Digital Commons Network^™

Suburban Sustainability: Favorable, Forgotten, Or Fantasy?, Tessia Melvin, Tessia G. Melvin

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

In the decades after World War II, the United States became a prosperous nation and world superpower. Reinventing itself through the development of suburbs, many communities were created by suburbs. Years later, criticized for suburban sprawl and aging communities, suburban communities today are faced with the dilemma of what changes to make in order to create sustainable suburban communities.

Most of the literature on sustainability and its success comes from the private sector. Much available literature provides sustainable indicators and concepts on corporate sustainability. As a result, many public administrators are faced with a reality that changes need to occur …

Ab 32 And Sb 375: Investigating Land Use And Transportation Policy On A Regional And Local Scale, Caroline Vurlumis

Scripps Senior Theses

The California Global Warming Solutions Act, also known as Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), was passed in 2006 to reduce California emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Senate Bill 375 (SB 375) was passed in 2008 to support AB 32's emission goals. SB 375 aims to reduce emissions from transportation and land use by assigning regional per capita emission targets for 2020 and 2035. Through a series of four case studies of San Diego, San Francisco, Fresno, and Berkeley, this thesis investigates the impacts of SB 375. Each region is required to combine housing and regional transit plans in the …

Influences And Experiences Of City Council Members On Environmental Policy Decision Making, Bobbie Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective environmental policies pose a problem for municipalities as they strive to create sustainable communities. Improving these policies may establish standard practices that assist municipalities in meeting related environmental goals. Statistics show the municipalities within this study operate at different levels of goal achievement. Little is known, however, about the influences that directly affect the development of environmental policies. The purpose of this study was to determine the ways in which public officials address environmental issues and the factors considered in policy discussions that lead to their decisions. The theoretical framework comprised Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith's advocacy coalition and Arrow's rational …

Producing Space: Block-By-Block Change In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Jen Douglas

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Gentrification of urban neighborhoods is part of an ongoing restructuring of the city, linked to the emerging occupational structure of the service economy and the remaking of built environments that were created for a production economy. It is the name given to processes in which commodification and reinvestment accompany the in-migration of professional and managerial workers, often displacing prior residents and giving altered spatial form to inequality.

This dissertation is a case study of gentrification in Hyde and Jackson Squares, part of Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The emergence of gentrification pressures and their uneven distribution within the area is documented …

Taking Charge 2013 A Study Of The Strategic Budgeting Priorities Of The Residents Of Lincoln, Nebraska, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Ryan Anderson, Alan J. Tomkins

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This report presents the results of the 2013 Taking Charge initiative sponsored by the City of Lincoln. This was the sixth year of Taking Charge activities, and included an online survey and a half-day, face-to-face, Community Conversation. Unlike previous Taking Charge activities, which focused narrowly on the immediate concerns of an impending budget proposal (e.g. which specific programs should be funded or discontinued to maintain a balanced budget), this year’s efforts focused more broadly on strategic planning for the City’s future budget policy priorities.

A number of important findings were identified from an examination of more than 1,100 completed online …

Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters: Partnerships In Teaching And Research, Adenrele Awotona, Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

CRSCAD assists local, national, and international agencies as well as the victims of disasters to develop practical, sustainable, and long-term solutions to the social, economic, and environmental consequences of disasters.

We also host international conferences and workshops at UMass Boston to provide a space for partners to network, exchange ideas, and share best practices.

Three Questions For Community Engagement At The Crossroads, Kevin Kecskes, Kevin Michael Foster

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Unfortunately, a decade of “calls to action,” begun by the Kellogg Commission’s report on university engagement and the 1999 Wingspread Declaration on Renewing the Civic Mission of the American Research University, has not produced a flowering of transformed institutions….This is not because engagement does not work….And it is not for lack of knowledge on how it can be implemented….Rather, engagement is difficult work. It gets to the heart of what higher education is about and as such, it requires institution-wide effort, deep commitment at all levels, and leadership by both campus and community. (Brukardt, Holland, Percy, & Zimpher, N., 2004, …

