acase@tulane.edu / This thesis addresses the relationship between self and other within Rastafari culture in Guyana. Heirs of a tradition of resistance against the dichotomous, hierarchical approach to nature and humanity embodied by European colonialism, Rastas in Guyana have conceptualized the individual self as an integral aspect of a divine, universal whole comprising the natural world and its diverse, interdependent constituents. This has involved the transcendence of conceptual dichotomies between self and other, humanity and divinity, physical and spiritual worlds, and people of different gender and ethnic identities. The transcendence of these conceptual divisions has supported the development of socially nonviolent and ecologically sustainable communities tied to soil, charting a course for global communities seeking to mitigate social and environmental crises. The transcendence of conceptual dichotomy is symbolized in this thesis by the “desert trod”—the journey of the Israelites of the Old Testament from captivity to the promised land. I argue that by closing the conceptual distance between self and other, Rastas have moved toward a promised land defined by social nonviolence and ecological sustainability. / 1 / Erin Lierl

<p>In response to the myriad of problems confronting society including climatic changes on our planet numerous individuals, organizations, and governments are reinventing themselves forging a new pathway towards a more sustainable future. Facilitated by a variety of different conferences, initiatives, and strategies an increasing global trend has focused on the urban context addressing environmental, economic, and economic issues by developing sustainable communities. Sustainable communities are commonly guided in this process by a pre-existing framework formed on an underlying set of principles, ideas, and stages.</p><p>Worldwide, a variety of frameworks exist. At first glance, the frameworks may appear to have certain advantages over others in respect to their area of focus. For instance, some of the frameworks appear to place a focus on the physical built environment of communities as opposed to other which may accentuate ongoing community participation and collaboration. Although, numerous organizations and networks claim to be committed to the shared learning experiences of sustainable communities little published literature has emerged considering the opportunity of using multiple frameworks or considered integrating portions of the frameworks together. The purpose of this study is to compare three commonly implemented frameworks against eleven elements viewed, as integral to the development of sustainable communities to determine what opportunities may exist for collaboration/ integration of frameworks when developing sustainable communities. Based on previous research and literature these elements include community change process, stakeholder identification and evaluation, strategic planning, education; environmental, economic, and social responsibility, built environment and green design, sustainability indicators and evaluation tools, local government, and knowledge transfer. From these elements a conceptual framework has been developed on which a comparison of the Natural Step Framework, New Urbanism, and the Melbourne Principles has been conducted.</p><p>Through a deductive research approach five interviews have been conducted with experts in the field of sustainable community development on which a number of advantages and disadvantages have been identified with these frameworks. These have included advantages acknowledging frameworks provide a common platform to begin speaking about issues related to sustainability. However, a noted disadvantage is that frameworks fail to account for and incorporate the majority of stakeholders who comprise communities. While the frameworks due appear quite diverse in the way they approach developing sustainable communities as well as what they view sustainable communities as being by seeking to limit the gaps of these views through continuous learning, education and the transfer of knowledge opportunities do exist for the collaboration and integration of frameworks.</p>

In response to the myriad of problems confronting society including climatic changes on our planet numerous individuals, organizations, and governments are reinventing themselves forging a new pathway towards a more sustainable future. Facilitated by a variety of different conferences, initiatives, and strategies an increasing global trend has focused on the urban context addressing environmental, economic, and economic issues by developing sustainable communities. Sustainable communities are commonly guided in this process by a pre-existing framework formed on an underlying set of principles, ideas, and stages. Worldwide, a variety of frameworks exist. At first glance, the frameworks may appear to have certain advantages over others in respect to their area of focus. For instance, some of the frameworks appear to place a focus on the physical built environment of communities as opposed to other which may accentuate ongoing community participation and collaboration. Although, numerous organizations and networks claim to be committed to the shared learning experiences of sustainable communities little published literature has emerged considering the opportunity of using multiple frameworks or considered integrating portions of the frameworks together. The purpose of this study is to compare three commonly implemented frameworks against eleven elements viewed, as integral to the development of sustainable communities to determine what opportunities may exist for collaboration/ integration of frameworks when developing sustainable communities. Based on previous research and literature these elements include community change process, stakeholder identification and evaluation, strategic planning, education; environmental, economic, and social responsibility, built environment and green design, sustainability indicators and evaluation tools, local government, and knowledge transfer. From these elements a conceptual framework has been developed on which a comparison of the Natural Step Framework, New Urbanism, and the Melbourne Principles has been conducted. Through a deductive research approach five interviews have been conducted with experts in the field of sustainable community development on which a number of advantages and disadvantages have been identified with these frameworks. These have included advantages acknowledging frameworks provide a common platform to begin speaking about issues related to sustainability. However, a noted disadvantage is that frameworks fail to account for and incorporate the majority of stakeholders who comprise communities. While the frameworks due appear quite diverse in the way they approach developing sustainable communities as well as what they view sustainable communities as being by seeking to limit the gaps of these views through continuous learning, education and the transfer of knowledge opportunities do exist for the collaboration and integration of frameworks.

