Urban Revitalisation Partnerships: Perceptions of the university's role in Louisville,Kentucky

The university has a role to play in helping revitalise US cities. University participation contributes to all three aspects of life on campus: teaching, research and service. This evaluation uses a case study qualitative approach in order to assess a $2 million university-community partnership programme in Louisville, Kentucky. A selective sample of business, community, university and government leaders was interviewed to evaluate the impact of the University of Louisville Housing and Neighborhood Development Strategies programme. The programme consisted of special classroom and related projects devoted to applied research by faculty and students including, but not limited to, housing development and the recycling of environmental infrastructure (i.e. housing lots, storm and sanitary sewers and water pipes, etc.). The partnership has won environmental awards from the Sierra Club and the US Environmental Protection Agency, and was a semi-finalist in the Innovations in American Government Awards from Harvard University. It also included use of professional staff to deliver a broad spectrum of human resource services to the community with a feedback loop to research themes. There are positive and negative aspects to these partnerships. On balance, both town and gown have the potential to gain immeasurably from the collaborative efforts of university- community partnerships.     

Who's greener? Comparing urban and suburban residents' environmental behaviour and concern

While various studies have compared metropolitan and rural residents' displays of environmentalism, recent shifts in the housing and energy markets make intra-metropolitan differences in urban and suburban attitudes and actions more interesting. The housing market crash and accompanying rise in fuel costs are prompting a return of centralisation to many communities and, it is believed, are drawing environmentally conscious residents downtown closer to work and play. Past research has found that this trend – demonstrated by a re-centralising housing market – was already underway, pre-crash, in Louisville, Kentucky over the “boom” period from 2000 to 2006. Drawing on original 2006 survey data for Louisville, this study regresses two components of environmentalism (behaviour and concern) on socio-demographics and residence. Findings show urbanites in Louisville are indeed significantly more environmentally friendly in their behaviour but not in their concern. Countering some claims, residents of single-family homes also exhibit significantly higher levels of environmental behaviour and concern than those residing in apartments and condominiums. Finally, in a surprise finding, recent movers from the suburbs to the city do not differ in their behaviour and are significantly less concerned about the environment than urbanites, suburbanites, and all metropolitan residents.     

Tri-sector partnership for community development in mining: a case study of the SAPI Foundation and Target Fund in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

This paper explores the nature of tri-sector partnerships applied to community development in the mining sector. The case study approach was used to examine an initiative for environmental improvement and socio-economic development in the diamond province of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the Russian Federation. The study follows the journey of this initiative from a potential tri-sector partnership model between the diamond mining company ALROSA, the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the SAPI Foundation, to a bi-lateral partnership between ALROSA and the Government represented by the Target Fund. The study explores the community development in the diamond province in the light of economic and political transition within the mining sector of the Russian Federation.     

“A Kiss Here and a Kiss There”: Conflict and Collaboration in Environmental Partnerships

Multistakeholder collaboration in the environmental realm has been increasing steadily over the past decade. This trend is responding to several stimuli, including dissatisfaction with current regulatory regimes, a liberal economic climate emphasizing global competitiveness and short-term returns, and the growing roles of the business and nongovernmental organization sectors in the environmental policy arena. This paper grows out of ethnographic research conducted between 1994 and 1998 with four environmental partnerships in Europe and the United States. The research found all of these partnerships to be marked by practices of conflict minimization and diffusion. Drawing upon illustrative data from one of these case studies, a European Union level initiative aimed at enabling sustainable development in Europe, the paper asks why this was the case, especially given the diverse political and economic interests at stake and the history of contentious relations between the sectors in other venues. Employing a theoretical perspective highlighting the sociohistoric factors involved in these processes, the paper suggests that this proclivity toward nonconfrontational behavior stems in part from two sources: a prominent cultural model that conceptualizes the partnership process as fundamentally nonconflictual in nature, and the promotion of the discourse of ecological modernization over other competing discourses. The paper explores some of the implications of this finding and concludes that environmental partnerships characterized by such nonconfrontational practices risk inadvertently encouraging the delegitimization of conflictual approaches to environmental action and engendering a retreat from radical thinking and innovative environmental solutions.     

