Digital Commons Network^™

University Of Kentucky Sustainability Strategic Plan, Sophie Beavin

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Global climate change is impacting ecosystems, communities, and economies and will continue to do so into the future. To address these issues, sustainable practices and policies are needed on the local and global scale. At the University of Kentucky, sustainability implies that actions are ecologically sound, socially just, and economically viable. Harmonizing these three aspects is critical when developing and implementing sustainability goals on campus. The Office of Sustainability is responsible for coordinating and implementing sustainability policies, actions, and programs for the University of Kentucky. In 2017, they released the first Sustainability Strategic Plan that set goals through 2022. The …

Gather, Educate, Prepare: Libraries As Champions To Build Informed And Climate-Resilient Communities, Adrian K. Ho, René Tanner, Monika Antonelli

Library Presentations

The past few years have witnessed increasing numbers of discussions and programs about the impacts of climate change, addressing topics from the devastating wildfires in California, relentless heat waves in Europe, to the accelerating thaw of the ice sheet in Greenland. The media has described the social atmosphere using such terms as climate angst, ecological grief, and existential crisis. Weighed down by a steady stream of climate news, some people have sought professional help for guidance on tackling emotional responses to natural disasters and climate trauma. Meanwhile, many of us are wondering what can be done. As a central player …

Libraries As Sustainability Leaders: Ala’S Special Task Force, René Tanner, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Monika Antonelli, Adrian K. Ho

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

This article discusses the work of the American Library Association (ALA) Special Task Force on Sustainability, which identified 52 recommendations, including the adoption of sustainability as a core value of librarianship. The group aims to promote libraries as catalysts, connectors, and conveners to promote sustainability, resilience, and regeneration. The Task Force is guided by the concept of the triple bottom line, which states that an organization’s practices must be not only economically feasible but also socially equitable and environmentally sound. The article also provides examples of how libraries engage in sustainable practices to support the cities and towns they serve.

Comparing Two-Year Colleges Under A Common Sustainable Development Framework: Personal Egocentric Networks And Perspectives, Bobby Ann Lee

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The study purpose is to advance implementation of sustainable development at colleges, and to contribute to organizational change research using social network analysis. The researcher conducted document analysis using 2012-2016 sustainability reports of 16 purposefully selected two-year colleges under a common framework. Interpreting and coding resulted in ranking sustainable development activities as well as grouping colleges using cluster analysis. A survey and interviews were employed by the researcher to determine major themes as challenges to sustainability implementation, and personal network themes using social network analysis measures and sociograms. Challenges to sustainability implementation identified as study themes were: (1) college leadership …

The Transition To Resilience: A Comparative Case Study Of Two Communities, John D. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

This dissertation examines the question of how communities understand their risk related to global economic and environmental problems and how communities respond to those risks. Specifically, using comparative case study, this dissertation examines the sustainability efforts of two communities, Oberlin, Ohio and Berea, Kentucky. Both communities have created advanced sustainability efforts over more than a decade of work and both communities have well-developed partnerships with the colleges in their communities. It finds that communities are responding to both global risks related to climate change and energy price volatility, but also are making efforts to resolve more localized social problems and …

Insights Into Perspectives On Environmental Sustainability, Amber R. Shobe

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

As scientists become more aware of the imposing threats associated with climate change, university leaders are encouraged to become familiar with the principles of sustainability. Abundant research already supports the relevance of environmental sustainability in higher education; however, there exists a gap in the literature which investigates an understanding of environmental sustainability and the implementation of its practices. By examining colleges at the University of Kentucky, this study identifies organizational barriers to recognizing a thorough understanding of environmental sustainability at the departmental level. The results indicate that out of the eight colleges selected, two have no existing environmental sustainability programs …

Local Health Department Collaborative Capacity To Improve Population Health, Hector P. Rodriguez, Jeffrey Mac Mccullough, Charleen Hsuan

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Local health departments (LHDs) can more effectively develop and strengthen community health partnerships when leaders focus on building partnership collaborative capacity (PCC), including a multisector infrastructure for population health improvement. Using the 2008 National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Profile survey, we constructed an overall measure of LHD PCC comprised of the five dimensions: outcomes-based advocacy, vision-focus balance, systems orientation, infrastructure development, and community linkages. We conducted a series of regression analyses to examine the extent to which LHD characteristics and contextual factors were related to PCC. The most developed PCC dimension was vision-focus balance, while infrastructure …

Constructing Coldstream: Sustainability And The Politics Of Local Economic Development, John Taylor Shelton

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This thesis explores the evolution of the Coldstream Research Campus, a high-tech research park operated by the University of Kentucky. Conceived of in the late 1980s and built in 1992, Coldstream was expected to become the „economic engine‟ of central Kentucky through the commercialization of applied scientific and technological research coming out of the university. Twenty years later, with Coldstream having failed to live up to expectations, the university initiated the process of updating the Coldstream Master Plan to incorporate a decided emphasis on the concept of sustainability. Through a mix of archival research and semi-structured interviews, this thesis argues …

Building Sustainable Societies: Exploring Sustainability Policy And Practice In The Age Of High Consumption, Cindy Isenhour

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is an attempt to examine how humans in wealthy, post-industrial urban contexts understand sustainability and respond to their concerns given their sphere of influence. I focus specifically on sustainable consumption policy and practice in Sweden, where concerns for sustainability and consumer-based responses are strong. This case raises interesting questions about the relative strength of sustainability movements in different cultural and geo-political contexts as well as the specific factors that have motivated the movement toward sustainable living in Sweden.

The data presented here supports the need for multigenic theories of sustainable consumerism. Rather than relying on dominant theories of …

Sustainability Significance: An Analysis Of A Community Assessment Survey Distributed By The Bluegrass Regional Planning Council, Kyle Scott

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

PURPOSE:

To analyze information gathered from community leaders and representatives to assist the Bluegrass Regional Planning Council (BRPC) in understanding how the policy issue of sustainable development is prioritized and perceived locally and regionally.

BACKGROUND:

The BRPC conducted a survey as a response to growing interest in the planning community involving sustainable development and more specifically the adoption of sustainable development code. Sustainable development is being defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”1 A. How do public officials and other community representatives prioritize sustainability among other policy …