<p> My thesis is focused on the formation of Jewish Intentional Communities (JICs) in the United States. What is a Jewish Intentional Community (JIC)? I define a Jewish Intentional Community as a group of households that come together to form a cooperative housing and or shared economic structure. The form of capital exchanged may be labor, land, wisdom, tradition-al knowledge, skills, and or finances. </p><p> In this paper I use Grounded Theory to encounter the specific reasons why American Jews choose to live in JICs. JIC is a loose term. As the reader will find in many cases it means a co-housing-kibbutz development, in other cases it's an economic development, a havurah type socially focused development, or in more cases than not, some combination of all. </p><p> Kavanah means intentionality. The sages suggest that there is nothing done that is Jewish that is without kavanah, thus community is always an intentional act. Thus, it is well worth not-ing that the idea of a Jewish Intentional Community in Diaspora is nothing short of an ancient concept. Stories within Tanakh speak of making community in exile. In the days before the Inquisition, Sephardic Jews excelled in business, scholarship, and medicine. Prior to the Shoah, Yiddish culture was thriving. In the United States Yiddish Theater is considered a major contributor in contemporary comedy. This thesis delves into the history of the movement, it's influences, and specifically why millennial Jews in America are drawn this way of doing Jewish community.</p><p>

<p> Households in the Bolivian Altiplano construct their livelihood strategies in a system marked by changing climate and volatile social systems. The strategies that they choose must work to decrease the household&lsquo;s vulnerability to shocks, such as drought and frost, and increase its ability to adapt to longer term changes, for instance the affects of globalization. Their strategies may also influence the resilience of their community and environment, either increasing or decreasing the likelihood of catastrophe.</p><p> This research uses canonical correlation analysis to analyze survey data collected from 330 rural households in two regions of the Bolivian Altiplano. It examines the impact that dominant livelihood strategies have on the resilience of the household and its socio-ecological environment. The analysis shows that access to land and lifecycle are two household characteristics most highly associated with resilience; that diversification into labor markets often works towards increasing resilience; and that many households use livestock as an insurance mechanism. The results suggest that policies that work towards increasing crop yields and reducing livestock loss in the face of climate change could effectively target the households that are most vulnerable. Programs that include transfer payments to older households for providing services, such as increasing ecosystem resilience by placing land in fallow, could reduce the negative impact of lifecycle experienced by many across both regions. </p><p>

In recent years Fair Trade’s People Tree has succeeded within the fashion industry by making ecological and ethical products fashionable, and subsequently fostering concern about ecological and ethical issues among consumers.There are two choices in our future when we buy clothes: we can buy ecological products to reduce the ecological foot print, -or we can reuse what we have now.In this thesis I take a close look at reuse of second-hand remade products. / Program: Magisterutbildning i Applied Textile Management

<p> In March 2016, the Syrian crisis entered its fifth year in war with no end in sight. While current strategies utilized by international aid agencies to address this humanitarian crisis have focused on short-term emergency relief, future considerations on its long-term management are lacking. Due in fact to people's pressing needs in war-torn areas, not enough development programs, plans and research on how to incorporate sustainable strategies has been placed into the management of the crisis. With particular focus on the role of developmental and relief aid workers in the management of the crisis in Syria, this paper aims to answer two questions: (1) how does one manage relief and recovery efforts looking towards the long term in a context of such short term pressing needs? (2) What role does management and lack thereof play in the subject of the effects of the Syrian war? In an effort to address these questions, interviews were conducted on 8 individuals from various professional backgrounds (i.e. medical, development, local councils etc...) who had significant field contributions/experiences in Syria. In addition, a literature review was carried out to examine existing research on the topics of sustainable development and development aid. Findings show that a shift is taking place in the frameworks of how aid workers are responding to the needs of people in the war. The aid system is starting to focus on instilling self-reliance, resilience and stability into communities, and assisting people with the tools to manage sustainable lives. However, it requires much needed management to achieve the desired sustainable outcomes. Moreover, this field still requires further research and considerations. A bitter reality of this context is that the war is political in nature and attempts for sustainable practices cannot serve as resolution to the situation but as means to restore dignity and livelihood back into the victims of a war.</p><p>

<p> This thesis will cover how to lessen the negative effects of chemical fertilizer on the environment. By determining if there is a sustainable solution that allows farmers to prolong their soil nutrition and avoid toxic run-off pollution. A comparison between organic and chemical fertilizers is key to evaluating if a sustainable solution lies within a conversion to using organic fertilizers.</p><p> The justification for the following topic begins with the growing demands of food how to sustain the exponential population growth. The agricultural industry has industrialized to become machine and less labor intensive. Farmers need to utilize this revolution to take the industry one step further of switching to organic farming. The trend of organic farming is growing and consumers are increasing demand for such products. The vital industry unconsciously contributes to global warming in several areas by utilizing methods of fertilization, the carbon footprint, and land use. Methods of fertilization can be adapted to more sustainable methods whereas the carbon footprint and land use are inevitable to adhere to the population. Fertilizers have allowed humans to meet the increasing demands of our growing population with the proper nutrition to sustain us all. Sustainable use of fertilizers is key to meeting people&rsquo;s needs and allowing the plant to naturally restore.</p><p> Environmental Wicked Theory will explain the many factors at play and how at sometimes making the switch from organic to chemical fertilizers is not as simple as some think. The many stakeholders at play with differentiating interest oftentimes make a common ground seem far fetched or unattainable. This thesis will attempt to achieve a cohesive solution by managing the wicked problem of the agricultural industry&rsquo;s contributions to climate change. </p><p> The case will analyze the effects of chemical fertilizers on soil nutrition from a pecan farm in Alabama. Given the external surrounding of having access to fresh manure next door the case aims to provide a step by step process. This model will give farmers the tools necessary to make the switch to an organic farm.</p><p>

