Digital Commons Network^™

Where To Expand Green Infrastructure To Support Equitable Climate Change Adaptation In The City Of Toronto?, Kristen Regier, Tenley M. Conway

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Green Infrastructure (GI) is a potential tool to help cities adapt to climate change. In particular, GI can help moderate high summer temperatures and reduce urban flooding, both of which are expected to become more common with on-going climate change. However, GI is not evenly distributed in many cities suggesting that some neighborhoods are more vulnerable to climate change impacts. Additionally, marginalized communities often lack the resources needed to reduce existing vulnerabilities. This study explores the question: where should GI initiatives be focused to support equitable climate change adaptation in the City of Toronto (Ontario, Canada)? We address this question …

Integral Conversion: A Catholic Pedagogical Framework For Teaching Environmental Sustainability And Ecological Citizenship From Japan, Michael R. Polito

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

As Vatican efforts expand to move awareness of environmental sustainability from the peripheries to the center of public consciousness, Catholic schools face the challenge of instilling in the next generation of graduates a distinctly Catholic sense of ecological citizenship. To this end, Catholic educators are faced with the challenge of presenting complex environmental problems in a manner that honors both the data of science and the transcendental worldview the Church proclaims. This paper offers a framework for examining environmental sustainability issues in the classroom from the perspective of Catholic social teaching. The author’s professional context of teaching Catholic social ethics …

The Usefulness Of Yoga Towards Interconnected Environmental Liberation, Gayatri Sehgal

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

There are a great number of interpretations of the term Yoga today, often being an elusive term. Yet we must recognize the importance of questioning which interpretation can provide us with a clear lens into its meaning, given the legacy of colonialism which has warped our understanding of it. Yoga has a great deal to offer us, and some of its imperative offerings for us today are its ethical principles, particularly the dissolution between the opposition of self and other. This paper employs the principles of nonviolence, non-stealing, and moderation from the yamas (external ethics) of Patanjali’s eight-fold path, as …

Mending The Clay Pot: Katsi Cook’S Use Of Indigenous Midwifery As An Act Of Sovereignty In The United States And Canada, 1970-2020, Nicole Keegan

Undergraduate Library Research Awards

No abstract provided.

Suicide And Homicide More Common With Limited Urban Tree Canopy Cover, Thomas V L El-Mallakh, Scott Hedges, Jayesh P. Rai, Aruni Bhatnagar, Sarah Moyer, Rif S. El-Mallakh

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Distribution of urban tree canopies is generally not uniform. Multiple variables have been shown to be associated with tree canopy cover, including violence, health, and general well-being. Herein we examine the relationship of tree cover with intentional deaths. Suicide, homicide, and tree cover data were examined by ZIP code for Louisville, a mid-sized city in Kentucky. Relationship between intentional death (suicide and homicide) and tree cover was examined with Poisson regression analysis. In both univariate and multivariate models, suicides (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0005), homicides (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.03), and combination (P = 0.0541) were negatively associated with …

La River Stew-Map: The Los Angeles River Stewardship Mapping & Assessment Project, Michele Romolini, Alyssa Thomas

Center for Urban Resilience Reports

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (STEW-MAP) was applied in the Los Angeles River Watershed to answer the questions: Who are the active environmental stewardship groups in my area and where, why, and how are they caring for the land? STEW-MAP defines a “stewardship group” as a civic organization or group that works to conserve, manage, monitor, transform, educate on and/or advocate for the environment.

Leveraging national expertise and previous regional investment in Los Angeles County STEW-MAP, the Los Angeles (LA) River STEW-MAP provides detailed information on the geographical footprint and collaborative relationships of organizations working in the …

Contextual Considerations Of Green Stormwater Infrastructure Siting, Dexter H. Locke, Amanda K. Phillips De Lucas, Colleen Murphy-Dunning, Dawn Henning, Giovanni Zinn

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Green infrastructure increasingly is used to ameliorate water quality and quantity problems caused by runoff in cities. Studies show how the spatial distribution of these Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) sites are unevenly distributed relative to socioeconomic and demographic groups. Often this is described as an indicator of perpetuated environment injustice, given the purported social and environmental benefits of GSI. To assess equity, researchers often examine either who gets what with respect to environmental ‘goods’ such as tree canopy and other green infrastructures, or investigate the procedures, decision making processes, and power structures pertaining to planning processes. This paper uses both …

A New Chapter For The Mission Priority Examen, Stephanie Russell

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

No abstract provided.