Community-based participatory research: Changing scientific practice from research on communities to research with and for communities

This paper examines community based participatory research from the viewpoint of the author, a doctoral student seeking to understand the concepts and framework of successful participatory research as a complement to traditional discipline driven research. Challenges and progress of CBPR within academia are examined, including acceptance, funding, training, and development of equal partnerships between university researchers and communities. Case studies (Latowsky, 2003; Ammerman et al., 2003; Stratford et al., 2003) focus on CBPR in different environmental justice communities, revealing the need to foster trust and communication in order to execute culturally competent and relevant research projects.     

Catalyzing Collaboration: Wisconsin’s Agency-Initiated Basin Partnerships

Experience with collaborative approaches to natural resource and environmental management has grown substantially over the past 20 years, and multi-interest, shared-resources initiatives have become prevalent in the United States and internationally. Although often viewed as “grass-roots” and locally initiated, governmental participants are crucial to the success of collaborative efforts, and important questions remain regarding their appropriate roles, including roles in partnership initiation. In the midst of growing governmental support for collaborative approaches in the mid-1990s, the primary natural resource and environmental management agency in Wisconsin (USA) attempted to generate a statewide system of self-sustaining, collaborative partnerships, organized around the state’s river basin boundaries. The agency expected the partnerships to enhance participation by stakeholders, leverage additional resources, and help move the agency toward more integrated and ecosystem-based resource management initiatives. Most of the basin partnerships did form and function, but ten years after this initiative, the agency has moved away from these partnerships and half have disbanded. Those that remain active have changed, but continue to work closely with agency staff. Those no longer functioning lacked clear focus, were dependent upon agency leadership, or could not overcome issues of scale. This article outlines the context for state support of collaborative initiatives and explores Wisconsin’s experience with basin partnerships by discussing their formation and reviewing governmental roles in partnerships’ emergence and change. Wisconsin’s experience suggests benefits from agency support and agency responsiveness to partnership opportunities, but cautions about expectations for initiating general-purpose partnerships.     

Enhanced learning from multi-stakeholder partnerships: Lessons from the Enabling Rural Innovation in Africa programme

Despite increasing interest and support for multi‐stakeholder partnerships, empirical applications of participatory evaluation approaches to enhance learning from partnerships are either uncommon or undocumented. This paper draws lessons on the use of participatory self‐reflective approaches that facilitate structured learning on processes and outcomes of partnerships. Such practice is important to building partnerships, because it helps partners understand how they can develop more collaborative and responsive ways of managing partnerships. The paper is based on experience with the Enabling Rural Innovation (ERI) in Africa programme. Results highlight the dynamic process of partnership formation and the key elements that contribute to success. These include: (i) shared vision and complementarity, (ii) consistent support from senior leadership; (iii) evidence of institutional and individual benefits; (iv) investments in human and social capital; (v) joint resources mobilization. However, key challenges require coping with high staff turnover and over‐commitment, conflicting personalities and institutional differences, high transaction costs, and sustaining partnerships with the private business sector. The paper suggests that institutionalizing multi‐stakeholder partnerships requires participatory reflective practices that help structure and enhance learning, and incrementally help in building the capacity of research and development organisations to partner better and ultimately to innovate.     

The neighbourhood project for urban rehabilitation in France: a progress report

Serious social and environmental problems are encountered on many of the large post‐war estates of blocks of social housing (grands ensembles) surrounding French cities, as well as in many inner‐city districts. In 1981 the new Socialist administration set up a National Commission to foster grass‐roots schemes in order to improve housing and to attempt to tackle both the expressions and the causes of social problems. The resulting neighbourhood programme represents an innovative dialogue between the central State, the regions, local authorities and residents’ groups. Examination of a sample of projects from the provinces (Romans, Dreux, Les Minguettes) and the Paris region confirms that progress has been made by improving housing, open spaces and community facilities. Formidable problems of poverty, unemployment and racism remain on many estates.     

