Retaining social and cultural sustainability in the Hudson river watershed of New York, USA, a place-based participatory action research study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos J.L. Balsas
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
River Watershed

Purpose Societal problems have impacted the northeast of the USA for various generations. This paper aims to analyse various sustainability aspects in the Hudson River watershed of New York by highlighting a temporal progression from environmental sustainability at the watershed level in the 1970s to growing concerns with more localized cross-border social and cultural sustainability in recent decades. We discuss an engagement with the Rapp Road Historic District and a documentary screening series as potential ways to eliminate racism and embrace diversity. Design/methodology/approach The research was based on fieldwork and classroom teaching conducted mostly since summer 2014. It included mixed methods combining document analysis and reviews with the examination of case studies, and the assessment of public policy priorities. Findings Formal training has to be combined with a substantial dose of realism, humility and motivation to recognize that what the authors teach and research in the community matters. Future learning experiences within a place-based education paradigm could include: Having students help devise urban rehabilitation strategies whilst suggesting integrative measures with the surrounding built and natural environments; students could also help improve public spaces in the neighbourhood; and finally, they could also help to strengthen the cultural identity of the district by augmenting urban design features endogenous to the African American community. Practical implications Opportunities could be further augmented with service-learning projects and programmes, internships and even full-time jobs for recent graduates in local community development organizations. Social implications The study served to raise the community’s awareness of its own natural, ecological and human assets, and to create place-based real-world opportunities for students and faculty in environmental and cultural sustainability studies. Originality/value Environmental sustainability is discussed with the creation of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, whilst the public engagement with the Rapp Road Historic Association in the Capital Region of upstate New York, the identification of an emerging creative cluster in the Berkshires-Hudson region, and a documentary and discussion series on striving for diverse cities serve to demonstrate current concerns with social and cultural sustainability.

Sustainable Tourism Development In India: An Exploratory Research On Sustainability Of Delhi Tourism

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 198-217
Author(s):  
T. Venugopalan
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
Adverse Impacts

This research paper explores the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural sustainability of Delhi tourism from the perspective of tourists. Primary research was conducted among tourists based on a structured questionnaire at various tourist places across Delhi. This research paper used exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modelling (SEM) for examining and analysing the sustainability of tourism. The research findings on environmental pressure (EP) validate that tourism has been exerting huge pressure on the environment. The environment management (EM) system adopted by the tourism industry has failed in mitigating the adverse impacts of tourism and achieving environmental sustainability. The findings about economic empowerment (EP) prove that tourism has failed to achieve economic sustainability by empowering the local community. The destination governance (DG) mechanisms are directly contributing to the sustainability of tourist places. However, the findings on socio-cultural pressure (SP) fail to substantiate the argument that tourism is putting huge pressure on socio-cultural sustainability. Thus, tourism development in Delhi is not conducive to achieving environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Hence, the government should adopt proactive measures to mitigate the adverse impacts of tourism on the environment and economy integrating local communities while formulating and implementing tourism plans and programmes.

The role of volunteer organizations in leadership skill development

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 712-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Ann Gordon ◽  
Brett Anthony Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Skill Development ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Leadership Skill ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Volunteer Organizations ◽  
Leadership Skill Development

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of service learning and the use of volunteer organizations as a means for members to learn and hone leadership skills that can be transferred to their full-time corporate positions. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study incorporating a phenomenological design was utilized to interview 30 past presidents of two volunteer organizations in Florida, Junior League and the Masonic Fraternity. The goal was to explore the participants’ thoughts and experiences related to transferable leadership skill development. Findings Emerging themes confirmed that accepting leadership roles within volunteer organizations is conducive to learning, testing, and evaluating new methods of leadership and skill enhancement. These skill sets can then be transferred and applied to different corporate settings. Practical implications Organizational leaders should consider the value-added benefits of encouraging employees to become involved in volunteer organizations and accepting leadership roles. This not only promotes good corporate social responsibility, but provides the employee with leadership skill development, which may ultimately benefit the firm. Originality/value Participants belonging to two separate volunteer organizations presented viewpoints regarding the value of volunteer organizations in developing and honing transferable leadership skills. Previous research has not addressed direct skill transference from leadership experiences in volunteer organizations and therefore, this research is unique in its contribution to the literature.

scholarly journals Students as Community Vaccinators: Implementation of a Service-Learning COVID-19 Vaccination Program

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Griswold ◽  
Julia Klein ◽  
Neville Dusaj ◽  
Jeff Zhu ◽  
Allegra Keeler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Clinical Skills ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
New York State ◽  
Vaccination Program ◽  
Community Partner ◽  
Vaccination Programs ◽  
Academic Medical

Background: Service-learning is an integral component of medical education. While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive educational disruptions, it has also catalyzed innovation in service-learning as real-time responses to pandemic-related problems. For example, the limited number of qualified providers was a potential barrier to local and national SARS-CoV-2 vaccination efforts. Foreseeing this hurdle, New York State temporarily allowed healthcare professional trainees to vaccinate, enabling medical students to support an overwhelmed healthcare system and contribute to the community. Yet, it was the responsibility of medical schools to interpret these rules and implement the vaccination programs. Here the authors describe a service-learning vaccination program directed towards underserved communities. Methods: Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) rapidly developed a faculty-led curriculum to prepare students to communicate with patients about the COVID-19 vaccines and to administer intramuscular injections. Qualified students were deployed to public vaccination clinics located in underserved neighborhoods across New York City in collaboration with an established community partner. The educational value of the program was evaluated with retrospective survey. Results: Throughout the program, which lasted from February to June 2021, 128 WCM students worked at 103 local events, helping to administer 26,889 vaccine doses. Analysis of student evaluations revealed this program taught fundamental clinical skills, increasing comfort giving intramuscular injection from 2% to 100% and increasing comfort talking to patients about the COVID-19 vaccine from 30% to 100%. Qualitatively participants described the program as a transformative service-learning experience. Conclusion: As new virus variants emerge, nations battle recurrent waves of infection, and vaccine eligibility expands to include children and boosters, the need for effective vaccination plans continues to grow. The program described here offers a novel framework that academic medical centers could adapt to increase vaccine access in their local community and provide students with a uniquely meaningful educational experience.

