capstone poster

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / Social equity is an often-overlooked aspect of sustainability and is vital to the health of a community. The most successful sustainable initiatives benefit not only the environment and the economy, but consider the impacts on people as well. Education is an indicator of success and has the potential to improve the lives of low-income populations. Opportunities to receive high-quality education can foster social equity in communities by improving the lives of lower-income cohorts. While the link between the built environment and education level has been discussed, there is insufficient empirical evidence to support this connection. The purpose of this project is to examine the relationship between the built environment and high-school graduation rates, as an indicator of better opportunities for youth. Case studies of the three highest-rated high schools and the three lowest-rated high schools in Tucson, Arizona compare demographics of their surrounding neighborhoods. Social Equity Scores are assigned to each school and its two-mile radius to provide a view of equity through education opportunities in Tucson. Findings indicate that lower-quality education options are more readily available in areas of concentrated low-income and minority populations. The best high schools in Tucson are most available in neighborhoods with higher incomes and less minority residents. Some of the highest-rated schools in Tucson have equitable aspects, but still pose challenges to the provision of quality education to all. By increasing our understanding of equity issues related to the built environment, we can direct urban planning efforts toward more just and equitable societies.

This research focuses on the academic programs at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm (the Farm). The Farm is a centre for sustainability learning and research, providing a working model of sustainable food systems with which to engage students, faculty and community. The Farm is situated within the global context of a dominant industrial food paradigm that is demonstrated to be a major contributor to the social and ecological crises the world now faces. The Farm is further situated within the context of a dominant education paradigm that provides most students with knowledge that is disconnected from social and ecological realities, leading to the misuse of knowledge and to the exacerbation of global crises. The purpose of this research is to explore the contributions that the Farm’s academic programs provide toward advancing sustainability learning from the perspective of program participants, including myself. The research methodology was guided by participatory approaches to research. Qualitative methods were employed, focusing primarily on surveys and semi-structured interviews with program participants. I have also been an involved participant in a diversity of programs at the Farm from April 2004 – December 2008. The results of the research suggest that program participants value the ability to engage with their subject matter, not only on an abstract/theoretical level, but also on practical and affective levels. Participants feel that UBC is lacking in programs that allow students to engage physically and emotionally with their learning. Students feel their knowledge will be better recalled and more likely to be useful if they care about what they are learning, if they can engage with it in a real world context, and if they have some ownership and responsibility for what they are learning. Further, program participants feel that the Farm’s academic programs would benefit from providing more theoretical context and connection to their other academic work, from additions and improvements to Farm infrastructure and resources, and from additional human resources support. This research project was site specific. Nevertheless, it connects with and complements work being done at dozens of universities, colleges and student farms around the world. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Ce travail s’intéresse à la capacité de résistance des entreprises coopératives. Depuis la crise financière et ses multiples conséquences, le modèle coopératif est particulièrement promu pour sa capacité à résister aux crises. Toutefois, cette résilience semble déduite de nombreuses constatations d’ordre économique (croissance du chiffre d’affaires cumulé du secteur coopératif, augmentation du nombre de sociétaires et d’emplois salariés, etc.) et non d’études scientifiques. Ainsi, ce travail de recherche a pour objectif d’apporter un éclairage scientifique à la question de la résistance du modèle coopératif. Les coopératives sont détenues par leurs membres qui ont le double statut d’apporteurs de capitaux et de fournisseurs, salariés ou clients. De cette détention de la propriété singulière découle une ambition qui sort du paradigme financier dominant de maximisation de la valeur pour les apporteurs de capitaux : maximiser la valeur pour les membres. Dès lors, une question se pose : la détention de la propriété des coopératives influence-t-elle leur capacité de résistance ? Pour répondre à cette question, nous avons structuré notre pensée autour de quatre essais. Le premier essai est une revue de littérature qui permet de revisiter la notion de performance en coopérative : dans le cas des coopératives, la performance financière peut être assimilée à la capacité à résister dans le temps, c’est-à-dire à survivre. Dans le deuxième essai, nous comparons la survie des coopératives à celle des autres entreprises en distinguant les disparitions par fusion et par liquidation et testons l’influence des déterminants financiers classiques. Les résultats indiquent que les coopératives semblent mieux résister grâce à un mécanisme particulier : la fusion. Cela permet un redéploiement de l’activité ; les membres coopérateurs peuvent continuer à écouler leur production dans une organisation qu’ils détiendront collectivement et qu’ils géreront démocratiquement. Ainsi, si les fusions ne sont pas le propre des coopératives, elles reflètent le principe de solidarité entre coopératives et permettent d’éviter les conséquences néfastes de la disparition de l’activité pour les membres. Les résultats indiquent également que les déterminants financiers classiques ne permettent pas de rendre pleinement compte de la survie des coopératives. Le troisième essai s’intéresse à la résistance sous l’angle de la longévité. Nous observons que les coopératives survivent plus longtemps que les autres entreprises. Au-delà de la comparaison « coopératives versus entreprises classiques », cet article, volontairement inscrit dans un secteur précis et homogène, propose un début d’explication à la meilleure survie des entreprises coopératives : il semble qu’elles répercutent les variations de l’activité sur leurs membres. Le quatrième et dernier essai de la thèse se focalise exclusivement sur les coopératives pour en proposer une analyse financière spécifique et construire des ratios financiers adaptés. Les résultats indiquent que les déterminants de la disparition par fusion et par liquidation sont différents, et confirment le rôle des fusions comme mécanisme de résistance. De plus, contrairement à la croyance selon laquelle les coopératives absorbent les chocs grâce à la détention collective du capital, il semble que les coopératives qui résistent sont celles dont les membres acceptent de supporter le risque au travers de leur rémunération. / This thesis focus on cooperatives survival. Since the financial crisis, the cooperative model is particularly promoted for its ability to resist crises. However, this resilience seems to be inferred from many economic facts (growth in cumulative cooperative sector turnover, increase in membership and wage employment, etc.) and not scientific studies. Thus, the aim of this research is to provide scientific insight into the ability of the cooperative model to cope better than corporations. Cooperatives are held by their members who have the dual status of suppliers of capital and suppliers, employees or customers. From this singular ownership flows an ambition that goes beyond the dominant financial paradigm of maximizing value for capital providers: maximizing value for members. Hence, one question arises: does ownership of cooperatives affect their ability to cope better? To answer this question, we have structured our thinking around four essays. The first essay is a literature review that revisits the notion of cooperative performance: in the case of cooperatives, financial performance can be equated with the ability to resist over time, that is, to survive. In the second essay we compare the survival of cooperatives and corporations, by distinguishing between disappearances by mergers and liquidations, and test the influence of classical financial determinants. The results indicate that cooperatives seem to be more resilient through a particular mechanism: the merger. This allows a redeployment of the activity and members can continue to sell their production in an organization that they will collectively hold and that they will manage democratically. Thus, while mergers are not the property of cooperatives, they reflect the principle of solidarity between cooperatives and make it possible for members to avoid the negative consequences of the disappearance of the activity. The results also indicate that the traditional financial determinants do not fully account for the survival of cooperatives. The third essay focuses on longevity. We observe that cooperatives survive longer than corporations. Moreover, this article, voluntarily dealing with a precise and homogeneous sector, propose an explanation for the best survival of cooperatives: it seems that they reflect the fluctuations of activity on their members. The fourth and final essay of the thesis focuses exclusively on cooperatives in order to propose a specific financial analysis and special financial ratios to explain their survival. The results indicate that the determinants of disappearance by mergers and liquidations are different, and confirm the role of mergers as a mechanism of survival. Moreover, contrary to the flagship that cooperatives absorb shocks thanks to their common equity, it seems that the ones which cope better are those whose members agree to bear the risk through their remuneration.

