Development of a School Health Policy Implementation Survey: A Delphi Study

Data on school health policy implementation are limited due to the absence of a validated measurement tool. The purpose of this study was to create and pilot a school health policy implementation survey. A modified, four-round Delphi process was used to achieve consensus on content and format of the survey. The final 76-item survey was piloted in 655 schools with a return rate of 57.1% (n = 378). Seven schools participated in environmental audits. Based on the audits, survey responses represented an accurate description of school practices for 84.2% (n = 64) of questions. The remaining 15.8% (n = 12) of survey items were eliminated or revised. This measurement tool begins to fill the research gap between the evaluation of written school health policy and implementation. Further, this tool may be used by school nurses in alignment with the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice.

Trusting in the “Eye in the Sky”? Farmers’ and Auditors’ Perceptions of Drone Use in Environmental Auditing

Worldwide, the agricultural sector is under pressure to demonstrate environmental sustainability. In New Zealand, farm environment plans (FEPs) and their auditing were intended to guide farmers towards sustainable practices by meeting regulations. However, on-farm audits can be time consuming, costly, and stressful for farmers. Meanwhile, the advancement of drone technology has made it possible to incorporate such tools in environmental audits. By means of field observation and in-depth interviews with both farmers and auditors, this research investigated the processes and perceptions of incorporating drones in environmental audits. The aerial views provided additional, high-quality information for the audit. However, flying a drone is subject to weather conditions. Additionally, reductions in audit time were dependent on farm scale, topography, and the auditor’s knowledge of the farm and the farmer. Farmer-auditor relationships are critical for enabling the benefits of drone use within the FEP audit process. Such relationships require a high level of interaction-based trust between farmers and auditors. Further clarity around the use and ownership of drone images could enhance trust, enabling the benefits of drones in audits to be fully utilised, hence furthering the environmental management and compliance processes towards achieving their objectives of better environmental outcomes.

ThinkPiece: Embracing Love as an Educational Force in the Anthropocene

In the past decade, an increasing number of geologists and other scientific researchers have presented evidence that we have entered a new geologic epoch called the Anthropocene. The primary characteristic of the Anthropocene, researchers argue, revolves around the combination of an emerging and measurable sedimentary layer of increasing human artifacts (mostly plastics) in combination with significant and negative transformations within the Earth’s biodiversity and climate systems. In this article, the researchers were interested in exploring how anthropogenic events will likely affect educational systems and institutions through multi-decade environmental audits and educational planning that are more closely linked to addressing the world’s major anthropogenic problems such as climate change and a global loss of biodiversity related to human development and activity. This article concludes by exploring how anthropogenic forces might be redirected as human catalysts for a more positive environmental and geologic legacy. Keywords: Anthropocene, anthropogenic force, environmental education, educational catalysts, emotion

Evaluasi Keadaan Lingkungan di Destinasi Pulau Tidung, Jakarta

Environmental evaluation is not an official examination required by a statutory regulation, but rather a proactive effort carried out consciously to identify environmental problems that will arise so prevention efforts can be carried out. The scope of this environmental evaluation activity comes from the 1994 Minister of Environment Decree of the Republic of Indonesia concerning General Guidelines for the Implementation of Environmental audits as the basis of the variables to be evaluated. Data collection is done by interviewing 10 local people, Library Study, and Direct Observation to identify or look for historical information, a series of businesses and activities of local communities, environmental damage and Destination Management of Tidung Island. The results of this study found that Tidung Island began to develop as a tourist destination starting in 2009, with tourism activities mostly centered on the large Tidung Island, while the small Tidung Island became a conservation area managed by the government. Most of the local people of Tidung Island live depend on tourism activities, they facilitate tourists by building several tourism facilities and infrastructure. At present the environmental conditions in Pulau Tidung are undergoing a slight change, for example the marine ecosystem which can usually be overgrown with seaweed, currently cannot and is being tested for replanting, and the garbage at several coastal points on Tidung Island is large and small, slightly reducing the beauty of the island Tidung

Comparing Perceived and Objective Measures of Bikeability on a University Campus: A Case Study

Using a participatory approach, this multi-method case study compared bicyclists’ perceptions and physical indicators of bikeability on a college campus. Student focus groups discussed campus bikeability and mapped and graded common bicycle routes. Trained students conducted environmental audits with bicycle counts. In discussions, students expressed concerns about safe bicycle riding on campus, especially during peak times. Congestion with pedestrians, other bicyclists, and skateboarders created the potential for crashes. Five major routes were identified with map scores ranging from 21.4% to 70%. Audit scores ranged from 82.5% to 86.7%. Bicycle counts varied by time of day and ranged from 11 to 91 bicycles. Student perceptions of bikeability were poorer than objective assessments of routes. The audit tool did not differentiate enough between routes and did not capture conflict potential accurately. Specification is needed on audit tools to capture the potential for conflict between bicycling and other forms of active transport—especially in unique settings like college campuses. Campuses that have well-marked paths for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles and that communicate the importance and ease of bicycling may see the most overall success when promoting active transport options.

ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN INCONSISTENCIES IN THE FIELD ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND RATIONAL USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Environmental auditing is one of the ways to reduce the negative impact on our environment. The publication describes the procedure for conducting an environmental audit. The authors pay special attention to the analysis of the main resources, analyzed over the long-term practice of environmental audits, by the employees of the department of environmental certification and audit of RUE “Bel NIC” Ecology “.

My Neighborhood Is Fuzzy, Not Hard and Fast: A Mixed-Methods Study of Neighborhood Size Among Aging Americans

In this exploratory sequential mixed-methods study, interviews with 125 adults aged 55-92 living in the Minneapolis (Minnesota) metropolitan area suggest that neighborhood boundaries are “fuzzy”. Qualitative analysis of neighborhood perceptions identified race, mobility, driving status, social connections, housing insecurity, land use, urbanicity, and crime as key themes. Over 8,000 REGARDS participants (mean age 72) indicated how many blocks composed their neighborhoods (mean=9.9, SD=35.4). Linear regression models showed that being over the age of 85, white, less educated, lower income, less physically and cognitively healthy, and living outside of a metropolitan area significantly predicted smaller self-reported neighborhood sizes. Further, there was significant variation among participants residing in the same areas as other respondents. The mixed-methods results indicate that neighborhoods are fluid and dependent on a mix of personal and geographic factors. Findings inform the scale of environmental audits, place-based interventions, and community outreach programs targeting older adults.

Conformidade de sistemas de gerenciamento de resíduos da construção civil

Resumo Normas relacionadas à gestão de Resíduos de Construção Civil (RCC) estão vigentes no Brasil há mais de uma década. O intuito dessa gestão é amenizar os impactos ambientais decorrentes do gerenciamento indevido desses resíduos. O objetivo do presente trabalho é investigar a conformidade técnica e legal de sistemas de gerenciamento de resíduos de construção civil no município de Curitiba. Para tal, elaborou-se uma lista de verificação baseada nas normas em vigor e em alguns modelos de certificações ambientais, como: LEED, AQUA, CASBEE, BREAM e HQE. 24 obras de edifícios residenciais e comerciais foram visitadas — com ou sem certificação ambiental. Essa lista de verificação foi aplicada nas construções, para realizar um diagnóstico do setor. Apesar da gestão de resíduos ser obrigatória e restritiva à obtenção dos certificados de conclusão de obra, os resultados da pesquisa demonstraram que há problemas na segregação, acondicionamento e transporte dos resíduos. Entretanto, a falta de conscientização e a aparente conformidade documental não se traduz em efetivo gerenciamento dos RCC. Palavras-chave: Resíduos de construção e demolição. Gestão de resíduos. Resíduos sólidos. Auditorias ambientais. Abstract Standards related to the management of Construction Waste (CW) have been in force in Brazil for more than a decade. The goal of this management is to alleviate the environmental impacts resulting from the poor management of these wastes. The objective of this work is to investigate the technical and legal compliance of construction waste management systems in the city of Curitiba. To this end, a checklist was drawn up based on current standards and on some models of environmental certifications, such as: LEED, AQUA, CASBEE, BREAM and HQE. 24 works of residential and commercial buildings were visited — with or without environmental certification. A checklist was applied, in these buildings, to promote a diagnosis of the sector. Although waste management is mandatory and restrictive to obtain building completion certificates, the research results showed that there are problems in the segregation, packaging and transport of waste. However, the lack of awareness and the apparent documentary compliance does not translate into effective management of the CW. Keywords: Construction and demolition waste. Waste management. Solid waste. Environmental audits. Resumen Normas relativas a la gestión de Residuos Sólidos de Construcción Civil (RCC) están vigentes en Brasil hace más de una década. La intención de esa gestión es amenizar los impactos ambientales producidos por la gestión inadecuada de esos residuos. El objetivo de este trabajo es investigar la conformidad técnica y legal de sistemas de gestión de residuos de la construcción civil en el municipio de Curitiba. Para ello, se elaboró una lista de cotejo basada en las normas vigentes y en algunos modelos de certificaciones ambientales como: LEED, AQUA, CASBEE, BREAM y HQE. Se visitaron 24 obras de edificios residenciales y comerciales — con o sin permiso ambiental. Se aplicó esa lista de cotejo en las construcciones, para realizar un diagnóstico des sector. Aunque la gestión de residuos sea obligatoria y restrictiva para la obtención de las certificaciones de conclusión de obra, los resultados de la investigación demostraron que hay problemas en la segregación, acondicionamiento y trasporte de los residuos. Sin embargo, la falta de conciencia y la aparente conformidad en materia de documentos no se traduce en una gestión eficiente de los RCC. Palabras-clave: Residuos de construcción y demolición. Gestión de residuos. Residuos sólidos. Auditorías ambientales.