Digital Commons Network^™

Climate Change: Hope, Despair, And Planning, Ethan Seltzer

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose for this paper: How can I engage students in thinking about climate change as a planning issue without glossing over or disregarding their growing skepticism about their own futures? This paper is not so much about how I teach, or how I could teach. Rather, it is more conceptual with respect to planning itself. More to the point: how does planning fit into this emerging, and dark, worldview? Planning, after all, is a discipline steeped in hope, and climate change seems to be bringing forth, at least for some, a palpable wave of despair. This is a direct …

Getting The Green Light For Senate Bill 375: Public Engagement For Climate-Friendly Land Use In California, Greg Greenway

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Signed into law in September 2008, California's Senate Bill 375 (SB 375) is the first statewide legislation in the nation to link transportation and land use planning to climate change. The law is lengthy and complex, but the central concept is simple: locate homes closer to jobs, services, and transit so that Californians drive less frequently, travel shorter distances, and reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This article examines the approach to public participation outlined in SB 375, and argues that a critical success factor is the design and execution of strategies by local governments to engage citizens in the …

Foreword , Steve Zikman

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

Taking It Upstream: Collaboration, Consensus Building & Sustainable Development-A Green Leadership (Un)conference was held at Pepperdine University's Graziadio Conference Center on September 25, 2009. In the spirit of collaboration, the symposium marked the first event jointly sponsored by the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution and the Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship & the Law. The two journals have created special symposium editions comprised of papers authored by a number of the panelists, reflecting important trends in the evolution of conflict management and dispute resolution in the areas of multi-party environmental, land use, and public policy matters.

Can Information And Communication Technologies Lead To Community Capital? An Analysis Of Development, Dave Kocsis, Sajda Qureshi, Jie Xiong

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

While it is widely accepted that the increasing interconnectedness of the world economy has been fueled by the innovative uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), little attention has been paid to the increasing inequalities within developed and developing countries. These inequalities manifest themselves in the form of communities in which incomes are considerably below the rest of the country and there is a rise in poverty. This paper investigates this trend by taking a community capital perspective to investigate how ICTs may or may not enable businesses to grow. As micro-enterprises are seen to contribute to the growth of …

Sustainability As A Means Of Improving Environmental Justice, Patricia E. Salkin, John C. Dernbach, Donald A. Brown

Scholarly Works

This article explains why environmental justice provides much of the foundation for sustainable development, and shows how sustainability can improve our ability to achieve environmental justice. The article first explains a basic but often unrecognized truth about environmental policy: environmental pollution and degradation, sooner or later, harms humans. Both sustainable development and environmental justice respond to this problem, though in somewhat different ways. Sustainable development, however, suggests a broader set of tools to address this problem than are often employed for environmental justice. The article shows how four broad approaches — more and better sustainability options, law for sustainability, visionary …

‘The Eco-Gozo Vision’: A Study Set Against Criteria Of Good Governance And Sustainability, Amity Gauci

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

To make up for social fragmentation of modern life and its alienation from nature, lately sustainable communities and eco islands have arisen around the world as a worldwide movement. Given this context, this study will address the island of Gozo. Gozo is the subject of an Eco Island Vision; a Vision with the aim to transform Gozo into an eco island by 2020. Thus the intent of this study is to present an evaluation of the Vision based on principles of good governance and sustainability. The research methodology has been based on a triangulation approach: a desk study to establish …

Fostering Regionalism: Comment On "The Promise And Perils Of 'New Regionalist' Approaches To Sustainable Communities", Nestor M. Davidson

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This brief comment, written in response to Professor Lisa Alexander's, "The Promise and Perils of 'New Regionalist' Approaches to Sustainable Communities," reviews Professor Alexander's assessment of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program. This comment suggests that although the ability to approach regionalism from a national perspective does not ensure that local power dynamics will not be replicated, the distance and independence that the federal perspective provides may in fact be a cause for optimism, particularly for those marginalized at the local level.