<p> La agricultura en Puerto Rico ha experimentado un renacimiento despu&eacute;s de d&eacute;cadas de ser una de las actividades de menor crecimiento a nivel nacional. A principios del siglo XX, durante las primeras d&eacute;cadas del r&eacute;gimen colonial de los Estados Unidos, la agricultura era la principal actividad econ&oacute;mica dedicada principalmente a la producci&oacute;n de ca&ntilde;a de az&uacute;car para la exportaci&oacute;n. Luego de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la econom&iacute;a de la isla se industrializ&oacute; r&aacute;pidamente, lo que provoc&oacute; la ca&iacute;da de la producci&oacute;n agr&iacute;cola y la destrucci&oacute;n de la capacidad local para la producci&oacute;n de alimentos. Hoy d&iacute;a, Puerto Rico importa el 85% de los alimentos consumidos a trav&eacute;s de cadenas de suministro muy vulnerables con consecuencias para la econom&iacute;a, como el aumento en el costo de vida para la poblaci&oacute;n. </p><p> Durante los a&ntilde;os ochenta, el movimiento agroecol&oacute;gico surgi&oacute; en defensa de la soberan&iacute;a alimentaria y la sostenibilidad ambiental. La agroecolog&iacute;a se presenta como una pr&aacute;ctica alternativa para la producci&oacute;n de alimentos con alto impacto en las comunidades locales a trav&eacute;s de la sustituci&oacute;n de agroqu&iacute;micos por insumos naturales y el uso de pr&aacute;cticas intensivas en mano de obra. El movimiento ha logrado converger los esfuerzos de producci&oacute;n de un n&uacute;mero creciente de fincas pero, &iquest;es suficiente articular un modelo alternativo de desarrollo local? </p><p> Esta tesis pretende contribuir a la comprensi&oacute;n del movimiento agroecol&oacute;gico puertorrique&ntilde;o, en particular su potencial para actuar como un espacio de concertaci&oacute;n y aglutinaci&oacute;n de las fuerzas productivas para su eventual consolidaci&oacute;n como actor de desarrollo. A trav&eacute;s de una metodolog&iacute;a cuantitativa y cualitativa, en forma de entrevistas, revisi&oacute;n de documentos y an&aacute;lisis de datos estad&iacute;sticos, describimos las capacidades del movimiento agroecol&oacute;gico para la promoci&oacute;n de un modelo alternativo de desarrollo local; y c&oacute;mo la adopci&oacute;n de cadenas productivas cortas, como una estrategia de inserci&oacute;n en el mercado de alimentos, puede promover una mejor distribuci&oacute;n de los beneficios econ&oacute;micos locales. </p><p> Los resultados de nuestra investigaci&oacute;n demuestran que el movimiento agroecol&oacute;gico contiene las capacidades para promover un modelo alternativo de desarrollo local. Estas capacidades dependen de los esfuerzos de organizaci&oacute;n de los agricultores/as agroecol&oacute;gicos que permiten el dise&ntilde;o y la implementaci&oacute;n de estrategias en la forma de cadenas productivas cortas de alimentos. Estas estrategias permitieron una mayor visibilidad de su producci&oacute;n y la amplificaci&oacute;n de su alcance de mercado. Nuestra investigaci&oacute;n encontr&oacute; que un mayor &eacute;xito en las estrategias de inserci&oacute;n en el mercado ha promovido la agroecolog&iacute;a como una pr&aacute;ctica y ha alentado la llegada de nuevos agricultores/as al movimiento. Adem&aacute;s, argumentamos que mediante el fortalecimiento de sus capacidades productivas, aumenta el acceso a los recursos para la organizaci&oacute;n pol&iacute;tica del movimiento y su capacidad para influenciar la agenda de pol&iacute;tica p&uacute;blica a nivel nacional.</p><p>

