The rural revolution, as coined by the Ontario Landowners' Association (OLA), has gained considerable momentum in the past five years. Its activism in the pursuit of environmental justice, initiated by the perception of a government too intrusive into rural affairs, has evolved both externally and internally of governmental decision making structures. The association has moved from primarily using purposeful illegality, such as demonstrations, to active involvement in provincial politics. In this context, the qualitative research presented in this thesis is guided by three research objectives: (1) to develop a conceptual framework of environmental justice; (2) to examine the utility of the components of this conceptual framework within the rural revolution context; and, (3) to explore the perceptions of key stakeholders regarding the Ontario Landowner Associations' influence on rural public policy efforts to attain environmental justice. These three research objectives seek ultimately to address the central research purpose: To explore the concept of activism as a tenet of environmental justice by examining the case study of the OLA. The primary focus of the central research purpose, therefore, is on the traits of the OLA, or associated research themes, that have the potential to influence public policy content, its implementation, and its acceptance in rural Ontario. These associated research themes are: the OLA's targeted issues, the OLA's mission, leadership, activism forms, barriers and facilitators to activism, membership, and any additional insights. Four stakeholder groups sensitive to environmental public policy directed at rural communities have been consulted. They are provincial and municipal elected politicians (architects of policy), managers and planners of provincial ministries (implementers of policy), rural and agricultural commodity and interest groups (recipients of policy), and the Ontario Landowners' Association (challengers of policy). A conceptual framework of environmental justice has been proposed and is presented here. Moreover, the perceptions revealed by the respondents allow for an examination of the utility of the environmental justice 'instruments' and 'barriers and facilitators' sections of the conceptual framework. Research results show that the OLA's influence on rural public policy is perceived to be based on the organization's credibility, which is in turn perceived as dependent upon a combination of the associated research themes. It is hypothesized that these findings not only pertain to the OLA, but have determined the variables responsible for the perception of an effective activism group in general. Furthermore, this research has reiterated the importance of perception studies. These reflections may well transcend the OLA case study and may prove meaningful for all stakeholder groups in the understanding of activism seeking to sustain or reclaim environmental justice. These reflections may also facilitate mutual respect for different points of view and differing contributions to environmental management.

<p> This dissertation explores the social history and cultural meanings associated with mullet (<i>Mugil cephalus</i>), a common inshore fish, in southwest Florida from the early nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. Centuries of harvesting, trading, and eating mullet allowed diverse populations of people to adapt to a challenging environment, generating a commonweal that connected common folk&mdash;harvesters and consumers&mdash;to the state&rsquo;s inshore waters. Systems of production and social relations based on the low-cost fish contributed to place-based notions of identity and collective allegiance to inshore waterways dedicated to provision rather than proceeds. As Americanization of the region progressed, conflicts widened between environmentally situated modes of life in the region and imperial abstractions of the terrain designed to render its inhabitants&mdash;human and otherwise&mdash;into resources capable of fueling capitalist growth. During the twentieth century, mullet widely came to be considered a &ldquo;trash&rdquo; fish, of little value as a food and expendable as a commodity. This downward shift in social status corresponded with the rising economic and political stature of Florida&rsquo;s seascapes as sites of leisure production. Promoted through conservation rhetoric, a successful 1994 citizens&rsquo; ballot initiative banned statewide use of gill nets, the primary mullet-harvesting gear, a move that confirmed the success of instrumentalist logic that correlated social worth with capitalist potential. </p><p> Analysis of the history and symbolic significance of mullet production and consumption provides insight into the power relations that shape the ecological, economic, and political structure of waterways as social domains. This dissertation argues that the classification of mullet and the people associated with it as species of American &ldquo;trash&rdquo; grew out of longstanding efforts by federal and state officials to integrate Florida into the cultural boundaries of the nation, which eventually placed an accessible, food-producing seascape outside the rubric of the public good. Mullet-dependent people's defense of the species as a commodity, alongside their opposition to the commoditization of the seascape as a playground, offers valuable critiques of the social injustices and class bias that infuse contemporary rhetoric and practices regarding sustainability and conservation.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