Cultural Predilection On Design In Planning Ecological Sanitation In Northern Uganda, Charles K. Mccall

Theses and Dissertations

Poor sanitation and open defecation is a major concern in many parts of the world. Ecological sanitation is a possible alternative to the global issue by using dry toilet systems that allow for recycling the waste for other uses. The purpose of this thesis is to determine the cultural perception and design implications toward ecological sanitation in developing countries. By surveying the local population in the proposed environments and implementing a corresponding system, the sanitation system has a much higher chance of sustainability and success. In Northern Uganda, the population was surveyed through a questionnaire and a Visual Preference Survey …

Tips To Create Biodiverse, Urban Communities, Mark E. Hostetler, Martin B. Main

Journal of Extension

Urban landscapes dominated by non-native turfgrass and ornamental plants are contributing to the decline of biodiversity in both urban areas and surrounding natural areas. Given that a majority of people now live in and experience nature in urban areas, landscaping recommendations by Extension professionals should focus on practices that conserve native biodiversity. We present alternative landscaping approaches to help conserve urban biodiversity.

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 …

Can Urban University Expansion And Sustainable Development Co-Exist?: A Case Study In Progress On Columbia University, Keith H. Hirokawa, Patricia E. Salkin

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article uses the expansion of Columbia University as a case study to demonstrate the difficulty in labeling projects as "sustainable" or "unsustainable" when key stakeholders view the process and outcomes of sustainability differently.

Green Local Governments In Florida: Assessment Of Sustainability Performance, Naimish Upadhyay, Robert Brinkmann

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The sustainability performance of local governments that adopted the Florida Green Building Coalition’s Green Local Government standard was evaluated using a web-based review and survey of 26 local governments within the context of the Three Es of environment, equity, and economic development. The results indicate that while many local governments exhibit a broad commitment to sustainability as evidenced by the inclusion of sustainability in formal documents, such efforts are not present across all government functions or departments. In addition, while local issues are often addressed, interrelated sustainability goals of equity and economic development are not clearly articulated. Most local governments …

Achieving Sustainable, Compact Development In The Portland Metropolitan Area: New Tools And Approaches For Developing Centers And Corridors, Gil Kelley, Sheila A. Martin, Elizabeth Mylott

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

This report represents the work of a group of local public, private and institutional experts in real estate development and finance convened by the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies at Portland State University. This was done at the request of Metro, which wanted outside expert advice on ways to achieve more robust development of centers and corridors in the Portland metropolitan area, an important aspect of implementing the 2040 Growth Concept. Although the expert advisory group (EAG) enthusiastically took on this task, it wanted to first back up a step and deliberate over whether and to what extent center and …

A Model For Sustainable Humanitarian Engineering Projects, Evan A. Thomas, Bernard Amadei, Robyn Sandekian

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The engineering profession should embrace a new mission statement?to contribute to the building of a more sustainable, stable, and equitable world. Recently, engineering students and professionals in the United States have shown strong interest in directly addressing the needs of developing communities worldwide. That interest has taken the form of short-and medium-term international trips through Engineers Without Borders?USA and similar organizations. There are also several instances where this kind of outreach work has been integrated into engineering education at various US institutions such as the University of Colorado at Boulder. This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities associated with balancing …

Agenda: World Energy Justice Conference And Appropriate Technology Arcade, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law

World Energy Justice Conference (October 23-24)

The 2009 CEES Energy Justice Conference took place at the University of Colorado Law School on October 23rd and 24th, 2009. It featured 11 sessions, more than 40 speakers, and attracted over 200 attendees. The Conference brought together leading international and U.S. decision-makers in politics, engineering, public health, law, business, economics, and innovators in the sciences to explore how best to address the critical needs of the energy-oppressed poor (EOP) through long-term interdisciplinary action, information sharing, and deployment of appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs).

The Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy (CJIELP) at the University of Colorado Law …

Sustainable Design: A Case Study In Energy Systems, Eugene Coyle, Marek Rebow

Books/Book chapters

Since the publication of the UN climate report in 2007, most countries now agree that recent climate change has occurred as a result of human intervention and that it will require fast and profound measures to reduce this negative imprint imposed upon nature. Central to this is the need to radically reduce CO2 emissions resulting from combustion of carbon-based energy resources to meet global energy demands. Greater measures must be taken to develop new non-combustion based technologies, in addition to using low-carbon energy resources. Increasing energy efficiency and using energy wisely will also feature in reducing emissions. Sustain-able Energy is …

Looking At Sustainability On The Lakeshore, Paul M. Lane, John P. Farris, Ann Marie Fauvel, Lisa Miller

Seidman Business Review

A new team-taught course with a focus on interdisciplinary teaching and integrative learning was offered at the Holland Meijer Campus. Faculty from Engineering and Marketing developed a community-focused course with an alternative schedule to engage students in the question: What will the community look like in ten years? A unique course emerged — Socially Conscious Innovation — that took place in an intense four-week semester. Students spent a significant amount of time in the community exploring local markets for innovation in the realms of sustainability, globalization, and active aging. This article focuses on issues relating to the sustainability segment of …

A Comment On Making Sustainable Land-Use Planning Work, Peter Pollock

University of Colorado Law Review

Many models exist for creating better communities: for example, smart growth, new urbanism, and sustainable development. City planners have at their disposal a number of model ordinances and policies that could help communities meet the challenges of climate change and looming changes in transport and energy supply. The problem is not the lack of tools, but other policy issues that stymie their effective application. The localized nature of community planning, the inability to overcome local opposition to redevelopment within existing city boundaries, the lack of rigor in assigning costs to new development, the local competition for taxes, and the legacy …

Can You Hear Me Up There? Giving Voice To Local Communities Imperative For Achieving Sustainability, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

Sustainable development is an international challenge that demands attention at all levels of government. The calls to action to achieve sustainability have varied over the last few decades. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s attention was focused on the need for environmental review and growth management strategies. In the 1990s the rhetoric shifted to smart growth and livable communities, and today, the issue has been reframed as advocates view sustainability through the lens of global warming and climate change. Regardless of the nomenclature, however, the end game is the same. While the United States as a whole speaks through …

Linking Land Use With Climate Change And Sustainability Topped State Legislative Land Use Reform Agenda In 2008, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

Linking land use with climate change and sustainability topped state legislative land use reform agenda in 2008. The only discernible state land use reform trends in 2008 have focused primarily on themes surrounding sustainability. Many states pursued statutory reforms to address the strong linkages between land use and climate change, green development and affordable housing. Only one state, Michigan, focused on recodification of its planning and zoning enabling acts.

Design For Social And Environmental Enterprise, Clare Brass, Flora Bowden

DRS Biennial Conference Series

SEED Foundation undertakes action research to develop new, innovative ways for design to most effectively contribute towards sustainable development. The research that follows is not the result of academic investigations but rather, a culmination of 20 years direct professional involvement in the sector. By aligning current political goals with cutting edge design thinking and good business sense, this paper presents our ideas on how more designers can profitably solve social and environmental problems through their work. It specifically investigates how the still emerging discipline of service design, in dealing more with relationships and experiences than material objects, offers inherent social …

Panama City Reflections: Growing The City In The Time Of Sustainable Development, Ileana Porras

Articles

No abstract provided.

A Rising Tide In Renewable Energy: The Future Of Tidal In-Stream Energy Conversion (Tisec), Michael B. Walsh

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

With One Stroke Of The Pen: How Can Wildlife Extension Specialists Involve Developers And Policy-Makers In Wildlife Conservation?, Mark Hostetler

Triennial National Wildlife and Fisheries Extension Specialists Conference: 11th (2006)

Residential developments have a huge impact on natural resources and wildlife, and sustainable or “green” communities are beginning to be built throughout the United States with goals to conserve wildlife habitat, to create healthy lifestyles, and to promote a sense of community. Buzzwords can be heard in the media and in town meetings: sustainability, smart growth, new urbanism, low impact development, and conservation subdivisions. Ultimately, with one stroke of a pen, developers and policymakers can determine how a community will look and feel for many years to come. Plus, citizens make day-to-day decisions that determine whether a community operates as …