Legitimacy is widely accepted as an important resource for an organisation, strategy, or individual to possess. However, the process of gaining legitimacy has received limited attention in the academic literature. This thesis examines the strategies and actions that individuals employ in the process of legitimising their sustainability strategy within an organisation. Based on semi-structured interviews with 51 Heads of Sustainability, the research extends the existing ‘conformance, selection, manipulation’ legitimising strategy model, becoming one of the first to demonstrate how these legitimising strategies are interrelated both concurrently and temporally. It finds that multiple legitimising strategies are used simultaneously by individuals. Moreover, a pattern emerges whereby individuals begin with conformance-only legitimising when sustainability has limited integration, but employ all three legitimising strategies where sustainability integration is extensive. In addition to this, the research articulates two specific categories of actions that are used by individuals in the process of deploying these umbrella legitimising strategies: framing and developing coalitions of support. Framing actions comprise micro-reframing, disassociation, contextualisation, analogy, and differentiation and personalisation. Developing coalitions of support actions comprise leveraging sponsorship, networking, enhancing employee engagement, and continually promoting. From this empirical research a generalised legitimising pathway is proposed which demonstrates the progression of legitimising from using conformance-only through to using all three legitimising strategies, and the actions employed by the individual in these different stages.

<p> This research examines the physical operations of a health care sector called long term care facilities. Long term care refers to organizations that provide onsite nursing care for people with long-term illnesses, elderly people who need continuous medical supervision, or for those in long-term rehabilitation programs. Most specifically, this research looks at the performance of the physical buildings (i.e. facilities) and how this performance impacts the external environment. Using secondary data from the organization Practice Greenhealth, this study addresses the following two research questions. </p><p> 1. What is the combined current state of environmental performance at the long term care facilities that have applied for a Practice Greenhealth award? </p><p> 2. What are the proposed environmental key performance indicators for the long term care sector? </p><p> Based on this research, a model is suggested for future researchers interested in the environmental performance of long term care facilities. The model suggests six drivers for improving environmental performance in long term care; (1) maintain compliance with environmental regulations, (2) reduce costs, (3) meet expectations of parent organization, (4) increase market competitiveness, (5) engage stakeholders, and (6) improve patient outcomes. Four environmental improvement categories are then established; (1) waste, (2) energy, (3) water, and (4) engagement initiatives, along with each categories&rsquo; associated indicators. Finally, this study develops a concise environmental performance survey that could be used by any long term care facility looking to make improvements to its environmental performance over time.</p><p>

