Sustainability Commons^™

Session 4: Atlanta Beltline, Art Lansing, Rob Turner, Jim Langford, Kristen Lohse, Claire Martini

SITIE Symposiums

ABSTRACT: What Would it Take to Connect All of Greater Seattle’s Neighborhoods with Walking and Biking Trails?

Major U.S. cities have endeavored, independently of each other, over the past several decades to create greenway systems connecting residents and visitors with neighborhoods and attractions, increasing opportunities for walking and biking and reducing their reliance on vehicular traffic. Atlanta’s BeltLine--a twenty-two-mile loop of historic railroad right-of-ways encircling the city’s downtown and midtown areas, seeks to reinvent the city if transformed into a green corridor—is perhaps one of the best examples of how a Seattle Greenway might be accomplished (although Atlanta’s concerted …

Session 3: Virtual Luncheon Session, Student Submissions

SITIE Symposiums

A Working Lunch brainstorming discussion, moderated by Professor Smirniotopoulos, to discuss “What Comes Next?” in the context of Innovating the Built Environment: How the Law Responds to Disruptive Change.

Registered students in Prof. Smirniotopoulos’s Innovating the Built Environment course will take one-to-two minutes each to present their initial project ideas for their Final Projects in the course, as well as outlining and moderating a discussion of the Challenges and Opportunities presented by their ideas. Symposium participants are encouraged to set up lunch in front of their computers and participate actively in discussing each student’s project idea, providing relevant …

Session 2: Wework, Ryan Mathisen, Peter Smirniotopoulos, Paul Swegle

SITIE Symposiums

ABSTRACT: When Worlds Collide: How an 86-Year Old Federal Law (The Securities Act of 1933) Exposed the Flaws in WeWork’s “Innovative Business Model.”

Co-working pioneer WeWork, a wholly owned subsidiary of The We Company, grew meteorically through an extremely aggressive building and master-lease acquisition strategy over the past several years. Substantial, early stage funding from SoftBank, a Japan-based high-tech venture capital investment bank, reinforced WeWork’s unicorn status. But was WeWork’s business model truly unique, bringing with it the promise of a very profitable real estate operating company in the future? Or was it the company’s early stage, venture …

Session 1: Crew Seattle Presentation, Emily Alvarado, Jeanne Marie Coronado, Tory Laughlin Taylor, Colin Morgan-Cross

SITIE Symposiums

ABSTRACT: Is there Still a Place in Seattle for the Single-Family Detached Housing Typology, Given the Acute Need for Affordable Housing?

This expert panel will explore the intersection between existing zoning laws and well-established neighborhood patterns of development, on the one hand, and the acute need for the increased production and availability of affordable housing, in the greater Seattle area, including in and near the City of Seattle’s Central Business District, as well as other close-in employment centers, on the other hand. The genesis of this Special Topic in the Innovating the Built Environment SITIE2020 course came out of …

Opening Session, Annette Clark, Steven Bender, Peter Smirniotopoulos

SITIE Symposiums

The SITIE2020 Symposium: Innovating the Built Environment was offered entirely online, through the Zoom platform. Each of six (6) symposium sessions, outlined below, were offered in a continuous Zoom session with breaks throughout the day, allowing our audience to select those sessions of greatest interest to them. Students enrolled in Professor Smirniotopoulos’s Summer Institute course—Innovating the Built Environment: How the Law Responds to Disruptive Change—participated all day.

Proceedings Of The Sitie2020 Symposium, Seattle Journal Of Technology, Environmental, And Innovation Law

SITIE Symposiums

Complete Summary of Proceedings.

A Hydrometeorological Assessment Of The Historic 2019 Flood Of Nebraska, Iowa, And South Dakota, Paul Xavier Flanagan, Rezaul Mahmood, Natalie Umphlett, Erin M.K. Haacker, Chittaranjan Ray, Bill Sorensen, Martha Shulski, Crystal J. Stiles, David Pearson, Paul Fajman

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

During early 2019, a series of events set the stage for devastating floods in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota. When the floodwaters hit, dams and levees failed, cutting off towns, while destroying roads, bridges, and rail lines, further exacerbating the crisis. Lives were lost and thousands of cattle were stranded. Estimates indicate that the cost of the flooding has topped $3 billion as of August 2019, with this number expected to rise.

