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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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University of Massachusetts Amherst

Sustainability

2017

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Multi-Criteria Decision Making When Planning Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Routes In A Linear Corridor, Marie Louis Jul 2017

Multi-Criteria Decision Making When Planning Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Routes In A Linear Corridor, Marie Louis

Doctoral Dissertations

In urban and suburban locations, public transit can be seen as an effective mode of daily transportation. The majority of the time, travelers would seek the cheapest, shortest, and possibly most eco-friendly means of transit. When designing public transit network systems, transportation planners and decision-makers, with input from stakeholders, should strive to optimize transportation services to meet the needs of the population most efficiently and at the lowest cost, that is, providing a transportation system that s the three E's of the sustainability concept: environment, social equity, and economic. Previous studies have focused on sustainability as the primary concern in …

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Renewable Energy Investment And Employment In China, Ying Chen Jun 2017

Renewable Energy Investment And Employment In China, Ying Chen

PERI Working Papers

The potential trade-off between environmental protection and employment stability has been a concern in the literature. However, in the case of China, the employment issue has not been adequately addressed despite government’s big push on investing in renewable energy since 2007. This essay addresses the employment issue through estimating the relative employment impacts of renewable energy investments versus spending within the traditional fossil fuel sectors based on input-output modeling with China-specific data of sector and sub-sector weighting techniques. I find that spending within three segments of the renewable energy sectors—solar, wind and bioenergy, will produce in combination about twice as …

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Digital Initiatives Bootcamp: Launching Digital Projects At Small Institutions With Limited Resources, Amy Bocko May 2017

Digital Initiatives Bootcamp: Launching Digital Projects At Small Institutions With Limited Resources, Amy Bocko

ACRL New England Chapter Annual Conference

The modern library has seen a new area of our holdings and collection efforts emerge: unique digital collections. As our users’ needs and fluency with technology have changed, so have our library services and avenues for information delivery. Our users want digital materials at the ready, and they want them now! While our holdings have easily adapted to acquiring additional databases and new ebooks, how do we address the growing need for our unique materials to be digitized? Moreover, how do small, resource strapped institutions fulfill this need? Our directive is clear: our libraries need to commit to digital initiatives …

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The Role Of Placemaking In Sustainable Planning: A Case Study Of The East Side Of Cleveland, Ohio, Sarah Lang Mar 2017

The Role Of Placemaking In Sustainable Planning: A Case Study Of The East Side Of Cleveland, Ohio, Sarah Lang

Masters Theses

The notion of placemaking and sustainability are central to planning practice. However, is there a connection between the goals of sustainability and the impacts of placemaking initiatives? The ultimate goal of sustainable planning is the creation of a sustainable community which include the defining features of a healthy climate and environment, social wellbeing, and economic security. Yet, sustainable planning is heavily focused on the environment. Placemaking initiatives focus on underutilized space, permanently or temporarily highlighting location, locale, and sense, the three realms of place. In attempt to answer whether placemaking can contribute to sustainable planning, this research focuses on the …

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The Perfect Storm: Lasting Impacts Of Structural Adjustment Programs And Pressures Of Climate Change In Latin America And Ghana, Africa, Sam Kefferstan Jan 2017

The Perfect Storm: Lasting Impacts Of Structural Adjustment Programs And Pressures Of Climate Change In Latin America And Ghana, Africa, Sam Kefferstan

Student Showcase

This work examines the intersectionality of economic, social and environmental impacts of the International Monetary Fund’s and World Bank’s application of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) within Latin America and Ghana, Africa. Varying economic and social indicators illustrate the underperformance of SAPs in their intended mission to reduce poverty and debt in developing nations. This research argues Gross Domestic Product is an imperfect measure of improving quality of life and points towards other indicators such as increasing national debt, rising incidences of poverty, and exacerbated regional disparities to demonstrate the shortcomings of SAPs. This piece also investigates the limitations adjustment imposes …

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Umass Amherst Guide To Zero-Waste Events, Kevin J. Hollerbach, Ainsley Brosnan-Smith Jan 2017

Umass Amherst Guide To Zero-Waste Events, Kevin J. Hollerbach, Ainsley Brosnan-Smith

Student Showcase

As the University of Massachusetts Amherst continues to grow, and as programming for the campus community becomes an ever-rising priority, events organizers will need to consider the waste implications of every event to comply with state and University standards, goals, and policies. This "Guide to Zero-Waste Events" aims to streamline the planning process as well as provide tips and examples for follow-through to implementing a successful zero-waste event. The guide also presents actionable policy recommendations for the University to reduce waste and increase diversion from large-scale outdoor events on the UMass Amherst campus.

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