newsletter_spring_2011

Inside This Issue

MIT Energy Efficiency Strategy Project...............................................................2

Water Research, Field-based Practice and Water Diplomacy in EPP..................3-4

Neighborhood as Refuge: Environmental Justice and Community Reconstruction in Boston, Barcelona and Havana ..............................................5

DUSP Students Present at Water 2011 Annual Conference.................................6-7

Student Spotlight....................................................................................................7

Incoming EPP Students..........................................................................................8-9

MCP Thesis Summaries ........................................................................................10-13

Science Impact Collaborative Project Updates..................................................14-16

Design and layout: Nina Tamburello

The Environmental Policy and Planning Group is a group within the Department of Urban Studies and Planning School of Architecture and Planning

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Masthead photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikaelamartin

SPRING 2011

2 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND PLANNING

MIT ENERGY EFFICIENCY STRATEGY PROJECT

by Elena Alschuler and Harvey Michaels

Community-based Efficiency Innovations.

Student members of the Energy Efficiency Strategy Project (EESP) met regularly this year for topical discussions, targeted meetings and interviews on aspects of enabling energy efficiency through innovative community-based strategies. In addition to many thesis and research projects concluding this semester, two events were held in April:

On April 29, a successful 2nd annual Symposium on Community-based Efficiency Innovations was led by fifteen student members of EESP, co-sponsored by the MIT Energy Club and Edison Foundation, NSTAR Electric, CISCO, and Duke Energy.

Students discussed their research and ideas with an enthusiastic cross-section of over 100 MIT students and faculty, as well as representatives from all levels of government; as well as from industry - smart grid, utilities, and efficiency services. Student-led discussions included:

· Partnering with Communities to Scale Up Efficiency: Rob Crauderueff, Stephanie Stern MIT DUSP; Erin Brandt, Tufts.

· Information- and Data- Driven Targeting and Programs: Kat Donnelly, Jeff Mekler, MIT ESD; Elena Alschuler and Lindsay Reul, MIT DUSP; Kate Goldstein, MIT Arch/BT; Zico Kolter, CSAIL

· Equity, Jobs, and Mobilization: Ryan Hammond, MIT Sloan; Pat Coleman, Chris Jones, Brendan McEwen, Nikhil Nadkarni, Rosie Sherman, MIT DUSP; Marcus Rozbitsky, Brittany Zwicker, Tufts

The preceding afternoon, on April 28, the EESP facilitated a special session with 40 invited guests to help design an information-enabled community program strategy called Smart Energy Now, a utility/community energy pilot program for center-city Charlotte, NC. Hosted in the offices of the MIT Energy Initiative, ten students lead discussion among researchers from other universities and non-profits, representatives from large commercial owner and management firms, experts in metering and building systems, experts in community engagement and marketing, local stakeholders from Charlotte, and senior staff from event sponsor Duke Energy. The final segment, facilitated by Professor Larry Susskind, helped to develop a consensus of charrette findings, which can be found at: http://web.mit.edu/energy-efficiency/.

SPRING 2011 3

WATER RESEARCH, FIELD-BASED PRACTICE AND WATER DIPLOMACY IN EPP

It seems to be a well-kept secret that EPP is heavily invested in water-related research and field-based practice. Of the last 8 EPP PhDs, half were focused on water-related topics. Nancy Odeh looked at public-private partnerships (in both urban and rural areas) and the important part they have played in water resource development in Jordan. Beaudry Kock worked with a wide array of water users and regulators in the Rocky Mountains to test strategies for combatting salination of the Colorado River. Catherine Ashcraft examined the the problems of transboundary management of the Nile and the Danube, focusing particularly on the ways in which formally negotiated agreements can get in the way of collaborative adaptive management. Erik Neilsen examined China’s role, and the role of environmental advocacy groups in China, in the management of the Mekong River Basin.

For the past several years, all the field-based projects of the MIT Science Impact Collaborative, based in EPP, have focused on water-related issues. With the National Audubon Society, we have tried to promote collaborative effort to accelerate environmental restoration in the Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana. In Massachusetts, we have been working with coastal cities to promote scenario-based planning efforts to confront the risks associated with climate change. Under Professor Mike Flaxman’s leadership, and with support from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Service, we have developed new ways of modeling and managing future changes in the greater Everglades landscape.

EPP MCP theses over the past several years have dealt with rainwater harvesting in Lebanon, land conservation in the Everglades, the impact of oil sands development on water resources in Alberta, Canada; environmental restoration in the Atchafalaya Basin, a “greener” approach to storm water management, municipal strategies for dealing with short-term water shortages and a range of other water-related topics.

