Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC)

Permanent URI for this community

https://hdl.handle.net/10315/6200

This collection includes award-winning papers, Major Research Papers and Major Research Projects, and specific course outputs from the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC). It also includes research and scholarship produced by faculty members and graduate students. This faculty was previously known as the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) from 1968-2020. Starting 1 September 2020, all scholarly outputs from faculty and graduate students previously affiliated with FES and the Department of Geography at York University will be deposited under this collection.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 866

Open Access
Planning for Food Justice: Addressing Conflict and Community Farm Governance through Participatory Action Video
Ho, Victoria; Stiegman, Martha
Open Access
The Ecological Economics of Sustainability: Making Local and Short-Term Goals Consistent with Global and Long-Term Goals
(The World Bank, 1990-06) Perkins, Patricia E. (Ellie); Haskell, B.; Cornwell, L.; Daly, H.; Johnson, T.
There is increasing awareness that our global ecological We support system is endangered Decisions made on the basis of local, short-term criteria can produce disastrous results globally and in the long run. There is also increasing awareness that traditional economic and ecological models and concepts fall short in their ability to deal with these problems. The International Society for Ecological Economics is concerned with extending and integrating the study and management of "nature's household" (ecology) and "humankind's household" (economics). Ecological Economics studies the ecology of humans and the economy of nature, the web of interconnections uniting the economic subsystem to the global ecosystem of which it is a part. It is this larger system that must be the object of study if we are to adequately address the critical issues that now face humanity.
Open Access
NAFTA and the Future of Environmental Regulation
(Centre for Constitutional Studies, University of Alberta, 1994) Perkins, Patricia E. (Ellie)
Open Access
An overview of international institutional mechanisms for environmental management with refererence to Arctic pollution
(The Science of the Total Environment, 1995) Perkins, Patricia E. (Ellie)
Evidence is mounting of the environmental impact in the Far North of economic and industrial activity elsewhere in the world. While the sources of pollutants found in the Arctic are many and widespread, it is up to just a few countries - notably Canada,the former Soviet Union, Finland, Norway and Greenland - to assess the damage and deal with the impacts. This paper discusses the issue of Arctic pollution in the context of trends in world economic growth, globalization of economic activity, international trade and related institutional arrangements (such as trade and environmental agreements)T. he importance of tracing the sources of particular contaminants is stressed this is a first step towards internalization of environmental costs of production, and is also politically a key in efforts to control emissions. Trade and investment agreements commonly discuss rules for cross-border flows of goods, services, personnel and investment capital, as well as matters specific to particular economic sectors. Cross-border flows of pollutants and other ‘bads’ also merit detailed sectoral attention. This linkage would make explicit the connections between production and pollution (making possible the ‘polluter pays’ approach), and also widen the scope for redistribution of economic resources to equilibrate the situation (via trade and investment measures among others) if flows of goods are related directly to flows of ‘bads’. The paper examines the outlook for addressing Arctic pollution via international environmental agreements (along the lines of the Base1 Convention, the Montreal Protocol, CITES, etc.), existing and future trade agreements( such as GATT), or new institutional approaches.
Open Access
An overview of international institutional mechanisms for environmental management with reference to Arctic pollution
(Elsevier, 1995) Perkins, Patricia E. (Ellie)
Evidence is mounting of the environmental impact in the Far North of economic and industrial activity elsewhere in the world. While the sources of pollutants found in the Arctic are many and widespread, it is up to just a few countries - notably Canada,t he former Soviet Union, Finland, Norway and Greenland - to assestsh e damagea nd deal with the impacts.T his paper discussetsh e issueo f Arctic pollution in the context of trends in world economic growth, globalization of economic activity, international trade and related institutional arrangements (such as trade and environmental agreements)T. he importance of tracing the sourceso f particular contaminantsi s stressedt;h is is a first step towards internalization of environmental costs of production, and is also politically a key in efforts to control emissionsT. rade and investmenta greementsc ommonlyd iscussru les for cross-borderf lowso f goods,s services, personnel and investment capital, as well as matters specific to particular economic sectors. Cross-border flows of pollutants and other ‘bads’ also merit detailed sectoral attention. This linkage would make explicit the connections between production and pollution (making possible the ‘polluter pays’ approach), and also widen the scope for redistribution of economicr esourcest o equilibrate the situation (via trade and investmentm easuresa, mongo others) if flows of goods are related directly to flows of ‘bads’. The paper examinest he outlook for addressing Arctic pollution via international environmental agreements (along the lines of the Base1 Convention, the Montreal Protocol, CITES, etc.), existing and future trade agreements( such as GATT), or new institutional approaches.
Open Access
Social diversity and the sustainability of community economies
(The Bootstrap Press, 1997) Perkins, Patricia E. (Ellie)
Economic restructuring related to globalization is producing a bifurcation in economic activity throughout the OECD countries: a split between those workers/industries/areas which are competitive in the global market, and those which are being phased out. Partly in response, community economies -- which use local resources and labour to produce locally-needed goods and services -- are growing rapidly in some parts of North America and Europe. This paper discusses the relationship between these two macro trends, describing some typical institutions and characteristics of community economies and the requisites for their sustainability. The implications of this development in terms of the environmental impacts of economic change, meaning and value of social diversity, gender issues and educational needs, receive particular focus.