This thesis is about Zero Waste governance in Scotland. The thesis has three aims: empirically, it seeks to develop an understanding of the Scottish Zero Waste policy; theoretically, it aims to critically assess this policy in relation to Governmentality for Sustainable Development; and methodologically, it investigates the use of governmentality as an analytical framework through which to understand governance of complex sustainability issues. The thesis argues that existing studies of Zero Waste have limited engagement with social theories. It is suggested that governmentality offers a potential theoretical framing through which to better understand Zero Waste governance. The thesis develops a process to critically evaluate Zero Waste governmentalities in comparison with a prescriptive Governmentality for Sustainable Development. Using a Sustainability Science approach, the thesis adopts a pluralist methodology in which multiple perspectives are valued in both data collection and analysis. Using a framework developed from empirical data and academic studies, data from expert interviews and policy documents is used to construct an understanding of Zero Waste policy in Scotland. The thesis found that Zero Waste in Scottish policy is understood as a tangible goal and a philosophy of resource use. Innovative governance techniques to promote Zero Waste are identified within policy. It is argued that the Zero Waste policy in Scotland presents a new form of governmentality. It is suggested that this governmentality has the potential to align with Governmentality for Sustainable Development. However, it is found that the strong transdisciplinarity envisaged as part of Governmentality for Sustainable Development is lacking in Zero Waste governance. This thesis considers the role of post-normal techniques in Zero Waste and evaluates and promotes the use of governmentality as a way to develop the strong transdisciplinarity missing from the Zero Waste policy in Scotland.

Although a variety of definitions of sustainability and sustainable entrepreneurship can be found in literature, the concept of the pursuit of both social, environmental and economic goals while creating value is a widely accepted perspective on sustainability entrepreneurship. However, the implementation of this holistic approach turns out to be very complex and hard to realize for sustainable ventures. While literature only gives general and little concrete recommendations on how to implement the integration of sustainability goals in a business, a tendency can be observed that sustainable entrepreneurship is often considered synonym with more environmentally focused concepts like green or ecopreneurship. This paper aims to examine how entrepreneurs integrate sustainability in their business model, and how they manage to integrate the three dimensions. Another research focus is laid on the question of how sustainable entrepreneurs can foster and forward a transformation towards sustainable development. This study is investigated through multiple case study approach: Nine sustainability startups and institutions promoting sustainability entrepreneurship shall be investigated in order to get more insight on the goals and strivings of sustainability entrepreneurs, how they put them into practice, and how their actions can help to foster sustainable development in an economy.   It was found that the integration of diverse sustainability dimensions is very complex, and most easily solved with a step-wise integrational approach, as entrepreneurs are still facing many challenges mostly due to the current, not sustainably-focused market conditions. Some “green” tendencies can be observed among the startups and institutions observed, but this can rather be traced back to practical reasons, not to the fact that their perspective of sustainability explicitly focuses on environmental aspects. It was further found, that entrepreneurs can be essential drivers for the sustainability transformation, which can also be fostered and accelerated through political action, education, information and transparency, technology, simplicity and access, gamification, psychology and cooperation and networks. The study has scientific relevance as the struggle of reuniting the three, partly seeming exclusive, aspects of sustainability is a widely discussed topic in literature, which has only provided few practical answers, while at the same time, a tendency can be observed in literature, that researchers seem to especially focus on the environmental aspects of sustainability, while disregarding the importance of social aspects and social change.

Access to safe and clean water is a problem in many countries in the world, especially sub-Saharan Africa. The urgency of the was recognized by the United Nations through its 2008 Millennium Development Goals, which were recently replaced by the new Sustainable Development Goals. Lack or poor access to clean water not only creates conflicts and rifts among the people, but also makes them more susceptible to a wide assortment of water borne diseases. The purpose of this dissertation is to complete a pilot study of ways of thinking and actions of a small group of people from Falifah, a village in The Gambia, who suffered from lack of access to safe and clean water. During my fieldwork in Falifah, I helped the community install a water filtration system in the village, and explored its value in improving the lives of the villagers. In particular, I conclude that village gained a sense of empowerment, for the water filtration system offered them the opportunity to become intimately involved in its implementation and its continued sustainability. This is especially important for women, given the long history of patriarchal control in this African village and many others like it.