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- Creators: Prokofiev, Sergey, 1891-1953
ContributorsWard, Geoffrey Harris (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-18
Description
Farmers' markets are a growing trend both in Arizona and the broader U.S., as many recognize them as desirable alternatives to the conventional food system. As icons of sustainability, farmers' markets are touted as providing many environmental, social, and economic benefits, but evidence is mounting that local food systems primarily serve the urban elite, with relatively few low-income or minority customers. However, the economic needs of the market and its vendors often conflict with those of consumers. While consumers require affordable food, farmers need to make a profit. How farmers' markets are designed and governed can significantly influence the extent to which they can meet these needs. However, very little research explores farmers' market design and governance, much less its capacity to influence financial success and participation for underprivileged consumers. The present study examined this research gap by addressing the following research question: How can farmers' markets be institutionally designed to increase the participation of underprivileged consumers while maintaining a financially viable market for local farmers? Through a comparative case study of six markets, this research explored the extent to which farmers' markets in Central Arizona currently serve the needs of farmer-vendors and underprivileged consumers. The findings suggest that while the markets serve as a substantial source of income for some vendors, participation by low-income and minority consumers remains low, and that much of this appears to be due to cultural barriers to access. Management structures, site characteristics, market layout, community programs, and staffing policies are key institutional design features, and the study explores how these can be leveraged to better meet the needs of the diverse participants while improving the markets' financial success.
ContributorsTaylor, Carissa (Author) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Thesis advisor) / York, Abigail (Committee member) / Wharton, Christopher (Christopher Mack), 1977- (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
ContributorsWasbotten, Leia (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-30
ContributorsPonce, Angelita (Performer) / Rowland, Travis (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-30
Description
During the months from June to November 2012, the city of Bangalore was faced with a serious solid waste management (SWM) crisis. In the wake of the upheaval, the state court declared source segregation to be mandatory. Yet, while the legislation was clear, the pathway towards a course of action for the transition was not clear and hence, Bangalore was stuck in a state of limbo. The objectives for this thesis spiraled organically from this crisis. The first objective was to examine the gaps in Bangalore's transition to a more sustainable SWM system. Six particular gaps were identified, which in essence, were opportunities to re-shape the system. The gaps identified included: conflicting political agendas, the exclusion of some key actors, and lack of adequate attention to cultural aspects, provision of appropriate incentives, protection of livelihoods and promotion of innovation. Opportunities were found in better incentivization of sustainable SWM goals, protecting livelihoods that depend on waste, enhancing innovation and endorsing local, context based SWM solutions. Building on this understanding of gaps, the second objective was to explore an innovative, local, bottom-up waste-management model called the Vellore Zero Waste Model, and assess its applicability to Bangalore. The adaptability of the model depended on several factors such as, willingness of actors to redefine their roles and change functions, ability of the municipality to assure quality and oversight, willingness of citizen to source segregate, and most importantly, the political will and collective action needed to ensure and sustain the transition. The role of communication as a vital component to facilitate productive stakeholder engagement and to promote role change was evident. Therefore, the third objective of the study was to explore how interpersonal competencies and communication strategies could be used as a tool to facilitate stakeholder engagement and encourage collective action. In addressing these objectives, India was compared with Austria because Austria is often cited as having some of the best SWM practices in the world and has high recycling rates to show for its reputation.
ContributorsRengarajan, Nivedita (Author) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Thesis advisor) / Chhetri, Nalini (Committee member) / Manuel-Navarrete, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
ContributorsZelenak, Kristen (Performer) / Detweiler, Samuel (Performer) / Rollefson, Justin (Performer) / Hong, Dylan (Performer) / Salazar, Nathan (Performer) / Feher, Patrick (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-31
Description
Childhood obesity has been on the rise for the past decade, and it has been hypothesized that students' food choices may be influenced by easy access to food outlets near their schools that provide unhealthful options. But the results of recent studies on the relationship between the food environment around schools and student weight status are mixed and often contradictory. Most studies have used measures of weight and height that were self-reported by students, or have relied on data from a relatively small sample of students. I examine the association between weight status among school students and the food environment surrounding their schools using professionally-measured, student-level data across the full school-age spectrum. De-identified data were obtained for over 30,000 K-12 students in 79 public schools located in four New Jersey cities. Locations of alternative food-outlets (specifically, supermarkets, convenience stores, small grocery stores, and limited-service restaurants) were obtained from commercial sources and geocoded to develop proximity measures. A simplified social-ecological framework was used to conceptualize the multi-level the association between students' BMI and school proximity to food outlets and multivariate analyses were used to estimate this relationship controlling for student- and school-level factors. Over twenty percent of the students were obese, compared to the national average at 17% (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2012). On average, students had 2.6 convenience stores, 2.9 limited-service restaurants, and 0.1 supermarkets within a quarter mile of their school. This study suggests that easy access to small grocery stores (which this study uniquely examines as a separate food outlet category) that offer healthy choices including five types of fresh vegetable, five types of fresh fruits, low-fat dairy, and lean meats is associated with lower BMI z score and lower probability of being obese for middle and high school students. This suggests that improving access to such small food outlets may be a promising area for future investigation in obesity mitigation research. Also, this study separates students of pre-schools, kindergartens and elementary schools (neighborhood schools) from that of the middle and high schools (non-neighborhood) schools because the two groups of schools have different neighborhood characteristics, as well as open-school and bussing policies that result in different levels of exposure that students have to the food outlets around the schools. The result of this study suggests that the relationship between students' weight outcomes and food environment around schools is different in the two groups of schools.
ContributorsTang, Xuyang (Author) / Abbott, Joshua K (Thesis advisor) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Thesis advisor) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
ContributorsRyall, Blake (Performer) / Olarte, Aida (Performer) / Senseman, Stephen (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-30
Description
Energy is a central concern of sustainability because how we produce and consume energy affects society, economy, and the environment. Sustainability scientists are interested in energy transitions away from fossil fuels because they are nonrenewable, increasingly expensive, have adverse health effects, and may be the main driver of climate change. They see an opportunity for developing countries to avoid the negative consequences fossil-fuel-based energy systems, and also to increase resilience, by leap-frogging-over the centralized energy grid systems that dominate the developed world. Energy transitions pose both challenges and opportunities. Obstacles to transitions include 1) an existing, centralized, complex energy-grid system, whose function is invisible to most users, 2) coordination and collective-action problems that are path dependent, and 3) difficulty in scaling up RE technologies. Because energy transitions rely on technological and social innovations, I am interested in how institutional factors can be leveraged to surmount these obstacles. The overarching question that underlies my research is: What constellation of institutional, biophysical, and social factors are essential for an energy transition? My objective is to derive a set of "design principles," that I term institutional drivers, for energy transitions analogous to Ostrom's institutional design principles. My dissertation research will analyze energy transitions using two approaches: applying the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework and a comparative case study analysis comprised of both primary and secondary sources. This dissertation includes: 1) an analysis of the world's energy portfolio; 2) a case study analysis of five countries; 3) a description of the institutional factors likely to promote a transition to renewable-energy use; and 4) an in-depth case study of Thailand's progress in replacing nonrenewable energy sources with renewable energy sources. My research will contribute to our understanding of how energy transitions at different scales can be accomplished in developing countries and what it takes for innovation to spread in a society.
ContributorsKoster, Auriane Magdalena (Author) / Anderies, John M (Thesis advisor) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Committee member) / Van Der Leeuw, Sander (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
ContributorsUhrenbacher, Tina (Performer) / Creviston, Hannah (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-31