EPP research interests in water range from international efforts to formulate water treaties, to new ways of managing state-level and regional water supplies, to municipal efforts to regulate water use as an integral part of sustainable development activities. We are interested in the ways in

Everglades, Florida

by Lawrence Susskind

by Elena Alschuler and Harvey Michaels


which collaborative adaptive management (CAM) can be used as part of both regulatory and voluntary strategies to cope with the complexities and uncertainties created by climate change. Public-private partnerships for water management are also a continuing interest along with ways of using environmental impact assessment, life cycle analysis and other forecasting tools more effectively.

This June, Professor Larry Susskind will be co-directing a Water Diplomacy Workshop (www.waterdiplomacy.org) with Professor Shafiqul Islam at Tufts University. This week-long train-the-trainer program will bring 35 senior water professionals from 20 countries together to learn how to apply a new negotiated approach to water resources management (as opposed to the more traditional engineering approach that relies heavily on top-down control by experts and bureaucrats). The program incorporates a new week-long role play simulation called Indopotamia. This five part exercise will put put eight representatives of governmental, non-governmental and business interests in mock negotiating situations each day. Designed by Catherine Ashcraft (EPP PHD 2011), the “game” will teach the tools of water diplomacy and provide workshop participants a package of teaching materials they can present to their own organizations and communities. Support from the National Science Foundation, the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program and a number of philanthropic groups is making it possible for water professionals from South Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa to attend. The workshop is linked to the new interdisciplinary PHD Program in Water Diplomacy being offered at Tufts beginning in September. New courses in this program will, if all goes well, be cross-listed in DUSP.

As MIT expands its cross-campus efforts to promote water-related research and field-based practice, under the leadership of Professor Jim Wescoat (DUSP/Arch), we hope EPP students and faculty will be able to play a leadership role.

(cont’d from previous page)

Atchafalaya River Basin, New Orleans Boston Harbor

WATER RESEARCH, FIELD-BASED PRACTICE AND WATER DIPLOMACY IN EPP

FALL 2010 5

Since the end of the 1990s, poor Spanish and immigrant residents in the Casc Antic of Barcelona joined together to revitalize abandoned areas of the old town by beautifying community spaces, self-managing new parks and playgrounds, and building community gardens. Similarly, starting in 1988, inhabitants and organizations from Cayo Hueso, an Afro-Cuban neighborhood in Havana, Cuba, have organized to bring in long-lasting environmental and health improvements to the degraded neighborhood, participating in government-sponsored workshops while skillfully negotiating for independent decision-making. Their projects included the repair and expansion of sports grounds, rehabilitation of unsanitary housing structures, improved waste management, community gardens, and public art and green spaces. Last, at the end of the 1980s, Dudley, a Cape-Verdean, Latino, and African American neighborhood next to downtown Boston, was an abandoned, violence-ridden, and arson-devastated area. Despite these dire conditions, residents, environmental NGOs and community-organizations joined forces to transform hundreds of empty lots into urban farms, neighborhood parks, healthy fresh food markets and bakery, and sports centers and playgrounds. This variety of cases around the world illustrate the emergence of residents in marginalized urban neighborhoods actively organizing for improved environmental quality in degraded and abandoned spaces, including in cities with different levels of democratization and development. Such initiatives thus raise an important question: Why do similar local patterns of concern, mobilization, and achievement arise in cities with such different political systems and histories of urbanization and marginalization? How and why do residents of seemingly powerless marginalized neighborhoods proactively organize to improve environmental quality and livability, and do not move out, even when they are able to, or even sometimes encouraged or forced to do so?

Using an environmental justice lens and through an international comparative study of three critical and emblematic cases of minority and low-income neighborhoods fighting for improved environmental conditions – Casc Antic (Barcelona), Dudley (Boston), Cayo Hueso (Havana), – I researched the ways in which residents and organizations engaged in environmental quality initiatives perceive that their work allowed them to re-build their community from within. My dissertation also focused on the extent to which their environmental struggles represented a desire to achieve environmental gains as opposed to serving as a means to advance broader political agendas in the city. And finally, I asked how different political systems and contexts of urbanization have shaped the strategies and tactics that neighborhoods develop and how activists and their allies have managed to advance their goals.

My findings show that activists in Casc Antic, Dudley, and Cayo Hueso use their environmental and health endeavors as a tool to holistically re-build and repair a broken and traumatized community and build “safe havens”, associating environmental justice with community development, and improvements in physical health with mental health support. Over time, such improved outcomes are meant to create greater robustness and resilience. In addition, through their environmental work, activists frame broader political goals in the city such as addressing stigmas about their place, controlling the land and its boundaries, and building a more direct and spontaneous form of democracy. These goals reflect and are reinforced by the attachment and sense of community they feel for their neighborhood. To develop their vision over time, residents and their supporters have selected multi-faceted and multi-tiered strategies, with striking common patterns across neighborhoods, and this despite differences in political systems: collage and bricolage techniques, broad coalitions and sub-community networks, clever engagement with public officials and funders, and use of local identity and traditions as political tools.