After a warm and wet start to winter, eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota endured anomalously low temperatures and record-breaking snowfall. By March …

Numerical And Analytical Methods To Predict Behavior Of Reinforced Ductile Concrete Composites, Mandeep Pokhrel

Dissertations

Structural components constructed with ductile concrete composites, such as high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCC), are known to perform exceptionally well under extreme mechanical and environmental loading conditions compared to traditional concrete. HPFRCC flexural components exhibit enhanced performance in terms of displacement ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and damage tolerance capacity. However, recent research suggests that the flexural behavior of reinforced HPFRCCs in terms of crack progression, reinforcement plasticity, and failure mechanism is significantly different than conventional reinforced concrete. Specifically, the failure mode of flexural members is found to be predominantly through the fracture of longitudinal reinforcement rather than compression crushing of …

Collaboration And Evaluation In Urban Sustainability And Resilience Transformations: The Keys To A Just Transition?, Liliana Elizabeth Caughman

Dissertations and Theses

Climate has changed and will continue changing; city populations are swelling as urbanization continues to accelerate; extreme environmental events like heat waves and floods are becoming more severe and more common; and the climate justice movement is rapidly gaining momentum. It in this context that municipal governments find themselves urgently seeking solutions to transition cities from extractive, vulnerable, and unjust to sustainable, resilient, and equitable. The task is complex and will require systemic transformations across interconnected social, environmental, and economic infrastructures. Emerging theories regarding how to govern such massive changes suggest Transition Management strategies and the values of a just …

Storm Surges In The Bohai Sea: The Role Of Waves And Tides, Yuanyi Li, Huan Feng, Guillaume Vigouroux, Dekui Yuan, Guangyu Zhang, Xiaodi Ma, Kun Lei

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

A storm surge is a complex phenomenon in which waves, tide and current interact. Even though wind is the predominant force driving the surge, waves and tidal phase are also important factors that influence the mass and momentum transport during the surge. Devastating storm surges often occur in the Bohai Sea, a semi-enclosed shallow sea in North China, due to extreme storms. However, the effects of waves on storm surges in the Bohai Sea have not been quantified and the mechanisms responsible for the higher surges that affect part of the Bohai Sea have not been thoroughly studied. In this …

From Environmental Activism To Environmental Education A Historical Overview, Evaluations And A Suggestion For A Path Forward For The Religious Institutions As Partners For A Global Green Shift, Tom Sverre Tomren

Consensus

In this article, the author shows how all the major world religions have engaged in climate and environmental activism by developing theology and practical projects for more than fifty years. Using metadata from the European Social Survey, he shows that members of all religious traditions in Europe have become increasingly positive to the environment and nature. Especially noticeable is the increased engagement of Protestant Christians. Tomren uses a case study from the Lutheran Church in Norway to show how religious actors have a great influence on their own members. Against this background, the author argues that religious institutions should see …

Adam, Dust Of The Earth: A Paradise Received And Incomplete In The Biblical Accounts Of Creation. Some Philological Observations On The Creation Accounts, Jean Koulagna

Consensus

In Christian thinking about climate and environment issues, Dogmatic theology has often seemed to precede the exegesis of biblical texts. And when it is suggested, this exegesis is usually based on previously formulated theological conclusions. In other words, exegesis is there to support ethical stands that are no doubt laudable, but have been already established. Under these conditions, it becomes difficult to analyze those texts as they are and to understand them within the historical and anthropological contexts in which they were produced. This article attempts to break this trend by suggesting philological observations concerning the creation accounts in Genesis. …

Fetishized Nature Or Life-Giving Breath? Religion As Skill In Climate Change, Sigurd Bergmann

Consensus

Anthropogenic climate change and unsustainable modes of production, consumption and lifestyles represent one of the most demanding challenges facing Earth, our home and humanity. Therefore religious belief, faith communities and spiritual commitment are highly needed to prepare the ground for what has been described as the necessary “great transformation”. To achieve this transformation, we need a new climate narrative and iconography, supported by a broad alliance of local and trans-local social forces. Religion has a significant role to play in this mobilization. This article begins by depicting several reasons that religion is a crucial driving force in the needed great …