Cpaf Updates Vol. 13 Issue No. 4, Cristeta A. Foronda, Aida O. Grande, Stoix Nebin S. Pascua, Francisca O. Tan, Flordeliza A. Sanchez

CPAf Updates

In this issue:

• CPAf conducts 1st Students-Faculty-REPS Research Conference, 1
• CPAf Dean, Directors participate in public affairs conference in USA, 2
• Compendium of extension and technology transfer in AFNR in process, 3
• CPAf project team on biotechnology attends conference in China, 4
• CPAf staff participate in the International Conference on Conservation Agroforestry in SE Asia, 4
• CSPPS holds seminar on Philippine agriculture and fisheries status in the ASEAN region, 5
• Climate change project team joins research writeshop in Thailand, 6
• Climate change researcher participates in a workshop in Thailand, 6
• CPAf team coordinates trainor’s training on local CPAf team coordinates …

The Leadership Of Sustainable Cities: A Multiple-Case Study Of Two Oregon Cities, Kenneth L. Weaver

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In order for cities to become more sustainable it is necessary for the leaders of the efforts to change the organizations and governments so that they understand and embrace what it means to be more sustainable. This study examined the change processes of two Oregon Cities, Corvallis and Eugene, that had made the choice to become more sustainable as a community. The approaches that the participant leaders used demonstrated the use of different ways of thinking about the leadership of change. The ways of thinking of the community leaders were formed by their unique personal backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and abilities. …

Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters, Adenrele Awotona, Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters (CRSCAD) cultivates alliances with local, national, and international agencies, government and academic institutions, NGOs, and for-profit and not-for-profit bodies which share common interests in the area of post-disaster reconstruction globally.

Horizon Center: Promoting Health And Health Equity In Inner Boston, Celia Moore, Jane Adams, Tiffany Donaldson, Ester Shapiro, Eileen Stuart-Shor, Jessica Whiteley, Milton Samuels, Michelle Rogers

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The HORIZON Center is an Exploratory Center of Excellence (COE) funded by a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). Our mission is to improve minority health and promote health equity through research, research training, and community engagement. Like other COEs, HORIZON is organized into four core areas: research, research training, community engagement, and administration. However, we work to promote collaboration and integration across core areas.

Halos, Alibis And Community Development: A Cross National Comparison Of How Governments Spend Revenue From Gambling, Lynn Gidluck

Occasional Papers

This paper provides a cross-national comparison of how governments around the world distribute revenues from state-directed gambling and how these choices have been justified by proponents and vilified by critics. Case studies where governments have popularized gambling expansion by “earmarking” revenues for particular good causes and where the state has collaborated with the voluntary sector to deliver programs from this revenue stream are examined. Lessons learned from challenges of various approaches are considered.

Razing Lafitte: Defending Public Housing From A Hostile State, Leigh Graham

Publications and Research

The contentious politics of the demolition of Lafitte public housing in post- Katrina New Orleans and its replacement with mixed-income properties is a telling case of the strategic conflicts housing advocates face in public housing revitalization. It reveals how the qualified outcomes of HOPE VI interact with local institutional and historical circumstances to confound the equity and social justice goals of housing and community development advocates. It shows the limits to public housing revitalization as an urban recovery strategy when hostile government leadership characterizes a region, and the state is recast as an adversary rather than revitalization partner. This case …

Understanding Mine Clearance In The Context Of The Ap Mine Ban Convention, Apmbc

Global CWD Repository

The Convention's parties, with the support of a wide range of organisations, have made great progress in the pursuit of their aim of clearing all mined areas. There is an ongoing need, however, to ensure that all actors involved in the implementation of the Convention are clear regarding what “Article 5” obliges States to do and what it does not, what the understandings of the States Parties are concerning the implementation of Article 5, and what the mechanisms put in place related to fulfilment of Article 5 are. To assist in meeting this need, the ISU, with project funding provided …

Regional Transportation And Land Use Decision Making In Metropolitan Regions, National Policy Consensus Center

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

In 2010, an interdisciplinary team from the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State University and the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon conducted a study examining the arrangements and mechanisms for integrating land use and transportation in metropolitan regions and assessing these arrangements based on current practice and future potential. The four case study regions were: Portland, Oregon; Puget Sound, WA; San Diego, CA, and Denver, CO.

