Sustainability Commons^™

Business Planning Strategies To Sustain Hair Salons, Charity T. Adams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses employ most Americans in the workforce; however, more than half of small businesses fail within the first 5 years of operation. Small business owners who lack business planning strategies are at a higher risk of failure. Grounded in the sustainable activity model, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies hair salon owners used to sustain their business beyond 5 years. The participants comprised seven hair salon owners in the Southern region of the United States who successfully sustained their business beyond 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and reviews of organization documents …

Beyond The Green Iron Cage: Exploring The Macro And Micro-Level Influences On Executive Decisions About Sustainability Investments In Small And Medium Size Firms, Igor Estraykh

Theses and Dissertations

Although research on corporate environmental sustainability has shed light on different aspects of organizational and individual level factors that influence corporate decisions, it does not fully account for how individual executives within firms react to these forces and make decisions, specifically within small to medium size enterprises (SMEs). This study used a grounded theory approach to interview 19 SME executives from 13 different industries to explore how organizational and individual level factors influence their ability to evaluate and make decisions related to sustainability initiatives. The study found that SME executives faced isomorphic pressures for sustainability, individual agency pressures, significant resource …

Calcite Depression In Bastnaesite-Calcite Flotation System Using Organic Acids, Emmy Muhoza

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bastnaesite is the primary source of light REEs, namely cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), to name a few. Bastnaesite is typically concentrated using the froth flotation beneficiation method. Flotation of bastnaesite suffers from high reagent consumption due to the similar surface characteristics of bastnaesite and associated gangue minerals, including calcite. Additionally, complex stages of high-temperature conditioning are often required to suppress the detrimental impact of dissolved calcium ions on the flotation of bastnaesite. This research seeks to investigate the capabilities of organic acids in the bastnaesite-calcite flotation systems to selectively depress calcite minerals and effectively chelate calcium …

Integrating Carbon Pricing Approaches, Amay Shah

CMC Senior Theses

Concerns about global climate change and its effects have been steadily growing around the world in recent years. The Paris Agreement has laid out ambitious targets for countries to cut their emissions in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Carbon pricing mechanisms are an inventive instrument that can help achieve these emissions reductions by placing a price on greenhouse gas emissions, creating incentives for organizations to reduce their emissions. These mechanisms can also help enable the transfers from wealthy nations to developing nations that will be essential for ensuring a …

Combining Green Metrics And Digital Twins For Sustainability Planning And Governance Of Smart Buildings And Cities, Casey R. Corrado, Suzanne M. Delong, Emily G. Holt, Edward Y. Hua, Andreas Tolk

VMASC Publications

Creating a more sustainable world will require a coordinated effort to address the rise of social, economic, and environmental concerns resulting from the continuous growth of cities. Supporting planners with tools to address them is pivotal, and sustainability is one of the main objectives. Modeling and simulation augmenting digital twins can play an important role to implement these tools. Although various green best practices have been utilized over time and there are related attempts at measuring green success, works in the published literature tend to focus on addressing a single problem (e.g., energy efficiency), and a comprehensive approach that takes …

Quantifying Water Security In West Virginia And The Potomac River Basin, Eric Carl Edvard Sinius Sjostedt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

All healthy ecosystems, communities, and economies are founded on access to clean, adequate water sources to support ecosystem services, provide clean drinking water, and allow the production of water-intensive goods and services. The state of available water resources must be analyzed through the lens of water security, defined as the capability to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for people, the economy, and ecosystems. Mountain regions are sources of freshwater resources for downstream regions, which produce disproportionately higher runoff than downstream regions. As a result, mountain regions are often referred to as natural water towers …

A Framework For Near-Real Time Monitoring Of Diversity Patterns Based On Indirect Remote Sensing, With An Application In The Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, Andrea Paz, Thiago S. Silva, Ana C. Carnaval

Publications and Research

Monitoring biodiversity change is key to effective conservation policy. While it is difficult to establish in situ biodiversity monitoring programs at broad geographical scales, remote sensing advances allow for near-real time Earth observations that may help with this goal. We combine periodical and freely available remote sensing information describing temperature and precipitation with curated biological information from several groups of animals and plants in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest to design an indirect remote sensing framework that monitors potential loss and gain of biodiversity in near-real time. Using data from biological collections and information from repeated field inventories, we demonstrate that …

Framework For Sustainable Pastoral Management - Revised Edition, R Fletcher

Natural resources published reports

This Framework for sustainable pastoral management, revised edition (the Framework) describes the contemporary risk-based approach that is now being used within Western Australia (WA) to ensure management of the State’s pastoral estate meets the principles of ecologically sustainable development (ESD). Development of the Framework was undertaken as part of the Pastoral Lands Reform project initiated by the WA Government in response to the Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG 2017) report, Management of pastoral lands in Western Australia. The Framework was developed by DPIRD with input from the Interagency Steering Committee (ISC – which included senior representatives of the WA …