<p> Morocco, an emerging nation, is working to contribute to long-term commitments regarding environmental and social sustainability on both local and global levels. Given the urgency of the ecological and social crisis, which is clearly evident at national, regional, and international levels, sustainable development is a response by all actors to reconsider global economic growth in order to take account of the environmental, cultural and social issues in the same balanced development approach. Several initiatives have been introduced in recent years in all areas related to sustainable development, starting with the national human development initiative, the Green Morocco plan, the 2020 Vision for Tourism, among many others (Bilali.2016). Morocco recently received international recognition as the hosts and organizers for the COP22 conference in November 2016. This is the second COP conference they&rsquo;ve spearheaded, the first being COP7, which took place in 2001. (Zaierg.2016). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that is intended to empower companies in their engagement with social and ecological responsibilities of the communities in which they operate and have impact. CSR is implemented within companies through different levers including: human resource management, public affairs, and supply chain management. The processes these business levers carry out are meant to support corporate development to embody more humane and responsible actions, as well as to improve the image of the company in the eyes of its employees and the world at large. CSR is one of the central social pillars defined to achieve sustainable development (World Finance.n.d.2014). As Morocco&rsquo;s economy develops, companies are faced with the obligation to follow this international approach on sustainability and to construct strategies with long-lasting advantages to support the efficiency and performance of their companies. Despite the recent launch of a wide array of sustainably focused commitments, the country is still poorly ranked according to OECD, ILO, UNDP, and WEF (Hespress.2016). It is within these reports that the gap between Morocco&rsquo;s highly publicized image and the reality is made painfully clear. What was intended to help progress the countries&rsquo; sustainable development may not be feasible in its current state, definitely, drastic changes are needed. (Wilkes.2016)</p><p>

<p> Parking shortage in hospitals are a pivotal issue that often finds itself without a suitable solution for many hospitals in Malaysia and worldwide. The continuous lack of parking spaces in hospitals has contributed to illegal parking, significant road obstructions, vandalism, all of which causes hardship to the people. Rising car ownership and the lack of public transportation incites emotional turmoil among people and provides further grief.</p><p> The thesis entitled 'The socio-economic impact of introducing a sustainable multilevel mechanical parking garage to resolve the shortage of parking spaces for Serdang Hospital with minimal hardship to the people' tries to evaluate the impact of pricing optimization, consumer behavior, and the strategic relevance technology plays to Serdang Hospital.</p><p> This thesis intends to recognize the importance of collecting data for qualitative research and gaining insights of the public regarding the introduction of a new concept with minimal hardship to the people. The applicability and acceptability of this new technology in the study are measured using survey data, on-site data collection, personal observation, and interviews.</p><p> In this research, the parking issues and the drawbacks of conventional parking techniques are highlighted, and new concepts of parking used in other developing countries are identified. There is a gap in discussing the socioeconomic impact in the evolution of parking structures in Malaysia and how pricing impacts the decision for change. The research hopes to add to this gap by examining Serdang Hospital as a case study.</p><p> This research aims to pave the way for a better future for hospital parking not only for Serdang Hospital but all Malaysian hospitals in general. There are parking garages that operate at a profit, break even, and also at a loss. </p><p> A simple assessment of the financial feasibility had proven to be an economic gain to the hospital with additional revenue acquired from the rental of billboards. Nonetheless, it is imperative to view the multilevel mechanical parking garage as a long-term solution because if not now, at some point the reality is, they will still need to build a parking garage to resolve the shortage of parking spaces even if the hospital takes a loss.</p><p>

A challenge facing many not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) is that of financial sustainability; an organisation’s ability to remain sustainable despite the rules that govern NGOs, environmental challenges faced and demands placed on the organisation by that of their donors. This paper explores the challenges faced by NPOs in the South African context and possible models that could be used by NPOs to become sustainable. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

It has been hypothesized that local or global climatic conditions can affect societies in a variety of ways. However, to date, it has been difficult to measure the social impact of climate, so the scale and scope of its influence on populations remains mostly theoretical. This dissertation integrates data and quantitative methods from climate science, economics and political science to develop new techniques for empirically measuring the the social impacts of climate. These techniques are used to measure large-scale dynamical relationships between climatological conditions and the response of the societies that are exposed to them. In general, the response of societies to climatological forcing is found to be larger than previously thought. The concluding chapter discusses how these findings may inform policies that govern the global environment and economic development.

This collection examines mainstream economics discourse as it relates to three topics in sustainable development: health equity, sustainable non-renewable resource management and development approaches. The themes of the three papers are as follows: Political Dimensions of Health Equity in Mozambique - In order to promote equity in health, analysis should look beyond the standard economic definitions used to identify underserved and vulnerable populations. Human and Social Capital, Compensation or Cost? Reexamining the Hartwick Rule - In order to achieve sustainable non-renewable resource management, planners must go beyond the current economic theoretical framework and consider the direct impacts of extraction on human and social capital. The Materialism Paradigm - Neither Sustainable, nor Development - The way economists have understood prosperity is materialistic and development is exporting this welfare-reducing paradigm. The synthesis of the series - The frameworks used in economics to address a variety of issues in sustainable development have limited efficacy and would benefit from insights originating outside the discipline.