Digital Commons Network^™

2025 Ccfan Accomplishments, Mikayla Cerney

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Institute For Global Health And Development : Issue 12 - October 2025, Institute For Global Health And Development

IGHD Newsletters

• Dr. Bhutta Awarded the Virchow Prize 2025 For Global Health
• Mapping Climate Vulnerability and Resilience Across the Prepare Pakistan Project – Promoting Climate Resilience, Pakistan’s High-Risk Districts
• Choice Project Dissemination Workshop Held in Accelerating Progress Towards Health and Health-Related SDGS Nairobi
• Farhana Tabassum Attends the Inauguration Of “Imagining Life” At the Climate Action Center, Karachi
• IGHD Participates in the Green Zameen Fellowship on Sustainable Energy Transition
• IGHD Team Leads Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analysis
• Empowering Research in Maternal Health Dr. Khadija Vadsaria Completes Her PhD at Aga Khan University
• Climate Change and Maternal Health Dr. Jai Das Featured in the Economist …

Ccfan Summer Meals Success Story, Joy Gagnon

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

The Access Assembly: Sharing Ideas And Enabling Informed Adaptations, Brianne Gutmann, Chandra Turpen, Robert P. Dalka, Mackenzie Carlson, Joel Corbo, Gabrielle Jones-Hall, Megan Marshall Smith, Devyn Shafer

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Founded in 2014, the Access Network brings together nine student-centered, university-based programs that are pursuing systemic change towards a vision of a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible STEM community. Network and program leaders are primarily students (undergraduate and graduate) and early-career faculty, many of whom started out as student leaders in Access programs. Over the last nine years, Access has brought people together (virtually or in-person) for an annual event called the “Assembly.” The environment and structures at the Assembly enable the sharing of ideas, excite people to translate those ideas to their local programs, and create space for …

Assessing Community Engagement In The Standard Gauge Railway Project In Tanzania: A Case Study Of The Morogoro – Makutupora Segment, Chacha Timasi Nyakega, Oscar Whynijous Tefurukwa

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

Governments play a critical role in engaging communities in decision-making processes directly affecting their daily lives. Such engagement influences the feasibility and success of project implementation. However, the degree of community engagement varies across different projects. This study examines community engagement and perceptions regarding the implementation of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project in Tanzania, focusing on Lot II, the Morogoro to Makutupora segment. The theoretical framework proposed by Fung guided the analysis. A qualitative approach was employed, with a sample of 30 respondents. Data were collected through focus group discussions (FGDs) and analyzed using content analysis. Findings indicate that …

Special Edition: Full Issue - Research For Practice, September 2025, Angie Holzer, Erica Bassett

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

Land Struggles, Resistance, And Mutual Protection Along The Colorado-New Mexico Border: The Sacred Right Of Self-Preservation, José A. Rivera Ph.D

Faculty Publications

Mutual protection societies proliferated in the American Southwest during a period of rapid social change, 1870-1930, coincident with significant changes in the region’s political economy and increased competition for land and water resources. To resist encroachment and protect their natural resources, hispano communities in Colorado and New Mexico organized mutual benefit and protective associations known as mutualistas, with a large number concentrated in the San Luis Valley of Colorado as well as in many rural counties of northcentral New Mexico. The Costilla Valley of New Mexico is a prototypical hispano settlement initially established as part of the expansive Sangre …

"Our River Is Full Of Trash And Many Fish Die" Children's Voices From Pasuruan, Indonesia: Discursive Strategies In Positive Discourse Analysis For Sustainability, Bambang Prastio, Ahsani Maulidina, Agung Rinaldy Malik, Achmad Tantowi Azis

The Qualitative Report

Addressing river pollution and understanding the role of children in environmental conservation are essential for maintaining ecosystem health and sustainability. This study used positive discourse analysis to explore children's discourse about river pollution in Pasuruan, East Java, Indonesia. Data were collected using walk-and talk ethnographic interviews with 15 children aged 7 to 11 years. The findings reveal that these children employed five discursive strategies: (1) nomination: metaphor, comparison, and cultural practices; (2) predication: positive attitude in the forms of disposition and behavior; (3) argumentation: contrast and parallelism; (4) perspectivisation, involving a type of religious representation that includes references to the …

The Mediterreanean We Share: Enhancing The Eu-Mediterranean Cooperation In Education And Capacity Building For A Resilient Climate Action, Achref Ininou

COP30

The Euro-Mediterranean region is facing growing inequalities, and regional resilience is being put to the test as we deal with escalating climate challenges. Although the significance of education and capacity building is emphasized by frameworks like SDG 4 and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, regional efforts are still dispersed, short-term, and frequently not monitored and evaluated. Through inclusive education, the development of green skills, and regional cross-border collaboration, this policy paper highlights that people, especially youth, must be at the center of climate strategies. Strong monitoring and evaluation systems are necessary, though, to guarantee the long-term viability of these …