In other words, achieving environmental justice for marginalized urban neighborhoods requires reaching, protecting, and sustaining specific outcomes and processes. Such outcomes take the shape of tangible and concrete improvements in regards to physical health: clean air and soil; healthy and affordable nutrition; safe play, recreation, and education; physical activity and sports; and healthy homes and habitat. Outcomes also include supporting residents in relation to mental health aspects. In profoundly degraded, abandoned, and traumatized neighborhoods, families, youth, and children need nurturing, healing, protection, and wellness. Several processes must also be incorporated for communities to achieve urban environmental justice: controlling neighborhood land and territory as well as building and protecting borders; promoting forms of spontaneous planning and transgressive participation; and finally protecting spatial capital and place identity. It seems that, only under these conditions, can a healthy environment be the place where all people live, work, learn and play, and inequalities in land use and planning decisions addressed.

NEIGHBORHOOD AS REFUGE: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY RECONSTRUCTION IN BOSTON, BARCELONA, AND HAVANA

This article is based on a recently defended dissertation. It was written by Isabelle Anguelovski; Dr. JoAnn Carmin was her advisor.


by Tijs van Maasakkers

A team of EPP students was featured in a special session on “Climate Change Adaptation and Decision-Making” at the University of Massachusetts Water 2011 annual conference in April. On a beautiful spring day a group of EPP students got up early, piled into two cars and undertook the scenic drive across the Commonwealth to attend this conference in Amherst, MA. Prof. Richard Vogel from Tufts University’s Graduate Program on Water: Systems, Science and Society, delivered the keynote address, titled Water Resources Planning in a Changing World. A central argument of this keynote was that expertise on climate change and water resources remains poorly linked to decision-making, so we felt well-positioned to provide a significant contribution to the conference through our special session.

The fact that we were scheduled to present at the very end of the day-long conference may have hurt our attendance numbers slightly, but that did mean we were free to attend most of the other sessions throughout the day. My personal favorite session included a detailed evaluation of the impact on water quality of new street-cleaning techniques, based on trials in our very own Cambridge. Basically, if you feel your street isn’t clean enough and worry about run-off into the Lower Charles, ask your city councillor for the Tymco DST-6 regenerative air sweeper. It’s a beautful machine.

Regarding our own session, we originally proposed the topic since we believed attending a conference like this would provide an opportunity for us to think and talk about climate change adaptation lessons from elsewhere that might be relevant to a largely Massachusetts-oriented audience. It also gave us a chance to present at an interdisciplinary conference. This kind of setting generates different kinds of questions than a purely disciplinary setting like the APA. Many of the people in attendance worked for or with the state agencies here in Massachusetts, which resulted in practice-oriented presentations and discussions. Finally, many of us in EPP rarely present our work to each other. Even though we had to schedule a day’s visit to Amherst to do so, attending this conference together allowed us to hear about each-other’s work in more detail.

Tyler Corson-Rikert (MCP candidate) and Jenna Kay (MCP candidate) prepared a paper on the use of role-play simulations to increase the understanding of climate change risk. Madhu Dutta-Koehler (PhD candidate) presented her ongoing dissertation research on climate change adaptation planning in South Asian megacities, namely Dhaka and Kolkata. Todd Schenk (PhD candidate) also talked about negotiation simulations, but his case study was Ghana where he worked in collaboration with the World Resources Institute and the Consensus Building Institute. Deborah Lightman (MCP candidate) delivered a paper on the capacity of stakeholder groups to effectively represent their constituents in the Atchafalaya Basin, co-authored with Amanda Martin (MCP candidate) and Tijs van Maasakkers (PhD candidate).

The discussion following the presentations focused on the use of role-playing simulations, and how they can be developed and used to improve community decision-making. Several members of the audience expressed an interest in learning more about this method. There was even one funder there who asked us to follow-up with a proposal, which goes to show that spending a day in Amherst can produce all kinds of outcomes.

DUSP STUDENTS PRESENT AT WATER 2011ANNUAL CONFERENCE

SPRING 2011 7

If you’re interested in the abstracts or presentation from this conference, they are available at http://www.umass.edu/tei/conferences/Water2011/index.html. A list of all annual conferences organized by TEI is available at http://www.umass.edu/tei/conferences/index.html.Facilitation is an important component of successful simulation exercises. “When such interactions are professionally facilitated, the ‘after-game’ conversations shift rapidly to what the parties might try next in ‘real life’”, says Susskind. Developing appropriate sets of instructions and fact patterns is also critical to success. A balance must be struck between mimicking reality and abstracting to detach the players from unnecessary political hang-ups and make the exercise digestible in a limited amount of time. In the case of the Ghana exercise, more than twenty stakeholders were interviewed and numerous documents reviewed to develop an accurate appreciation of the context. The final exercise developed and implemented did not, however, take place in Ghana but in the fictional country of ‘Suna’. Suna bears a great deal of resemblance to Ghana, but the facts were slightly changed.

