Digital Commons Network^™

An Exploratory Evaluation Of The Kalamazoo River Watershed Council: Assessing Organizational Impact And Value, Alexander Mendez

Honors Theses

The Kalamazoo River Watershed Council (KRWC) plays a central role in protecting, restoring, and promoting the long-term health of the Kalamazoo River watershed, a geographically expansive and ecologically complex system facing persistent challenges from legacy contamination, nonpoint source pollution, land-use pressures, and inequitable access to watershed resources. This honors thesis presents an exploratory organizational evaluation of the KRWC, assessing its role and relevance within the watershed, the effectiveness of its programs and partnerships, the strengths and limitations of its governance structure, and opportunities to strengthen its long-term sustainability and impact.

Guided by principles of Practical Participatory Evaluation (PP-E) and Fourth …

Sustainable Classrooms: Leadership In Supporting Well-Being And Education In A ‘Last Mile’ School, Jenneth B. Doria

Biennial Convention (CONV)

This is a nurse-led intervention project in a ‘Last Mile’ elementary school in a geographically isolated and impoverished area in the foothills of a 6th class municipality in the Philippines. Majority of learners are indigenous children whose need for comfortable and heat-resilient classrooms in resource-deficient community is critical to reduce chronic health and educational disparities.

The Philippines’ nationwide classroom shortage is compounded by poorly built facilities that inadequately shelter learners from extreme heat and its associated health risks, and frequent storms. The high heat indexes ranging from 100-110 degrees F made teachers and learners vulnerable to severe discomfort, dehydration, and …

Bringing Mutuality And Reciprocity Into Focus: A Case Study On Sustaining University-Community Partnerships For Local Systems Change And Student Learning, Jessica L. Lucero, Lucas Martin, Jayme Walters

Transforming Communities

This case study explores a long-term university-community partnership focused on addressing homelessness, highlighting the principles of mutuality and reciprocity in achieving systemic change. Over nearly a decade, the partnership has evolved to engage university resources, faculty, and social work students through research, courses, and outreach activities, such as community surveys, the Point-in-Time Count, strategic planning, advocacy, and service system expansion. These collaborative efforts have contributed to enhanced public awareness, increased state funding, and the establishment of vital services, including a warming center. The case study also underscores the challenges inherent in community-engaged scholarship, including capacity constraints like funding and staffing …

Grupo Promesa, Orion Cook, Grace Falci, Charly Aylward

Miller Center Fellowship

In an effort to strengthen both internal, employee level, cohesion, and external, partnership, clarity, we recommend implementing a monthly internal newsletter to share updates across departments, along with a streamlined external version for partners. These tools would help to unify PROMESA’s messaging, improve collaboration, and better communicate its diverse initiatives. Clarifying PROMESA’s brand identity will not only support organizational effectiveness but also expand its ability to advance environmental education and sustainable waste management throughout Mexico City.

The Role Of Sustainability In Family And Consumer Science Curricula, Emily Hill

Honors Theses

As climate change intensifies and global food systems face growing environmental pressures, there is an increasing need to prepare younger generations to respond to these challenges. Sustainability education is increasingly recognized as essential for helping students understand the connection between human actions, environmental resilience, and their overall well-being. This form of education already has a foundation in the Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) curriculum. This study examines the effects of integrating sustainability lessons into secondary Family and Consumer Sciences food and nutrition courses in a rural Michigan high school. It was hypothesized that if students participate in sustainability presentations and …

Developing Outreach Strategies To Sustain Diversity And Inclusion In Interfaith Partnerships With Local Government, Dora Muhammad

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Local government has been hindered by a lack of sustained interfaith engagement. Faith leaders have not been consistent stakeholders in policymaking decisions. This gap in practice stemmed from a lack of research of self-transcendence within public administrative settings. Grounded in a review of 70 years of research into the conceptual framework of government needs analysis, this study’s purpose was to explore principles and concepts of civic engagement and partnership shared among faiths. Qualitative research was designed to answer, “How do faith leaders describe the current civic participation, partnership, diversity, and inclusive strategies within their faith communities as they relate to …

Capacity Building For Mental Health Of Older Persons: A Participatory Action Research, Theresa Aragones Guino-O, Zorinna Macahis Luague, Uenavil Anne Empaces Junio, Evalyn Elardo Abalos

Biennial Convention (CONV)