The Idea Of Sustainable Development In Public Administration, John R. Bartle, Deniz Leunenberger

Public Administration Faculty Publications

This article introduces the Focus Issue on Sustainable Development by first discussing the environmental problems caused by unsustainable development and then the shortcomings caused by a piecemeal approach to policy development and implementation. The idea of sustainability appears to fit well with other core values of public administration, which is a consistent theme throughout each of the articles in this issue. Definitions of sustainability are discussed, followed by two relevant models. Finally, each article in the focus issue is introduced.

Sustainable Highways: Destination Or Mirage?, John R. Bartle, Jijesh Devan

Public Administration Faculty Publications

Highway travel is forecasted to increase steadily worldwide in the foreseeable future. However, this pattern is unsustainable environmentally, economically, financially, and socially. Federal legislation, in particular the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, has made progress toward the goal of sustainability, and technological improvements offer potential for reduced emissions, but both potentials have not been fully realized. Reduced use and redesigned taxes are unlikely possibilities. Ultimately, institutions will have to change. The European Union offers an example of how the institutional change can be implemented in a durable way. This change is important not just for environmental reasons but also for …

Agenda: Best Management Practices And Adaptive Management In Oil And Gas Development, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Best Management Practices and Adaptive Management in Oil and Gas Development (May 12-13)

Agenda includes summaries of speakers' presentations

Workshop held May 12-13, 2004 at the University of Colorado School of Law and sponsored by the Natural Resources Law Center with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, BP America and Calpine Corporation

Government agencies, industry and others are beginning to apply the concepts of best management practices and adaptive management to oil and gas development. This free workshop will examine what is going on in the Rocky Mountain Region with these innovative management approaches. This timely workshop will be kicked off with a presentation on the Western Governors' Association Coalbed Methane …

Futures Thinking To Achieve Sustainable Development At Local Level In Ireland, Lorcan Sirr, Ruth Kelly, John Ratcliffe

Reports

We are living in times of unprecedented global change and upheaval and over the next ten to 20 years governments, organisations and individuals will face increasing difficulties in an environment of growing complexity, heightened uncertainty and a quickening pace of change. The concept of sustainable development implies the reconciliation of long-term socio-economic development, environmental protection and quality of life; essentially it is concerned with the future. Unfortunately, the potential for linking “futures thinking” to debates about sustainable development at local and regional government levels is relatively undeveloped, particularly in Ireland. Responding to this challenge, The Futures Academy at Technological University …

Sustainable Development And Sustainable Income From Alaska's Resources, Matthew Berman

ISER Reports

I consider the definition and measurement of sustainable development for a resource rich region such as Alaska, reviewing the evolution of so-called green accounting and discussing appropriate applications to small open regional economies. I then investigate how much of the rapid economic growth Alaska experienced in the three decades following passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) constituted sustainable development. Estimates of sustainable income suggest that even after adjusting for depletion of nonrenewable resources, the state’s economy was nearly three times larger at the end of the 1990s than it had been in 1971. Although oil assets declined, …

The Precautionary Principle And Marine Environmental Protection: Slippery Shores, Rough Seas, And Rising Normative Tides, David Vanderzwaag

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Law and policy implications of the precautionary principle in the field of marine environmental protection are explored in this paper in a three-part analysis. First, seven slippery aspects of the precautionary principle are highlighted, including confusion in terminology, definitional variations, definitional generalities, the spectrum of precautionary measures available, ongoing philosophical tensions and competing socioeconomic interests, debate over who should be responsible for making precautionary decisions, and limited interpretation by international tribunals. Second, the rather feeble precautionary responses to the tempestuous issues of climate change, hazardous chemicals, and overfishing are described. Third, the potential for the precautionary principle to synergize with …