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July 22, 2020
The Global Business Challenge honors women who are advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and inspiring entire communities to act to create the world we want by 2030
The WE Empower UN SDG Challenge – a global business challenge led in partnership by Vital Voices Global Partnership and Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at ASU – today announced the six social entrepreneurs selected as their 2020 Awardees.
July 22, 2020
A list of antiracist resources is now available on the Institute for Humanities Research website for use in humanities courses and for the community. The IHR is led by Elizabeth Langland, director of the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics, and sustainability scientist Ronald Broglio, program lead of the Desert Humanities Initiative.
July 22, 2020
This blog post was written by Arizona State University graduate student Kathleen Yetman. In addition to studying Food Policy and Sustainability Leadership at ASU, Kathleen is the Executive Director of the Prescott Farmers Market.
On our second full day in Washington D.C., we heard from food policy experts from all kinds of backgrounds. I was particularly interested to hear the stories of representatives from nonprofit organizations who have been working on food policy. Our nonprofit food policy panel included Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, Kumar Chandran, policy director for FoodCorps, and Michael Fernandez, director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Center for Scientific Evidence in Public Issues. Because I work in the nonprofit sector myself, I was especially curious to learn how nonprofits advocate for better food policies while also maintaining a program-centered mission.
July 21, 2020
A new postdoc position is available, called "Challenges and opportunities for coastal livelihoods associated with China’s Maritime Silk Road investments."
The fisheries social science team at the University of Technology Sydney is recruiting for a postdoctoral research associate to conduct research as part of the Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center, a new interdisciplinary research group that studies changes, responses and solutions to societal issues that emerge in relationship with the oceans.
U.S. Embassy in Uganda | July 20, 2020
A large $245,000 (USD) award was granted through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to help measure the damaging impacts of locusts in Uganda, during the worst locust outbreak in the horn of Africa in decades.
ASU Now | July 18, 2020
ASU's Center for Law, Science and Innovation is playing a leading role in Greater Phoenix’s push to become a top tech-driven “smart region.” Renowned for being nimble and keeping pace with rapid science and technology developments, the center, part of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, is helping to address extraordinary legal and regulatory questions that accompany innovation. Those challenges are exemplified as regional leaders embrace the promise of smart technology.
Co-founded by ASU, a recently launched smart-region initiative called The Connective is bringing onboard Mastercard to provide timely economic data that helps inform budget decisions and policymaking. Sustainability scholar Diana Bowman is ASU’s lead on The Connective and one of five members of the public-private partnership’s Leadership Council. She said the partnership is providing local governments with resources they otherwise wouldn’t have, including Mastercard’s nearly real-time sales data.
July 16, 2020
ASU's Metis Center for Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering invites faculty to participate in a webinar discussion of a pedagogical framework for engineering education. The August 11 event will feature a presentation by sustainability scientists Braden Allenby and T. Agami Reddy; sustainability scientist Mikhail Chester will moderate.
Engineers today are increasingly asked to produce sustainable designs, products, and infrastructure. But what is meant by sustainability and sustainable development, and what is the role of the engineer in this domain which increasingly pervades all facets of human endeavor? This webinar, meant to provide a pedagogical framework for engineering education, will make the case that sustainability and sustainable development should evolve beyond its environmental and social origins.
July 16, 2020
There is a clear pattern on the role of reduced inequality in positively affecting environmental and economic trajectories. That is one major finding of a new paper by sustainability scientists Datu Buyung Agusdinata and Rimjhim Aggarwal. The paper, published July 15, 2020, in the journal Environment, Development and Sustainability, is titled Economic growth, inequality, and environment nexus: using data mining techniques to unravel archetypes of development trajectories.
The paper spawned out of a seed grant the authors received from the PLuS Alliance on conceptualizing and implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an integrated system, in contrast to the general practice of analyzing these goals in isolation. In this paper the authors focus on the interactions between economic growth (SDG 8), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), and climate action (SDG 13), the goals which underpin the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Examining the interactions between these goals contributes towards understanding some of the complexities and nuances of the UN Agenda.
Using data from 70 countries, Agusdinata, Aggarwal and co-author Xiaosu Ding of Purdue University applied data mining techniques to identify twelve archetypes of development pathways, each of which shows a different pattern of interactions among these goals, thus highlighting the diversity in development experience across the world and lessons it may offer in shaping future policies.
The abstract follows.
Implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) requires evidence-based analyses of the interactions between the different goals to design coherent policies. In this paper, we focus on the interactions between economic growth (SDG 8), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), and climate action (SDG 13). Some previous studies have found an inverted U-shaped relationship between income per capita and inequality, and a similar relationship between income per capita and environmental degradation. Despite their weak theoretical and empirical bases, these hypothesized relationships have gained popularity and are assumed to be universally true. Given differences in underlying contextual conditions across countries, the assumption of universal applicability of these curves for policy prescriptions can be potentially misleading. Advances in data analytics offer novel ways to probe deeper into these complex interactions. Using data from 70 countries, representing 72% of the world population and 89% of the global gross domestic product (GDP), we apply a nonparametric classification tree technique to identify clusters of countries that share similar development pathways in the pre-recession (1980–2008) and post-recession (2009–2014) period. The main outcome of interest is the change in per capita CO2 emissions (post-recession). We examine how it varies with trajectories of GDP growth, GDP growth variability, Gini index, carbon intensity, and CO2 emissions (pre-recession). Our study identifies twelve country clusters with three categories of emission trajectories: decreasing (four clusters), stabilizing (three clusters), and increasing (five clusters). Through the application of data mining tools, the study helps unravel the complexity of factors underlying development pathways and contributes toward informed policy decisions.
July 16, 2020
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has awarded its 2020–21 American Fellowship to Dr. Lily Hsueh, an assistant professor and senior sustainability scientist at Arizona State University, to work on her book-in-progress. Her book, under contract at MIT Press, examines the demand for, and supply of, global businesses’ climate action, across levels of governance, sectors, and in developed and developing countries.
“I am delighted to be a recipient of the 2020-21 AAUW American Fellowship,” said Hsueh. “It is a privilege to join prominent women across the arts, sciences, and the social sciences throughout history in receiving this award.”
“The AAUW fellowship allows me to complete my book, which combines large-N statistical analyses with illustrative company case studies to tell a larger narrative about the economic and political forces that motivate or dissuade private and public actors, such as corporations and governments, to combat global climate change.”
July 15, 2020
Cities and towns face unprecedented challenges, even moreso now during to the COVID-19 pandemic. The unique issues local government agencies deal with demand a research-backed, multidisciplinary response. Leverage your classroom activity to add a meaningful applied learning experience for students that also makes a difference for local communities.
ASU's Project Cities manages contracts and relationships with city partners, facilitates site visits with stakeholders, offers a small budget and technology resources, and publishes project summary reports. Learn more and see the current project topic list.
Planned and continuing municipal sustainability projects incorporate some component of sustainability; economic, social, environmental, or a combination of the three. Many span multiple semesters and groups of students, allowing projects to take on big-picture, multi-disciplinary challenges. In addition, community partners seek assistance on applied projects centered around COVID-19, that examine local responses to the pandemic.
Project Cities' community partners will consider all ideas. Pitch projects via email to projectcities@asu.edu.
July 15, 2020
Biodiversity is all around us! Even in urban settings, we can observe a variety of interesting species of plants and animals, each serving a unique role in our ecosystems.
To recognize and celebrate biodiversity close to home, the ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes invites you to submit cool photographs or short videos of species you observe in your surroundings as part of our #BackyardBiodiversity social media campaign.
July 15, 2020
Together with a UK architect, sustainability scientist Sonja Klinsky, an associate professor in the School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures, has edited a special issue of Buildings & Cities. Published July 14, the issue explores the concept and relevance of climate justice in relation to the built environment.
How do responsibilities and decisions intersect with human wellbeing in a changing climate? Specific processes, decisions and actions are identified to reduce these injustices and to reduce current gaps both in knowledge and practices. Several perspectives are examined for integrating concerns about climate justice into research and decision-making about the built environment.
Read the editorial penned by Klinsky and Mavrogianni, and explore the special issue of Buildings & Cities.
July 15, 2020
This blog post was written by Arizona State University graduate student Ali Kelley. In addition to studying Food Policy and Sustainability Leadership at ASU, Ali is the Marketing Manager for Annie's.
July 15, 2020
A new publication co-authored by ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes founding director Leah Gerber illustrates a pathway for the private sector to assess their biodiversity performance and demonstrate responsible management practices.
The publication, titled “Bringing sustainability to life: A framework to guide biodiversity indicator development for business performance management,” was published in Business Strategy and the Environment.