Fostering group learning among participants was an important collateral benefit, in part to entice senior people to participate, but the ultimate objective of this project was to increase WRI’s understanding of how decision-makers will respond to climate change in the future. The project was considered a success by all involved. “The use of role-playing exercises based on realistic but hypothetical scenarios has provided the rich insight we needed”, says Angell. Participants also responded very positively, confirming that the exercises helped them to start thinking about how they might plan for the risks associated with the climate change moving forward.


Student Spotlight

Miriam Solis, a first year Master in City Planning student, was recently awarded a Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation (PON) Summer Fellowship for her thesis research on the application of consensus building techniques to resolving water disputes in the United States. Under the supervision of Professor Larry Susskind, she will compare long-standing water disputes in the Colorado River and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basins. The PON Fellowship is awarded to students whose work advances the links between scholarship and practice in negotiation and conflict resolution. As part of the award, Miriam received $500 to conduct fieldwork. She will also present her research findings at a public event this fall.

DUSP STUDENTS PRESENT AT WATER 2011ANNUAL CONFERENCE


INCOMING EPP STUDENTS

Jessie Agatstein joins EPP through the SB/MCP program, in which she will begin her MCP while finishing up her double major in Biology and Urban Studies and Planning. She has worked on community health projects in Paraguay, Ecuador, and Mexico, and will be spending this summer in Washington, D.C. working at the EPA on hydraulic fracturing and environmental justice.

Caroline Bird joins EPP from San Francisco, where she teaches in outdoor and arts education programs and directs a community-based nonprofit managing a neighborhood-owned open space. She earned her B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology from Wesleyan University, her teaching credential from San Francisco State University and, most recently, her A.A. in Music from Laney College in Oakland, CA.

Katherine Buckingham joins EPP from Greater Ohio Policy Center, the smart growth organization for the state of Ohio. She has worked there for the past three years in positions ranging from research assistant to her current role as special projects coordinator. Prior to that she obtained her A.B. in Politics with an International Studies Concentration from Oberlin College.

Winnie C. Chang completed a B.F.A. in Photography & Imaging at New York University. She has documented the plight of community gardeners in the South Bronx, advocated for sensible transportation in Alaska and developed an e-commerce business for NYC-based Green Depot. Most recently, she hiked 300+ miles on VT’s Long Trail from Massachusetts to Canada.

Tuan-Yee Ching who joins the EPP has a Master’s in Architecture in Architecture and Town & Regional Planning from Sheffield University, UK. He is a Deputy Director with the Urban Planning and Design Division of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore’s national planning authority. He is also a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Brian Daly joins EPP from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, where he was a financial services paralegal investigating, among other issues, subprime mortgage lending and securitization. Previously, he worked for a small environmental law firm in Vermont on land use and renewable energy cases, particularly wind energy development. He studied Religion and American History at Middlebury College.

Cara Ferrentino is currently finishing up an MPhil in Environmental Policy at the University of Cambridge, UK. Previously she worked for the Harvard Office for Sustainability on resource conservation projects and student, staff and faculty environmental outreach. She received her BA in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College in 2008, and looks forward to returning to her most favorite Cambridge this fall!

Anna Gaffney Gross has spent the last three years working at the Environmental Protection Agency as a biologist in the Office of Pesticide Programs. She is primarily involved in the review and registration of microbial pesticide products. Prior to joining EPA, Anna spent two years in El Salvador as a Peace Corps volunteer, where she worked as an environmental educator and small business coordinator. She received her B.A. in Environmental Studies from Yale University.

Melissa Higbee joins EPP from the Energy Foundation in San Francisco, CA. Her previous work experiences include advancing green jobs policies at the non-profit Green For All and planning for transit-oriented development at an urban economics consulting firm. She has a B.A. in Geography from U.C. Berkeley.

Master’s Students

SPRING 2011 9

Carri Hulet joins EPP from the great state of Utah where she has spent the last four years working on environmental policy projects as a mediator and public participation consultant. Carri has a degree in political science from Tufts University.

Wesley Look joins the EPP one year master’s program after 3 years as a Program Officer with ICLEI, where he worked with U.S. local governments, regional planning agencies and electric and gas utilities on sub-national climate action planning. Wesley has also worked on sustainable development projects in Northern India and Germany, and he is concurrently completing a Master in Public Policy degree at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, with a concentration on climate and energy policy. Wesley has a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University.

Alex Marks specializes in sustainability consulting, including alternative energy and LEED Certification. Previously, he studied Business as an undergraduate, became a CPA and worked for several years in corporate finance.

