Events

No-one doubts that climate, environment and societal development are linked in causally complex ways.  But in relating these different evidential spheres in an explanatorily satisfactory way, we must consider a number of issues, not least the scale at which the climatic and environmental events are

Racial segregation is well understood as an entrenched feature of cities with wide-ranging social impacts, including economic inequality. Yet the environmental consequences of historical segregation for cities and their communities remains an open area for inquiry and action. While environmental

Small-scale fishing is low-technology, low-capital fishing by individual households, as distinct from fishing by large commercial companies. The island of Jamaica in the Caribbean has over 1000km of coastline, and small-scale fishing contributes to the livelihoods of upwards of 75% of households in

Resilience describes a system’s ability to respond and adapt in the face of potential disruptions. Within the context of food systems, resilience of food supplies and access to those supplies is key to ensuring food security. Studying the response of food systems to sudden environmental disturbance

Flood disasters are the most costly of natural hazards. Designing and implementing sustainable solutions is somewhat of a wicked problem, due to the dynamic and spatially varying connections among physical, social, and built environment systems that produce adverse impacts. Major focus

The challenges facing humanity are complex and are not restricted to national borders.  The causal factors of these challenges can be subtly interrelated and many often play a role in several different global issues.  This interconnected nature means that actions and decisions designed to solve a

In the last decade, resilience has rapidly risen in prominence to become an important concept in urban planning practice and academic discourse. Large, high-profile funding opportunities such as the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) $1 billion National Disaster Resilience Competition and the

Energy and water resources are closely related, especially in urban environments. The urban water cycle requires energy for disinfection and distribution of drinking water, end-use water heating, and treatment of wastewater. Similarly, providing energy for urban environments requires water for

Colombian coffee is a global industry, and holds important cultural value exemplified through the declaration of the Colombian Coffee Cultural Landscape as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Within Colombia, as well as within most tropical countries, tropical forests are continuously under threat from

Adaptive governance literature has long since emphasized the need for science-based policy and management. In brief, the argument is that governance of using natural resources, controlling pollution, or conserving nature will not be effective in reaching environmental policy goals, if there is no

Agricultural runoff is a major source of non-point source pollution to the Great Lakes with harmful impact on the water quality. Nutrient runoff, especially phosphorus, from Maumee River watershed entering the western Lake Erie basin, has led to frequent and severe water quality crises, including

Billions of dollars have been spent restoring large-scale ecosystems in the United States. These initiatives typically involve several federal, state, local, and sometimes tribal stakeholders, and have complex governing bodies that aim to guide restoration activities. Studies analyzing the

Cities are turning to ecological restoration of urban forests to improve air quality, ameliorate urban heat island effects, improve storm water infiltration, and provide other social and ecological benefits. In New York City, ecological restoration of urban forest patches began in the 1980s, with a

Uneven racial development in the United States has led to the persistence of significant inequalities across Black and White populations for decades. White households earned 61% more income than Black households in 2014, for example, but more importantly White people’s median net worth was 13 times

In Sentences on Conceptual Art, Sol LeWitt states: “Rational judgments repeat rational judgments. Irrational judgments lead to new experience.” By asking irrational questions, artists can push scholarly enquiry in unanticipated directions. Visual artist Eliz Demaray programs listening stations for