Framework For Sustainable Pastoral Management - Land Condition Version, R Fletcher

Natural resources published reports

This document outlines the revised edition of the Framework for sustainable pastoral management, with a particular emphasis on the land condition components, including the monitoring, assessment and compliance processes. These processes are now being used to guide the management of land condition on all pastoral leases and stations within Western Australia (WA), which cover 860,000 km2 and represents over 40% of WA’s extensive rangeland area.

Addressing Rice Waste In University Cafeterias Using Material Flow Analysis And System Dynamics Modeling, Abigail Marie T. Favis, Charlotte Kendra Z. Gotangco-Gonzales, Ana Erika Lareza

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Food waste has emerged as one of the focus areas in sustainability research. At the Ateneo de Manila University, previous studies have found that food waste is composed mainly of rice. This study, therefore, analyzed cafeteria rice systems in the university through a material flow analysis (MFA) to identify key factors for formulating effective rice waste reduction techniques and then applied the results toward developing system dynamics (SD) models as tools for decision-making. The MFA found that the total mass of produced known rice waste was 49.48 kg/d. The largest sources of rice wastes were the upstream processes of the …

How Can Microgrids Help The Philippines’ Energy Transition? Adapting The Institutional Analysis And Development (Iad) Framework For Microgrid Development, John Charles A. Altomonte, Hannah Sofia Guinto

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

The Philippine energy sector remains plagued with issues of energy security, high electricity costs, and vulnerable grid infrastructure. This paper argues for the increased uptake of microgrids as a solution for these issues, using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework as a guide for microgrid policy. We begin this paper with an analysis of existing energy policies in the Philippines, highlighting a lacking integrated approach for energy security. The main discussion explores the IAD framework for microgrid development in the Philippines, identifying key barriers and dynamics among institutions and actors in the local energy sector. We then conclude with …

Determinants Of Sustainability: A Case Of Piloting Isard Models In Oriental Mindoro And Leyte, Philippines, Pedcris M. Orencio, Anna Gale Vallez, Ruth Jazrel M. Bandong

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

SEARCA, in its 10th five-year plan (10th FYP), implemented the program, Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (ISARD). A pilot project was undertaken in a specific rural community following a well-defined scheme for an agroecosystem and through the integration of four inter-related components, technical assistance, capacity building, knowledge management, and linkage and networking. After the completion in 2020, evidences of well-developed agricultural system capable of contributing to the goals of food security and poverty alleviation emerged. In its 11th FYP, SEARCA endeavors to scale out the ARD model project in the Southeast Asian region. But, how will this benefit …

A Systematic, Holistic And Transdisciplinary Energy Management Framework To Promote Environmentally Sustainable Shipyards, Seyedvahid Vakili

World Maritime University Ph.D. Dissertations

Shipbuilding is an energy-intensive industry and has negative environmental impacts. Given the contribution of the production phase to ships' air emissions throughout their life cycle, there is no international regulation to monitor, control or reduce air emissions during this phase. However, it may be covered by State’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. Achieving a zero-emission shipping industry requires a broader, holistic, systematic and "cradle to grave" approach that takes into account the life cycle of the ship, from production to scrapping.

The aim of the study is to develop to a holistic and systematic approach to reducing …

Environmental Effects On Constructed Wetland Microbial Diversity And Function In The Context Of Wastewater Management, Sandrine Grandmont-Lemire

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Microbial communities play a crucial role in ecosystems, yet we know little about how microbial diversity influences ecosystem functioning. An important gap in our understanding is how environmental change affects microbial Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function relationships (BEF). These complex interactions between microbial biodiversity and ecosystem function can influence major biogeochemical processes, such as the nitrogen cycle in wetland ecosystems, which play an important role in managing wastewater. To address the effect of biodiversity on function, my study investigates the BEF relationships between microbial diversity and the function in terms of ammonia removal from wastewater at the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Facility (AWTF) both …

Coastal Waccamaw Stormwater: Education Consortium, Kove Lambert

Goal 1: No Poverty

No abstract provided.

