Worcester, are attempting to become more environmentally responsible and sustainable. Worcester is attempting to develop ways to become more sustainable; both to strengthen their communities and to protect the planet. The Green Worcester Working Group (GWWG) tasked the Clark Capstone Team with researching best practices for municipal sustainability. The GWWG has set the following priorities: climate change mitigation, resilience, open spaces, sustainable resource management, education and awareness. Taking these into account, the Clark Capstone Team researched the sustainability practices of cities in New England, across …

For One Child, Zion Bereket, Xin Huang, Yitong Lin, Ruobing Pei, Rachel White, Ziyuan Li

School of Professional Studies

The entirety of this project was completed on the foundation of the three focus areas, which were identified by our client as areas of high need. The client wanted to prioritize these three areas as they believed that these three areas were the most integral to the successful achievement of their mission, as well as to the overall health and longevity of the organization.

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Value Capture To Fund Public Transportation: The Impact Of Warm Springs Bart Station On The Value Of Neighboring Residential Properties In Fremont, Ca, Shishir Mathur

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study estimates households’ willingness to pay for single-family houses and condominiums/townhouses located within 2 miles of Warm Springs (WS) BART Station in Fremont, CA. The study finds that, compared to the houses sold in the referent category (2 to 5 miles away and sold during the pre-project-announcement period of 2000-2001), an average-priced single-family house within two miles of the WS BART Station was higher in price by 9% to 15%. The total property value increment for the single-family houses is large enough to fund the $802 million Warm Springs BART Extension Project cost five times over.

Foundation For Measuring Community Sustainability, Pamela A. Mischen, George C. Homsy, Carl P. Lipo, Robert Holahan, Valerie Imbruce, Andreas Pape, Joe Graney, Ziang Zhang, Louisa M. Holmes, Manuel Reina

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

In order to understand the impact of individual communities on global sustainability, we need a community sustainability assessment system (CSAS). While many sustainability assessment systems exist, they prove inadequate to the task. This article presents the results of a systematic review of the literature on existing sustainability assessment systems; offers a definition of a sustainable community; provides a multi-scale, systems approach to thinking about community; and makes recommendations from the field of performance measurement for the construction of a CSAS.

The Creation Of A Virginia Coastal Resilience Development Authority: An Inventory Of State Coastal Resilience Authorities And Funding Mechanisms To Help Guide Virginia, Kristi Gennette

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

In June 2018, Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation creating a cabinet-level position, the Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, to lead efforts in addressing coastal resilience and flooding mitigation in Virginia. The following November, Governor Northam signed Executive Order No. 24, which directed the state to increase statewide resilience to natural hazards and extreme weather. This Executive Order directed Virginia to develop a Coastal Resilience Master Plan (CRMP). In order to implement the projects proposed in the CRMP, the Commonwealth will need funding. This paper provides an inventory of various states’ programs for funding coastal resilience …