School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences
Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.
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- Creators: Leonard, Bryan
- Creators: Columbia, Mario
Description
Community-based volunteer organizations are critical to natural resource management in the United States. However, due to volunteer involvement, these organizations struggle with collective action problems: coping with free riding, solving commitment problems, arranging for the supply of new institutions, and monitoring individual compliance with sets of rules. In this study, we explore how volunteer organizations can overcome these challenges. To explore how they overcome these challenges, we use the Institutional Analysis and Development framework and the Institutional Design Principles. These frameworks help us understand the impact of natural resource conditions, community attributes, and the rules in use impact volunteer organizations. For this research, we focused on lake organizations in Wisconsin. We collected our data through semi-structured interviews with thirty-one lake organizations and public data. The data were analyzed using constant comparison and linear regression, followed by qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). We reinforce the importance of considering the system holistically when managing a resource the natural resource conditions, the community attributes, and the rules in use. Our study shows the importance of graduated sanctions and low-cost conflict resolution on social-ecological system outcomes. Volunteer-based resource management are an effective way to tailor management strategies to the natural resource condition and the community attributes.
ContributorsWhittaker, Dane (Author) / Janssen, Marco (Contributor) / Janssen,Marco (Contributor) / Leonard, Bryan (Contributor) / Solomon, Chris (Contributor)
Created2020-04-24
Description
Sustainability initiatives bear the ability to reap both direct and indirect benefits, but often face obstacles in getting business employees engaged in using less energy, water, and materials. To formulate a difference and provide direction, as a clear image of the preferred future, or a force that provides meaning and purpose, engaging and energizing business employees is a must. Therefore, the framework of this paper focuses on a project journey, engaging and collaborating with employees through a new sustainability leadership initiative called Leadership Energy Awareness Program (LEAP). LEAP is about making lasting, sustainability-oriented organizational changes as well as encouraging a change in attitudes, behaviors and mindsets of employees, all with the goal of becoming sustainability champions.
Through the LEAP program, the sustainability champions educate their workforce on the business case for sustainability. They also empower their workforce to support implementation of sustainability in their daily jobs, and encourage a culture of sustainable practices. They do this by introducing LEAP into their job descriptions, performance reviews, and through team meetings. LEAP also seeks to initiate and encourage a culture of sustainable practices within any organization. It’s important to engage and assist in the development of a sustainability champion’s inspiring employees to use less energy, water, materials, and other resources.
Therefore, the LEAP program assists businesses with their employees in recognizing a new paradigm of sustainable opportunities capturing the desire for more efficient use of resources. Simply put, LEAP is a business approach to creating long-term value by taking into consideration how a given organization operates in the sustainable environment using sustainability champions. In sum, LEAP is a journey in sustainability leadership.
Through the LEAP program, the sustainability champions educate their workforce on the business case for sustainability. They also empower their workforce to support implementation of sustainability in their daily jobs, and encourage a culture of sustainable practices. They do this by introducing LEAP into their job descriptions, performance reviews, and through team meetings. LEAP also seeks to initiate and encourage a culture of sustainable practices within any organization. It’s important to engage and assist in the development of a sustainability champion’s inspiring employees to use less energy, water, materials, and other resources.
Therefore, the LEAP program assists businesses with their employees in recognizing a new paradigm of sustainable opportunities capturing the desire for more efficient use of resources. Simply put, LEAP is a business approach to creating long-term value by taking into consideration how a given organization operates in the sustainable environment using sustainability champions. In sum, LEAP is a journey in sustainability leadership.
ContributorsColumbia, Mario (Writer of accompanying material)
Created2019-12-03
Description
Day-to-day decision makers on agricultural operations play a key role in maintaining both a sustainable and food secure agricultural society. This population, also defined as Principal Producers by the 2017 USDA Agricultural Census Report, has witnessed a significant decline in recent years, raising many questions surrounding why farmers are retiring faster than they can be replaced. To look closely at this phenomenon, this study focuses on the State of Ohio to hear first-hand from producers what they need to be successful through a series of semi-structured interviews. This study also maps recent changes in variables that define this issue from 2007-2017 using QGIS and USDA Agricultural Census data. The findings from this study show the recent decline of mid-sized agricultural operations and provide evidence linking declining rates of principal producer populations with specific features consistent with industrial agriculture. These findings are specific to the State of Ohio, but also raise much larger questions about which populations are experiencing more rapid rates of farm exit, and what implications these trends have for food security on a broader scale.
ContributorsMoore, Phillip (Author) / Chhetri, Nalini (Contributor) / Leonard, Bryan (Contributor) / Shrestha, Milan (Contributor)
Created2020