Seeing With New Eyes: Costa Rican Pilgrimage As Transformation, Elizabeth C. Reilly, Katherine Brown

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

In summer 2019, eleven faculty and staff members from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California embarked on an immersion study trip to Costa Rica. An integral part of the university’s commitment to mission and identity, it is one of a number of opportunities for its members to explore the mission and its Jesuit identity within a global context. Framed around the Ignatian principle of pilgrimage, this article describes the focus and goals for the study trip, pre-trip preparations, and the trip itself. We highlight some of the activities in which faculty and staff participated and summarize their reflections of …

A Pattern Language For Environmental Justice: Applying Interconnected, Evidence-Based Problem-Solution Sequences To Comprehensive Equity Analysis, Josh Rosa

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

This essay examines pattern language design as a method of comprehensive environmental justice analysis. First, the essay describes common limitations of conventional methods of analysis, finding the interconnected problem-solution sequences described as pattern languages address most limitations. Next, the essay examines the potential for pattern language design, when paired with other methods, to equip local communities to more intelligently evaluate the actual equity impacts of environmental choices.

Living With Water: Documenting Lived Experience And Social-Emotional Impacts Of Chronic Flooding For Local Adaptation Planning, Lindsay K. Campbell, Helen Cheng, Erika Svendsen, Dana Kochnower, Katherine Bunting-Howarth, Phoebe Wapnitsky

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Coastal communities are threatened by extreme weather events in the form of storm surge and by frequent, chronic, or nuisance flooding. The physical damage of these events is vast and established in the literature; however, the social-emotional impacts are less well-documented. This pilot study sought to understand the impacts of tidal flooding on flood-prone communities in Queens, NY. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews (n=9) with civic science participants, we document flooding impacts, identify adaptations to flooding, and examine sources of information about flooding--including local networks and relationship to government. We found that participants are knowledgeable about and engaged with the processes, …

Domestication, Eric Strauss

Module 12: Urban Wildlife

No abstract provided.

Domestication - Dr. Eric Strauss, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 09: Human-Animal Interactions

No abstract provided.

Strength For The Journey With Youth: High School Theology Programs And The Universal Apostolic Preferences, Darby Ratliff, Stephen Chanderbhan

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

In 1993, the Lilly Endowment launched an initiative for seminaries and divinity schools to host high school theology programs (HSTPs) with two goals: to engage youth in theological learning and to foster a generation of youth interested in vocations in Christian ministry. This initiative was then extended in 2015 to include colleges and universities. This paper examines one such program, the Be the Light Youth Theology Institute (BTLI) at Canisius College, as a case study to illustrate the synergy between these programs and the Society of Jesus’ four Universal Apostolic Preferences. By considering well-established research about high school theology programs …

Companions On An Ignatian Journey: A Reflection On The Universal Apostolic Preferences, Beth Ford Mcnamee

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

The Universal Apostolic Preferences[i] focus my sense of mission and vocation in Jesuit higher education. I offer these personal and professional reflections as a fellow pilgrim and companion on the journey. I am a lay woman striving to embody the Jesuit, Catholic mission of Saint Joseph’s University (SJU). All Jesuit university students, staff, and faculty are also colleagues in this common mission. Together we are invited to prayer, accompaniment, discernment, conversion of heart, and action in light of these preferences.

Notes

[i] Society of Jesus, Universal Apostolic Preferences, accessed January, 2021, https://www.jesuits.global/uap/.

Lesson Plan - Environmental Justice And Urban Brownfields, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 02: Land Use

In this lesson, students will explore the environmental and social justice issues around the placement, development, and revitalization of urban brownfields. Students will take a stand on the resolution of the case of one urban brownfield given incomplete information based on their knowledge of scientific, environmental and social justice issues. They will discuss the merits and drawbacks of each others’ stances, and students will then compare their stance with what happened in the case.

Reading - Environmental Justice Narrative, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 02: Land Use

No abstract provided.

Lesson Plan - Mystery Of The Dancing Cat, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 04: Hazardous Waste

This lesson continues on the topic of ecological impacts of hazardous waste and focuses specifically on the process of biomagnification. Students will read a case study about mercury poisoning in Minimata, Japan. Students will construct a food web diagram of a Minimata Bay ecosystem and then they will create a graph of mercury concentrations versus food chain position. This lesson also incorporates the idea of environmental justice.

Overheads - Autopsy Report, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 04: Hazardous Waste

No abstract provided.

Student Pages - Mercury Case Study: Mystery Of The Dancing Cat, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 04: Hazardous Waste

No abstract provided.

Reading - What Is Urban Ecology?, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 01: Introduction to Urban Ecology

No abstract provided.

Student Handout - What Are The Different Lenses We Can Use To View Ecosystems?, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 01: Introduction to Urban Ecology

No abstract provided.

Lenses Handout, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 01: Introduction to Urban Ecology

No abstract provided.

City Of Lynwood Tree Canopy Prioritization, Center For Urban Resilience, Treepeople, Gateway Cities Council Of Governments)

Center for Urban Resilience Reports

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Loyola Marymount University Center for Urban Resilience (CURes), TreePeople, and the Gateway Cities Council of Governments partnered to conduct a tree canopy prioritization in the City of Lynwood. This process utilized high resolution, high accuracy tree canopy data as a foundation to engage the public in identifying their priorities for tree planting in the city.