Case study: Voluntary agreements in environmental management at formosa plastics

Three agreements addressing environmental and safety performance, zero discharge of wastewater and sustainable development have been signed between Formosa Plastics Corporation, Texas (Formosa Plastics), and its former adversaries. The key element of the agreements is the improvement of the affected community. These agreements go beyond public information and beyond procedures for public participation. They have led to meaningful public participation and partnership and are unique in this respect. The following article explores the setup and results of each agreement. The initial agreement, the Blackburn-Formosa Agreement, signed in 1992, set the stage for subsequent partnerships. The Wilson-Formosa Zero Discharge Agreement followed in 1994. Finally, the Sustainable Development Agreement was signed by Jim Blackburn, Diane Wilson, and Formosa Plastics in late 1997. These agreements have proven very successful in avoiding disputes and helping improve company performance in environmental and safety issues. In many respects, these agreements offer a model for others in working with an affected community.     

Working on the sustainability of local communities with a “community-engaged” research methodology

Abstract

The Globalism Institute at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University in Melbourne is conducting research on local responses to globalisation across 10 local communities in seven different countries. The project's “community-engaged research methodology” was developed first in the Hamilton region in southwest Victoria, where staff from the university have been working in community partnerships for nearly 20 years. This research methodology differs from action research in that it sustains a clear distinction between the knowledge and skills of “outside” researchers and the hard-won local knowledge of community members. It is based on respectful dialogue and a clear commitment to maintain relationships for a matter of years rather than weeks. It involves the creation of “spaces for engagement” that can lead to multiple, sometimes unexpected, outcomes. It integrates a range of research methods (including surveys, story collection, strategic conversations, photo-narrative techniques, and research journals) that generate rich data to be used (subject to consent) by both community-based and university-based researchers. The research methods are linked to forms of analysis that relate local experiences to broader social processes. Community-engaged research takes time and patience but it can ensure good feedback and support mechanisms, good-quality data, locally relevant research outcomes and a process that can be convivial for all involved.     

Stockholm Recommendation 96: Viable in the Dominican Republic

Summary The Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries face serious challenges to their natural resource base. In recent years the government of the Dominican Republic has taken major steps toward the development and implementation of a comprehensive plan for national natural resources management. This plan is called Plan Sierra. An important component of this plan is the outline of actions for carrying out an environmental education programme within the country. This demonstrates a commitment to fulfill Recommendation No. 96 of the Stockholm Conference in a way that could become a model for other Latin American nations. Clinton L. Shepard is Assistant Professor in the Division of Environmental Education, School of Natural Resources, The Ohio State University. Dr Shepard holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Kentucky and graduate degrees from The Ohio State University in Natural Resources/Environmental Education and Education-Foundations and Research. He has worked as an interpreter and Environmental Education Coordinator for the State of Ohio Department of Natural Resources, a research associate for ERIC—Science, Math, and Environmental Education Clearinghouse, and College instructor in interpretive methods, environmental education methodology, resident outdoor programming, and natural resources development. He is also involved in international research and development, especially in the Caribbean Basin. Robert E. Roth is Chairman/Professor in the Division of Environmental Education, School of Natural Resources, The Ohio State University. Dr Roth received a Bachelor's degree in Wildlife Management, a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Science Education, a Master's degree in Conservation Education from The Ohio State University, and his Ph.D. in Environmental Education from The University of Wisconsin. he came to OSU in 1969 and since that time has designed and institutionalized the only academic unit in the US that offers both well developed undergraduate and graduate programmes in Environmental Communications, Education and Interpretation and has published over 40 works in the field. He has been instrumental in implementing a growing international environmental education research and development emphasis in the wider Caribbean, he continues as an Executive Editor of theJournal of Environmental Education.     

Urban policy and environmental regeneration in two Scottish peripheral housing estates

Summary In the UK, particularly post-Second World War, urban renewal and decongestion programmes created peripheral housing estates. From the beginning these estates were not endowed with any sustaining social and economic life. Moreover, most of the residents were in the lower percentile of the urban poor, as well as being disadvantaged from a multiple perspective. Over the years, these estates have deteriorated socially, environmentally and economically. A number of limited efforts made in the past to improve the general well-being of the residents have not achieved appreciable success.In recent times, it has been recognised that only by a comprehensive approach can the peripheral estates be regenerated (or generated?). The New Life for Urban Scotland programme is aimed at doing this. This paper attempts to evaluate the impact of the programme of environmental improvement in Castlemilk and Ferguslie Park, both peripheral housing estates on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland. The impact areas studied are: land-use pattern and environmental quality; retail and shopping facility development; leisure and recreation; roads, streetscape and local transport services; environmental improvement expenditure. Some possible improvements in the programme are proposed for the future.Dr Sam C. Ofori undertook this study as part of a Master's Thesis with the School of Planning at the University of Central England.     