Open Access
Introduction: Women, ecology, and economics: new models and theories
(Elsevier, 1997) Perkins, Patricia E. (Ellie)
Open Access
Trade, transition paths, and sustainable economies
(Routledge, 1999) Perkins, Patricia E. (Ellie)
The main criticisms of trade from a sustainability viewpoint are that it accelerates resource depletion and pollution, harms income distribution both locally and internationally, and undermines democratic institutions. After considering the relationship between trade and "sustainability," this paper discusses a number of feedback mechanisms which promote the kind of trade that is more sustainable - for the South as well as the North. The role of technological change, a model of the relationship between production and "sustaining services," data needs and research priorities are also discussed.
Open Access
Local Economies, Trade, and Global Sustainability
(Woodhead Publishing, 1999) Perkins, Patricia E. (Ellie)
Bioregional and "ecological economics" theory describes the growth of local economic linkages as vital to move post-industrial economies in the direction of sustainability. This involves expanding local stewardship over environmental and economic resources, so that progressively more production for local needs can be done within the community. Far from existing solely in the realm of theory, this is a pattern which is becoming more and more familiar in many parts of North America and Europe. The blossoming initiatives to create local, community-centred economies can be understood in light of the long history of environmental challenges faced by people living in the industrialized North, and the double economic blows of recession and trade liberalization/globalization exemplified by the passage of GATT and NAFTA and the development of the EC in the 1990s.This paper discusses the dynamic relationship between globalization and local economic development in the North from both theoretical and practical viewpoints. It provides examples from Toronto, Canada of the synergy among environmental awareness, community organizing and "alternative" employment creation (e.g. in environmental remediation and energy conservation activities) which can accompany recession or trade-induced worker layoffs. The resulting local economic patterns tend to be "greener" and more socially sustainable than the globally-tied economic linkages they replace.
Open Access
EQUITY, ECONOMIC SCALE, AND THE ROLE OF EXCHANGE IN A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY
(1999-05) Perkins, Patricia E. (Ellie)
This paper explores these theoretical and practical issues, considering the question of the environmental and ecological impacts of economic activity from the viewpoint of the scale at which this activity takes place and the exchanges across time and space which affect its sustainability. Following a consideration of the dynamics of economic change in the next section, the paper discusses the meaning of trade/exchange, economic scale, and political/ecological/economic boundaries before returning in the final section to the two equity-related issues outlined above.
Open Access
Landscapes of Environmental Injustice: The Environmental Justice Movement in Context
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2000) Chan, Emily S.
In this paper, the environmental justice movement is introduced through a study of its historical context, and the structures of environmental, economic and social disparities in North America. The principles of environmental justice and its primary community organizing strategies are addressed to illustrate how environmental justice is alternative to mainstream environmentalism. Also discussed are some of the tensions and challenges within the environmental justice movement. Contrary to some arguments in published literature, I argue that the movement for environmental justice is not a branch of mainstream environmentalism, but a movement in its own right.
Open Access
Re/Producing 'Normalcy': Bodies, Everyday Social Practices and Photography
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2000) Luciani, Teresa (Tracy) C.
As the white, female, able-body(ies) comes to the written and visual fore in mainstream academic, political, social and cultural circles in Euro-North-America, it is crucial at this particular historical moment to attend to how the fore needs that which it excludes, how the fore becomes normalized on an everyday basis. By tracing various social processes/practices that normalize and disavow particular bodies and practices, what begins to unfold is an understanding of how our everyday social practices may both re/produce and interrupt normalizing practices. Through an interweaving of visual and textual theories, of photography and written words, I attempt to make sense out of how bodies become re-presented and theorized, normalized and marginalized, and how bodies may disrupt and offer new and alternative possibilities through photography and written words.
Open Access
Active Citizenship Reviving and Extending Democratic Practices
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2000) Nayak, Navin Ajay
Contending that our current liberal understanding of politics is exclusive and unresponsive, this paper explores the possibilities for reviving and extending democratic practices through a renewed understanding of citizenship. In direct opposition to the passive and individualistic theory of citizenship presented in the work of John Rawls, a theory of active citizenship is retrieved through a critical synthesis of the unique works of Hannah Arendt and Chantal Mouffe. Active citizenship is presented as a practice that is anti-foundational, anti-essentialist, conditioned by pluralism and antagonism, and necessarily active. This paper was initially part of a larger project that explored how active citizenship would necessarily call into question our practice of environmental politics, particularly interrogating environmentalism's reliance on ecology and the ontological and epistemological privileges granted to Western science, arguing that democratizing environmentalism requires constructing it primarily as an ethical-political dilemma rather than a managerial-technological one.