Analysis of tree canopy data acquired through a previous project between CURes and TreePeople showed that the City of Lynwood has 16% existing tree canopy cover. The analyses also found that Lynwood has great opportunity to increase its tree canopy, with 41% …

Different Ways Of Knowing And Growing: A Case Study Of An Arts-Integrated Pedagogy At An Urban Elementary Charter School, Amarpal Khanna

LMU Theses and Dissertations

An arts equity gap exists in K–12 grade education. African American and Latinx students have fewer opportunities for access to arts education than do White students. In California, charter schools have an opportunity to address the equity gap for students in those demographic groups. The goal of this qualitative case study was to observe how Kahlo Charter Elementary School, an urban charter elementary school in Los Angeles County, implemented an arts integrated curriculum and to identify benefits and challenges for fourth and fifth grade students of color enrolled at the school. Aesthetic learning (Bose, 2008; Denaway, 2013; Greene, 1978, 1995, …

San Bernardino County Climate Adaptations Organizations Study, Cures

Center for Urban Resilience Reports

With support from Edison International, CURes conducted a study to inventory existing climate change resilience organizations for San Bernardino County, CA. A climate change resilience (CCR) organization is any organization that places emphasis on building a community resilient to the effects of climate change. This includes social equity nonprofits, sustainability research programs, government agencies, and any organization that displays a goal to build community climate change resilience. Climate change resilience can be defined as the community’s ability to withstand the increasingly severe effects of climate change like drought, heat waves, and wildfires. This project identified CCR organizations that are located …

The Ignatian Leader As Global Citizen, Jennifer Tilghman-Havens

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

This article highlights the various elements of the Ignatian worldview, as outlined by Superior General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach in his 1989 address. Drawing upon contemporary social science theorists, it illustrates the relevance of his remarks for today’s Jesuit institutions of higher education, especially as they undertake a critical consideration of race, gender and class in shaping Ignatian leaders for a more just, humane and sustainable world.

City Of Commerce Tree Canopy Prioritization, Michele Romolini, Carlos Moran, Eric G. Strauss, Lisa Fimiani, Ada Li Sarain

Center for Urban Resilience Reports

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 2019, the Loyola Marymount University Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) partnered with TreePeople to conduct a tree canopy prioritization in the City of Commerce. This process utilized high resolution, high accuracy tree canopy data as a foundation to engage the public in identifying their priorities for tree planting in the city.

Analysis of the tree canopy data, acquired through a previous project between CURes and TreePeople, showed that the City of Commerce only has 5% tree canopy cover. This is in contrast to 25% cover in the City of Los Angeles, and 18% tree canopy cover found …

Theoretical Perspectives Of The Baltimore Ecosystem Study: Conceptual Evolution In A Social–Ecological Research Project, Steward T. A. Pickett, Mary L. Cadenasso, Matthew E. Baker, Lawrence E. Band, Christopher G. Boone, Geoffrey L. Buckley, Peter M. Groffman, J. Morgan Grove, Elena G. Irwin, Sujay S. Kaushal, Shannon L. Ladeau, Andrew J. Miller, Charles H. Nilon, Michele Romolini, Emma J. Rosi, Christopher M. Swan, Katalin Szlavecz

Center for Urban Resilience Scholarship

The Earth’s population will become more than 80% urban during this century. This threshold is often regarded as sufficient justification for pursuing urban ecology. However, pursuit has primarily focused on building empirical richness, and urban ecology theory is rarely discussed. The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) has been grounded in theory since its inception and its two decades of data collection have stimulated progress toward comprehensive urban theory. Emerging urban ecology theory integrates biology, physical sciences, social sciences, and urban design, probes interdisciplinary frontiers while being founded on textbook disciplinary theories, and accommodates surprising empirical results. Theoretical growth in urban ecology …

A Geographical Analysis Of Gentrification And The Changing Foodscape In Seattle 2010-2017, Alice Tiffany, Michele Romolini

Honors Thesis

Anguelovski defines food privilege as “the exclusive access to desirable ‘natural’ and fresh food thanks to one’s economic, cultural, and political power” (Anguelovski 2015a). Previous studies have demonstrated that access to fresh, healthy, affordable food is correlated with socioeconomic status (LA Food Policy Council 2017; Walker et al. 2010; Alkon & Agyeman 2011; Raja et al. 2008). However, as is being increasingly noted, the introduction of environmental amenities, such as farmers markets and community gardens, can have unintended consequences and trigger environmental gentrification (Kern 2015; Pearsall 2010; Eckerd 2011; Curran & Hamilton 2012; Wolch et al. 2014; Alkon & Cadji …