Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / John W. Keller / In the mid-20th century a migration took place taking residents of American downtowns to the newly-developed, master-planned suburbs. In the wake were abandoned urban cores that evolved into poorly-perceived conditions. One of the many responses to correct these deteriorating central districts was the establishment of Business Improvement Districts (BID), a public-private partnership that develops complementary services to what a city already provides and is paid for by assessments collected from property and business owners in a defined area. With more than 1,000 BIDs in existence in the United States as of 2010 (Becker, Grossman, Dos Santos, 2011), the concept has caught on as a tool utilized to bring downtowns back to life. However, despite the popularity of BIDs and their nearly 50-year existence as a planning tool, the question of how successful they are in improving the conditions of safety, cleanliness, and business growth in the districts over time needs continued analysis. This study gauges the impact of BIDs through a case study of Fresno, California and its BID, the Downtown Fresno Partnership. To measure how the Downtown Fresno Partnership has been successful or unsuccessful, interviews with Downtown Fresno stakeholders were conducted to measure the BID’s ability to change perceptions and advocate for the property owners in its boundary. Also, to measure further impacts, crime, property values and retail data was investigated. A perceived injection of new energy seems to exist in Downtown Fresno, as evidenced by the activity taking place and the change in perception of the area since the Downtown Fresno Partnership was formed in 2011. The BID has played a central role in instituting physical change to the space while it has been a strong advocate for its property owners. In its first five years of existence, the Downtown Fresno Partnership has proven to be necessary, but it is not sufficient on its own. From a planning standpoint, it is important to recognize that in order to revitalize, a community must first organize. In the case of Fresno, the BID provided an opportunity to collect formerly competing interests and put itself at the center of an underperforming downtown to alter the course towards a more vibrant and thriving area. It has established positive momentum down this path, and it is expected to be a strong voice for downtown in the future as others join in on the fully-experienced revitalized state of Downtown Fresno.

This thesis embodies a report on a survey conducted in the Kerrisdale community of the City of Vancouver. The primary purpose of the survey was to determine the extent to which the young people living in "Kerrisdale" identified themselves with the institutions of this community. The present report covers a sample of two hundred adolescent boys (ages 14-18) selected on the basis of membership in church groups, boys' clubs and other community agencies and considered, in view of the way in which they were selected, to be representative of Kerrisdale youth. The sample has been proven to be representative of the community it purports to represent. It, at the same time, is similar to the samples obtained by other studies done elsewhere. The similarity of the Kerrisdale sample with the Maryland sample obtained by H. M. Bell is particularly significant. In the first part of the study, a survey of the literature on adolescents has been made to determine the techniques and procedures which had been used successfully by other workers in this area of research. Material for this study has been obtained from the use of three research techniques. These were: Written questionnaire, Personal interviews, and Observational techniques. The findings of this study and of earlier American studies appear in many essential respects to agree. However, the findings of this study and those of the Canadian Youth Commission tend to disagree. The general conclusion reached is that the Kerrisdale adolescents are emotionally well "integrated" with their homes. They are physically well "integrated" with the main institutions of the community, in the sense that they use them continuously, though there may be emotional maladjustment to these in some cases. Due to lack of measurable indices, it is not possible to generalize accurately about the spiritual "integration" of Kerrisdale adolescents with schools, churches, and the community generally. On the basis of information presented, certain general recommendations have been made which might lead to better spiritual "integration" existing between the adolescents and the various components of their environment. These include improving the teacher-student relationships; adding to the adolescent's desire to go to church; and in getting the members of the family to spend more time together to try to make it a better adjusted and more emotionally integrated unit. Will it be done? Can it be done? This is the challenge which faces not only the Kerrisdale community but other communities as well in the second half of the twentieth century. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

The interpretation of leached outcrops as guides to the specific minerals from which they were formed has been developed to a rather high degree by earlier workers, among whom Boswell and Blanchard deserve particular mention. In the present work, a gossan that led to the discovery of a lead deposit is described. Since many hand specimens of the limonite from this gossan lack the characteristic boxwork structures described by the authors above, microscopic investigations of thin and polished sections were carried out. However, the gossan is classified into six types mainly on the basis of its physical properties. At least three of these are correlated with types described by Boswell and Blanchard, one of pyrite derivation and the others from galena. The relative solubility of different limonite types in dilute HC1 was not found to be of as much value as some writers have indicated. The mineral deposits to which the limonite pointed the way have not been sufficiently exposed to allow detailed study, but the presence of tremolite and phlogopite in an area of disseminated mineralization indicates that this portion at least may be of contact metamorphic origin. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