Aditya “Adi” Nochur is excited to return to his hometown of Cambridge to pursue a degree through EPP. Before coming to EPP Adi spent three years in Washington, DC working for 1Sky, a national grassroots campaign organizing for federal solutions on climate change and clean energy. Adi holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies and Biology from Tufts University, where he first began working on student climate campaigns in 2004.

Christopher Rhie joins EPP from the City of New York, where he manages energy efficiency audits and retrofits under PlaNYC, the City’s long-term plan for sustainability. Prior to his current role, he worked on energy and climate policy at the City of Oakland, CA. Christopher holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University.

Erica Simmons joins EPP after four years as a planner for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, a recreation and land preservation agency on the San Francisco Peninsula. She grew up in a small town in Downeast Maine but moved

INCOMING EPP STUDENTS

Doctoral Students

Jessica Debats earned master’s degrees in history and planning from UCLA and UCI. As an environmental consultant, she quantified pollution emissions from projects like transit systems and energy facilities, and mapped environmental impacts using GIS. Jessica is interested in how development patterns, regulation, and competing economic and political interests shape the distribution of climate change’s public health impacts.”

to California for college at Stanford University, where she received a B.A.S. in Archaeology and Geological and Environmental Sciences.

Keith Tanner joins EPP after working in sustainable development the past couple years in San Francisco, most recently interning with the city’s Planning Department. Prior to that Keith had been working in education, with jobs in Boston, Thailand, France, and Los Angeles. He earned a B.A. in English from Northwestern University.

Louise Yeung will be coming to EPP this fall from the Environmental Law Institute, where she focuses on natural resource management and international environmental law. She holds a BA in International Affairs from George Washington University.

Danya Rumore joins the EPP doctoral program to follow her interest in collaborative, adaptive environmental governance and consensus-based decision-making. A 2007-2008 U.S. Fulbright Scholar, Danya holds a M.S. in Environmental Management from the University of Auckland and a B.S. in Environmental Science and Environmental Economics from Oregon State University. Through her professional experience in environmental outreach and science writing, she has worked with a broad range of organizations including the Small Planet Institute, the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities, the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, and the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change.


You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Managing Recreational Use in the Middlesex Fells Reservationby Andrea Christenson

Land conservation programs are often guided by a dual mission: to protect natural resources and provide for the recreational use of a property. This inclusive mandate attracts the support of stakeholders with a variety of values and interests. The desires of these stakeholders can come into conflict over how open space should be managed. Such a conflict is currently playing out in the Middlesex Fells Reservation, which is owned and managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). DCR recently undertook a trail system planning process for Middlesex Fells, which illuminates two broad conflicts that the agency faces in formulating management recommendations for recreational use. The first is the disagreement among user groups, including hikers, mountain bikers, and dog walkers, about desired uses for the trail system. The second is the tension between natural resource protection and recreational use.

I use the Middlesex Fells Trail System Plan as a case study to explore how public agencies resolve conflicts among stakeholders over open space. I ask: how do land managers make decisions about recreational uses when faced with conflicting program goals and stakeholder desires? I find that the driving force behind DCR’s recreational use decisions is user group input. But user group desires are constrained by a variety of factors that push the ensuing recommendations toward the middle ground of compromise and incremental change. These factors include the mission of the agency, staff’s professional judgment about the purpose of the property, existing recreational use patterns, the regulatory framework, the agency’s understanding of the science, and—most importantly—perceptions of political feasibility.

The Role of Science in a Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Process for Water Management in Massachusettsby Tyler Corson-Rikert

The Sustainable Water Management Initiative is a multi-stakeholder process that the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs convened in early 2010 to seek advice on how to more sustainably manage the state’s water resources. The initiative followed growing scientific understanding of the importance of adequate instream flows to the ecological health of the state’s waterways, and several years of political mobilization and litigation by both watershed advocates and water suppliers. The process consists of two committees, one technically- and one policy-oriented, advising the state on its drafting of new water management policies. While this represents a bold new commitment by the state environmental agencies to stakeholder engagement, the initiative does not give participants an opportunity to determine the information they need and interpret it in crafting proposals, nor empower them to vote on potential policies. It is a real world application of certain collaborative decision making ideas within a difficult political context. Focusing on the role of science, this thesis asserts that the sources, management, and stakeholder perceptions of scientific and technical information influence the prospects for generating innovative policies. Examining the ongoing work of the Sustainable Water Management Initiative, it finds that questions arising in the earlier development of watershed science have

THESIS SUMMARIES

SPRING 2011 11

reemerged in policy discussions, that choices in the management of information shape other aspects of discussions, and that stakeholders’ different perspectives inform their views of science and its use in making policy. These dynamics have then influenced the prospects for building consensus and promoting discussion around innovative policy ideas that could move Massachusetts towards more integrated water resource management. Thus, while the Sustainable Water Management Initiative does not conform to ideal models in the literature, it includes enough best practices in the use of science for policy making to enhance the prospects for water management innovation in the state.