The intent of this thesis is to conduct an empirical study of social capital in a single resource dependent fishing community, Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. The community under study, Petty Harbour, has a 335 year attachment to what was its primary fishery, Northern cod (Gadus morhua). This ended in 1992 when the Canadian government implemented an indefinite moratorium on Northern cod. Historically the community has exhibited high levels of activism aimed for the most part at protectionism of its primary economic mainstay, the fishery. Social capital by definition implies available resources embedded in social structures such as informal networks that can be accessed and mobilized by individuals or groups for either personal or communal gain (Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 2000; Krishna, 2002; Onyx, 2005). High levels of social capital can lead to collective activism, which according to some, is the single most important contributing factor to sustainability because without activism, an outcome of social capital, there maybe no hope for recovery and sustainability. My hypothesis is that the extent to which one is socially connected through network ties to close friends and/or family (structural social capital) and the level of trust in neighbors (cognitive social capital) will positively correlate with their involvement with activism. Leadership and sense of ownership are introduced as additional independent variables to further explore explanations for the community's level of collective activism and stewardship of the resource. Treating activism as a dependent variable, I am going to examine social capital indicators, suggesting network ties (weak, strong) as independent variables that can partially explain the historically high level of activism. I am also going to propose that the independent variables leadership and sense of ownership will also positively correlate with activism.

The intent of this thesis is to conduct an empirical study of social capital in a single resource dependent fishing community, Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. The community under study, Petty Harbour, has a 335 year attachment to what was its primary fishery, Northern cod (Gadus morhua). This ended in 1992 when the Canadian government implemented an indefinite moratorium on Northern cod. Historically the community has exhibited high levels of activism aimed for the most part at protectionism of its primary economic mainstay, the fishery. Social capital by definition implies available resources embedded in social structures such as informal networks that can be accessed and mobilized by individuals or groups for either personal or communal gain (Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 2000; Krishna, 2002; Onyx, 2005). High levels of social capital can lead to collective activism, which according to some, is the single most important contributing factor to sustainability because without activism, an outcome of social capital, there maybe no hope for recovery and sustainability. My hypothesis is that the extent to which one is socially connected through network ties to close friends and/or family (structural social capital) and the level of trust in neighbors (cognitive social capital) will positively correlate with their involvement with activism. Leadership and sense of ownership are introduced as additional independent variables to further explore explanations for the community's level of collective activism and stewardship of the resource. Treating activism as a dependent variable, I am going to examine social capital indicators, suggesting network ties (weak, strong) as independent variables that can partially explain the historically high level of activism. I am also going to propose that the independent variables leadership and sense of ownership will also positively correlate with activism.

The intent of this thesis is to conduct an empirical study of social capital in a single resource dependent fishing community, Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. The community under study, Petty Harbour, has a 335 year attachment to what was its primary fishery, Northern cod (Gadus morhua). This ended in 1992 when the Canadian government implemented an indefinite moratorium on Northern cod. Historically the community has exhibited high levels of activism aimed for the most part at protectionism of its primary economic mainstay, the fishery. Social capital by definition implies available resources embedded in social structures such as informal networks that can be accessed and mobilized by individuals or groups for either personal or communal gain (Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 2000; Krishna, 2002; Onyx, 2005). High levels of social capital can lead to collective activism, which according to some, is the single most important contributing factor to sustainability because without activism, an outcome of social capital, there maybe no hope for recovery and sustainability. My hypothesis is that the extent to which one is socially connected through network ties to close friends and/or family (structural social capital) and the level of trust in neighbors (cognitive social capital) will positively correlate with their involvement with activism. Leadership and sense of ownership are introduced as additional independent variables to further explore explanations for the community's level of collective activism and stewardship of the resource. Treating activism as a dependent variable, I am going to examine social capital indicators, suggesting network ties (weak, strong) as independent variables that can partially explain the historically high level of activism. I am also going to propose that the independent variables leadership and sense of ownership will also positively correlate with activism. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

This report explores how, why, and to what ends the Partnership for Sustainable Development is attempting to integrate land use and transportation planning in the United States. Analysis of the Partnership’s organization and operation reveals that while the Partnership Agreement suggests that the goal is policy integration, the vague objectives in the agreement and weak linkages displayed between the Partnership members--the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, and Environmental Protection Agency--are indicative of basic policy coordination. Historical and cultural characteristics of the departments are partly responsible for the gap between the goals and the rhetoric. To understand how integrated planning works the report examines the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Agency's current planning efforts and best practices from the European Union, where integrated planning has occurred for almost 20 years. The report ends with recommendations for the Partnership about how to learn from the experiences of the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Agency and the European Union. / text

This study seeks to uncover the opportunities and challenges in building the foundations for sustainable community development at the local level, by enhancing the capacity of a community organisation. Challenging the traditional needs-based focus of community development, the research builds from the work of Kretzmann and McKnight by applying an asset-based approach to both community development and capacity building of community organisations. This study thus shifts the focus of community development away from its traditional application on

City leaders and residents are increasingly considering the need to address urban food provision. Community gardens are one aspect of the urban food system that is seeing a resurgence of popularity and support. Although not intended to replace market-based food streams or the federal food safety net, these gardens can provide many benefits to their communities besides increased food security and access to fresh produce. They can encourage community development, especially in struggling areas, by serving as tools for addressing community issues. Because they are effective uses of open space, cities should consider supporting the development of community gardens. Along with a literature review to show the potential benefits of community gardens, this report uses case study research to show the adaptability of community gardens in meeting communities’ diverse needs. Cleveland, Ohio and San Francisco, California were selected to show how community garden provision is addressed in two greatly differing cities. They provide examples of how community gardens can succeed in many types of urban environments. / text

Urban greening has evolved into a diverse set of strategies based on community organizing and policy change to help create healthy communities. Currently, there are competing urban greening agendas and barriers to coalition building that prohibit urban greening projects and policies from reaching their maximum potential. Greening projects take the collective effort of residents, city government, nonprofits, community-based organizations and a range of technical experts. To move the agenda forward there is a need to create a framework around health and build community-based health coalitions. A healthy community framework taps into universal concerns and the need to build sustainable communities. In order to move forward we need collective action, coalition building and grassroots organizing in conjunction with economics, science, policy, planning, design and law. / text