Energy systems across the globe are going through a radical transformation as a result of technological and institutional changes, depletion of fossil fuel resources, and climate change. Accordingly, local energy initiatives are emerging and increasing number of the business models are focusing on the end-users. This requires the present centralized energy systems to be re-organized. In this context, Integrated community energy systems (ICESs) are emerging as a modern development to re-organize local energy systems allowing simultaneous integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) and engagement of local communities. With the emergence of ICESs new roles and responsibilities as well as interactions and dynamics are expected in the energy system. Although local energy initiatives such as ICESs are rapidly emerging due to community objectives, such as cost and emission reductions as well as resiliency, assessment and evaluation of the value that these systems can provide to both local communities and the whole energy system are still lacking. The value of ICESs is also impacted by the institutional settings internal and external to the system. With this background, this thesis aims to understand the ways in which ICESs can contribute to enhancing the energy transition. This thesis utilizes a conceptual framework consisting of institutional and societal levels in order to understand the interaction and dynamics of ICESs implementation.  Current energy trends and the associated technological, socio-economic, environmental and institutional issues are reviewed. The developed ICES model performs optimal planning and operation of ICESs and assesses their performance based on economic and environmental metrics. For the considered community size and local conditions, grid-connected ICESs are already beneficial to the alternative of solely being supplied from the grid, both in terms of total energy costs and CO2 emissions, whereas grid-defected systems, although performing very well in terms of CO2 emissions reduction, are still rather expensive. ICESs ensure self-provision of energy and can provide essential system services to the larger energy system. This thesis has demonstrated the added value of ICESs to the individual households, local communities and the society. A comprehensive institutional design considering techno-economic and institutional perspectives is necessary to ensure effective contribution of ICESs in the energy transition. / Energisystem över hela världen går igenom en radikal omvandling till följd av tekniska och institutionella förändringar, utarmning av fossila bränsleresurser och klimatförändringar. Följaktligen växer lokala energiinitiativ fram och ett ökande antal affärsmodeller fokuserar på slutanvändarna. Detta förutsätter att de nuvarande centraliserade energisystemen omorganiseras. I det här sammanhanget utvecklas integrerade samhällsenergisystem (ICES) som en modern utveckling för att omorganisera lokala energisystem som möjliggör samtidig integration av distribuerade energiresurser och engagemang från lokala samhällen. Med framväxten av ICES nya roller och ansvarsområden samt interaktioner och dynamik förväntas i energisystemet. Även om lokala energiinitiativ som ICES snabbt framträder på grund av samhällsmål, såsom kostnad och utsläppsminskningar samt resiliens, bedömning och utvärdering av det värde som dessa system kan ge till både lokala samhällen och hela energisystemet saknas fortfarande. Värdet av ICES-värden påverkas också av de institutionella inställningarna internt och externt för systemet. Med denna bakgrund syftar denna avhandling till att förstå hur ICES kan bidra till att förbättra energiövergången. Denna avhandling använder en konceptuell ram som består av institutionella och samhälleliga nivåer för att förstå samspelet och dynamiken i ICES-genomförandet. Nuvarande energitrender och de därtill hörande tekniska, socioekonomiska, miljömässiga och institutionella frågorna ses över. Den utvecklade ICES-modellen utför optimal planering och drift av ICES och bedömer deras prestanda baserat på ekonomiska och miljömässiga mätvärden. För den ansedda samhällsstorleken och lokala förhållandena är nätanslutna ICES redan fördelaktiga jämfört med alternativet att endast försörjas från nätet, både när det gäller totala energikostnader och koldioxidutsläpp, medan nät-defekterade system, även om de fungerar väldigt bra i termer av minskningen av koldioxidutsläppen fortfarande är ganska dyra. ICES garanterar självförsörjning av energi och kan tillhandahålla viktiga systemtjänster till det större energisystemet. Denna avhandling har visat mervärdet av ICES till de enskilda hushållen, lokalsamhällena och samhället. En omfattande institutionell utformning med hänsyn till de tekno-ekonomiska och institutionella perspektiven är nödvändigt för att säkerställa ett effektivt bidrag från ICES i energiövergången. / Los sistemas energéticos en todo el mundo atraviesan una transformación radical como resultado de cambios tecnológicos e institucionales, el agotamiento de combustibles fósiles y el cambio climático. Por consiguiente, las iniciativas locales de energía están surgiendo y los modelos de negocio se centran cada vez más en