Tourism Partnerships in Protected Areas: Exploring Contributions to Sustainability

Partnerships between natural-area managers and the tourism industry have been suggested to contribute to sustainability in protected areas. This article explores how important sustainability outcomes of partnerships are to their members, how well they are realised and the features of partnerships leading to their achievement. In 21 case studies in Australia, interviews (n = 97) and surveys (n = 100) showed that of 14 sustainability outcomes, improved understanding of protected areas values and improved biodiversity conservation were the most important. Other highly ranked outcomes were greater respect for culture, heritage, and/or traditions; improved quality of environmental conditions; social benefits to local communities; and improved economic viability of the protected area. Scores for satisfaction with outcomes were, like those for importance, all high but were less than those for importance for the majority, with improvement in quality of environmental conditions showing the largest gap. The satisfaction score exceeded that for importance only for increased competitiveness of the protected area as a tourist destination. “Brown” aspects of sustainability, i.e., decreased waste or energy use, were among the lowest-scoring outcomes for both importance and satisfaction. The most important factor enabling sustainability outcomes was provision of benefits to partnership members. Others were increased financial support, inclusiveness, supportive organisational and administrative arrangements, direct involvement of decision makers, partnership maturity, creation of new relationships, decreased conflict, and stimulation of innovation. Improving sustainability outcomes, therefore, requires maintaining these partnership attributes and also increasing emphasis on reducing waste and resource use.     

New federalism and state implementation of the Clean Water Act

An important goal of the Reagan administration has been to shift responsibility for many public programs from the US federal government to the states. This New Federalism seeks to restore a proper balance to the federal system and to ensure an effective working partnership between the states and the federal government. Such a partnership is especially important for many environmental laws because these laws often give states primary responsibility for the control and abatement of pollution.This research examines the extent to which the Reagan administration has succeeded in improving intergovernmental environmental relations in terms of state implementation of the Clean Water Act. Data from a 1985 survey of directors of state water quality control programs are compared with responses to a similar survey that the US General Accounting Office conducted in 1979. The latter survey found considerable dissatisfaction on the part of state directors with the quality of their relations with the US Environmental Protection Agency. Although some improvement can be noted between 1979 and 1985, the Reagan administration's efforts to improve intergovernmental relations appear to have been of limited consequence, to the possible detriment of effective implementation of the Clean Water Act.     

Collaborative environmental governance and transaction costs in partnerships: evidence from a social network approach to water management in France

Several studies attempt to explain how collaborative environmental governance processes operate, but the question of why collaboration relationships form has received much less attention. Motivated by this need, this paper provides insights to the broad question: why does collaborative river basin management in France depend so heavily on partnerships made up around a few actors? Accordingly, our analytical framework develops a transaction cost explanation for the extent to which participatory procedures help stakeholders to identify partners and initiate collaboration, and for the causal link between the attributes of these stakeholders and their partnerships. The p2 model is implemented to investigate partnership networks of the key actors that govern the management of the Gironde estuary, the study case. The results provide evidence that environmental institutions bring together heterogeneous actors who might not be ready for collaboration, thereby actors’ perceived power similarity; their geographical proximity and co-presence in formal fora limit transaction costs.     

Health, Environmental and Social Justice

Health is a basic human right. Improving health requires social and environmental justice and sustainable development. The 'health for all' movement embraces principles shared by other social movements--in sustainable development, community safety and new economics. These principles include equity, democracy, empowerment of individuals and communities, underpinned by supportive environmental, economic and educational measures and multi-agency partnerships. Health promotion is green promotion and inequality in health is due to social and economic inequality. This paper shows how health, environmental and economic sustainability are inextricably linked and how professionals of different disciplines can work together with the communities they serve to improve local health and quality of life. It gives examples of how local policy and programme development for public health improvement can fit in with global and national policy-making to promote health, environmental and social justice.     

