Sustainability Commons^™

Growing Pains Or Opportunities? A Customer Survey Of Three Farmers' Markets In One Rural Community, Randall K. Wilson, Paul A. Di Salvo, Claire E. Quinn, Suzanne T. Englot, Julia P. Mitchell

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

The continued growth of farmers' markets is presenting new challenges to Extension. As the number of markets expands, how can Extension help those in the same community work together for mutual benefit? The study reported here examined similarities and differences among customers attending three different farmers' markets within a single locality in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Based on 370 customer surveys, study results underscore the diversity of markets operating within the same community and provide insights into ways Extension might assist markets to work together to expand their shared customer base, increase revenues, and better serve local residents.

Droughtscape, Spring 2014, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

Outlook . 2

Drought climate recap 3

Drought impacts .

DroughtAtlas

Missouri River Basin pilot 9

NASA Horn of Africa project 10

U2U tools and social science . 12

Consulting for Turkey 14

Czech drought monitoring 14

Trouble In Paradise: State Of Coastal Erosion Of Unguja Tourist Destinations Shoreline Analysis And Community Responses Of Nungwi And Paje Beaches, Emily Pitman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Beach erosion is a significant problem facing the coastlines of Zanzibar. This study addresses the current status of coastal erosion for the beaches of Paje and Nungwi, Unguja Island, Zanzibar. These sites were selected for their popularity as tourist destinations and likelihood of significant anthropogenic influence on shoreline change. Field observations were made and indicators of erosion were recorded during transects in both locations. Sediment samples were collected at fixed intervals along the transects and then analyzed statistically for grain size distribution trends at the Institute of Marine Science. Interviews were conducted with village residents to determine community response, and …

Study Of The Sustainbility Issues Of Food Production Using Vertical Farm Methods In An Urban Environment Within The State Of Indiana, Victor Mendez Perez

Open Access Theses

There are several problems around the globe related to water scarcity, energy shortages, deforestation and loss of fertile land, and food security. Climate change is making environmental and social issues arise. Issues such as, changes in the agricultural landscape, increasing population (9 billion is the expected population for 2040), rising food borne illnesses, scarcity of drinking water, and more crop failure due to plant pathogens and insect pests, among other factors make this study specially significant. Vertical farming could be a potencial solution to some of these problems.

Due to these problems the present thesis analyzed vertical farming as a …

Deforestation Of Cloud Forest In The Central Highlands Of Guatemala: Soil Erosion And Sustainability Implications For Q'Eqchi' Maya Communities, Ian Christopher Pope

Open Access Theses

Understanding the nexus between deforestation, food production, land degradation, and culture contributes knowledge that is useful for development practitioners working to enhance conservation and food security. Documenting deforestation and soil erosion in the Sierra Yalijux and Sierra Sacranix in the Central Highlands of Guatemala adds new knowledge about the rates and dynamics of deforestation and land degradation in areas with unique and sensitive cloud forest ecosystems. It also suggests possible areas of emphasis for efforts targeted at combining cloud forest conservation with sustainability for indigenous Q'eqchi' communities. In addition, this work contributes to a small but growing body of literature …

Retrofiting Lid Practices Into Existing Neighborhoods: Is It Worth It?, Timothy Wright

Open Access Theses

Low impact development (LID) practices are gaining popularity as a way to manage stormwater close to the source. This reduces infrastructure requirements and helps to maintain hydrologic processes close to predevelopment conditions. Studies have shown LID practices to be effective in reducing runoff and improving water quality. However, little has been done to aid decision makers in selecting the most effective practices for their needs and budgets.

To this end, the L-THIA LID model has been applied. Using readily available data sources, multiple scenarios can quickly be examined, and then analyzed to determine the cost of implementation and the approximate …

Examining Sustainability Attitudes And Practices Among Overthe-Road Logistics Companies Operating In Indiana, Robert Louis Crull Iii

Open Access Theses

This research study takes a look at the sustainable attitude/awareness level and practices of over-the-road logistics companies operating in Indiana. It has a descriptive study design, providing information in an area that has not been previously analyzed. As the world adopts a "greener" mindset with the purpose of reducing the carbon footprint, this study helps lead the way towards this goal. It allows for the performance of further research into the reasons certain companies focus on sustainable practices more than others. Eventually, the hope is to increase the amount of companies operating sustainably.

The research study included an in-depth literature …

A Metaevaluation Of Energy Efficiency Evaluations, Brandy Brown

Dissertations

This study systematically reviews the methodological characteristics of energy efficiency evaluations and uses metaevaluation to assess its quality. Metaevaluation is used to systematically assess the quality of evaluation products, confirm that evaluations deliver sound findings and conclusions, are useful to the client, are credible, are ethically conducted, and are done as cost-effective as possible. The results of this study show that the ability to accurately assess evaluation for methodological quality using evaluations reports as a primary data source depends on the presence of detailed descriptions of evaluation methods. Furthermore, the study suggests that methodological variations of energy efficiency evaluations coalesce …

Assessing The Homogenization Of Urban Land Management With An Application To Us Residential Lawn Care, Colin Polsky, J. Morgan Grove, Chris Knudson, Peter M. Groffman, Neil D. Bettez, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Sharon J. Hall, James B. Heffernan, Sarah E. Hobbie, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Christopher Neill, Kristen C. Nelson, Laura A. Ogden, Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne, Diane E. Pataki, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Meredith K. Steele