Reading the Tea Leaves: The Tea Party, the Conservative Establishment, & the Collapse of Climate Change Legislation by Kate Dineen

The Tea Party movement, which derives its name and revolutionary zeal from the 1773 Boston Tea Party anti-tax protest, is well known for attacking economic bailouts, universal health care, collective bargaining rights, and the very notion of centralized government. In a less visible fashion, however, the movement has also set its sights on another target, environmental regulation. In fact, the Tea Party movement played an important but little-noticed role in preventing the passage of comprehensive energy and climate-change legislation in 2010; more broadly, Tea Party activists have derailed public and congressional dialogue by reinvigorating skepticism about climate-change science and demonizing environmentalists’ preferred solution, cap-and-trade. Importantly, the Tea Party’s environmental agenda—defined by opposition to environmental regulations that fetter markets for energy and other products and services – is set by an established network of industry and conservative interests. But the assertion that the Tea Party movement is merely a front for industry interests discounts the genuine conviction of local Tea Party supporters, who are integral to the effectiveness of the movement’s campaigns.

Coastal Development Decision-Making in Costa Rica: The Need for a New Framework to Balance Socio-Economic and Environmental Impactsby Maricarmen Esquivel

Coastal communities in Costa Rica are at a crossroads. Intense development pressures over the last ten years, generated mainly by tourism and real estate investment, have brought jobs and foreign capital. This new development focus is now dominant in the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Guanacaste experienced a 589% growth in construction as measured in square meters from 2003 to 2006, and Puntarenas a growth of 314%. However, many are now asking whether the social and environmental costs are worth the economic gains. Coastal regions are seeing problems such as invasion of the public coastal zone, illegal construction in high slopes, deforestation, construction close to river channels, and a displacement of the local population. To explore these issues, I analyze in this thesis the Environmental Assessments conducted for three tourism and real estate projects in the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica to determine how environmental, economic, and social tradeoffs have been made in practice. Although Costa Rica has been recognized for its national parks, its commitment to eco-tourism, and its progressive social policies, the model of

THESIS SUMMARIES


development pursued in the north and central Pacific Coast has had less of a sustainability focus. A window of opportunity now exists to make changes to this framework and take advantage of the increased investment to make better choices.

Community-Based Social Marketing and Sustainability at the Neighborhood Scaleby Deborah Lightman

Social marketing has long been used in the field of public health, but its application in the environmental world is only a decade old. McKenzie-Mohr’s (2000) guide to “community-based social marketing” (CBSM) is the main work in the field, and his five-step model for fostering sustainable behavior is gaining increasing support. In this thesis, I explore the possibility of using CBSM to promote sustainable planning practices at the neighborhood scale: first, to encourage the uptake of rain barrels and rain gardens; and second, to advance long-term sustainability as defined in the sustainable communities literature. My research focuses on the potential opportunities and limitations of CBSM in three very different neighborhoods in the Greater Toronto Area.

Is Florida’s Growth Management Act Protecting Agricultural Lands?by Stephen Lloyd

Florida has experienced rapid population growth over the past half century, which has led to extensive urban development onto valuable agricultural lands. To address this and other impacts, Florida passed the Growth Management Act (GMA) in 1985, which among other things required local comprehensive planning and that it be consistent with a state plan of policies and objectives. While the GMA has been the subject of much scrutiny, little empirical research has been conducted specifically in regards to farmland. Utilizing spatial analytic techniques and county comprehensive plans from 1990, I examine the extent to which this land use planning tool has been effective at protecting agriculture and draw conclusions in light of the likely repeal to the GMA in the near future.

Social Equity in Urban Sustainability: Strategies and Metrics for Baltimore and Beyondby Amanda Martin

Abstract: Almost all cities in the United States have initiated efforts to become more sustainable, which theoretically includes balancing ecological and economic systems and social equity. In practice, many cities are unsure about the role of equity in sustainability planning. This thesis uses Baltimore, Maryland as a case study to suggest planning and implementation strategies that cities can use to incorporate equity into sustainability efforts. It concludes with recommendations for metrics to monitor cities’ progress in this area.