los usuarios finales. Esto requiere la reorganización de los actuales sistemas energéticos centralizados. En este contexto, los sistemas integrados de energía comunitaria (ICES, por sus siglas en inglés) están emergiendo como un desarrollo moderno para reorganizar los sistemas energéticos locales, permitiendo la integración simultánea de los recursos energéticos distribuidos y la participación de las comunidades locales. Con la aparición de ICESs se esperan nuevos roles y responsabilidades, así como interacciones y dinámicas, en el sistema energético. Aunque las iniciativas locales en materia de energía, como las ICESs, están surgiendo rápidamente debido a los objetivos de la comunidad, tales como la reducción de costos y emisiones, así como la resiliencia, y la evaluación, siguen careciendo del valor que estos sistemas pueden brindar tanto a las comunidades locales como a todo el sistema energético. El valor de los ICESs también se ve afectado por los entornos institucionales tanto internos como externos al sistema. Con este trasfondo, esta tesis pretende comprender las formas en que los ICESs pueden contribuir a mejorar la transición energética. Esta tesis utiliza un marco conceptual que consiste en niveles institucionales y sociales para comprender la interacción y dinámica de la implementación de los ICESs.  Además, esta tesis revisa las tendencias actuales de energía y los problemas tecnológicos, socioeconómicos, ambientales e institucionales asociados. La tesis desarrolla un modelo que optimiza la planificación y el funcionamiento óptimos de ICESs y evalúa su funcionamiento basado en métricas económicas y ambientales. Para el tamaño de la comunidad y las condiciones locales consideradas, los ICESs conectados a la red ya son beneficiosos tanto en términos de costos totales de energía como de emisiones de CO2 comparado con la alternativa de ser suministrados únicamente desde la red, mientras que los sistemas aislados y desconectados de la red, aunque desempeñándose muy bien en términos de reducción emisiones de CO2, siguen siendo bastante más costosos. Los ICESs garantizan el autoabastecimiento de energía y pueden proporcionar servicios esenciales al resto del sistema energético. Esta tesis demuestra el valor añadido de los ICESs a los hogares individuales, las comunidades locales y la sociedad. Un diseño integral que considere las perspectivas tecno-económicas e institucionales es necesario para asegurar la contribución efectiva de los ICESs en la transición energética. / Energiesystemen over de hele wereld gaan door een radicale transformatie als gevolg van technologische en institutionele veranderingen, uitputting van fossiele brandstoffen en klimaatverandering. Bijgevolg komen lokale energie-initiatieven op en richten steeds meer verdienmodellen zich op de eindgebruikers. Dit vereist dat de huidige gecentraliseerde energiesystemen opnieuw worden georganiseerd. In deze context komen geïntegreerde energiegemeenschapssystemen (ICESs) op als een moderne ontwikkeling om lokale energiesystemen te reorganiseren, welke gelijktijdige integratie van lokale energiebronnen en betrokkenheid van lokale gemeenschappen mogelijk maakt. Het wordt verwacht dat de opkomst van ICESs zowel nieuwe rollen en verantwoordelijkheden met zich meebrengt. Hoewel lokale energie-initiatieven zoals ICESs snel opkomen door de  doelstellingen van de gemeenschap, zoals kosten- en emissiereducties en veerkracht, schort het nog steeds aan beoordeling en evaluatie van de waarde die deze systemen kunnen hebben voor zowel de lokale gemeenschappen als het hele energiesysteem. De waarde van ICESs wordt ook beïnvloed door de institutionele kenmerken binnen en buiten het systeem. Met deze achtergrond beoogt dit proefschrift te begrijpen op welke manieren de ICESs kunnen bijdragen aan de verbetering van de energietransitie. Dit proefschrift maakt gebruik van een conceptueel raamwerk bestaande uit institutionele en maatschappelijke niveaus om de interactie en dynamiek van de implementatie van de ICES te begrijpen. De huidige energietrends en de bijbehorende technologische, sociaal-economische, milieu- en institutionele problemen worden beoordeeld. Het ontwikkelde ICES-model voert optimale planning en gebruik van ICESs uit en beoordeelt hun prestaties op basis van economische en milieu-indicatoren. Voor de beschouwde gemeenschapsgrootte en lokale omstandigheden zijn  op het net aangesloten ICESs al voordelig ten opzichte van het alternatief waarbij uitsluitend vanuit het net wordt geleverd, zowel wat betreft de totale energiekosten als de CO2-uitstoot, terwijl de grid-defected systemen, hoewel heel goed presterend in termen van CO2-emissiereductie, nog steeds vrij duur zijn. ICESs zorgen voor zelfvoorziening van energie en kunnen essentiële systeemdiensten leveren aan het grotere energiesysteem. Dit proefschrift heeft de toegevoegde waarde van ICESs voor de individuele huishoudens, lokale gemeenschappen en de samenleving aangetoond. Een uitgebreid institutioneel ontwerp met inachtneming van techno-economische en institutionele perspectieven is nodig om de effectieve bijdrage van de ICESs in de energietransitie te waarborgen. / <p>QC 20170911</p> / Sustainable Energy Technologies and Strategies