July 15, 2020
ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director Leah Gerber recently published an op-ed in Mexican newspaper El Universal titled “Protecting biodiversity: our best shot to prevent the next pandemic.”
In this article, Gerber highlights the relationship between environmental health and human health. Habitat degradation by human activities, such as pollution, climate change, overexploitation, species removal and introduction, parallels the emergence of zoonotic (animal-to-human transmitted) viruses with pandemic causing potential.
W. P. Carey News | July 14, 2020
In many places around the world supply chain gaps prevent goods from reaching their intended market and the people who need and rely on them. Supply chains include the system of organizations, resources, and activities that move goods to consumers and gaps can create stresses for producers and consumers alike. When these goods are food and medicine, the results can be devastating — even deadly. A large body of research shows that efficient supply chains are crucial to local, regional, and national economic development.
That’s why the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), invested in this new project, via the Building Research and Innovation for Development: Generating Evidence and Training (BRIDGE-Train) program: to advance research, translation – quickly moving research findings into practice with practical solutions – and training in supply chain management (SCM).
With a $15 million investment from USAID, Arizona State University (ASU) is embarking on a catalytic partnership with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and multiple public and private sector partners to establish the Center for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain-Africa (CARISCA). The project brings together faculty expertise in the Department of Supply Chain Management in ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business and the KNUST School of Business. It’s the largest award in W. P. Carey’s history.
July 14, 2020
School of Sustainability Professor Marco Janssen is one of the co-chairs of the African Commons web-conference that is being held from July 13-27. The conference is freely available online and consists of various live webinars and more than 50 pre-recorded talks on various topics including fisheries, conservation and water governance.
This virtual conference was planned before the COVID-19 crisis, as an affordable, inclusive and low carbon footprint conference. The current COVID-19 crisis has major impacts on the African commons, and is one of the topics of the debates during the conference.
July 14, 2020
A new paper in Sustainability Science finds that the use of alternative water supplies, such as rainwater harvesting and greywater use, could offset up to 30 percent of total outdoor water demand for the Phoenix Metropolitan Area under modest implantation of these policies.
The paper, Simulating alternative sustainable water futures, is the work of sustainability scientists David Sampson and Nancy Grimm, sustainability fellow David Iwaniac, UREX affiliate Elizabeth Cook and CAP LTER affiliate Melissa Davidson. The authors adapted ASU’s WaterSim tool to explore differences in water demand and supply, as influenced by runoff, rainfall, changes in land use and land cover, population growth and improvements in water use efficiency.
The abstract follows.
ASU Now | July 13, 2020
A new strategic partnership agreement will advance a shared interest in meeting the needs of learners in remote, offline communities globally by leveraging ASU’s innovative technology, SolarSPELL, a tool to build information literacy and to advance high-quality education. SolarSPELL is directed by ASU Sustainability Scientist Laura Hosman, Associate Professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society.
The Peace Corps and ASU have been working together since 2015 to pair SolarSPELL’s digital library with locally-based trainers, Peace Corps Volunteers and their resident teacher counterparts. ASU provides the tools and the training that empowers volunteers and local teachers to utilize SolarSPELL libraries in their schools and communities.
Through this new agreement, Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) will advise on content specific to the locations of their postings. The PCVs are ideal liaisons because they spend two years at a posting, often in small, remote villages. The library content is hyper-localized, so having advocates embedded in the field can help determine the kind of information that is most helpful.
ASU Now | July 13, 2020
A key component of ambient direct air capture (DAC) systems that remove carbon dioxide from the air is the sorbent material that is used to first capture the carbon and then to release it. Certain sorbent materials can pull carbon dioxide from the air as it flows over the material. It then releases the carbon when water is applied. As the material dries again, it absorbs carbon, and so on.
This elegant function of specific materials has been observed for several years by those working on DAC systems, like Klaus Lackner, sustainability scientist and professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. Lackner has developed a system called “MechanicalTree” that uses sorbent materials to remove carbon from air.Klaus LacknerKlaus Lackner in his lab. New research by Lackner and his colleagues explains how sorbent materials catch and release carbon, a key component to direct air capture systems that remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Now, in a new paper in the early, online edition of Joule, Lackner and his colleagues lay out exactly how some of these sorbent materials capture and release carbon, a finding that could lead to the smarter design of sorbent materials at the heart of all carbon removal systems.