Gaia Contributions To Agroecology By James Lovelock (1919-2022), Steve Gliessman, Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In writing about the history of agroecology we too often ignore the valuable contributions of British scientist James Lovelock who recently died on his 103rd birthday. A prolific inventor and influential theorist, Lovelock is best known for the Gaia hypothesis first proposed during his innovative work in the 1960s with the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He suggested that ‘the biosphere has a regulatory effect on the Earth’s environment that acts to sustain life’ as written in Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (Lovelock 1979). Lovelock further proposed that humans have strongly impacted the planet’s capacity …

Comparison Effect On Biogas Production From Vegetable And Fruit Waste With Rumen Digesta Through Co-Digestion Process, Anika Tasnim, Muhammad Rashed Al Mamun, Md Anwar Hossen, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Md Janibul Alam Soeb

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Biogas is the best renewable energy as it can be produced from any biomass for example any plant or living organism. The purpose of this research was to produce biomethane from co-digestion of vegetable and fruit waste with rumen digesta through anaerobic digestion process. In this research, two trials of experiment were conducted. Each trial has three different sample with different mixing ratios. Raw materials used in the experiment was rumen digesta of goat and cow, potato, capsicum, cucumbers, onions, radish, cauliflower, carrot, leafy vegetables, apple, banana, and papaya. In each sample, 1200 gram of raw materials were used. Hydraulic …

The Site Evaluation Of Quercus Alba Metabolites, Zachary Alexander Byrd

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Quercus alba has been the prominent tree species utilized in the spirits industry for decades. Of its many qualities, the ability to impart desirable flavors on spirits combined with its natural abundance makes it the ideal choice for barrels. Creating barrels is a uniform process, but variability still exists in aged spirits even when all other parameters are controlled. In this thesis, I explore how the origin of Quercus alba influences metabolite variability.

Quercus alba is a resilient species that can grow in many climates. This is seen through Quercus alba’s vast growing range, of which barrel quality white oak …

Perceived Social And Environmental Impacts Of The Maya Train Project On The Yucatan Peninsula Of Mexico: A Case Study Of Puerto Morelos, Emely Hernandez Yac

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The Maya Train Project (MTP) is a new national megaproject in Mexico, meant to connect the perimeter of the Yucatan Peninsula, and facilitate easier transportation for tourism, industry, and agriculture. Given the region’s dependence on tourism, the train will accelerate the growth, as well as the social and environmental impacts of tourism in the region. Globally, the tourism industry has resulted in inequitable social and environmental impacts for the local communities and there is concern that this new Maya Train Project will serve to accelerate uneven development in the region. This project focused on the coastal tourist city of Puerto …

Balancing Supercapacitor Voltages In Modular Bidirectional Dc–Dc Converter Circuits, Robert Alfie S. Peña, Alaa Hijazi, Pascal Venet, Florian Errigo

Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering Faculty Publications

At present, passive balancing methods dominate energy storage applications, however, they suffer from a long balancing duration. In this article, we took advantage of a modular architecture, where several modular power converters replace a central dc–dc converter for fast charging and balancing of a supercapacitor stack. A strategy has been proposed to control how power is shared among the converters during the charging period in order to balance the supercapacitors. However, some converters enter control saturation due to voltage differences between supercapacitors caused by their nonuniform conditions and characteristics. The originality of this article lies in taking into account the …

Developing An Open Database To Support Forensic Investigation Of Disasters In South East Asia: Forinsea V1.0, Andres Payo, Raushan Arnhardt, Angelo Carlo R. Galindo, Pham Van Dong, Ma. Aileen Leah G. Guzman, Yasmin O. Hatta, Andrew Bevan, Jose Claro N. Monje

Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering Faculty Publications

This article describes the development of a bespoke database, FORINSEA1.0, created to address the need for a systematic curation of information needed for the descriptive phase of the FORIN approach and its application to two study areas in the South East Asia region. FORINSEA1.0 allows researchers, for the first time, to explore and make use of subnational, geocoded data on major disasters triggered by natural hazards (flooding, earthquake, landslide and meteorological hazards) since 1945 until 2020 in the hydrological catchment of the Red River in Vietnam and the Marikina Basin in the Philippines. FORINSEA1.0 also contains relevant subnational information on …

The Imperatives Of Political Will For Revenue Diversification In Delta State Nigeria, Benson Chukwuweike Ojoko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Proceeds from crude oil export account for about 90% of the revenue of the federal, state, and local governments in Nigeria. Given the vagaries of the international oil market, scholars have advocated the need for the government to look beyond oil for other revenue sources with little or no success to date. Despite the plethora of research on the phenomenon of political will, there is no research on how the construct affects revenue diversification at the subnational level. This study examined how central political will is in the design of expansionary revenue policies in Delta State, Nigeria. Developing an understanding …