This qualitative study explores daily environmental sustainable attitudes and behaviours of Gauteng’s urban youth. A social constructivist paradigm underlines the views, challenges and activities expressed. The Reasonable Person Model (RPM) and Social Networking Theory ensure that the content, as well as methodological elements and results herein adhere to a psychological framework. Focus groups and online interviews were utilised to explore the link between community well-being and the state of the natural environment and the sample was drawn using purposive and snowball sampling. The literature reviewed focuses on existing climate change concerns, pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, and emerging local and international practices, including the importance of expanding local practices. A thematic analysis, ensured for a broad variety of responses, and hence detailed discussion -of and dissemination of results. Using common threads in the results, recommendations and suggestions were made, to improve future studies and research practices concerning Environmental Responsible Behaviours (ERBs).

The Tea Party movement’s effect on local and regional planning in Virginia has received little study. This work identifies how conservative political activism has impacted planning in the Commonwealth and how planners have responded. The study relies on a qualitative approach involving 22 semi-structured interviews with activists, planners, and citizens, as well as textual analyses of planning documents, local and regional news reports, and Tea Party social media. The resultant findings show that Tea Party activism is rooted in deep seated ideals about private property rights and individualism. It also reveals that planning processes that increased the amount of public input had the effect of mitigating the impact of activism. The study concludes by suggesting that strategies based in the communicative style of planning offer an effective way to overcome such opposition while enhancing the many benefits of having significant citizen input in the planning process.

Immigrant incorporation in the United States has been a topic of concern and debate since the founding of the nation. Scholars have studied many aspects of the phenomenon, including economic, political, social, and spatial. The most influential paradigm of immigrant incorporation in the US has been, and continues to be, assimilation, and the most important place in and scale at which incorporation occurs is the neighborhood. This dissertation captures both of these integral aspects of immigrant incorporation through its consideration of three dimensions of assimilation – identity, trust, and civic engagement – among Latin American immigrants and American-born Latinos in Little Havana, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Data discussed in the dissertation were gathered through surveys and interviews as part of a National Science Foundation-funded study carried out in 2005-2006. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data allows for a nuanced understanding of how immigrant incorporation is occurring locally during the first decade of the twentieth century. Findings reveal that overall Latin American immigrants and their American-born offspring appear to be becoming American with regard to their ethnic and racial identities quickly, evidenced through the salience and active employment of panethnic labels, while at the same time they are actively reshaping the identificational structure. The Latino population, however, is not monolithic and is cleaved by diversity within the group, including country of origin and socioeconomic status. These same factors impede group cohesion in terms of trust and its correlate, community. Nevertheless, the historically dominant ancestry group in Little Havana – Cubans – has been able to reach notable levels of trust and build and conserve a more solid sense of community than non-Cuban residents. With respect to civic engagement, neighborhood residents generally participate at rates lower than the overall US population and ethnic subpopulations. This is not the case for political engagement, however, where self-reported voting registration and turnout in Little Havana surpasses that of most benchmarked populations. The empirical evidence presented in this dissertation on the case of Latinos in Little Havana challenges the ways that identity, trust, and civic engagement are conceptualized and theorized, especially among immigrants to the US.

