School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences

BACKGROUND: The City of Phoenix initiated the HeatReady program in 2018 to prepare for extreme heat, as there was no official tool, framework, or mechanism at the city level to manage extreme heat. The current landscape of heat safety culture in schools, which are critical community hubs, has received less illumination. HeatReady Schools—a critical component of a HeatReady City—are those that are increasingly able to identify, prepare for, mitigate, track, and respond to the negative impacts of schoolgrounds heat. However, minimal attention has been given to formalize heat preparedness in schools to mitigate high temperatures and health concerns in schoolchildren, a heat-vulnerable population. This study set out to understand heat perceptions, (re)actions, and recommendations of key stakeholders and to identify critical themes around heat readiness. METHODS: An exploratory sequential mixed-methods case study approach was used. These methods focused on acquiring new insight on heat perceptions at elementary schools through semi-structured interviews using thematic analysis and the Delphi panel. Participants included public health professionals and school community members at two elementary schools—one public charter, one public—in South Phoenix, Arizona, a region that has been burdened historically with inequitable distribution of heat resources due to environmental racism and injustices. RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that 1) current heat safety resources are available but not fully utilized within the school sites, 2) expert opinions support that extreme heat readiness plans must account for site-specific needs, particularly education as a first step, and 3) students are negatively impacted by the effects of extreme heat, whether direct or indirect, both inside and outside the classroom. CONCLUSIONS: From key informant interviews and a Delphi panel, a list of 30 final recommendations were developed as important actions to be taken to become “HeatReady.” Future work will apply these recommendations in a HeatReady School Growth Tool that schools can tailor be to their individual needs to improve heat safety and protection measures at schools.

The production and consumption of goods is a global phenomenon that has significant social and environmental impacts and challenges. In 2016, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 25 million people were victims of forced labor. Forced labor is defined as “work that is involuntary and subject to penalty.” It is a subset of modern slavery, and is a complex problem that affects all three pillars of sustainability. Fair labor, on the other hand, is voluntary, requires fair compensation, and is free from penalty. With one in five jobs tied to global supply chains, it is vital that companies and organizations are committed to sustainability within the supply chain (Thorlakson et al., 2018). One critical aspect of this commitment includes a focus on fair labor practices.

ASU’s Trademark Licensing Department currently utilizes third-party vendors to verify that any licensed product, those marked with an ASU logo or trademark, have been sourced and produced under fair labor conditions. Our project focuses on steps that can be taken to elevate fair labor practices across the ASU supply chain for both licensed and unlicensed products. The Fair Labor Solutions Team has developed two primary deliverables: an overarching report and a fair labor problem identification presentation with a script to act as an education tool for ASU staff. The report contains the following elements: a landscape analysis of fair labor, ASU’s current procurement practices, a collection of exemplary case studies, and a tiered vision towards transformational change. Our team understands that ensuring fair labor throughout the ASU supply chain is not a linear process. The goal of our deliverables is to offer a strong foundation for the university's transition to sustainable procurement.

Sustainable purchasing is the integration of sustainability criteria into procurement processes and decisions. A critical element of this is ensuring fair labor practices such as safe working conditions, appropriate pay for work, and the absence of forced labor and child labor. Enforcing fair labor standards throughout the supply chain is challenging. Working directly with the final vendor is not enough as finished products involve multiple inputs and activities from extraction to end use and many associated suppliers. Unfair and forced labor practices are especially prevalent in countries with poor labor laws and lack of enforcement. Reporting and verifying labor practices for these suppliers can be time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, ensuring that a final vendor's products and services observe sustainability standards does not mean that all the suppliers involved in product creation steps observe fair and equitable labor practices. Third-party certifications are helpful, but not always accurate. ASU wishes to (1) strengthen its purchasing practices to increase assurances that sourced products follow fair labor practices across the supply chain of vendors and suppliers, and (2) create scalable solutions that can be implemented at other universities.

Sustainable purchasing is the integration of sustainability criteria into procurement processes and decisions. A critical element of this is ensuring fair labor practices such as safe working conditions, appropriate pay for work, and the absence of forced labor and child labor. Enforcing fair labor standards throughout the supply chain is challenging. Working directly with the final vendor is not enough as finished products involve multiple inputs and activities from extraction to end use and many associated suppliers. Unfair and forced labor practices are especially prevalent in countries with poor labor laws and lack of enforcement. Reporting and verifying labor practices for these suppliers can be time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, ensuring that a final vendor's products and services observe sustainability standards does not mean that all the suppliers involved in product creation steps observe fair and equitable labor practices. Third-party certifications are helpful, but not always accurate. ASU wishes to (1) strengthen its purchasing practices to increase assurances that sourced products follow fair labor practices across the supply chain of vendors and suppliers, and (2) create scalable solutions that can be implemented at other universities.

Sustainable purchasing is the integration of sustainability criteria into procurement processes and decisions. A critical element of this is ensuring fair labor practices such as safe working conditions, appropriate pay for work, and the absence of forced labor and child labor. Enforcing fair labor standards throughout the supply chain is challenging. Working directly with the final vendor is not enough as finished products involve multiple inputs and activities from extraction to end use and many associated suppliers. Unfair and forced labor practices are especially prevalent in countries with poor labor laws and lack of enforcement. Reporting and verifying labor practices for these suppliers can be time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, ensuring that a final vendor's products and services observe sustainability standards does not mean that all the suppliers involved in product creation steps observe fair and equitable labor practices. Third-party certifications are helpful, but not always accurate. ASU wishes to (1) strengthen its purchasing practices to increase assurances that sourced products follow fair labor practices across the supply chain of vendors and suppliers, and (2) create scalable solutions that can be implemented at other universities.