Catch My Drift? Perceptions And Experiences Of Pesticide Contamination Of Organic Crops In Montana, Sarah Rodgers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Pesticide drift and inadvertent contamination pose particular risks to organic production. Some organic producers have lost their crops, certification, and/or organic markets because of contamination events. Through this thesis research, I explain the perceptions and experiences that certified organic farmers in Montana have about drift and inadvertent pesticide contamination. I conducted semi-structured interviews with eleven certified organic farmers from various regions of Montana. Along with one-on-one interviews with organic farmers, interviews with industry and regulatory officials were conducted to better understand the policies and procedures that control what happens when drift occurs at the state level. Industry and regulatory official …

Climbing The Economic Ladder - Doing Business In Saint Vincent And The Grenadines Using Sdg-Related Policies, Romena Tamira L.V. Browne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Through Invest SVG, a statutory body under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, and Information Technology, the government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was seeking to develop a policy environment that was conducive to optimal growth for private sector development, in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals. The outcomes of such endeavors may include but are not limited to higher levels of employment, revenue generation, and economic growth. In this study, two primary areas were addressed: the regulatory weaknesses for doing business in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, using the criteria outlined in The Ease of …

Healthcare Management Strategies For Achieving Sustainable Departmental Productivity Improvements, Timothy Hargrove

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare organizations’ leaders' lack of strategies to effectively deploy and monitor departments’ productivity goals affect overall organizations’ performance. Healthcare leaders who fail to deploy and monitor departmental productivity strategies effectively are limited to enhancing healthcare organizations’ performance outcomes. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies healthcare organizations’ leaders use to effectively identify, deploy, and monitor departments’ goals for improving their overall organization's performance. The participants were 20 healthcare leaders who successfully demonstrated success in improving their organizations’ departmental-specific productivity performance. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of …

Strategies Small-And Medium-Sized Enterprise Leaders Use For Sustainability Beyond 5 Years In Rivers State, Olawe Alaba Tula

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders lacking sustainability strategies experience high rates of business failure through loss of profit. A high rate of SME failure is linked to a lack of competitive advantage, resulting in decreased productivity and profitability. Grounded in resource-based view theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies that three SME leaders in Rivers State used to sustain their businesses beyond 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and company documents, including employee handbooks and annual reports. The three themes that emerged through thematic analysis were strategic management, stakeholder management strategies, …

Leadership Strategies For Sustainability Of Small And Medium Enterprises In Swaziland, Lizzy Oluwatoyin Taiwo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractSmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an essential role in national and global economic growth. Lack of leadership strategies can negatively impact the sustainability and growth of SMEs. Business owners who implement appropriate leadership strategies can ensure the sustainability of their SMEs. Grounded in transformational leadership theory and sustainability development theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore leadership strategies owners of SMEs use to ensure the sustainability of their organizations. The participants were four owners of SMEs within the four regions in Swaziland who successfully used leadership strategies to enhance the sustainability of their organizations. …

The Impact Of Funding On Organizational Sustainability Of Mental Health Nonprofits In The County Of Orange, California, Sophia E. Valdez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a gap in literature regarding sustainment of mental health programs following budget reductions. Customarily, decreases in budgets have been presumed to be connected to decreases in sustainability. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to describe the impact that a decrease in Proposition 63 funding had on nonprofit sustainability in the County of Orange, California. In 2004, California lawmakers enacted Prop 63 to revitalize the public mental health system. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research was used as the conceptual framework for this study. This tool can be used to measure data in five categories; intervention, inner …

External Stakeholder Relationship Strategies For Increasing Nonprofit Organizations' Financial Viability, Henry Ayoola Olofinmoyin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractA business leader’s ability to establish and sustain effective relationships with organizational stakeholders affects business competitiveness and sustainability. Some executives of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) lack strategies to build relationships with external stakeholders to achieve financial viability for their organizations. Grounded in stakeholder theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies NPO executives use to build relationships with their organization's external stakeholders to achieve their organization's financial viability objectives. The participants were three senior executives of an NPO in Mississippi, United States, who have successfully managed financial viability objectives using external stakeholder relationship strategies for 3 …

Policy Sustainability Issues: Case Study Of Cassava Farmers In Ikorodu. Lagos, Nigeria, Medinat Oluwatoyin Adetunji

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The inconsistency and lack of continuity of Nigeria's agricultural policies impact the cassava sector. Despite being the world's biggest producer, the country is yet to benefit from the advantage due to a lack of sustainable growth. The situation manifests in terms of low productivity, low production level, and poor income to the farmers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences and perceptions of the cassava farmers on cassava policies and the effect on their income and livelihoods in the Ikorodu local government of Lagos State. This qualitative study adopted a case study research design using participatory …