There is a projected increase in the older population worldwide by 2050. This creates disconcerting implications in Philippine society, where a trend of elderly persons living alone and with minimal resources to meet their health maintenance and treatment needs is observed. These important concerns relate to mental health and need to be addressed through research-based interventions that are effective and sustainable. The aim of the study was to assess, implement, and evaluate socially and culturally acceptable interventions for the mental health of older persons together with the participants residing in Barangay Calindagan, Dumaguete City, Philippines. Participatory action research was chosen …

What My Church Mother Taught Me: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Maternal Messages Given To Black Christian Women On How To Cope With Trauma, Melanie Joyce Coates

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Black women in Churches of Christ as they perceive and interpret maternal messages about coping with and managing the effects of traumatic experiences. For this study, maternal messages was defined as advice, support, mentorship, or guidance from older Black Christian women to younger Black Christian women. It was important to understand the ways in which older Black women teach younger Black women in navigating mental health challenges within the context of a complex trauma history among African Americans. The first theory that guided this study was …

Do Community-Engaged Initiatives Promote Mental Health And Well-Being In Under-Resourced Settings?, Muhammad Chutiyami, Natalie Cutler, Sopin Sangon, Tusana Thaweekoon, Patcharin Nintachan, Wilai Napa, Phachongchit Kraithaworn, Jo River

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Community-engaged initiatives are recognized as promising strategies for addressing disparities in mental health outcomes in resource-constrained settings. An understanding of the scope/effectiveness of these initiatives in diverse contexts remains limited. Our international team systematically examined community-engaged mental health and wellbeing programs in Low-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and under-resourced settings in High-Income Countries (HICs), evaluating level of community engagement and impact on mental health outcomes.

Five academic databases were searched for eligible primary studies published in English up to August 2024. Studies involving community members targeting one or more mental health outcomes were included. Data were extracted using a structured tool, quality …

Reimagining Speculative Design For Inclusion: An Narrative-Based Prototype For Civic Participation, Sandy Claes, Gitte Vande Graveele, Erica Bol

IASDR Conference Series

Speculative design has the potential to foster civic reflection but often remains inaccessible to broader audiences due to its cultural and conceptual complexity. This paper presents a research-through-design (RtD) exploration of how speculative design can become more inclusive by embedding reflection into the narrative experience itself. We redesigned INWARDS, a policy-oriented speculative artefact, by segmenting one of its films and integrating plain-language prompts at key narrative moments and reframing participation as introspection by triggering lightweight, personal reflections. The resulting prototype was deployed in a semi-public setting to explore spontaneous engagement beyond design- savvy audiences. We contribute (1) a design-led exploration …

Process Designing For Creative Well-Being: How Cultural Prescribing Emerges Through Community-Based Art Practice At Machino Zukoushitsu In Nabari City, Japan, Rui Fukumoto, Takakazu Yamaguchi, Hideaki Kawabata, Sawako Inaniwa, Tatsuya Ito

IASDR Conference Series

As societies around the world confront aging populations and growing social isolation, Cultural Prescribing has emerged as a promising approach to community-based care beyond institutional systems. While social prescribing has primarily been implemented through clinical referral models, this study examines how Naturally Emergent Creative Well-being, the interaction between individual creativity and community culture, can generate care organically through everyday practice. The research focuses on Machino Zuko ushitsu, a community art studio in Nabari City, Japan, which serves as a hub for creative participation, intergenerational exchange, and informal support. Using a participatory action research framework, qualitative data were collected through interventional …

Design When Policy Cycle Begins: Participatory Design As Relational Infrastructuring For Local Policy, Shin Okamoto, Daijiro Mizuno

IASDR Conference Series

This paper explores the role of design when participatory design intervenes more deeply in decision- making processes of local policy making. In the domain where design and public policy share common interests, participatory design has been considered effective as a better policy making approach adapted to complex contexts, particularly with municipalities. However, the process from organizations' understanding of participatory design legitimacy to design's involvement in deeper levels of decision-making involves many unpredictable barriers and often takes a long time. Particularly in the front-end phase before setting policy design criteria, unstable relationships exist between designers and policymakers, appearing as conflicts and …

Design For Neo-Endogenous Regional Development Of Urban-Rural Interfaces In China: A Case Of 'Field Design Work' In Zhizigang Village, Changsha City, Hunan Province, Jia Ren, Tangxiang Huo, Binbin Shao, Chih-Hu Wang, Han Meng, Tie Ji