Pollution,place, and premature death: evidence from a mid-sized city

ABSTRACT

Neighborhood life expectancy varies by as much as 10 years across the City of Louisville. In 2013, the Greater Louisville Project funded by local government, businesses, and foundations, argued these differences had little to do with environmental factors. The Greater Louisville Project (2013) study argued that these neighborhood differences could be attributed 40% to socio-economic factors (with a major emphasis on education), 10% to physical environment, 30% to health behaviors, and 20% to access to medical care. To test these claims, we construct our own model of neighborhood variation in years of potential life lost (YPLL) by adding two variables testing environmental degradation. We operationalise two separate measures of environmental contamination: proximity to EPA designated brownfield sites and proximity to chemical factories in an industrial park in the neighborhood known as “Rubbertown”. We conduct several regression analyses, which show a relationship between proximity to environmental contaminants and an increase in neighborhood YPLL. Our beta weights challenge the claims made by the Greater Louisville Project, which minimize the impact nearness to environmental contaminants has on reductions in life expectancy in Louisville neighborhoods.     

Volunteer Environmental Monitoring and the Role of the Universities: The Case of Citizens' Environment Watch

Universities can provide a stable home for launching collaborative community research projects. Citizens' Environment Watch (CEW), an environmental monitoring initiative based at the University of Toronto, has made significant contributions to environmental education and stewardship in Ontario, Canada. Following dramatic cuts in provincial monitoring programs, citizens and youth have used chemical parameters and biological indicators to gauge water and air quality, and to identify areas requiring remediation and pollution prevention efforts. The relationship of Citizens' Environment Watch to government agencies, funders and other grassroots environmental groups has evolved over the past 5 years as CEW attempts to remain effective without taking on the investigative and enforcement roles to support the regulatory enforcement that has been largely abandoned by government. We explore the challenges inherent in developing and maintaining a volunteer organization that carries out rigorous and useful scientific work and we outline the ability of a university to help overcome these critical challenges. Finally, we present lessons learned for the benefit of other citizen and youth monitoring projects.     

The Tribal Environment: Solid Waste in Indian Country

The issue of solid waste management in Indian country is multidimensional in scope because it affects more than just regulatory concerns. There are more than 550 federally recognized Alaska Native and American Indian Tribes in the United States. Tribes are sovereign nations that have a special relationship to the federal government and a unique legal status. The environmental problems faced by tribes are many, and it is only fair that tribes, as sovereigns, specify the levels of protection on their lands. The one-size-fits-all regulatory approach to environmental problems and solid waste management in particular does not work and often leads to conflict between tribes and the federal and state governments. Inherent tensions also exist between tribes and various levels of government concerning jurisdiction of lands and managing solid waste. These intergovernmental relationships are often complex and present unique challenges to all. More research needs to be done on targeting resources to meet the capacity-building needs of tribes, as well as the overall environmental management needs of Indian country under the federal trust obligation. Successful intergovernmental relationships can be fostered through partnership arrangements between tribes and federal, state, and local governments. In the area of solid waste such partnerships have worked. It requires that all levels of government deal with tribes with careful consideration of their cultural, historic, and socioeconomic aspects, which are often intertwined.     

The Efficacy of a Programme of Landslide Risk Reduction in Areas of Unplanned Housing in the Eastern Caribbean

Poor countries are disproportionately affected by the cost of disasters. Yet there is evidence of the benefits of seeking to mitigate the impact of a disaster, compared with the costs incurred in ‘making good’ after a major event has occurred. This article reviews a programme of landslide risk reduction in unplanned communities in the Eastern Caribbean. The construction of appropriate surface water management measures, based on the application of scientific and engineering principles, has been demonstrated to reduce the hazard from rainfall-triggered landslides. Adopting a community-based approach additionally delivers social and environmental benefits relating to employment generation, improvements in the environmental conditions within the community, and improvements slope management practices. The sustained implementation of the community-based projects has provided the necessary evidence-base for these practices to influence Government policy and practice, and gain recognition from regional development agencies. The strategic and incremental uptake of the community-based methodology is demonstrated to be an effective means for delivering physical landslide risk reduction measures in the most ‘at risk’ areas of unplanned housing.