The use of performance information is the backbone of performance management. Performance information use refers to the willingness of public managers or other relevant stakeholders to incorporate quantitative or qualitative data in their decision-making. Both routine and nonroutine performance information is considered essential in managers’ decision making. Understanding the organizational factors that motivate public managers to use performance information is an important topic in the literature and practice of performance management. Although the number of studies on information use is growing, little is known about the impact of Organizational Social Capital (OSC). OSC is composed of the sub-dimensions of social interaction, trust, and shared goals. The main argument of this study is that OSC fosters performance information use in public administrations. It is expected that departments with high levels of organizational social capital are more likely to use both routine and nonroutine performance information. To test the hypothesized effect, department heads, middle managers, and other individuals with a supervisory role from 513 Florida County Government departments were surveyed. Furthermore, interviews, focus groups, and analysis of secondary data were performed to provide the context and the narrative surrounding the hypothesized effect. Analysis of the survey data reveals evidence in support of the hypothesized effects. Furthermore, the comparative case study analysis shows the existence of substantial differences in the history, background, organizational culture, and management between the two counties. The main findings show how reorganization processes as well as a lack of leadership may have detrimental effects to organizational social capital. Organizational social capital could be considered a relevant predictor of performance information use and thus deserves further attention from both researchers and practitioners.

Public health policy and practice principally acknowledge a needs-based approach when developing, implementing, and evaluating community health programs. This needs-based perspective receives criticism because it focuses too heavily on what is missing or wrong with communities as opposed to building on their strengths. As a result, community members are perceived as passive recipients, which is disempowering, and ultimately risks creating unsustainable and ineffective programs. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in achieving a balance between the needs-based approach and the asset-based approach, which accentuates positive capabilities. While the amount of literature discussing the benefits of this latter perspective has grown substantially, accompanying evaluation required to sustain continued investment has been limited. Compared to needs-based research, there is less literature on asset-based evaluation. Emphasis on such research could contribute to the progression of evaluation methodologies and theories, ultimately encouraging their use. The purpose of this study is to apply an existing public health evaluation framework – the RE-AIM model (Glasgow, Vogt, and Boles, 1999) – to asset-based community health interventions and to examine the utility of such an evaluation structure across a variety of asset-based health projects. A multiple case study design facilitated comparison of the applicability of the RE-AIM model dimensions – Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance across three cases in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom. These included the Local Links Asset-mapping project, the Healthy Early Years Project, and the Good Moves project. The RE-AIM framework is additionally guided by principles of the Realist Evaluation approach (Pawson and Tilley, 1997). This research study contributes to asset-based research by providing a guideline and conceptual framework to support asset-based intervention evaluation theory and practice.

Every year the United States corrections system costs tax payers $52 billion. The failures of the prison system are both tangible and intangible. This Thesis research builds on existing literature to seek out a solution to the high rate of recidivism post release. Can design be employed as a tool with the potential to reduce rates of recidivism in the prison population? The City of Springfield, in Western Massachusetts, acts as a test case to examine the inter-relationships of social science, neuroscience, and architecture. Initial research identified the primary obstacles individuals face after prison that contribute to keeping recidivism rates high. This is not intended to oversimplify the issues or suggest there is an easy solution, but to provide a starting point to try something new. Ultimately, this thesis deals with how architecture can provide a concrete solution to the deep set, less tangible roadblocks to successful reintegration. Residents often lack a sense of self-worth, personal responsibility and stable social ties. In addition to designing a building to provide the physical support system that released prisoners often lack, such as housing, access to transportation, and access to services, the project will explore techniques to serve a much greater purpose and provide a model for a re-imagined process of incarceration, release, healing and growth.