The methods used in this study included a research forum held in September, 2010 in Portland, Oregon to share findings, discuss implications, identify lessons learned and …

Housing And Community Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Public Policy and Public Affairs Faculty Publication Series

Researchers in housing and community development design and evaluate policies regarding access to attractive, affordable and sustainable housing and improving the social, physical and economic infrastructure of communities, especially those in the urban core. Practitioners in this field confront political considerations, administrative guidelines and limited funding.

Decision science can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of market-rate housing development and provide support for policy responses to issues such as affordable housing, race and class segregation, ineffective and/or inequitable economic development, and sustainable development. This research spans many disciplines, including systems modeling, urban economics, multi-criteria decision modeling, stochastic models and decision support …

Mine Action Strategy (2009-2013) - Azerbaijan, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

The mine/UXO problem in Azerbaijan is mainly resulted from the military aggression of Armenia over the territory

of Azerbaijan. Although the hostilities had ceased in May 1994, a permanent peace is yet to be achieved

(negotiations are underway with the assistance of OSCE Minsk Group, chaired by the USA, France and Russia).

Despite this, the rehabilitation of accessible war-torn areas are continuing since 1996.

The Scope of the Problem in this publication refers to problems in the accessible war torn territories. This is where

the presence of mine/UXOs are impacting livelihoods of population and impeding development and rehabilitation

efforts of …

Outcome Evaluation: United Nations Development Programme Support To "Strengthening And Further Expansion Of The Mine Action Capacity In Azerbaijan" Project, Alistair Craib

Global CWD Repository

The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) is a success story and is one of only five such agencies with comparable success. If the main stakeholders maintain their current support and approach to it, that success should continue.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) approach to the project with ANAMA has proven to be a large part of this success and although its impact is now less – given the increasing strength of ANAMA – its role is still very important.

All the Outcomes and Outputs assessed by this evaluation have been met.

External Assessment Of Ddg's Humanitarian Mine Action Programme In Somaliland, Tim Lardner

Global CWD Repository

Danish Demining Group began operations in Somaliland in 1999, responding to a perceived need at the time. Over the following nine years, their operations removed significant numbers of mines and UXO and removed countless communities and individuals from the threat of mines and UXO. As time went on however, the organisation appeared to shift focus from a Danish Demining Group, to an organisation with a different set of objectives. That shift was initially away from mine clearance – understandable given the ongoing removal of landmines – and subsequently away from UXO clearance/removal – again, an understandable decision. This report considers …

Organizational Complexity In American Local Governance: Deploying An Organizational Perspective In Concept And Analytic Framework Development, Charles David Crumpton

Dissertations and Theses

Organizational complexity is a distinguishing characteristic of local governance in America's urban areas. Organizationally complex arrangements among jurisdictions, agencies, and private for-profit and not-for-profit organizations are frequently involved in the production and delivery of local public goods and services in the United States. In this dissertation study the author seeks useful explanations regarding emergence, operation and consequences of organizational complexity found in local public economies in the United States. The study draws on the author's professional practice and researcher experience and organizational theory to develop a conceptual platform for better understanding local public sector organizational complexity. The conceptual platform is …

Measuring Community-Engaged Departments: A Study To Develop An Effective Self-Assessment Rubric For The Institutionalization Of Community Engagement In Academic Departments, Kevin Kecskes

Dissertations and Theses

Change in American higher education is occurring at a rapid pace. The increasing reemergence of civic or community engagement as a key component in the overall landscape of American higher is emblematic of that change. Academic departments play a critical role in higher education change, including institutionalizing community engagement on campuses. Yet, designing a way of measuring community engagement specifically at the level of the academic department has not been undertaken.

