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Shipbreaking industrin i Chittagong, Bangladesh är i huvudsak en fråga om miljöorättvisa på grund av exporten av miljöproblem och risk. Föreliggande examensuppsats syftar till att fylla bristen på kvalitativ forskning kring ämnet. För närvarande har en av de viktigaste rösterna inte varit en del av den akademiska diskursen – rösten från individer som bor i områdena kring industrin. Det empiriska materialet samlades in med hjälp av semi-strukturerade intervjuer under en två månader mindre fältstudie i samhällena som ligger kring industrin. Resultatet synliggör respondenternas syn på industrin och visar hur de är påverkade av den. Ett tydligt mönster framträder ur materialet och förkroppsligar teorierna som visar hur risk och miljöproblem exporteras från center, dessa absorberas sen av individerna i periferin. Export av miljöproblem, fattigdom och ökade risker utgör en kausalitet och skapar miljöorättvisa. / The shipbreaking industry in Chittagong, Bangladesh is a matter of environmental injustice due to the export of environmental problems and risks. This thesis fills the current gap in research regarding qualitative material concerning the shipbreaking industry. Currently, one of the most important voice has not entered the academic discourse – the voice of the individuals living in the communities surrounding the industry. The empirical material was gathered by conducting semi-structured interviews during a two months field study in smaller communities around the shipbreaking yards. The result displays the respondent’s views on the industry, and show how they are affected by it. A clear pattern emerges and embodies the theories showing how risk and environmental problems are exported, these are then absorbed by individuals in the periphery. Export of environmental problems, poverty and increasing risks constitutes a causality and creates environmental injustice.

<p dir="ltr">Existing literature suggests that having gardens and trees in schoolyards has proven to be positive for student health. Tree canopies in schoolyards provide shade, mitigate urban heat island effects, reduce air, and noise pollution, and even improve mental well-being. Edible schoolyards can enhance children’s hands-on learning experience, foster stronger environmental stewardship, offer fresh food opportunities, and help develop healthier eating habits. However, the implementation of green and edible schoolyards in Indiana remains relatively low. This thesis aims to explore the current tree canopy and garden coverage within the school grounds to understand how these green spaces correlate with demographic factors such as race, income, and population density, aiming to identify potential inequities in the school environment creation. Moreover, it gathers green feature coverage data and staff perspectives to further investigate the potential of expanding different edible green features in schoolyards of the Indianapolis region.</p><p dir="ltr">This study included 167 public schoolyards in the research process. Geospatial data analytic and social science methods were utilized in this research. First, ArcGIS was used to analyze the spatial distribution pattern of school Tree Canopy Coverage (TCC) and garden existence. We also examined the relationships between TCC and garden existences to other demographic factors using R language to understand impact criteria and summarize future hurdles and opportunities. In the second method, online surveys were distributed to the same schools to understand the attitudes of school staff towards edible schoolyards. Some preliminary challenges were identified with the 35 responses collected, including funding mechanisms, collaboration limitations, and lack of integration into curriculums to allow valuable education. This research concludes with 2 case studies to represent two common typologies of schoolyards in Indianapolis, using interviews to gain a deeper understanding of further concerns and future working directions for green schoolyard advocates.</p>

Fish consumption advisories are increasingly being issued by state and municipal governments with concerns about pollution in local waterways. These advisories are developed to inform the public about the potential dangers of consuming excessive amounts of locally caught fish. They are not enforceable limits, however, and are only guidelines and suggestions on what are considered safe meal sizes, safe meal frequencies, and species fit for consumption. As a result, few efforts are made to determine how well these advisories are being followed. In order to determine the efficacy of such urban advisories, anglers are interviewed in Washington, DC on the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. Anglers are asked a number of questions pertaining to their fishing and consumption habits, advisory knowledge, and risk perceptions. The results suggest that several improvements can be made to better implement advisory efforts. Most importantly, minority anglers—particularly African-Americans—appear to be receiving the message in advisories, but are failing to comply with advisory recommendations. Cultural beliefs and influences, as well as information dissemination inadequacies, are cited as possible reasons for this failure. Lastly, strategies are presented that health and fisheries planners can use to better understand angler risk perception and better educate anglers about the risks of ignoring advisory recommendations. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Opioid use in pregnancy is the latest in a long list of social issues in the United States that is being addressed with punitive policies that disproportionately affect women of color and their families and do not focus on environmental factors contributing to increasing drug use in pregnancy. Evidence is emerging demonstrating that these punitive policies are not achieving their intended goals. Additionally, these policies continue a trend of pitting maternal and fetal interests against each other. Historically, bioethics has divided conversations on biomedical and environmental ethics. However, recent merging of these fields may facilitate the biopolitical translation of emerging epigenetics research of substance use in pregnancy. This paper reviews the ineffectiveness of punitive policies in reducing drug use in pregnancy and related negative health outcomes for both mothers and infants. It demonstrates how these policies perpetuate racial injustice through existing systemic oppressive structures. Leveraging epigenetics to draw a link between the environment and the maternal-fetal dyad can help members of the scientific community advocate for policies that promote equitable and justice-based public health interventions as well as relieve the maternal fetal conflict. / Urban Bioethics

