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Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

The University of Maine

Maine

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Full-Text Articles in Civic and Community Engagement

Grassroots Diplomacy And Vernacular Law: The Discourse Of Food Sovereignty In Maine, John Welton May 2017

Grassroots Diplomacy And Vernacular Law: The Discourse Of Food Sovereignty In Maine, John Welton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies the discourse of food sovereignty in Maine, a coalition of small-scale farmers, consumers, and citizens building an alternative food system based on a distributed form of production, processing, selling, purchasing, and consumption. This distribution occurs at the municipal level through the enactment of ordinances. Using critical-rhetorical field methods, I argue that the discourse of food sovereignty in Maine develops a ‘constitutive’ rhetoric that composes rural society through affective relationships. Advocates engage the industrial food system to both expose its systemic bias against small-scale farming and construct their own discourse of belonging. Based upon agrarian values such as …


Libraries In The Community: Changing Opportunities, Stephanie Zurinski, Valerie Osborne, Mamie Anthoine-Ney, Janet Mckenney Jan 2013

Libraries In The Community: Changing Opportunities, Stephanie Zurinski, Valerie Osborne, Mamie Anthoine-Ney, Janet Mckenney

Maine Policy Review

When libraries first began, books were scarce and expensive. We live now in the Information Age. Public expectations about information are rapidly evolving. To remain relevant, libraries are expanding on sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s “Third Place” concept – public spaces which are “anchors of community life and important places for civic engagement”. Libraries have always offered a place for the community to come together. Now, libraries are becoming destinations by offering experiences ranging from the traditional story-telling to creation spaces and business incubators. Even with all the changes occurring in the world, libraries will remain the glue that holds the community …


Advancing Science And Improving Quality Of Place: Linking Knowledge With Action In Maine’S Sustainability Solutions Initiative, Damon Hall, Linda Silka, Laura Lindenfeld Jan 2012

Advancing Science And Improving Quality Of Place: Linking Knowledge With Action In Maine’S Sustainability Solutions Initiative, Damon Hall, Linda Silka, Laura Lindenfeld

Maine Policy Review

The authors give an overview of how research carried out through Maine’s Sustainabilty Solutions Initiative (SSI) improves traditional models of science by providing a fuller picture of the interaction between social and ecological systems. They provide examples of university-community research partnerships, where there is a continuous communication and feedback process that identifies problems and develops projects with a solutions-oriented focus. SSI projects, they argue, “focus on issues that may make lasting improvements to Maine’s quality of place.”


Building Statewide Community-University Partnerships: Working With The Maine Municipal Association, Karen Hutchins, Eric Conrad Jan 2012

Building Statewide Community-University Partnerships: Working With The Maine Municipal Association, Karen Hutchins, Eric Conrad

Maine Policy Review

Karen Hutchins and Eric Conrad’s “dialogue” illustrates the relationship between researchers from the University of Maine and the Maine Municipal Association (MMA). The stimulus for this unfolding relationship was the administration of a survey by the Sustainability Solutions Initiative Knowledge-to-Action group to Maine town officials about their experiences with, interest in, and preferences for university-community partnerships. Although municipal officials are interested in such partnerships, Hutchins and Conrad point out the need for improved communication and relationships with officials, so that they recognize researchers’ abilities (and limitations) in addressing municipal concerns.


Research For The Sustainable Development Of Tidal Power In Maine, Teresa Johnson, Gayle B. Zydlewski Jan 2012

Research For The Sustainable Development Of Tidal Power In Maine, Teresa Johnson, Gayle B. Zydlewski

Maine Policy Review

Generating electricity from Maine’s substantial tides has been a dream for generations. Today, the state is poised for a new era in sustainable tidal-power development. A pilot project is already underway in the Cobscook Bay/Western Passage area near Eastport and Lubec. Tidal-power development presents technical, environmental, and social challenges, however, and the authors discuss how the Maine Tidal Power Initiative is working to develop a cooperative framework that integrates stakeholders, developers, and policymakers to tackle some of these challenges.


The Opportunities And Threats Of Coastal Development: An Mpr Roundtable Discussion, Paul Anderson Jan 2000

The Opportunities And Threats Of Coastal Development: An Mpr Roundtable Discussion, Paul Anderson

Maine Policy Review

In May 2000, nine discussants—each with a unique perspective on coastal development—convened to explore changes occurring on the Maine coast, whether those changes are consistent with what Maine people want, and what looming issues invite further debate and creative problem solving. Their discussion spanned a range of sensitive issues including aquaculture development, the displacement of traditional economies, the effects of development on coastal wildlife populations, and the reality of diminishing public access to the coast. All agreed that with vision and careful planning we have an opportunity to shape the future of the Maine coast, but the jury is out …


Assessing Public Participation In Maine: The Old And The New In Civic Involvement, David D. Platt Jan 1992

Assessing Public Participation In Maine: The Old And The New In Civic Involvement, David D. Platt

Maine Policy Review

Lack of citizen participation in American government is a complaint frequently voiced by politicians, political scientists and media commentators. The steady decline in voting, the rising number of Americans who say they are disaffected with their government, and the increase in two-earner households all have been cited as evidence of this decreased involvement by Americans in public life. Maine, with its long tradition of participatory democracy, reflected in town meeting government at the local level, is not necessarily a microcosm of what is occurring nationally. The state has, however, experienced its share of some of the civic maladies note nationally, …


Social Impact Summary : Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project / Prepared For The Department Of The Army, Corps Of Engineers, New England Division, Edward C. Jordan Company, Inc. Jan 1977

Social Impact Summary : Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project / Prepared For The Department Of The Army, Corps Of Engineers, New England Division, Edward C. Jordan Company, Inc.

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project

The Dickey-Lincoln Hydroelectric Dam is a water resources project proposed by the Federal Government (U. S. Army Corps of Engineers). Therefore, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Corps of Engineers is required to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the project. A federal plan or project such as Dickey-Lincoln should take into account its effect upon man's health, safety, welfare and economic well-being, as well as effects upon the surrounding environment. More importantly, project plans should be evaluated in a "manner calculated to encourage harmony between man and his environment." In other words, project plans or …