<p> This dissertation examines whether spatial measures of health determinants and health outcomes are being used appropriately and effectively to improve the health of marginalized populations in the United States. I concentrate on three spatial measures that have received significant policy and regulatory attention in California and nationally: access to healthful foods, climate change, and housing quality. I find that measures of these health determinants have both significant limitations and unrealized potential for addressing health disparities and promoting health equity. </p><p> I define spatial triage as a process of using spatial data to screen or select place-based communities for targeted investments, policy action, and/or regulatory attention. Chapter 1 describes the historical context of spatial triage and how it relates to ongoing health equity research and policy. In Chapter 2, I evaluate spatial measures of community nutrition environments by comparing data from in-person store surveys against data from a commercial database. I find that stores in neighborhoods with higher population density or higher percentage of people of color have lower availability of healthful foods and that inaccuracies in commercial databases may produce biased measures of healthful food availability. </p><p> Chapter 3 focuses on spatial measures of climate change vulnerability. I find that currently used spatial measures of "disadvantaged communities" ignore many important factors, such as community assets, region-specific risks, and occupation-based hazards that contribute to place-based vulnerability. I draw from examples of successful actions by community-based environmental justice organizations and reframe "disadvantaged" communities as sites of solutions where innovative programs are being used to simultaneously address climate mitigation, adaptation, and equity goals. </p><p> In Chapter 4, I combine electronic health records, public housing locations, and census data to evaluate patterns of healthcare utilization and health outcomes for low-income children in San Francisco. I find that children who live in redeveloped public housing are less likely to have more than one acute care hospital visit within a year than children who live in older, traditional public housing. These results demonstrate how integrating patient-level data across hospitals and with data from other sectors can identify new types of place-based health disparities. Chapter 5 details recommendations for analytic, participatory, and cross-sector approaches to guide the development and implementation of more effective health equity research and policy.</p>

Increased public awareness of environmental issues has led to greater public demand for involvement in environmental decision-making. The value of public participation has been recognized by academics and government authorities alike. Relevant public participation and environmental justice literature suggest that successful participation can help to achieve a heightened democratic governance system, uphold citizenship rights and, in turn, reduce environmental injustice. Although some might argue that public participation has already been integrated into the Canadian governance system, it is suggested that the legitimacy of public participation must be solidified with improved regulations and guidelines for process design. This research call is explored through the lens of the Ontario Source Water Protection (SWP) Initiative in the Raisin Region Source Protection Area. As Source Water Protection is ongoing, it provides an outstanding opportunity to observe the implementation of public participation within a decision-making process. Specifically, the objectives of this research were to examine Source Water Protection stakeholder perceptions of public participation and to explore any variation in perceptions that exist between stakeholder groups. Stakeholder groups included SWP Process Architects, SWP Provincial Process Managers, SWP Local Process Managers, and SWP Community Members. Results show that the stakeholder groups have similar understandings of public participation objectives and effective characteristics. At the same time, there was limited understanding of participation design with regards to mobilization strategies, instrument sensitivity and process evaluation. This has resulted in significant differences in stakeholder perception of the Clean Water Act (2006) and the role of the Source Protection Committee. These findings uncover perceived Source Water Protection process strengths and weaknesses, information that can be used to facilitate improvements to public participation practices. In the end, these findings will also help inform public participation processes in other decision-making domains.

<p> This project explores the phenomenon of urban agriculture and the benefits of access to horticultural space in a low income community in the city of Santa Ana, California. Based conducted over a one year period, the author utilized participant-observation, conducted 20 personal interviews, coded 120 pages of field notes, analyzed original data on plant species, used demographic data, and food distribution data at the garden. Conclusions drawn from the research include that community gardens can be utilized as spaces which promote social cohesion, a place of food distribution, a place to grow medicinal plants, and a place to grow culturally important plants. This work contributes to the literature on urban gardens by developing an original concept called cultural plant memory&mdash;a theory that treats plants as public symbols, which can enact personal and shared cultural values, memories, and customs. This thesis demonstrates the potential of these spaces and aids in the promotion of horticultural space in urban areas.</p>