The Okanagan Valley is an important agricultural area in south-central British Columbia. Due to the low annual precipitation and a high rate of evapotranspiration, irrigation is necessary for the production of most crops. Since water shortage problems in the valley are likely to arise in the future, since irrigation accounts for over 90% of the consumptive use of water in the valley, and since data on the actual irrigation operation is sparse, a detailed study was made of one district. Vernon Irrigation District, the largest district in the Okanagan Basin, was selected for detailed study. Its distribution system has recently been modernized. The history of the development of the district is outlined and the old system and the way in which it operated are described. The reasons for selection of the new system, the criteria used in its design, and the way in which the new system now operates are described. Particular attention is paid to scheduling—the timing of the application of water to the crops—since this offers one of the best opportunities for the conservation of water in the future. Minor conflicts with other users of the water resource are identified and suggestions given for minimizing such conflicts. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Civil Engineering, Department of / Graduate

The intent of this study is to describe and analyze the interrelations of vegetation and environment in the east-central sector of the Mackenzie River Delta, Northwest Territories. It traces the sequence and function of the allogenic events which create varying habitat systems and determines whether environmental modification, once initiated on terra nova is directional - in either a physical or floristic expression. In determining the sequence and influence of physical environmental factors, the following parameters were measured, employing standard instruments and field investigation techniques: micro-relief; depth, areal extent, and duration of flooding; thickness, areal extent, and particle-size distribution of annual deposits of alluvium; magnitude and significance of erosion; patterns of microclimatic variation (including air temperature and humidity, evaporativity, precipitation, wind speed, solar radiation, and net radiation); lake and channel temperatures; soil pH, moisture (hygrotope class), and temperature; development of varying active layer depths; and freezeback of the active layer. To analyze the vegetation of the study area, the phytosociologic methods of the Braun- Blanquet (Zurich-Montpellier) school were applied. Nine seral associations and the climax ecosystem were studied; each was fitted into a successional category. Plant succession was analyzed by reconstructing the course of vegetative development from pioneer to climax community with the aid of successional transects. Results of this study indicate that environmental and floristic changes in the Mackenzie Delta are directional - that given the formation of new ground, such as on the slipoff slope of a shifting channel, ecologic variation will follow a predictable direction. As the seral sequence advances, autogenic influences become dominant over the allogenic initiators until in the climax association, relatively steady-state conditions of environment and vegetation are attained. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This thesis examines the history of groundwater management through the development of groundwater conservation districts in Texas. Political, economic, ideological, and scientific understandings of groundwater and its regulation varied across the state, as did the natural resource types and quantities, which created a diverse and complicated position for lawmakers and landowners. Groundwater was consistently interpreted as a private property right and case law protected unrestricted use for the majority of the twentieth-century even as groundwater resources crossed property and political boundaries, and water tables declined particularly during the second-half of the century. The case study of the Brazos Valley Groundwater Conservation District describes the complicated history of groundwater in Texas as the state attempted to balance natural resource legislation and private property rights and illuminate groundwater’s importance for the future.

