Browsing by Subject "Civic engagement"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    100 in 100: A Learning Tour of 100 Rural Women
    (The Regents of the University of Minnesota, 2021-06) Stower, Kathryn
    This is a co-publication of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, and 100 Rural Women. Project funding was provided by the University of Minnesota’s CURA Compact Fund, and the Mary J. Page Community-University Partnership Fund. The Community Assistantship Program (CAP) is a cross-college, cross-campus University of Minnesota initiative coordinated by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) and the Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP). The content of this report is the responsibility of the author and is not necessarily endorsed by CAP, CURA, RSDP or the University of Minnesota. The Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership brings together local talent and resources with University of Minnesota knowledge to drive sustainability in agriculture and food systems, tourism and resilient communities, natural resources and clean energy. The Partnerships are part of University of Minnesota Extension. 100 Rural Women serves and supports rural women by identifying, connecting and creating relationships, models of networking, leadership, mentorship and civic engagement.
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    100 in 100: Summer Convenings
    (The Regents of the University of Minnesota, 2021-08) Anderson, Delaine
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    Communicating risk and increasing civic engagement in water protection in Minnesota
    (2019-07) Kreiter, Amelia
    Forty percent of Minnesota lakes and rivers are classified as “impaired bodies.” The extent of water problems is far-reaching; each of Minnesota’s 87 counties has an impaired river, lake, or stream. Despite the magnitude of Minnesota’s water problems, water protection and restoration initiatives primarily have been agency-driven and technology-centered. Though new programs are touting a more collaborative watershed management approach, true civic engagement is needed to identify and solve water issues that span multiple jurisdictions and land uses. Engaging residents in water protection increases the success of a project, builds trust between residents and local agencies, and sets future projects up for greater public support. Despite all these benefits, the question of how to get residents involved in water management persists. Minnesotans value clean water and water provides multiple cultural services on which residents depend. Given these water values and benefits, how do residents perceive water in the state? Do perceptions of water quality and beliefs about water problems influence civic engagement in water? Using an integrated model of the Risk Information Seeking and Processing framework and Norm Activation Theory, I analyze data collected through a statewide survey of Minnesota residents to determine the influence of perceptions of water risk, experience with water, perceived information sufficiency, self-efficacy, socio-demographics, and social and personal norms on civic engagement in water. The integrated model explained 24% of variance in civic engagement in Minnesota residents, with information sufficiency and relevant water experience being the strongest predictors. This suggests that residents may need a stronger personal connection to water issues to get involved in protection efforts. Study findings will help to inform future outreach and risk communication strategies to develop pro-environmental behaviors in Minnesota residents.
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    Minnesota 4-H Youth Development Program Outcomes: Leadership and Civic Engagement
    (University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development, 2008) Haugen, Heidi; Harrington, Becky
    Annotated bibliography on leadership and civic engagement developed to inform program outcomes for Minnesota 4-H Youth Development.
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    A moral obligation model of landowner conservation norms and behavior
    (2014-06) Pradhananga, Amit K.
    Despite efforts to reduce water pollution, water resource managers have yet to find a solution to the problem of non-point sources: pollution from diffusely distributed urban and rural land use practices. Current management approaches to NPS pollution are not regulatory and thus require voluntary human action. Changing human behavior, though, is a challenging task. Any intervention aimed at altering behavior should be based on an understanding of the determinants of behavior. Although varying in their theoretical and methodological approaches, researchers have focused on internal motivators such as values, attitudes, beliefs and norms as a basis to understand pro-environmental behavior. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the factors that influence pro-environmental norms and behaviors in the context of water resource management. To this end, an integrated moral obligation model (MOM) was developed to investigate the relationship between environmental and cultural values, a series of activators, personal norm and behavior. The specific research objectives of this dissertation are to i) determine the factors that activate landowners' personal norms to protect water resources, and ii) determine the influence of activators and personal norm on landowners' civic engagement in water resource issues. Data were collected through a self-administered survey of a random sample of landowners from three Minnesota watersheds: Sand Creek, Vermillion River and Cannon River watersheds. Latent variable structural equation modeling was used to understand the hypothesized relationships between values, beliefs, norms and behavior. Findings provide support for MOM as a useful theoretical basis to understand norms and behaviors related to water resource management. Structural equation modeling revealed that personal norms to act influence pro-environmental behavior. While personal norms are rooted in collectivistic and altruistic-biospheric values, beliefs about consequences of pollution, local responsibility, social pressure to take action and ability to act fuel personal norms. Overall, findings suggest that intervention strategies are likely to be successful if landowners perceive water resource protection as a moral issue and a collective responsibility of local landowners. Further, findings suggest that conservation programs must provide incentives that address real or perceived barriers.
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    Patterns of Civic Engagement and Political Participation among Young Women
    (Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 2009-12-13) Holland, Kelly
    In this paper, I review existing political participation and civic engagement research as it pertains to women, young people, and ultimately, young women. At all levels of civic engagement, trends in participation by gender, though not necessarily dichotomous, provide insight for engagement opportunities. For example, men and women follow differing routes to political office – men more likely as an extension of their career in law or business whereas women are more likely to seek elected office after a motivating experience volunteering for an organization (Burns et al. 1997). At a younger age, women in college are more likely than their male counterparts to be interested in a career working for a not-for-profit community organization or foundation and they are less likely to be interested in a career working for government (Hart Research Associates 2008). These patterns of participation may be subtle but are nevertheless important for identifying opportunities for the recruitment of young women to political participation, including voting, contributing to and participating in campaigns, and running for elected office. By engaging young women, we can close gender gaps in participation and representation. Finally, I examine recent survey data and patterns among young people to identify whether the best opportunity to engage young women is at the high school level. I find that, contrary to my initial hypothesis, participation actually decreases after high school. Thus efforts to engage young women civically and politically need to be strongest during the transition from high school to young adulthood in order to maintain the priority given to voluntarism and increase participation.
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    Suggested Design and Management Techniques for Enhancing Public Engagement in Transportation Policymaking
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2011-10) Quick, Kathryn S.; Zhao, Zhirong Jerry
    This report analyzes how the public can be effectively engaged in democratic decision-making and implementation of technically complex transportation policies. Its contribution is to compile and analyze strategies for enhancing public engagement specifically in transportation planning and policy via a review of the literature, identification of key design choices in organizing public engagement, a case study, and recommendations for further research. It incorporates the following sections: 1) Highlights from existing knowledge about the benefits, purposes, and challenges of public engagement. 2) An assessment of the state of public engagement in transportation and an evaluation of participatory designs currently being used in the sector. 3) A framework that we suggest transportation policy-makers utilize in deciding how to design public engagement processes. 4) Description and analysis of two cases of participatory transportation planning efforts in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 5) Recommendations for further research and proposals for how to engage the public in several current transportation policy issues in Minnesota.