THESIS SUMMARIES

SPRING 2011 13

Evolving Technologies for Disaster Management in U.S. Citiesby Vanessa Ng

The rapid development of modern technology has increased access to and reliance on sophisticated communication and real time technology. These technologies, which have become embedded within everyday life, have significant implications for government agencies - particularly within the field of disaster management. This paper draws on the evolution of disaster research, the history of disaster management in the US, literature on emerging uses of social media technology, and interviews from 24 emergency management offices in the US to examine three questions: 1) What types of technology are cities currently using in disaster management, 2) Which factors are most influential in determining how cities select emergency management technology, and 3) How can future technology development better address the needs of emergency managers? Several conclusions and observations emerged from analysis of the current literature and interview data. First, technology is primarily used by city disaster management agencies in the preparedness and response phrases of the disaster cycle. Second, while various factors impact technology adoption, funding, the support of a political champion, and legal concerns stand out in particular. Finally, future technology development must address concerns of interoperability, changing relations between the government and the public, and increasingly mobile populations.

Motivating Homeowners To Invest In Energy Efficiencyby Stephanie Stern

For the last 30 years, experts have claimed that efficiency can lead to significant reductions in energy use, yet efficiency programs, particularly those geared to households, have failed to live up to expectations. Through interviews with participants of the Community Energy Services program in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I examine what the barriers to investing in energy efficiency are for homeowners, even with a program that combines technical and financial assistance. I argue that it is important to make a distinction between real financial and logistical barriers and emotional or psychological barriers; both are important to convince a homeowner to take action, yet many programs fail to make a compelling emotional argument.

Moving Towards Climate-Smart Flood Management In Asia: A Comparative Study Of Bangkok And Tokyoby Shoko Takemoto

Managing the impacts of climate change is no longer a concern for the future, but a significant reality of the present. Especially for local governments of coastal megacities in Asia, preparing for, and mitigating extreme weather events and adapting to the gradual shift in climatic trends, are pressing concerns. Planning for disaster and climate change is a fundamental city function, and there is an urgent need for cities to enhance their disaster management systems to be more adaptive and resilient to climate change – or climate-smart.

THESIS SUMMARIES


Everglades Projectby Chris Horne

Several students, faculty, and researchers in DUSP have been working on climate change adaptation in peninsular Florida over the last two and half years, internally known as “the Everglades Project”. The most recent iteration of the research team includes Dr. Michael Flaxman, associate professor; Dr. Juan Carlos Vargas-Moreno, lecturer and research scientist; MCP2s Stephen Lloyd and Vanessa Ng; and research associate Chris Horne (MCP 2010). The first two years of work were focused on developing spatially explicit climate change simulations to support long-term strategic conservation planning on behalf of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the US Geological Survey (USGS). This project has been completed, and the simulations are now available online in beta form to explore interactively: http://geoadaptive.com/everglades/mitse/bin-release/mitse.htmlSince January 2011, the team has been working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the Defenders of Wildlife to assess the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on wildlife habitats for a variety of taxa and examine the strategic implications of these impacts for Florida’s Wildlife Action Plan process. The scenarios and simulations developed for FWS and USGS are being used as a central component in this study. Two workshops have already been held during the Spring 2011 semester—the first to receive species-specific feedback from wildlife experts and the second to assess threats and plan management responses with refuge managers and state officials.

SCIENCE IMPACT COLLABORATIVE PROJECT UPDATES

Copyright © 2011 MIT

This map was created by researchers at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It uses data from a variety of sources processed by Geographic Information Systems. MIT makes no claims, no representations, and

no warranties, express or implied, concerning the validity, the reliability or the accuracy of the GIS data and GIS data products furnished by this research, including the implied validity of any uses of such data.

Florida Panther Potential Habitat Impact 2010 - 2060Primary HabitatSecondary HabitatDispersal HabitatSea Level Rise

Habitat Impacts

Impacts on Public LandPublic Conservation No ImpactPublic Conservation To InundatedPublic Undeveloped No ImpactPublic Undeveloped To InundatedPublic Undeveloped To High Impact UrbanPublic Undeveloped To Low Impact UrbanPublic Undeveloped To New ConservationPublic Undeveloped To New Agriculture

Impacts on Private LandPrivate Conservation No ImpactPrivate Conservation To InundatedPrivate Crops/Citrus No ImpactPrivate Crops/Citrus To High Impact UrbanPrivate Crops/Citrus To Low Impact UrbanPrivate Crops/Citrus To New ConservationPrivate Ranching No ImpactPrivate Ranching To High Impact UrbanPrivate Ranching To Low Impact UrbanPrivate Ranching To New ConservationPrivate Undeveloped No ImpactPrivate Undeveloped To InundatedPrivate Undeveloped To High Impact UrbanPrivate Undeveloped To Low Impact UrbanPrivate Undeveloped To New ConservationPrivate Undeveloped To New Agriculture

Allocated Land Uses

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Current Land Uses And Land Cover

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Online scenario explorer(left)

Mapping Climate Change Induced Stressors on Threatened Species (below)

SPRING 2011 15


Massachusetts Climate Adaptation Projectby Jenna Kay

Last year, the Massachusetts Climate Adaptation Project, part of the MIT Science Impact Collaborative produced the report “Managing Risk: Helping Cities in Massachusetts Adapt to Climate Change” (http://web.mit.edu/dusp/epp/music/). This report featured case studies on climate adaptation efforts in Massachusetts cities and concluded that most cities in the Commonwealth have created climate action plans focusing on the mitigation of greenhouse gases, but few have made plans that address adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change (such as sea level rise, storm intensification and an increase in the number of hot summer days).