IASDR Conference Series

This study responds to the theoretical frameworks of New Endogenous Development and Place-Based Innovation by investigating how co-design can stimulate local agency and foster the co-evolution of cultural and ecological resources in urban–rural interface areas of China. Taking Zhizigang Village in Hunan Province as a case study, the research brought together cross-strait design teams to engage in both fieldwork and co-creative workshops, exploring design intervention strategies within the context of integrated urban – rural development. The study makes three key contributions:(1) It repositions the cultural and ecological strategic value of urban–rural interface areas, challenging the prevailing negative perceptions of their …

Empowering Through Design: Asset-Based Architectural Practices For Vulnerable Communities, Hei Chan, Peter Hasdell

IASDR Conference Series

This paper investigates aasset‐based aarchitecture design practiices through an analysis of three architectural interventionss case study across vulnerable communities in differeent locations. Departing from deficit‐ddriven modelss of aid and ree construction, these projeccts illustrate hhow local asseets can be leveraged to drive empowwering, inclussive and culturally embedded sustainaable develop mment. The study draws on asset‐baseed design obsservations witth cases of Gaando Primary School (Burkina Faso), Itathao Tribee Community Rebuild (Taiwwan) and Zhoou Shan Village House of Dreams (Chiina). Each project is anaalysed throughh the lens of ttangible (builtt, natural, financial) and intaangible (sociaal, human, political, cultuural) capital cconditions andd outcomes. …

Utilizing Ai-Assisted Service Design To Address The Digitalization Challenges Of Religious Services: A Case Study Of Taoist Temple Service, Shin-Ying Chen, Hsien-Hui Tang

IASDR Conference Series

As digitalization reshapes religious services, Taoist temples in Taiwan face challenges involving cultural heritage, ritual experience, and institutional coordination. Existing studies often focus on the technological or sociological aspects of digital religion but rarely examine how design practice balances institutional efficiency with cultural sensitivity. This study explores how service design can clarify the systemic complexity of Taoist service transformation while addressing both institutional and cultural contexts throughout digital transition and implementation. Using a qualitative case study of a Taiwanese Taoist temple, the research applies the Triple Diamond Model of service design to analyze the cultural complexity embedded in people, processes, …

Design For Vulnerables: Co-Designing Technological Hubs For Socio-Environmental Resilience In Mexico's Semiarid Communities, Minqing Ni, Tiziano Cattaneo, Emanuele Giorgi

IASDR Conference Series

Design for Vulnerables was an international collaborative research initiative that explored how participatory design can address socio-environmental challenges in vulnerable communities across urban, peri-urban, rural, and forested settings within the semiarid region of Chihuahua, Mexico. Through participatory action research, the process integrated in-depth stakeholder engagement using semi-structured interviews, community immersion through neighbourhood walks, participatory mapping workshops, and in-community prioritization sessions. The DV project co-developed and implemented six technological “hubs” addressing mobility, water, agriculture, and environmental sustainability. These interventions provided transferable strategies for arid regions globally, bridging gaps between technological potential, ecological constraints, and social equity. The paper demonstrated how integrating …

From Jugaad To Generative Ai: A Framework For Culturally Responsive Human-Centered Ai, Nidhi Singh Rathore, Shreya Thakkar

IASDR Conference Series

Contemporary generative AI tools exhibit systematic biases rooted in their Anglo-American development context and training data, prioritizing Global North perspectives in design and implementation. Drawing on jugaad—an Indian approach to resourceful problem-solving—this paper critically evaluates how AI solutions disconnected from local contexts perpetuate technological Through a mixed-methods study involving 52 participants across workshops, systematic AI testing with over 300 images, and expert discussions, the authors compare human and AI responses to identical problem-solving scenarios. Our findings reveal stark differences: 100% of human solutions considered environmental and cultural contexts while 90% of AI solutions ignored these factors. Human participants demonstrated contextual …

From Research Subjects To Active Players: Playful Active Mastery Research For Value Co-Creation On C2c Platforms, Koki Kusano, Kyosuke Sakakura, Naruki Kurokawa

IASDR Conference Series

Customer-to-Customer (C2C) platforms have the potential to foster "sharing cultures" — diverse social practices emphasizing cooperation and relational values —, yet their capacity to harness users' creativity in value co-creation remains largely under explored. This paper introduces "Playful Active Mastery Research (PAMR)," a novel design research methodology specifically developed to investigate how C2C platforms can effectively support value co-creation rooted in users' everyday sharing practices. PAMR distinctively positions users as active, agentic "players" who playfully "master" existing platforms to devise novel, culturally resonant applications. Through a case study involving the C2C marketplace "Mercari," workshops were conducted where participants actively engaged …