Introducing A Comparative Ecotheology: Islamic Concept Of Basmalah And Luther’S Commentary On The Ten Commandments, Sayed Hassan Akhlaq

Consensus

In our trying time of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper discusses current environmental concerns in light of critical questions about the relationship between God and Mother Earth. This paper addresses this question in an inter-religious context. In order to fulfil its original duty of inculcating spirituality, faith can build a bridge between God and people on a constructive understanding of the Earth. To this end, Christianity and Islam offer notions of divine grace and divine lutf to do this duty. In this paper, I examine two inspiring sources: the Islamic motto of Basmalah, and Luther’s commentary on the Ten Commandments …

Religious Environmental Stewardship, The Sabbath And Sustainable Futures In Africa: Implications For Sustainability Discourse, Ben-Willie Kwaku Golo

Consensus

In terms of goals and approaches, the potentials of religion and faith communities have had a prolonged marginalisation from the rather intense academic and political engagements in the suitability discourse with a consensus on the concept of sustainability as both an approach and a goal. In this paper, I argue that the highly religious African context would require a religiously inspired and phrased recourse towards a comprehensive sustainability, rather than a solely secular concept of environmental sustainability. This is much more so when environmental sustainability is largely a secular vision of a religious one – environmental stewardship. Ignoring the beliefs, …

Towards A Green Diapraxis: Experiences And Reflections From An Interfaith Journey, Einar Tjelle

Consensus

The article explores the increased cooperation and dynamic learning between religions during the last decades, on the themes of climate, environment and sustanability. Examples are given from a Norwegian interfaith context, but with global links as well. This cooperation has broadened the scope and perspectives of churches and religions. Contextual and holistic approaches have emerged as fruits of this mutual learning and exchange, the author claims. Pope Francis` encyclical Laudato Si` has captured important parts of this development with its strong message of interconnectedness and moral responsibility. It has also stimulated a wider religious and interfaith global commitment to Mother …

When Environmental Obligations Collide With State Sovereignty: An International And Sharia Law Perspective, Seyed Masoud Noori, Soheila Ebrahimi Louyeh

Consensus

This article critically reviews the notion of State sovereignty under international law and argues that to achieve eco-justice as well as sustainable development goals, a restrictive and ecological approach needs to be taken toward the principle of states’ permanent sovereignty over natural resources. Environmental sustainability requires states’ environmental obligations to be identified as erga omnes so they can be addressed toward the international community as a whole and fall within the scope of article 48 of the ILC Articles on States Responsibility. Interestingly, in complete alignment with this progressive interpretation, sustainable utilization of natural resources has a longstanding foundation in …

Sustainability And Religion, Chad Rimmer, Mary (Joy) Philip

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Ecology And Christian Education: How Sustainability Discourse And Theological Anthropology Inform Teaching Methods, Chad Rimmer

Consensus

This paper will sketch theoretical synergies between sustainability discourse and a Christian ecotheological approach to religious education, and point to pedagogical possibilities for bridging the two disciplines. Theology and natural science operate with certain anthropological assumptions. Those underlying anthropologies inform the teaching methods of environmental and religious education. Anthropologies that conceive of human being outside of ecological relationships are a root problem of our current ecological crisis. Many economic, political and social discourses colonize people from the land, particularly children, exacerbating the root causes of sustainability. This paper affirms that linking sustainability discourse and religious education is a way to …

Sustainability And Climate In Religion: A Case Of Study Of The Green Churches Network In Africa (Toile Des Églises Vertes En Afrique) Teva, Marcel Ngirinshuti

Consensus

Faced with the ecological crisis, many churches are involved in the search for concrete solutions. Since 2016, the Green Churches Network in Africa (TEVA), a network of churches, denominational structures and associations, which are committed to caring for the "common home" (planet-earth) in Africa. This organization currently has (as of 2019) 1,808 parishes grouped into 19 churches in 12 African countries. The vision of TEVA is to reach 2020 green parishes by the end of 2020. Starting with the fact that ecological questions are often perceived as utopian and very complex, TEVA aims to promote knowledge of African ecological issues …