Sparking Change: Building Local Technical Capacity For Climate Resilience And Energy Access, Elena Sales

COP30

Globally, 666.5 million people still lack access to electricity, the vast majority residing in rural areas in the Global South. The same communities are also among the most vulnerable to climate change, facing rising temperatures, extreme weather and environmental degradation - yet they lack the energy resources needed to adapt and build resilience. Community-led distributed renewable energy (DRE) systems, from household solar to community mini-grids, can help accelerate the global adoption of renewable energy while empowering the most marginalized communities to have the capacity to lead the transition. For these systems to be sustainable, communities must be paired with direct …

Cultivating Community Resilience Through Youth Engagement, Elizabeth K. Anthony, Allison Mullady, Kendelle Brown, Michelle Blagg-Catone, Stephanie Castillo

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This article presents the impact of Arizona State University’s Design Studio for Community Solutions (DSCS) on youth engagement and community resilience. Through a mixed-methods approach, the study assesses the impact of DSCS programs on youth engagement and community resilience. The findings highlight best practices, underscoring the importance of consistent communication, trust-building, and community representation. Additionally, the research offers nuanced recommendations for future investigations, emphasizing the importance of continuous data collection and periodic assessments to drive ongoing improvement and address unmet community needs.

Community Engagement Networks: Utilizing The Untethered, Theresa M. Harrison

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In this forum commentary, I discuss those who fall outside the traditional community engagement professional (CEP) roles and how they can be better used in community engagement networks. As a staff member not working in or affiliated with a community engagement office, I feel untethered. Staff, faculty, and CEPs deeply invested in community engagement efforts need community engagement networks both within and outside our institutions that accommodate various roles and their unique contributions.

The Relationship Between Perceived Institutional Support And Student Experience For Employer Selection, Employee Persistence, And Career Path Among Community-Engaged Faculty And Staff Members, James Morgan Lewing

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the potential relationship between the employment decisions of faculty and staff members who participate in community engagement and their perceptions of organizational support for community engagement. Findings indicated that perceptions of organizational support can influence employment decisions, especially for individuals who participated in community engagement activities as students.

A Community-Engaged Approach To Enhancing Participation In Genomic Research In Rare And Understudied Cancer Populations, Saira Khan, Bailey Martin-Giacalone, Kayla Wallace, Briana Wilson, Christine Marx, Erin Linnenbringer, Jessica Mozersky, Melinda Bachini, Nancy Chollet, Dionne Stalling, Li Ding, Ryan C Fields, Graham A Colditz, Bettina F Drake

2020-Current year OA Pubs

UNLABELLED: Few studies provide insights on how to incorporate community members' perspectives of genomic research during the early phases of study development. Engaging with community members early and consistently throughout the research lifecycle could help identify and mitigate barriers to genomic research participation, particularly among groups with rare and understudied cancers.

METHODS: The Washington University Participant Engagement and Cancer Genome Sequencing (WU-PE-CGS) study formed a Participant Engagement Advisory Board (PEAB) consisting of patients, patient advocates, and patient advocacy organizations who represented the three understudied cancer populations: cholangiocarcinoma, early-onset colorectal cancer in Black Americans, and multiple myeloma in Black Americans. PEAB …

Reducing Patients’ Relapse In Schizophrenia Using A Community Model: A Quality Improvement Project, Lawal Almustapha Kaura, Phillisters Wanyama Ariko, Augustine Ndaimani, Catherine Uwimana, Madeleine Mukeshimana

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Relapse in schizophrenia poses significant challenges for mental health management, especially in community settings (Almond, et al., 2018; Almuqrin et al., 2023). This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to reduce relapse rates in patients with schizophrenia in Bermuda by leveraging community empowerment and implementing an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model. The project engaged a cohort of 59 high-risk patients and focused on interventions such as medication adherence, social support, vocational activities, and training community members and family in relapse prevention. Over a six-month period, from November 2023 to May 2024, the project sought to decrease relapse rates from 87% to …

Editor’S Forward For The Journal Of Community Engagement And Higher Education Special Volume On Sustainable Civic And Community Engagement, Ellen Szarleta

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Urban University Community Engagement: Questions Of Commitment To Democratic Ethics And Social Change, Khaula Murtadha

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper examines ethical issues underpinning urban university engagement in community spaces. The intent is to encourage an evaluation stance and consider how university representatives and community representatives might justly approach and develop partnerships. The paper questions whether faculty, staff, and community partners take action to cultivate public dialogue, or what might be called democratic voice, to bring about social change. Social change organizations unambiguously try to affect and reshape public and environmental affairs, group dynamics, processes, and outcomes. Are the university administration and faculty, in partnership with community stakeholders, ready to take on the charge of social change organization?