The town of Amherst, Massachusetts is home to the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College, and Hampshire College, institutions that have greatly influenced the town’s prolific history of political activism as well as the high educational attainment and economic status of the majority of its residents. Often hailed as a liberal utopia, research on the political mobilization occurring in this town provides insight into the process and limitations of ally politics: when most of the residents of Amherst are White, how do they engage in racial justice activism? When most of the residents are wealthy and/or highly educated, how do they engage in challenges to capitalism’s structural inequalities? In this thesis, I approach these questions by examining the political mobilization process of myself and others in three organizations: Coming Together, Re-Evaluation Counseling (RC), and the student organization, UMass Alliance for Community Transformation (UACT). I explore how Coming Together focused on antiracism in a process of focused personal reflection about racial identity and personal antiracism practices, and how that process silenced the people of color in the organization, was vii detrimental to my own mental health, and demobilized many potential-activists. In an effort to understand this organization better, I explore the practices of personal reflection and the vision of social change in RC, an organization which greatly influenced Coming Together. I argue that the more holistic and rigorous personal reflection in RC was more empowering, although taxing of energy. Finally, I contrast these experiences with the political mobilization I experienced in the UACT introductory course, Grassroots Community Organizing (GCO). I argue that the ongoing facilitation in critical personal reflection, relationship- and community-building, and practice in activism work in GCO was politically mobilizing and simultaneously produced a community culture of anti oppression. Ultimately, this thesis argues that effective activism against racism requires activism against capitalism, and vice-versa, and that highly intentional anti-oppression community-building can denaturalize, and mobilize participants against, the capitalist ideologies of alienation and competition. In order to do this comparative work, I rely heavily on the methods of participation observation and, rooted in Black feminist anthropology, autoethnography.

This master’s thesis examines the relationship between emergency management planning and comprehensive land use planning. The incorporation of emergency management practices into the comprehensive planning process allows for a better understanding of the impact of development, zoning, building code, and economic development on the mitigation of hazards that face the community. Academic curricula may provide a brief introduction of the relationship between hazard mitigation and land use; however, a more detailed exploration of how emergency management planning and regional or urban planning are interrelated is needed. The impact of weather-related events, natural disasters, or other human-caused shock or disruption can dramatically impact the physical, social, and psychological structures of a community. This research provides regional planners with the history of emergency management planning in the United States. It examines how cross-sharing of information and process between both planning disciplines can contribute to more robust community development and disaster plans. A case study illustrates the impact of urban development on natural hazard mitigation and the subsequent risks to public safety, which resulted from the planning decisions. Place identity, place dependence, and public participation concerning hazard mitigation and disaster management are explored to provide planners and emergency managers with a context of the psychological influences which may impact a community member’s decisions when faced with significant disruption of place. Best practices that guide the integration of regional planning and emergency management planning are provided to increase the understanding of both planning processes to increase the capacity of a community to absorb and rebound from a natural disaster or sudden shock.

This thesis is a critical analysis of the normative planning practice in relation to the aspirational principles of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) (especially Section A, Part 1: Overall Responsibility to the Public). By exploring several dimensions of typical, or Business As Usual, planning practices in a local planning department in Springfield, Massachusetts and contextualized within larger planning concerns in the United States, I illustrate that socio-spatial, racialized oppression is deeply embedded in these common practices. Through a multimethod approach that includes historical survey, archival research, interviews, and direct observation, I argue that most professional planning operates from within antiquated frameworks that prioritize professionalism and expertise over genuine community engagement, relationality, and collective agency. This structure contributes to weakened trust in government and inequitable allocation of attention and resources, thereby reproducing inequity, particularly in disaster contexts. While these are my findings from site-specific research, I contend that such outcomes are evident in planning departments more generally. Thus, I conclude that the exacerbation of inequity during crises is not isolated, but instead a result of deeply embedded neoliberal planning practices. Specifically, I identify key barriers to equitable planning as 1) absence of care, 2) over-reliance on economic development, 3) disconnects between research and implementation, 4) degraded linking social capital and top-down public participation, and 5) illusions of objectivity in planning. These patterns contribute to what I, following Rob Nixon (2011), call slow violence against vulnerable populations through professional silence about and complicity in violent structures. Associating these trends with the violence of COVID-19 and racism, I find that planning may be participating in structural slow violence against communities of color, especially in Legacy Cities such as Springfield, Massachusetts. Finally, I call for a shift in planning practice, wherein we acknowledge and take responsibility for the unavoidable political role of the planner. I propose five steps to redirect our practices: 1) acknowledge our past, 2) reject illusions of objectivity, 3) identify injustices and define resilience collectively, 4) center care frameworks, and 5) invest in the implementation of research findings