To help fill this gap in adaptation planning, The Science Impact Collaborative created role-play simulations for public officials, city business and environmental leaders and concerned citizens learn more about managing the risks associated with climate change impacts. This fall, we pilot-tested one of its simulations in Gloucester, MA, where a group of public officials and city leaders were presented with the following scenario:

You live in Evantown, Massachusetts, a post-industrial town located along the banks of the Foltz River. The Riverview Development project, a multi-use residential and commercial complex, was about to receive a permit to build along the city’s waterfront when the national flood bureau published new flood maps taking climate change into account. According to the old maps, the Riverview Development project was located outside of the 100-year floodplain, but the new maps place it within this higher-risk zone. The mayor has invited you and several other stakeholders to decide what to do about the development project given the new maps and other predictions about climate change impacts on Evantown.

The goal of the Science Impact Collaborative is to develop research tools to measure the effectiveness of the simulations at promoting adaptation efforts and tested these with the Gloucester participants. The data indicated that the simulation increased some participants’ sense of urgency to address climate change and sparked discussions between the participants and with other community members not present at the simulation about the types of climate impacts that may affect Gloucester and how the city could begin to address these issues.

This spring, the Collaborative created additional simulations that integrate scenario planning into them. In these simulations, participants are asked to make a typical municipal planning decision, such as whether the Riverview Development project should receive a building permit or not, given a range of possible future climate and economic scenarios.

We plan to use these simulations with several cities next year and will eventually turn the simulations into a free, downloadable tool that any city in the United States can use.

The MIT Science Impact Collaborative (http://web.mit.edu/dusp/epp/music/) is lead by Professor Lawrence Susskind. It trains students to work at the intersection of science, policy and politics in the natural resource management field. MCP students Tyler Corson-Rikert and Jenna Kay and undergraduate Jessica Agatstein worked on the Massachusetts Climate Adaptation Project this year.




Project with the National Audubon Society in the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana by Tijs van Maasakkers

The Atchafalaya Basin in south-central Louisiana is an important floodway for the Mississippi River, contains the largest contiguous cypress-tupelo swamp in the United States and feeds the only section of coastal wetlands in the northern Gulf of Mexico that is still expanding. The Basin is also home to a significant crawfish population, extensive oil and gas exploration, and roughly 20,000 people, many of them of Cajun heritage. The National Audubon Society has made several grants available to the MIT Science Impact Collaborative (SIC) to conduct a stakeholder assessment and develop recommendations on using consensus-building methods in the Atchafalaya Basin, as was reported in the Winter 2011 EPP Newsletter. Deborah Lightman (MCP Candidate), Amanda Martin (MCP Candidate) and Tijs van Maasakkers (PhD Candidate) have been working on this project.

A coalition of environmental NGO’s, which includes national and local organizations, considered two recommendations to be most promising, namely the development of a joint economic and ecological management plan for the Basin, and a collaborative easement program. Both proposals would require intensive negotiation between key stakeholders, and would aim to explore new avenues for collaboration among them. A team of SIC students presented these two potential processes to representatives from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and the aforementioned coalition of NGO’s in Baton Rouge during the Fall semester. Based on the reactions and feedback the SIC students finalized our report describing the two potential processes in some detail, including hypothetical timelines and approximate costs. MSIC submitted the report towards the end of IAP, and has received an enthusiastic response from the National Audubon Society. This response however has not included a final decision on whether or not to move forward by implementing one or both of these processes.

In the absence of a final answer on if or how SIC would be involved in implementing these consensus building processes, the students have started to draft two journal articles based on their research in the Atchafalaya Basin. The first article consists of a comparison of the attempts to implement environmental restoration plans between the Atchafalaya Basin and the Haringvliet, in the Netherlands. This draft focuses on the boundaries, geographic and otherwise, decision-makers draw when trying to implement restoration plans. The second article examines the capacity of stakeholders, ranging from governmental agencies and less formally organized interests, to productively engage in an institutional framework designed to collaboratively and adaptively manage a complex social-ecological system like the Atchafalaya Basin. Members of the SIC team presented drafts of these papers at the Resilience 2011 conference in Tempe, AZ and the Water 2011 conference in Amherst, MA (for more on the latter conference, see elsewhere in the newsletter) The SIC team is working hard to submit both of these draft-articles to relevant journals before the end of this academic year.


Documents

newsletter_spring_2011