Based on advice from national expert/key informant interviews and the recognition of the importance of the role of academic departments in the overall institutionalization of community engagement in higher …

Sustainable Las Vegas 2007, City Of Las Vegas, Nevada

Publications (SD)

This publication is dedicated to the citizens of Las Vegas, to the 3,000 men and women who serve them at the city of Las Vegas and to future generations who will make Las Vegas their home. Together we are working to create a world-class city of today, as well as continuing to maintain that lofty status well into the future. It is this essence of promoting our greatness into the years ahead that is at the heart of a concept known as sustainability. Throughout this publication we have listed what the city is doing to make sure all will be …

Enviromental Enforcement Solutions: How Collaborative Seps Enhance Community Benefits, National Policy Consensus Center

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

In March 2006, the National Policy Consensus Center (NPCC) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) co-hosted a multi-stakeholder Colloquium to consider whether collaborative approaches would allow Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) to leverage environmental, public health, economic, and social benefits for communities affected by environmental law violations. A SEP is an environmentally beneficial project that a violator voluntarily agrees to perform, in addition to actions required to correct the violation(s), as part of an enforcement settlement.

Colloquium participants explored the benefits of expanding the SEP process to incorporate multisector, community-based collaborations in the selection, design, and/or implementation of …

Global Warming And Transportation System Planning, Bob Yuhnke

Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

Presenter: Bob Yuhnke, Robert E. Yuhnke & Associates, Boulder, CO.

4 pages.

Evaluation Report Of Technical Survey Operations Within The Cambodian Mine Action Centre, Hemi Morete, Tim Lardner

Global CWD Repository

The evaluation considered technical survey activities at both the technical and strategic levels in order to assess the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) technical survey capacity established in 2003. The assessment was conducted in four phases. The first phase was a document study which enabled the evaluation team to gain an understanding of the procedures and processes used within CMAC for technical survey. The second phase involved interviews with key stakeholders in Phnom Penh, and phase three consisted of a series of field visits to CMAC technical survey assets operating in Demining Units 1, 2, and 3. The fourth and …

Behind The Rhetoric: Applying A Cultural Theory Lens To Community-Campus Partnership Development, Kevin Kecskes

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

The nature of engagement between American campuses and communities is contested. This article is an invitation to reconsider why community-campus partnerships often look so different and have diverse and sometimes negative outcomes. Using a cultural theory approach (Thompson, Ellis, & Wildavsky, 1990) to elucidate the four main cultural frames that inform human behavior--hierarchist, individualistic, fatalistic, and egalitarian--this treatment maps these frames onto the broad terrain of community-campus partnerships. This exploration enables service-learning and other partnership building practitioners to more clearly recognize and understand the preconceptions that influence partners' approaches. Because service-learning rhetoric is heavily biased toward egalitarian (reciprocal, mutual) relationship …

Smart Growth: A Buffer Zone Between Decentrist And Centrist Theory?, Dorothy Stewart, Lorcan Sirr, Ruth Kelly

Articles

The context for planning at the turn of the 19th century, in a newly industrialized world, was based on the need to find solutions to overcrowding and dire urban conditions. Planning decisions made in the post-World War II period were primarily motivated by the desire to reconstruct war torn cities. The forces of influence for planning and development in modern advanced capitalist societies are arguably set within the context of sustainable development. Many developed countries have witnessed a dramatic change in their territorial structures. Urban centres are extending into rural areas and surrounding hinterland, where large tracts of land are …

Community Forests: A Perspective, Robert Mccullough

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

22 pages.

"Robert McCullough teaches in the University of Vermont Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. He wrote The Landscape of Community: Communal Forests in New England."

Slides: Palmetto-Peartree Preserve: Community Forestry In Eastern North Carolina, Mikki Sager

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

Presenter: Mikki Sager, Palmetto-Peartree Preserve, NC

17 slides

A Community Conversation: Future Of Lincoln, University Of Nebraska Public Policy Center

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

On Thursday, February 24th, 62 randomly selected residents of Lincoln/Lancaster County, Nebraska participated in a discussion about economic growth and quality of life in the City of Lincoln. The event was termed “A Community Conversation: Future of Lincoln.” The participants were surveyed both before and after the event to measure their opinions and knowledge of topics related to Lincoln’s economic growth and quality of life.

The effort – from the briefing materials sent to participants beforehand to the group discussions to the opportunity to present questions to a panel of experts – was modeled after the Deliberative Polling® format developed …