The department of agricultural extension services (DAES) has been the central implementing agency responsible for agricultural extension services in Malawi. However, since 1990s many changes have taken place leading to the development of new national extension policy, which was launched in 2000, under the heading Agricultural Extension in the New Millennium: Towards Pluralistic and Demand-driven Services in Malawi. This is an opportunity to bring the control of extension closer to the grassroots community. One of the biggest challenges in operationalising the new system is the facilitation of farmers’ involvement at all stages. This may not be achieved without appropriate functional structures from the grassroots community. And in light of the pluralism in extension service delivery, co-ordination of agricultural extension has become another challenge extension has to deal with. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of farmers’ involvement in agricultural extension services, search for an appropriate institutional linkage structure for effective participatory and coordinated agricultural extension as well as identify major factors affecting coordination of pluralistic agricultural extension services in Nkhotakota district. A total of 135 respondents were involved in group interview sessions allowing extensive interaction and discussion before individuals were requested to record their viewpoints regarding various alternatives in documents (questionnaires) prepared for that purpose and which were subsequently analysed. The survey results reveal that agricultural extension has not been very participatory and the level of farmers’ involvement is very low. What is positive, however, is the high degree of willingness of farmers to be involved in agricultural extension. This is an opportunity that extension organisations must take advantage of. The survey found wide scale support (87.2 percent) for the necessity of a proposed community linkage structure, which, as a mouthpiece, represents the community, coordinates its interests and programmes and functions in partnership with the service provider(s). This allows for a partnership relationship that lead towards the empowerment of the communities to take ownership of the development process.. There is support also for the identified principles regarding this proposed linkage structure. These include a clear differentiation between the coordinating and operational functions and a positioning of the structures as close to the grassroots community as possible, but not to the level of unnecessary duplication and consequently poor coordination. There is general agreement that coordination should not be limited to one commodity or even agriculture, but should be all embracing. Some reservation in this regard can be attributed to fear of agriculture being marginalised. For a country that relies predominantly on agriculture care should be taken to ensure that this does not happen. In general, farmers are more supportive of the principles of effective linkage structures than the service providers. According to the results, coordination of extension among service providers is still poor, but is likely to increase as the policy of pluralism and decentralization continues to unfold. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc Agric (Agricultural Extension))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural development / unrestricted

Thesis (M.Sc. (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / Food insecurity and hunger problems have received considerable attention in recent years from research experts and governments worldwide. The most important nutrients in food security are proteins, especially animal proteins. Previous studies have indicated that poultry production is the strategic source of animal protein because of its fecundity, fast growth rate and short generation interval. The poultry production sector consists of broiler and layers subsector. In South Africa, broiler production is practised by both large-scale and smallholder farmers; with the former dominating the retail and urban markets. Smallholder broiler farmers on the other hand, produce for local individuals and do not have access to high value chain markets. There are several studies on broiler value chain countrywide and on broiler resource-use efficiency in many developing countries. However, most researchers have not focused on smallholder broiler farmers despite the fact that they provide cheaper broiler meat to the majority of low income rural populations. Thus, this study analysed the broiler value chain and socio-economic factors that contribute to resource-use efficiency of smallholder broiler farmers in general in the Capricorn District of Limpopo Province. Stochastic Frontier Production Function was used to identify the socio-economic characteristics that contribute to broiler production and to determine the level of resource-use efficiency by smallholder farmers. Value chain analysis (VCA) was used to identify value chain actors and the position of smallholder broiler farmers along the value chain. Descriptive statistic results revealed that most smallholder broiler farmers are mostly female (79%) and more than 65 % are over the age of 31. The broiler input cost analysis indicated that feed cost contributed the highest expenditure (60%) in smallholder broiler production. Socio-economic factors such as educational level, experience in broiler production, access to credit, gender, access to transport, and age, were significant at different levels and therefore affect broiler production by smallholder farmers. The study also found that farmers in the study area were underutilising their resources with resource-use efficiency varying from 97% to 8%. Several constraints that v prevent smallholder broiler farmers from accessing the high value chain markets were identified. On the basis of the findings, it is recommended in this study that efforts be made to incentivise younger and energetic farmers to participate in broiler farming, government and the private sector should invest in research in order to establish alternative cheaper feeds to help reduce overall production costs, and the need for improved access to credit in order to enhance the working capital of farmers. Furthermore, the establishment of information sharing marketing cooperatives, slaughtering, processing and packaging facilities for smallholder broiler farmers in the study area will improve access to high value chain markets.

Thesis advisor: Vincent Cho / As a result of pressing educational inequities that can be traced to students’ race, ethnicity, class, home language, and learning needs, many districts prioritize equity work in their strategic plans and mission. With their close proximity to student learning, teachers can play an integral role in furthering equity efforts. Studies have pointed to the building principal as the leader most influential in creating a culture of teacher leadership; however, there is a gap in the research related to how the district leadership sets the conditions for this culture. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how district leaders in one Massachusetts school district set the conditions for teacher leadership, specifically in enacting efforts to support the learning of all students. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews and document review. Findings indicate that district leaders can cultivate teacher leadership in equity work when they provide meaningful professional development opportunities, when they consistently support building principals, when their messaging about the importance of equity is clear, and when they provide formal leadership roles and opportunities to teachers. Although several steps removed from the locus of the classroom, district leaders can play a critical role in fostering a culture in which teachers are trusted, supported, and prepared to reach every learner. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

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