Community Engagement: It Is All About Relationships!, Jennifer June Anderson

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The ability to generate sustainable, mutually beneficial, interprofessional teams becomes a critical skill for today’s emerging professionals. Interprofessional teams can be developed among community-university partners to bridge the intellectual resources of academe through a model of scaffolding interrelated paradigms. This work will provide a conceptual framework for enhancing community engagement through interprofessional collaborative practices for continuing education programs.

In Like Flint: How The Innovation Incubator At Um‐Flint Fosters Social Entrepreneurship In A City Remaking Itself, Nic Custer

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper focuses on how the University of Michigan-Flint’s Innovation Incubator supports emerging for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations through programming, business plan development, and ongoing mentorship. The incubator is especially interested in supporting start -ups that address key social issues in the surrounding community, including economic vitality. This goal aligns with the university’s mission, which emphasizes that engaged citizens can exercise some control over the social, environmental, and economic factors in the larger community.

From Pockets To Peace: A Letter For Designers, Michelle Helman

Learn X Design Conference Series

This letter for designers presents a focused position on utilizing a design justice framework as an effective method and approach in design education and design research contexts. Through a storytelling method, the letter offers examples of a design justice framework applied in theory and practice within the intertwining disciplines of peace, health, and education. The intended audience is educators, researchers, and practitioners engaged in design practices. The letter is shared as an invitation for readers to reflect on how they might experience design and its impacts, and to consider their approaches for collaborative research, education, and idea-sharing as a means …

Bridging Silos: The Impact Of An Interdisciplinary Learning Community, Fabio Tellez, Richard Elaver

Learn X Design Conference Series

This paper presents a reflective case study of DigiFab, an interdisciplinary faculty learning community at Appalachian State University (North Carolina, USA), which explores the integration of digital design and fabrication into teaching, research, and creative endeavors. From 2019 to 2024, sixteen faculty and staff from diverse disciplines participated in monthly meetings that featured hands-on demonstrations, reflective discussions, and collaborative projects, including a collective exhibition. Data were collected through participant observation and a survey, and were analyzed using thematic analysis. Five key impacts emerged: teaching methods evolved as members transitioned from observation to AI integration; research and creative work expanded through …

Empowering Future Designers: Embedding Responsible Entrepreneurship With Ethical And Sustainable Thinking In Graphic Design Education, Geneviève Raîche-Savoie

Learn X Design Conference Series

To integrate sustainability and the responsibilities of future graphic designers into design education, this paper explores an innovative approach rooted in Education through Responsible Entrepreneurship. This pedagogical framework fosters an entrepreneurial mindset, empowering students to initiate their own projects while evaluating their broader impact. As part of a doctoral research, the study focused on designing a five-day creative retreat for graphic design students at Cégep de Sainte-Foy in Québec City, Canada. The retreat combined theoretical modules with practical individual and team workshops, inspiring students to explore concepts of responsible entrepreneurship alongside ethical and sustainable decision-making. Through a mixed-method research methodology …

Engaging The Somali Diaspora: A Case Study Of One Agency’S Community Programming Approach, Farhia Abdi

The Journal of Social Encounters

This case study investigates how a local community agency engages with the Somali diaspora to design and implement culturally responsive services, such as the Settlement and Integration Program. It also explores the potential of fostering meaningful dialogue with community members to inform the development of culturally sensitive programming. The research question guiding this study was developed by findings from previous research, which highlighted the significance of community engagement, sustained dialogue, and the necessity for agencies to design clearly defined programs. These programs should prioritize active participation from community members in both the creation and implementation of tailored initiatives.

Factors Influencing The Use Of Gis-Enabled Public E-Participation For Municipal Solid Waste Management, Irene Arinaitwe, Agnes Nakakawa, Gilbert Maiga

The African Journal of Information Systems

Due to rapid global population growth and urbanization, approximately two billion metric tons of waste are generated annually. Municipal solid waste management has become a critical function for urban authorities. However, many urban authorities in low- and middle-income economies cannot provide efficient municipal solid waste management services because of suboptimal stakeholder participation in governance processes and inadequate information exchange. Therefore, this study sought to determine factors that influence the implementation of GIS-enabled public e-participation using Enhanced Adaptive Structuration Theory. A descriptive field study was conducted among staff of municipal authorities and residents in Uganda’s Kampala Metropolitan Area. Data were analyzed …

(De)Centralized Water Futures: Key Dimensions Of Infrastructure, Governance, And Operations, Alicia Dailey Cooperman, Jenny Linder Rempel, Ellis Adjei Adams, Alida Cantor, Manuela Muñoz Fuerte, Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey, Nicole J. Wilson, Cassandra L. Workman, Melissa Beresford, Leila M. Harris, Multiple Additional Authors