This thesis studies the role of community cultural wealth (CCW), an asset-based framework, and environmental education (EE) to better understand how to support Black, Asian, and Latine individuals in their interactions with nature (chapter 1) and civic engagement related to the environment (chapter 2) - two activities that have been impacted by structural racism in the US. In the introduction, we give a brief overview of how historical segregation and structural racism impacts equity in outdoor spaces, how EE may be an avenue for increased equity in these spaces, a brief overview of CCW, and existing research on drivers of participation in nature-based activities and civic engagement related to the environment. In chapter 1, we use interviews and surveys to understand how CCW, EE, and the intersection of gender and race are associated with Black, Asian, and Latine individuals' participation in nature-based activities. We found that social connections, connections with organizations, family, community, and EE can provide the necessary skills, information, and emotional support to persist in nature-based activities. Using the same interviews and surveys, chapter 2 investigates how EE and CCW are associated with Black, Asian, and Latine participation in civic engagement related to the environment. The results of this study show that a knowledge of systems of oppression and the motivation to challenge those oppressive systems are important predictors for the civic engagement related to the environment of Black, Asian, and Latine individuals. Additionally, EE, social connections, community organizations, and family provide opportunities to participate in civic engagement related to the environment and the skills and information necessary to participate. The findings from this thesis contribute valuable insights to initiatives aimed at enhancing equity in nature-based activities and civic engagement related to the environment. Such efforts can provide individuals with the benefits of interactions with nature, equip them with tools to address adverse environmental impacts in their communities, and ultimately foster broader support for the environmental movement. Additionally, this study could help public land managers reach a broader portion of their constituents and stay relevant in a rapidly diversifying US. / Master of Science / In the face of global environmental crises such as climate change and biodiversity loss, scholars are pointing to nature-based recreation and civic engagement related to the environment as potential avenues for addressing these pressing issues. Positive interaction with nature not only provides cognitive, emotional, and physiological benefits to people, but also improves pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Civic engagement related to the environment benefits people and the planet as well – by creating more equitable and representative societies and by providing an avenue to address environmental issues. However, both nature-based recreation and civic engagement related to the environment have historically been impacted by structural racism and by the framing of the outdoor narrative in the US as a "White space", which still disproportionately impacts people's participation today. To help address these inequities, this thesis investigates the role of community cultural wealth (CCW), an asset-based framework, and environmental education (EE) in supporting Black, Asian, and Latine individual's participation in nature-based activities and civic engagement related to the environment. Results from semi-structured interviews and a nationwide survey showed that social connections, family ties, community organizations, and previous experiences with EE significantly influenced the involvement of Black, Asian, and Latine individuals in nature-based activities. These factors, along with an understanding of structures of oppression, were also important precursors to civic engagement related to the environment in our study. Our findings suggest that creating institutional opportunities (e.g., community organizations or affinity groups) for both nature interaction and civic engagement related to the environment may be a key method of diversifying outdoor spaces. Additionally, our results suggest that increasing equity within EE is necessary to expand its benefits.

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This paper seeks to establish and assess the link between microplastics and human rights. An empirical understanding of the topic is constructed through the collection and presentation of emerging research on the impact of microplastic pollution on the environment, health, well-being, and reproduction. A sociological and environmental justice perspective and understanding of the topic is established through a presentation of previous cases of pollution and issues of global health. These theoretical and empirical perspectives are then explored through the lens of a human rights framework to establish an understanding of the potential threat posed to human rights by the issue of microplastic pollution.

This research explores differences in environmental worldviews and connections to the land globally and more specifically in a case study of NGOs working in the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest. The aims of this project are to investigate different environmental worldviews expressed between western NGOs and non western local NGOs and to pose these questions 1) what environmental worldviews and ethics are at play in addressing conservation globally and specifically in the Cloud Forest of Ecuador? 2) How do these worldviews influence models for conservation? 3) How do locally-run projects differ from foreign NGOs in addressing the combined needs of the environment and the people in Ecuador? I work to establish a framework for comparing the environmental worldviews of foreign environmental NGOs that of local NGOs, by researching environmental worldviews around the world as influenced by culture, society, history and religion. By using research on case studies done by Jim Igoe, Carolyn Merchant, John Schelhas and Max Pfeffer, I explore the dominant Western worldview of conservation and how its introduction of the National Park model has impacted local communities globally. By comparing this Western worldview of conservation via preservation in National Parks to the nonwestern worldview of integrative models for conservation, I hope to establish a framework for how looking at conservation from the perspective of local communities may prove more beneficial to the future of conservation projects globally. This case study centers around four main community-based conservation projects in the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest and asks how their grassroots operations differ from the Ecuadorian National Park system in their efforts to educate and support local communities. This project proposes to dissect these projects designed by local and foreign NGOs to see how they are shaped by their environmental worldviews and whether that worldview includes just the needs of the environment or takes into account the needs of the people as well. This is done through a combination of participant observation and semi-structured open-ended interviews. All data in this ethnography is qualitative and draws on three bodies of literature that serve as frames or approaches to this topic: environmental worldviews, political ecology, and environmental justice. By using these three approaches I show that the environment and ultimately efforts for conservation do not exist within a vacuum but rather lay within a broader context of beliefs, society, and history. / Graduation date: 2012