Browsing by Subject "Sustainability"
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Item 147th Street Station Area Sustainability Master Plan(Minneapolis: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 2011) Stroud, Henry; Svingen, Justin; Townley, Jill; Young, KatieItem 2006 Annual Report(University of Minnesota Tourism Center, 2006) Schneider, Ingrid E.2006 Annual Report from the University of Minnesota Tourism CenterItem 2009 Annual Report(University of Minnesota Tourism Center, 2010) Schneider, Ingrid E.Item Apple Valley Sustainability Master Plan(Minneapolis: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 2010) Cedarleaf Dahl, Erik; Jerabek, Erin; Schwartz, J Daniel; Spaulding, Bob; Turner, Mackenzie; Walding, Shawn; Younkin, KaraItem At A Glance: Sustainable Tourism Report 2014(University of Minnesota Tourism Center, 2014)Results from 426 questionnaires collected from MN industries in 2013 regarding sustainability. Full report available at tourism.umn.eduItem Beautiful U at UMD Week (2015-04)(2015) University of Minnesota Duluth. Office of SustainabilityThe week kicks off with a Healthy U, Healthy Planet Tabling Fair, offers campus and community clean-ups, celebrates alternative transportation during a Bike-Bus-Walk event, and ends with the RSOP Spring Into Shape 5k!Item Bee-ing Ramsey: Planning Pollinator Habitats(Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2017) de Alcuaz, Ally; Page, Katie; Weaver, BlakeThis project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. Ramsey is rich in natural resources, which are highly valued by residents. The City was in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan, including the natural resources component, and wanted to develop innovative strategies to identify, protect, and communicate to the public the value of natural resources. With a focus on protecting and restoring habitat for pollinators, students in Dr. Fernando Burga’s Land Use Planning class identified key pollinators and habitats, outlined existing pollinator-friendly policies in Ramsey, researched best practices in other communities to protect and expand pollinator habitat, and identified key opportunities to protect pollinators in conjunction with residential and mixed-use development, open space areas, and transportation corridors. A final report is available.Item Beyond Urbanization: (Un)sustainable Geographies and Young People's Literature(2021-05) Kleese, NickThe Anthropocene is an epoch of ecological destruction. It is also a conceptual apparatus that denotes the various systems that entail this destruction (Clifford, 2013). Of these systems, urbanization—as both a social system and cultural value—retains popular and scholarly focus as a welcomed geographical expression of a sustainable, global human society (Heldke, 2006). This attention masks the environmental and social extraction that occurs in rural geographies (Ching and Creed, 1997; Cervone, 2017), as well this destruction’s inequitable impacts within and across these geographies (Bullard, 2005; Martinez-Aller, 2014). Drawing on methodologies of Marxist cultural analysis (Williams, 1963), I explore the relationship between urbanization processes and the ways rural ecologies are represented in literature for young people. I supplement literary analysis with interview data with young rural readers, sociological data, and environmental data. With insights offered by Marxist ecology (Marx, 1894; Foster, 2000), postcolonial ecology (Guha, 2013; Whyte, 2017) and critical geography (Soja, 2010; Brenner, 2019), I argue that fictionalized representations of rurality in young people’s literature inadvertently distance readers from the ecological realities playing out in the geographies they purport to depict. Still, more recent works of literature for young people that depict rural characters engaging in ecological activism and solidarity may suggest an emergent, critical, geographically-attuned sensibility. Inspired by these works, I suggest that careful reflection on the geographical valences of the Anthropocene reveals possibilities for more plural, inclusive, and ecologically-attuned societies featuring youth immersion in and attention to rural places as sites worthy of their labor and joy.Item A Brief Overview: Humanity's Socio-Ecological Predicament and Unknown Future(Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays (JOIE), 2023-11-07) Ware, CliftonEver since retiring in 2007 as a professor of voice, I’ve spent the last fifteen years transforming into a self-described socio-ecological philosopher and activist. Throughout the learning process, I’ve sought a big-picture, systemic understanding of our increasingly challenging human predicament; namely, how to address the harmful effects of multiple crises we’ve inflicted on our formerly pristine planet.Item Capital Gains: Rethinking Developmental Fees in Ramsey, MN(Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2017) Austin, Todd; Powers, Denetrick; Imihy, PeggysueThis project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. Approximately every five years, the City updates its capital improvement plans and sources of funding, including development fees charged to builders for new developments. To remain competitive with peer communities, the City wanted to assess its current development fee schedule relative to fees charged in other communities. Students in Dr. Fernando Burga’s Land Use Planning class researched state regulations regarding development fees; calculated fees for several hypothetical developments in Ramsey and compared the costs to fees charged for similar developments in other communities; interviewed developers to assess how important development fees are as a factor in determining whether or not to develop in a particular community; and recommended changes to Ramsey's development fee structure, as well as other funding mechanisms the City could consider for paying for infrastructure improvements. The students’ final report is available.Item Circle of Ramsey: Linking People and Landscape Through Greenways(Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2017) DesGrado, Alena; Neill, Samantha; Schutt, JakeThis project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. Ramsey has identified several key ecological and recreation corridors that are prime locations to be connected, integrated, and receive public protection. The City’s broader vision, referred to as the “Circle of Ramsey,” employs a strategy to connect key ecological corridors with larger community parks using greenways and trail corridors. The Circle of Ramsey concept has helped to focus discussion about park dedication for new developments and to identify priority trails for construction within the city. To build public support for additional greenway development, students in Dr. Fernando Burga’s Land Use Planning class outlined the health, environmental, and economic benefits of greenways and recreational trails; researched cases studies of successful greenways in other communities; and proposed options for three extensions to the existing greenway that would better serve specific geographic areas of the community. The report concludes with recommendations to the City for moving forward. The students' final report is available.Item City of Forest Lake Sustainability Action