Bridge Builders: A Comparative Study Of Arm's Length Bodies' Strategic Role In Design Education-To-Employment Gaps In Asia And Europe, Po-Yu Chen, Tang-Ling Kuo

IASDR Conference Series

This comparative study examines how Arm's-Length Bodies (ALBs) in Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Denmark address the persistent gap between design education and industry employment needs. By analyzing regional contexts and the institutional logics, methods, and intermediation roles of five representative organizations, the study reveals both shared concerns and divergent approaches. While the education-to-employment gap is a universal issue, all organizations emphasize designer upskilling, the development of design learning platforms, and engagement in research and policy advocacy. ALBs in Asia tend to adopt government-led strategies that prioritize transdisciplinary education, industry-academia collaboration, and skills upgrading, particularly in response to …

Integrating Cultural Touchpoints In Service Design: Insights From Culturally Embedded Marathons, Yijia Jiang, Xia Bi, Kin Wai Michael Siu, Keren Zhang, Wanchun Ye, Huiyi Zhang

IASDR Conference Series

This study explores service design strategies for Culturally Embedded Marathons (CEMs), proposing a research perspective that integrates cultural memory formation mechanisms (symbol is ation, ritual is ation, and institutional is ation) to examine service design frameworks. Through a case study of the representative 2025 Kyoto Marathon, we identified 26 cultural touch points within its service design system. Using Python, we scraped and analysed 2,689 user-generated posts from social media platforms documenting the 2025 Kyoto Marathon, comprising 13,345 images. Computer vision analysis was employed to assess the distribution, frequency, and key combinations of these cultural touch points. The findings reveal that …

Designing Participatory Placemaking: An Image-Based Co-Creation Approach In Ichigaya, Hsinyi Yang, Mengyao Lu, Koichi Wakasugi

IASDR Conference Series

This paper explores the application of image-based approaches in a co-creation context for constructing and communicating place images, addressing the regional revitalization policy undergone in Japan for new community identity and sustainability strategies. While image-based methods are methodologically recognized, their practical applications in collaborative placemaking remain under explored. Through a case study of the Editorial Club, an industry-academia initiative in Ichigaya, Tokyo, this research adopts a practice-oriented and image-centered perspective. The study investigates the collaborative image-based practices, including photo observation fieldwork, photo-eli citation group discussions, and the negotiation of creating collective creative output, which is various kinds of postcards. Findings …

Reflections On Participation In Fragile Urban Contexts: The Case Of Città-In Research Project, Nour Bergaoui, Laura Galluzzo

IASDR Conference Series

This paper shares insights from the Città-IN project, a one-year participatory research initiative in San Siro, Milan, a diverse and fragile public housing neighbourhood. The project explored how families with migratory backgrounds, especially mothers, access school-related public services. Being situated in Off Campus San Siro, a living lab of Polite cnico di Milano, we engaged with community members, informal women’s groups, service providers, and local actors. Using both formal and informal methods, we uncovered barriers such as language, digital systems, and bureaucratic complexity. We reflect on the challenges of working in over-researched areas, the emotional and ethical tensions we faced, …

Challenges And Opportunities Of Teaching Sustainable Interaction Design, Jonas Frich, Nicola Besana, Eli Blevis, Davide Spallazo, Amna Qureshi, Jonna Häkkilä, Peter Gall Krogh, Marianne Graves Petersen

IASDR Conference Series

This paper explores the challenges and opportunities of teaching Sustainable Interaction Design within higher education. Focusing on the integration of sustainability aspects into interaction design curricula, the paper examines the pedagogical approaches used to educate students as well as the students experience of having taken part in sustainability-related courses. Through a combination of interviews about student experiences, educator reflections, and analysis of students’ design projects, the study outlines key insights like the importance of students’ personal awareness and difficulty in moving from theory to practice. We consider how these insights can represent both challenges and opportunities and end by proposing …

Examining The Boundary Infrastructures Around 'Fair Food': The Sustainable Transition Approach Of Postane, Cagri G. Varli, Betül Şahin