scholarly journals ePortfolio and Service-Learning: A Tale of Two Cities Connected by Two High-Impact Practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (05) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Monika Ciesielkiewicz ◽  
Clarence Chan ◽  
Guiomar Nocito
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Real World ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Local Community ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Academic Learning ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
High Impact Practices ◽  
Complementary Role

Two different post-secondary professional education programs from two different cities (New York and Madrid) took a similar approach in using ePortfolio to facilitate high-impact behaviors (HIBs) among their students while showing how the ePortfolio enhances and supports other high impact practices (HIPs). In Madrid, ePortfolio was utilized to support a Matumaini Project as it integrated the academic work carried out in the classrooms to help a community in Kenya. On the other side of the Atlantic, the ePortfolio was implemented in order to connect didactic learning from the classroom to the clinical practice in the local community. Both case studies suggested that the ePortfolio combined with other high-impact practices plays a complementary role with other High-Impact Practices (HIPs) in higher education. Our statistical analysis sheds light on the relationship between seven high-impact behaviors present when two high-impact practices, such as the ePortfolio and Service-Learning, are combined. The correlations, both combined and by city, demonstrate the importance of promoting two high-impact behaviors in particular, which are: 1) quality interaction between the students and the professors and 2) providing opportunities to relate academic learning to real world experiences. When these two high-impact behaviors were maximized, our data suggest that the use of other high-impact behaviors examined in this study expanded as well. This research also confirms the importance of providing students a way to relate their classroom learning with real-world experiences.

Mortality, ethnicity, and education in an occupational cohort

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-145
Author(s):  
Saran Jonas ◽  
Giacinto Grieco ◽  
Robert Norman ◽  
Surah Grumet ◽  
Ilan Kedan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
New York ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Health Care Access ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rate Ratios

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between occupational degree requirement and mortality between ethnic groups in a cohort of urban workers. Design/methodology/approach – The study included 118,606 health-insured full-time workers from the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC). Mortality rates (MR) and mortality rate ratios (MRR) were calculated for major ethnic categories. Estimates were adjusted for age, sex, and occupational degree requirement. Findings – Prior to adjustment for degree requirement, mortality rates (MRs) by ethnic groups in the Health and Hospitals Corporation were in line with national estimates: highest for blacks, followed by whites, Hispanics, and Asian/Pacific Islander (APIs). After adjustment, the MR for blacks became comparable to whites (mortality rate ratio (MRR)=1.02). The low-Hispanic MR did not change; the Hispanic advantage persisted (MRR=0.66), as did the API advantage (MRR=0.50). Research limitations/implications – Higher education may not substantially change the MR for Hispanics, and it may only account for a portion of the survival advantage among APIs. The findings also suggest that without reducing the disparity in higher education attainment between blacks and whites, equality in other socioeconomic factors may not abolish the disparity in mortality between these groups. Originality/value – This study bypassed common limitations of ethnic mortality studies, with intrinsic parity for certain socio-economic status factors (full-time employment and health care access) across cohort members and consistent ethnic classification across time-points. This includes a cohort of API workers with complete self-identification of ethnicity, which has not been accomplished by previous investigations.

Farmers' markets and the local community: Bridging the formal and informal economy

1995 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.A. Lyson ◽  
G.W. Gillespie ◽  
D. Hilchey
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Farmers Markets ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Farmers Market ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Using Data

AbstractFarmers' markets are important but inadequately studied contributors to local economies. They allow individual entrepreneurs and their families to contribute to the economic life of local communities by providing goods and services that are not readily available through formal, mass markets, and they bring producers and consumers together to solidify bonds of local identity and solidarity. Using data collected from 115 farmers' market vendors in three regions of New York in 1993, we examined the characteristics and operations of three categories of vendors: full-time growers, part-time growers, and non-grower artisans and craftspeople. Drawing on theories of mass production and mass markets, we show how farmers' markets represent intermediate social structures that bridge the formal and informal sectors of the economy.

Red, white and green: environmental communication on wine bottle labels from New York's Hudson River Region

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Visconti
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Communication ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Wine Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
River Region ◽  
Wine Bottle

PurposeNew York is the third top wine producing state in America. Competitive wine production across the United States has challenged New York winemakers to secure a place in the domestic market in order to support the long-term viability of the local economy. As businesses of agriculture become increasingly disrupted by the changing natural environment and consumer demand for sustainable products grows, vintners may distinguish themselves through the production and promotion of strategic initiatives on wine bottle labels.Design/methodology/approachFueled by the distinct fields of green marketing and environmental communication, this research investigates the promotion of sustainable practices on wine bottle labels. Through the methodology of content analysis, this project examines all 13 wineries on the Shawangunk Wine Trail located in the Hudson River Region of New York.FindingsThe findings from this study show that less than half of wineries in the sample selection employ environmental marketing as a communication strategy.Research limitations/implicationsThis research carries practical, business and social implications for the local Hudson River Region, the larger New York wine industry, and any organization looking to remain viable in a competitive marketplace.Originality/valueThis paper reveals the potential for the Hudson River Region wine industry to promote its “distinctive” and “innovative” environmental philosophy of “terroir driven and sustainably produced” winemaking on wine bottle labels to differentiate themselves in a crowded and expanding marketplace and build a Basis of Legitimacy with consumers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document