Open Access
Regional Policy and EU Accession in the Czech Republic 1997 - 1999
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2000) Evans, Hannah
This paper examines the formulation of regional policy and the creation of a Regional Development Plan in the Czech Republic during the period of 1997 - 1999. The regional policy and planning process occurred within the larger dynamic of the Czech Republic's application for membership in the European Union, and the paper considers the application of European Union partnership principle in the regional planning process. Analysis focuses on whether this process, required by the EU, enhanced democratic decision-making in the Czech Republic.
Open Access
Spatial Practices: Architecture, Planning and Citizenship in Mexico City
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2000) Gomez-Palacio del Rio, Antonio Ignacio
This study questions the view that privileges planning professionals with the right and responsibility of building the city. Instead, it brings social movements, everyday practices and a cultural politics to the foreground of a study of architecture understood simultaneously as a profession, a built form and a way of life. The study of spatial practices in Mexico City, in conjunction with a reading of Lefebvre, presents the concept of space as a potential site for articulating a social/ecological project through planning and architecture in light of a democratisation of the planning process and a politicisation of urban spaces.
Open Access
Genome Presence: The Work of a Diagnostic/Iconic Image
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2000) Martin, Aryn E.
This paper is an exploration the work of a potent image: the human-instrumental-material work required to produce a karyotype, as well as the work done by the image, both in clinical settings, and as a public emblem of "the human genome". In keeping with theoretical accounts of the visual in science studies, I conduct an ethnographic exploration of the resolution of ambiguous bodies into their genomic portrait. Next, I leave the specific context of the image's production to speculate on the existence of "genome presence", which, much like "fetal presence", relies on public consumption of newly visible objects.
Open Access
Natural Systems and Alternative Urban Development
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2001) McClean, Marc
The preservation of the Oak Ridges Moraine has forced an unprecedented examination of the ramifications of traditional urban growth patterns on natural systems. In 2000 and 2001, the focus of the debate became the relatively narrow corridor of undeveloped land that runs through the Town of Richmond Hill linking more undisturbed halves of the Moraine to the west and east. Using this 'ground zero' as a springboard, this paper, informed by the tenets of landscape ecology, examines the planning framework as a source of, and possible solution to, the ecological issues engendered by the forces of urban growth in the GTA. The planning framework is defined to include the legal framework, the policy framework and the effect of the Ontario Municipal Board, which interprets the planning framework in arbitrating land use decisions to finality. The planning framework will be revealed as largely pro-growth, inhibiting ecologically innovative approaches to land use, such as is needed presently on the Moraine. It concludes that an ecologically comprehensive and legally binding policy framework would allow more ecologically informed and innovative land use decisions, by mitigating the pro-growth effects of the legal structure and by providing appropriate direction for the OMB. Interestingly, this paper was completed only a few months before the Ontario Government introduced and then passed the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, a measure that went beyond anything this author would have predicated possible from the government of the day. A remarkable example of the effect public protestation can have on governments in power.
Open Access
Biodiversity Conservation in Agroecosystems: A Comparison of Surface-dwelling Beetle Diversity in Various Shade Coffee Production Systems in Costa Rica
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2001) Hall, Susan
Beetle diversity was determined in six coffee agroecosystems representing a spectrum of structural complexity including (in increasing order) a chemical free site without shade, Poró (Erythrina poeppigiana), Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus deglupta), Amarillón (Terminalia amazonia), Banana (Musa spp.), and a control site at Los Cusingos Neotropical Bird Sanctuary. At each site beetles were collected using pitfall traps while leaf litter quantities and soil properties were recorded. Beetles were not related to structural complexity per se but were more strongly affected by soil and leaf litter characteristics. They showed relatively strong co-relations to increased leaf litter, increased soil fertility and decreased soil compaction.
Open Access
The Bicycle and Urban Sustainability
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2001) Tomlinson, David
This paper presents a rationale for promoting bicycles for basic transportation, in the context of global efforts to achieve more sustainable urban development. The importance of urban transportation systems, and the negative impacts of automobile dependence are discussed. An empirical approach to developing local sustainable transportation initiatives is presented, based on comparative study of North American and European municipalities that have successfully promoted alternatives to automobile use. The general conclusion is that the overriding freedom of movement of motorists must be restrained as infrastructure improvements that support alternative modes are implemented.
Open Access
Planning for Appropriate Recreation Activities In Mountain Environments: Mountain Biking in the Canadian Rocky Mountains
(Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, 2001) Mosedale, Jan
The Canadian Rocky Mountains offer spectacular settings and the necessary topographic features to be conducive to mountain biking. Calgary, one of the major population centres of the region, which has a proportion of mountain bike riders, is situated close to a high concentration of National Parks and other protected areas. The protected areas are therefore an important component of the local and regional outdoor recreation system. However, recreation can impose considerable stress on the parks ecosystems and is often incompatible with their mandate. The study combined the Visitor Activity Management Process with the Appropriateness Model in order to focus on policies regarding recreation and mountain biking in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and to offer a situational analysis, an examination of management strategies and specific recommendations.