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Water system centralization and decentralization have variously been promoted as key to achieving household water security and Sustainable Development Goal 6.1. We argue that the lack of specificity with which scholars and practitioners use the terms centralization and decentralization limits our understanding of different water system configurations and their impacts. In this Primer, we provide a framework for thinking about levels of (de)centralization across three linked system dimensions: infrastructure, governance, and operations and maintenance. We encourage those analyzing water systems to characterize (de)centralization with respect to these multiple dimensions, as well as the system's broader political-economic and hydro-climatic contexts. Emphasizing …

(De)Centralized Water Futures: Key Dimensions Of Infrastructure, Governance, And Operations, Alicia Dailey Cooperman, Jenny Linder Rempel, Ellis Adjei Adams, Alida Cantor, Manuela Muñoz Fuerte, Jeremiah Osborne-Gowey, Nicole J. Wilson, Cassandra L. Workman, Melissa Beresford, Leila M. Harris, Linda E. Méndez-Barrientos, Sameer H. Shah, Amber Wutich, Justin Stoler

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Water system centralization and decentralization have variously been promoted as key to achieving household water security and Sustainable Development Goal 6.1. We argue that the lack of specificity with which scholars and practitioners use the terms centralization and decentralization limits our understanding of different water system configurations and their impacts. In this Primer, we provide a framework for thinking about levels of (de)centralization across three linked system dimensions: infrastructure, governance, and operations and maintenance. We encourage those analyzing water systems to characterize (de)centralization with respect to these multiple dimensions, as well as the system's broader political-economic and hydro-climatic contexts. Emphasizing …

Exploring The Role Of Localized Indigenous Knowledge In Developing Urban Water Resilience And Sustainability Strategies In Egypt, Nevine Ismail Mahmoud, Amira Fawzy Helmy Almaz, Amany Ragheb

Journal of Engineering Research

Urban areas worldwide face water challenges due to population growth, climate change, and inadequate construction. To tackle these issues, cities are experimenting with green infrastructure, rainwater harvesting, and wastewater recycling, integrating local data and sustainable construction methods to mitigate water scarcity and increase resilience.

This paper discusses using natural data in urban water management to tackle water scarcity, flooding, and quality issues. It suggests that this data can improve urban practicality and human well-being by addressing shared urban areas and the physical environment. Implementing natural enhancements like water harvesting, floodplain management, and shared filtration systems can enhance water quality and …

How Do We Encourage The Lowest Appropriate Level Of Technology To Solve Human Needs In Our Design Solutions, Ceri Almrott, Santiago Perez

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

As product design education evolves, the focus has shifted from creating tangible objects to delivering comprehensive product-service systems. Achieving a truly human-centred approach in student practice requires rethinking how we educate future designers and engineers. This paper examines the development of a European Low-Tech Hackathon, where students worked within a specific context of human and technological constraints. The Hackathon challenged participants to create solutions with a minimal technological footprint, aligning with sustainability principles and the core values of Low-Tech. It offers a unique lens through which to explore how technological education must adapt to contemporary demands for product and service …

Bearing Witness: Témoignage As A Tool For Child Advocacy During Armed Conflict., Anik Patel, Amber Alayyan, Heather A. Haq, Parminder S. Suchdev, Naji Hattar, Jeffrey Goldhagen, David J. Schonfeld, Tanya Haj-Hassan, Lia Harris, Seema Jilani, Ayesha Kadir, Paul H. Wise, Lisa Umphrey

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Children affected by armed conflict suffer devastating physical, emotional, and social harm. War uproots families, forcing many to flee as refugees or internally displaced persons, while others remain trapped in dangerous environments. In these crises, children face disproportionate risks-violence, exploitation, disrupted education, and collapsed healthcare systems. Their unique vulnerabilities require urgent, targeted action to protect their health, rights, and development. Beyond immediate care, the humanitarian principle of témoignage-bearing witness-is essential. Rooted in humanitarian ethics, témoignage means speaking out about injustice, amplifying the voices of those affected, and driving systemic change. It challenges traditional notions of neutrality and calls on humanitarian …

Gardens As Pathways To Environmental Education For All Ages, Lacey Anderson

The Cicadian

Gardens provide hands-on opportunities for environmental education that extend beyond food production, encompassing ecological literacy, sustainability practices, experiential learning, and community engagement. This article uses a creative nonfiction approach to examine the author’s personal journey from reluctant gardener to advocate for learning gardens. Through narrative reflection of her own family’s gardening experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, the author illustrates how gardening fosters intergenerational learning, socio-emotional development, and curiosity-driven exploration of ecological systems. The article highlights how gardens function as accessible entry points for lifelong learners of all ages, demonstrating that environmental literacy can emerge outside of traditional scientific expertise. Ultimately, …