Plan(Minneapolis: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 2008) Breakiron-Aultman, Sara; Birkeland, Brant; Vardhan Das, Kirti; Flannerty, Sean; Meyer, Kate; Quinn, JulieItem City of Prior Lake Sustainability Implementation Plan(Minneapolis: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 2009) Finis, Abby; Schaum, Jessica; Torres, Angela; Shrestha, Grishma; Cannon, JohnItem City of Ramsey Career Development Program(Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2017) Zamora-Weiss, JessThis project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. The City of Ramsey has about 80 staff. Recruiting and retaining talented professionals is an important aspect of the City’s human resource strategy. To that end, the City wanted to implement a career ladder for maintenance workers to increase staff retention. A student in Human Resources and Industrial Relations participated in a directed study, under the direction of Stacy Doepner-Hove, to identify career ladders and career development programs in other cities; interviewed maintenance staff and employee union representatives; proposed career ladders, advancement criteria, and training and licensing requirements for employees in various positions at the City to advance up the ladder; and created application forms and other materials that could be used to implement such a program. A final report and presentation are available.Item City of Ramsey Housing Engagement Plan(Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2017) Bai, Shunhua; Degerstrom, Andrew; Gemheart, Adrienne; Kohlhass, Alex; Lauderdale, Casey; Schneider, OliviaThis project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. Ramsey’s housing plan was last updated in 2008. The plan identified numerous strategies for achieving the City’s housing goals, including increased housing density, redeveloping underutilized land, and engaging underserved populations. Since then, the City has made good progress in terms of achieving its workforce and senior housing goals, but public support for some of the City’s other housing goals has not been as strong. The City requested assistance developing a communication/outreach strategy to make the case for underrepresented housing types and the value they add to the community. Students in Dr. Dan Milz’s Planning and Participation Processes addressed some of the myths around higher density housing, identified strategies for engaging the public around housing issues based on case studies of other communities, and piloted a mapping engagement strategy that can be used with the public. The students’ final report and poster are available.Item Clean Water, Clean Soil: City of Ramsey Septic System Engagement Plan(Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2017) Hoffman, Maureen; Engels, Elizabeth; Schutt, Jake; Cloutier, Callissa; Freesmeier, ClaireThis project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. The historic exurban development patterns evident today in the City of Ramsey initially emerged during the 1970s, when residential development was dominated by single-family homes with private wells and septic systems. Today, there are some 4,000 private septic systems in Ramsey. If not properly maintained or if in disrepair, septic systems present a serious threat to ground water quality and public health. The City of Ramsey wanted to improve outreach to septic owners to communicate the importance of regular septic system maintenance, and provide resources to protect the integrity of the systems and extend their useful life. Students in Dr. Dan Milz’s Planning and Participation Processes class evaluated current City communication and outreach efforts to septic system owners, interviewed topic experts and researched septic system maintenance best practices in other communities, and proposed an educational campaign and regulatory strategies to motivate residents to properly maintain their systems. The students’ final report and poster are available.Item Comm[unity] Centered: People, Places & Play in Ramsey(Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2017) Russell, Kathleen; Thompson, Erik; Van Dort, LeomaThis project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. The City wanted to develop a long-term vision and strategy for a community center and associated programming and activities. Students in Dr. Fernando Burga’s Land Use Planning class researched options for various geographic models (centralized vs. satellite) and governance structures (public vs. private) for a community center in Ramsey, including detailed case studies of these models and governance structures in other communities; created an inventory of existing community recreational programs and opportunities; and provided recommendations for moving the discussion forward. A final report is available.Item Community design and how much we drive(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2012) Marshall, Wesley; Garrick, NormanThe preponderance of evidence suggests that denser and more connected communities with a higher degree of mixed land uses results in fewer vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT). However, there is less agreement as the size of the effect. Also, there is no clear understanding as to the aspects of community design that are most important in contributing to lower VKT. One reason why there is some confusion on this point is that past studies have not always made a clear distinction between different community and street network design characteristics such as density, connectivity, and configuration. In this research, care was taken to fully characterize the different features of the street network including a street pattern classification system that works at the neighborhood level but also focuses on the citywide street network as a separate entity. We employ a spatial kriging analysis of NHTS data in combination with a generalized linear regression model in order to examine the extent to which community design and land use influence VKT in 24 California cities of populations from 30,000 to just over 100,000. Our results suggest that people living in denser street network designs tended to drive less. Connectivity, however, played an adverse role in performance.Item Confident Cycle Commuting (2014-04-02)(2014) French, Bryan; University of Minnesota Duluth. Facilities ManagementItem Connecting and Restoring Ramsey(Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2017) Baehm, Dani; Handmaker, Orli; Kieser, Nick; Kreiter, Emily; McNiel, Dan; Shavit-Lonstein, NoahThis project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. Ramsey is fortunate to have several public parks for residents to use, but not all residents have the same level of access to these parks. Students in Dr. Mae Davenport’s Sustainable Land Use Planning and Policy course identified key principles to guide sustainable land use planning (community connectivity, ecological connectivity, and equity and accessibility), and reported results from a pilot survey administered to Ramsey residents regarding their perceptions of natural areas in Ramsey, and their access to and use of parks and open space in the community. Based on these preliminary results, students made recommendations and an action plan for how to best move forward with park and trail planning. A final report and presentation are available.