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Changes in land use, land cover, and land management present some of the greatest potential global environmental challenges of the 21st century. Urbanization, one of the principal drivers of these transformations, is commonly thought to be generating land changes that are increasingly similar. An implication of this multiscale homogenization hypothesis is that the ecosystem structure and function and human behaviors associated with urbanization should be more similar in certain kinds of urbanized locations across biogeophysical gradients than across urbanization gradients in places with similar biogeophysical characteristics. This paper introduces an analytical framework for testing this hypothesis, and applies the framework …

Sustainable Energy And Nutrient Recovery From Swine Waste, Adib Amini

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Swine production represents approximately 40% of the world's meat production, and swine wastes contain high concentrations of organic matter, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Swine production is intensifying as meat demand increases and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are becoming increasingly common, making it difficult to treat the waste generated. A system for holistic treatment of swine waste produced in CAFOs was investigated in this study that sustainably generates energy and recovers N and P as saleable fertilizers. The system uses anaerobic digestion (AD) for methane production and solids stabilization, followed by precipitation of struvite (MgNH4PO4*6H2O) and recovery of N …

A Global Investigation Of Stakeholder And Contextual Influences On Firm Engagement In Sustainability, Annette M. Nemetz

Dissertations and Theses

Global sustainability issues cross all sectors of society, including businesses, governments, and communities and come with substantial costs. Business organizations are increasingly expected to address sustainability issues in a responsible manner and to disclose socially responsible behaviors accurately and transparently, showing that they are effective at managing and being proactive about sustainability challenges. In light of these pressures and expectations for business organizations, the fundamental research question for this study was whether variation existed in the levels of engagement in sustainability efforts across firms globally, and, more importantly, why such variation existed.

The level of strategic firm engagement in sustainability …

Coastal And Ocean Economic Summaries Of The Coastal States 2014, Pat Johnston

Publications

The following summaries of the ocean and coastal economies were prepared by the National Ocean Economics Program as a companion the State of the U.S. Ocean and Coastal Economies 2014. The U.S. report, its appendices, and these state summary reports are available on the NOEP website at www.OceanEconomics.org/download.

Examining Potential Residential Participation In Financial Incentives To Mitigate Impervious Surface Effects In Howard County, Maryland, Kristin M. Larson, Jim Caldwell, Alexander Cloninger

Suburban Sustainability

Maryland passed legislation to reduce impervious surface effects and stormwater runoff by mandating a remediation fee for ten of its counties. Along with the fee, mandated counties may use funds generated to encourage residents to follow stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs). This study uses Maryland's Howard County as a case study to examine the potential participation of its residents in financial incentives for the BMPs of rain gardens, cisterns, and permeable pavers. A survey was issued to gauge potential participation of homeowners (n=110), and results were then compared to participation numbers in three similar already implemented financial incentive programs. Results …

Umphlett Qci March 2014, Natalie Umphlett

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Highlights for the Basin

Temperature and Precipitation Anomalies

Mountain Snowpack

Agriculture

Tourism and Recreation

Missouri Basin Flood Outlook

U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

Diverted Opportunity: Inequality And What The Southnorth Water Transfer Project Really Means For China, Britt Crow-Miller

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

The article discusses China’s South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) and argues that not only does the SNWTP reflect existing spatially articulated power discrepancies, but it reinforces and potentially exacerbates those inequalities by prioritizing Beijing’s present and future water needs above those of its neighbors and locking them in place for decades to come. Smaller, regional cities and rural areas — Shijiazhuang and Baoding in Hebei, Nanyang in Henan and the gritty, struggling towns and villages around Danjiangkou Reservoir — might have gained muchneeded jobs and government investment in the short term around the construction of the Middle Route, but without …

Riparian Vegetation Assemblages And Associated Landscape Factors Across An Urbanizing Metropolitan Area, Christa Von Behren, Andrew Evans Dietrich, J. Alan Yeakley

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

While diverse, native riparian vegetation provides important functions, it remains unclear to what extent these assemblages can persist in urban areas, and under what conditions. We characterized forested riparian vegetation communities across an urbanizing metropolitan area and examined their relationships with surrounding land cover. We hypothesized that native and hydrophilic species assemblages would correlate with forest cover in the landscape. For each of 30 sites in the Portland–Vancouver metro area, we recorded vegetation at 1-cm intervals along 3 transects using the line-intercept method. Land cover was characterized at 2 scales: within 500 m of each site and across the entire …

Slides: “Human Sustainability” In Natural Resources Industries: The New Frontier In Compliance, Social Responsibility, Disclosure, And Transparency, T. Markus Funk

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: T. Markus Funk, Partner, Perkins Coie

21 slides

Slides: Thoughts On Regulatory Mechanisms For Natural Resource Development: Alternatives To Command And Control, Including A Look At Open Source Approaches, Stanley Dempsey

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: Stanley Dempsey, Chairman, Royal Gold

17 slides

Agenda: Natural Resource Industries And The Sustainability Challenge, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, University Of Colorado Boulder. The Colorado Law Energy Innovation Initiative

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

"An International Conference hosted by The Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment and The Colorado Law Energy Innovation Initiative."

For more than two decades, sustainability has gained currency as a broad organizing principle for efforts to develop and use energy, natural resources, and the environment in ways that allow society to meet its needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. More recently, sustainability has been embraced by businesses across multiple sectors as part of a broader movement of corporate social responsibility. Hardly a day goes by without news of another corporate initiative …

Slides: Comments Of Jeff Bingaman, Jeff Bingaman

Natural Resource Industries and the Sustainability Challenge (Martz Winter Symposium, February 27-28)

Presenter: Jeff Bingaman, former Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and U.S. Senator from New Mexico

6 slides