<p> The municipal and public officials in Beaufort/Jasper, South Carolina (SC) and Effingham/Chatham, Georgia (GA) counties in the lower Savannah River Basin (LSRB) are faced with a dilemma of supplying potable water on an equitable basis to their communities from the surface and groundwater that has been partially polluted and/or is not sustainable. State regulatory agencies have implemented strategies to protect the regional water resources from further degradation of ecosystems, but these remedies are not addressing a crucial issue. The potable water issue is more critical than simply affecting to protect the local ecosystem. Hence, the thesis question is: </p><p> <b>Can current strategies, by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) and the Georgia Environmental Division (GAEPD), secure potable water sources from the lower Savannah River Basin in the region, potentially provide effective, efficient, and equitable results? </b> </p><p> Economic development and demographic changes have equally impacted the surface and groundwater. Groundwater was the primary source of potable water in predevelopment (prior to industrial revolution) and even post development era, but gradually became unsustainable. The alternative surface water source has also been polluted by the industrial and domestic wastewater treatment plant discharges. Surface water contains natural organic compounds, and even that has been overwhelmed by the added pollutants in wastewater treatment plant effluent. This has further increased formation of potential carcinogenic disinfection and disinfection byproducts in potable water. The carcinogen removal process has become expensive, but the potential risk for contamination remains problematic. </p><p> To answer the research question, interviews and surveys were conducted. The population for this research consists of municipal and public officials and water treatment professionals. The samples were selected due to their expertise and responsibility to supply safe drinking water to their communities. Collected data analyzed using Microsfot Excel to arrange in matrixes, and explained in simple narratives. The results were summarized and recommendations were made. </p><p> Most of the subjects agreed that water resources are not sustainable at current usage rate in the region. Groundwater is not sustainable and surface water quality has deteriorated due to organic pollutants in the industrial and domestic wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents. The cost of producing safe drinking water from partially or potentially polluted surface water is higher than the cost of processing groundwater. The cost of desalination of seawater or brackish well water is even higher than ground or surface water treatment. </p><p> Seawater desalination is not a cost effective option now. However, conflicting interests regarding the switch over to seawater desalination as long as surface water treatment operating cost remains lower than the seawater desalination, surface water will remain a sustainable source. </p><p> Although seawater desalination is a more sustainable strategy to produce potable water in the Low Country Region. Surface water treatment is less expensive and in turn, local professionals view it as the best option. This I believe is a limited short term viewpoint, which does not address longterm sustainability issues. Efforts regulatory agencies and utilities, to produce safe drinking water from surface water will continue in the Lower Savannah River Basin (LSRB). </p>

<p> This is an empirical study of ecological worldviews and action logics of global sustainability leaders. Although a body of research has emerged in recent years focused on corporate sustainability practices at the organizational level, the literature has paid less attention to corporate sustainability at the individual level. As a result, little is known about the deeper psychological motivations of sustainability leaders and how these motivations may influence their behavior and effectiveness as change agents. </p><p> This study was based on theoretical insights from several social science disciplines including ecopsychology, integral ecology, environmental sociology, and developmental psychology. Drawing on interviews with 65 leaders in more than 50 multinational corporations, NGOs, and consultancies, the study presents three major propositions that illuminate specific ways that ecological worldviews and action logics are developed and expressed by sustainability leaders. Specific findings include five experiences that shape ecological worldviews over the lifespan and six ways that post-conventional action logics are expressed by sustainability leaders. Findings also include how the complexity of sustainability is driving highly collaborative approaches to leadership. Insights from this research can be integrated into leadership development programs in a wide range of public and private institutions and will be of interest to a range of sustainability scholars, social science researchers, sustainability executives, and social entrepreneurs. </p><p> Key Words: Sustainability leader, ecological worldviews, action logics, ecopsychology, developmental theory, new ecological paradigm, ecological self, corporate sustainability.</p>

<p> This thesis aims to provide a normative evaluation of the Western U.S. water law of prior appropriation through a contextual analysis of water value pluralism. The first chapter begins with a preliminary account of the major justificatory arguments made in defense of prior appropriation, followed by two critiques that undermine some proposed advantages of the water policy. The purpose of this analysis is to elucidate the normative claims that underlie many of the arguments within this debate but which fail to be made explicit. It becomes clear that these normative claims assume a utilitarian criterion for resource distribution, according to which water is primarily viewed as an economic good with a monetary value. The second chapter challenges the legitimacy of this assumption by introducing non-monetary water values, with attention to the particular social and cultural contexts in which they emerge. Through a review of four economic proxies, these non-monetary water values are shown to be incommensurable with monetary valuations. Finally, the third chapter offers a theoretical framework for the incorporation of non-monetary water values into resource distribution decisions. From this normative analysis, it is concluded that a necessary condition for achieving just resource distribution decisions is for prior appropriation to incorporate value pluralism by recognizing the legitimacy of non-monetary water values.</p>

<p>The Central American population consists of a majority of indigenous people and the parties to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) must strive to protect the culture, heritage and rights of the region&rsquo;s people. Trade agreements must recognize the rights of the indigenous peoples that are affected by environmental degradation resulting from trade activities, which can result in the forceful removal of their lands. The balance between the three pillars of sustainable development must be struck because international trade is necessary by fueling much of the economic growth in the developed world. Public engagement of the indigenous people through participation, information, consultation and consent are necessary to fulfill the goals of sustainable development and protect their right to property and traditional lands. We have to continue to incorporate the objectives of sustainable development in free trade agreements in order to preserve the global environment for future generations. </p>