IASDR Conference Series

In response to the growing sense of distrust in mainstream food systems, Alternative Food Networks have gained traction by prioritizing ecological, ethical, and participatory principles. One such alternative initiative is the ‘fair food’ ecosystem developed by the urban hub Postane Istanbul, which this study explores as a case. Postane brings together food-related practices, infrastructures, and actors around the idea of fair food. The study focuses on how fair food can act as a boundary object that mediates between diverse actors, values, and practices. Data were collected through site visits, document analysis, and long-term participant observation, offering insights into Postane’s fair …

Co-Designing Futures: Vernacular Knowledge In Kibera's Educational Infrastructure, Pak Wai Ling, Peter Winston Ferretto, Man Yan Lam, Ziwei Liu

IASDR Conference Series

This paper explores how participatory design can reshape educational infrastructure in Kibera’s informal settlement by centering local knowledge and challenging top-down architectural expertise. It documents Condition_Lab collaboration with Amani Kibera and Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) to co- create a community library and textile workshop. Through hands-on workshops with children, residents, and local stakeholders — using methods like model-making, storytelling, and material prototyping — the project redefined design hierarchies, transforming community members into co- designers. The study reveals how such collaborations not only produce culturally rooted infrastructure but also redefine design processes themselves. By bridging professional standards with informal practices, the …

Sustaining Community Health Through Impactful Snap-Ed Initiatives In Utah, Lacee Jimenez, Kristi Strongo, Lea Palmer, Lendel K. Narine, Heidi Leblanc

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

Create Better Health (CBH), Utah’s SNAP-Ed program, addresses food insecurity and chronic disease prevention through nutrition education, policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) initiatives, and social media marketing. From 2024 to 2025, CBH reached over 13,500 Utahns through direct education and 81,000 through community interventions. Evaluation results showed significant improvements in nutrition behaviors, including increased fruit and vegetable intake, food resource management, and label use. Follow-up surveys showed sustained behavior change. CBH’s comprehensive approach demonstrates measurable public health impact and points to the importance of continued investment in nutrition education and food access programs to build healthier, food-secure communities.

1st Annual Partners Meeting Of The Joint Action Research Program On Fgm In The Horn Of Africa, Population Council Kenya, Population Council

Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Choices

Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the first Annual Partners Meeting of the Joint Action Research Programme on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the Horn of Africa was convened from December 9-11, 2025 by the Population Council-led FGM Data Hub in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting brought together universities and civil society organisations (CSOs) from Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland and Sudan to strengthen university-led action research to improve overall efforts to prevent and respond to FGM, gender-based violence (GBV) and/or related gender inequalities.

Educational Methods For Fostering Sustainability Competencies: A Toolkit For Integration Of Sustainable Education In Engineering, Clara Hallgarth

Master's Theses

This thesis proposes a framework to assist in developing educational activities targeting the longitudinal growth of sustainability skills, knowledge, and attitudes (cumulatively known as competencies), contextualized in a Toolkit for engineering educators. This framework is applied to three civil engineering classes in a teaching-oriented university to demonstrate potential applications and limitations. Sustainability integration in higher education institutions has been recognized as increasingly important as complex sustainability challenges continue to develop and arise. Sustainable education, a pedagogical framework and collection of educational methods, has been shown to produce students with the key sustainability competencies needed to address sustainability challenges and promote …

Beyond Baseball: A Case Study On The Multipurpose Venue Management Practices Of Giants Enterprises, Collette Grace Madden

Experience Industry Management

The success of sports organizations no longer relies on team performance and game attendance. Giants Enterprises utilizes many guest engagement and destination development strategies to expand the brand reach of the San Francisco Giants. The purpose of this study was to examine how Giants Enterprises has positioned Oracle Park and Mission Rock as premier event destinations beyond baseball, with a focus on best practices in event diversification, experience design, and placemaking. A case study was conducted on Giants Enterprises to analyze what event diversification, experience design, and placemaking tactics were utilized as well as their effectiveness. The results of this …

Building Community Resilience For Disasters In The Wabash Valley, Nathan Myers

2025 Fall Reports (Terre Haute)

As part of the 2025 Indiana State University Sustainable Cities Initiative, we worked on two interconnected research projects: conducting a community needs assessment (as requested by Catholic Charities) and developing a climate-related disaster plan for the City of Terre Haute, Indiana. To complete this work, a student research team examined current statistical information for the Wabash Valley region (including Vigo, Clay, Parke, Vermillion, and Sullivan counties), as well as conducting and analyzing interviews, focus groups, and survey data to determine strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats related to community resilience in the area. This same information, in conjunction with information from …