How Can Evaluation Improve Sustainable Development?
Understanding the Nexus of Natural and Human Systems
Monday March 2nd – 2:15 –3:30 pm
Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health
Cook Campus
Rm. 101
Dr. Juha I. Uitto, Director
Independent Evaluation Office, Global Environment Facility
Evaluating environmental programs and projects in developing countries.
Drawing on over two decades of global evaluation experience, Dr. Uitto highlights the strategic role
evaluators play in understanding and enhancing the impact of environmental programs and projects in
developing countries. Understanding the differing geographic and time scales of natural and human
systems is crucial to assessing the complex dynamic systems in which the interventions operate and
interact. This is a needed corrective to the usual approach to evaluation, as in policymaking generally, in
which the environmental foundation has received relatively less attention. Dr. Uitto will also discuss the
use of geospatial data and analysis for improving international development evaluations.
The GEF (http://www.thegef.org/) has provided close to $20 billion in grant funding and mobilized an
additional $107 billion in co-financing to more than 4,700 projects in 170 countries.
Following his talk, Dr. Uitto will be available to discuss international internships
and project work opportunities with interested graduate students and faculty.
Contacts: Prof. Hal Salzman HSalzman@Rutgers.edu or Dr. Marjorie Kaplan mbk65@envsci.rutgers.edu
Sponsored by: Rutgers Global, Rutgers EJ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers Climate Institute,
International Development Interest Group and offered as part of E.J. Bloustein School’s “International Development”
course.
Showing posts with label international. Show all posts
Showing posts with label international. Show all posts
27 February 2020
02 April 2019
Are planned cities good?
While planned cities like Washington DC and Savannah provide interesting examples of landscape plans for entire cities, Brasilia is often treated as a prime example of why these might be a good idea. This post, Uneven Development of Planned Cities: Brasilia, by Jordi Sanchez-Cuenca explains one concern.
27 October 2016
Smallholders talk
The Human Ecology Brown Bag Series Presents
“Being Small In a Big World: The Struggle ‘Over’ and ‘Of’ Smallholders”
Wynand Boonstra
Associate Professor, Stockholm Resilience Center
Stockholm University
Date: Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016
Time: 12:35 to 2:00 pm
Location: Blake Hall, Room 131
Cook Campus, School of Environmental & Biological Sciences
Smallholders all over the world perform a crucial role in maintaining local and regional food production. They typically work in ecologically fragile agrarian environments, with limited control and access to land, labor and capital. Despite these adverse conditions, they often prove capable of developing adaptive, efficient and sustainable forms of agriculture. Yet, the future of smallholders is in-secure due to threats from environmental change, modernization of food production, and geopolitical struggles over natural re-sources. It remains uncertain if and how smallholders can adapt to these threats. For this seminar I would like to discuss ways to assess the responses of smallholders to threats, and how we can explain and qualify the diversity of their responses in terms of resilience.
Wynand Boonstra graduated in Rural Sociology (MSc and PhD) from Wageningen University , and currently works as Associate Professor at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. The thematic focus of his research can be summarized broadly as the social dynamics and relations that shape the primary use of natural re-sources. His case studies include investigations of how primary producers - farmers and fishers - impact and depend upon terrestrial and marine ecologies. He is particularly interested in understanding (mis)matches between the values, interests of farmers and fishers and the social and ecological opportunities to realize their preferred farming and fishing styles.
“Being Small In a Big World: The Struggle ‘Over’ and ‘Of’ Smallholders”
Wynand Boonstra
Associate Professor, Stockholm Resilience Center
Stockholm University
Date: Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016
Time: 12:35 to 2:00 pm
Location: Blake Hall, Room 131
Cook Campus, School of Environmental & Biological Sciences
Smallholders all over the world perform a crucial role in maintaining local and regional food production. They typically work in ecologically fragile agrarian environments, with limited control and access to land, labor and capital. Despite these adverse conditions, they often prove capable of developing adaptive, efficient and sustainable forms of agriculture. Yet, the future of smallholders is in-secure due to threats from environmental change, modernization of food production, and geopolitical struggles over natural re-sources. It remains uncertain if and how smallholders can adapt to these threats. For this seminar I would like to discuss ways to assess the responses of smallholders to threats, and how we can explain and qualify the diversity of their responses in terms of resilience.
Wynand Boonstra graduated in Rural Sociology (MSc and PhD) from Wageningen University , and currently works as Associate Professor at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. The thematic focus of his research can be summarized broadly as the social dynamics and relations that shape the primary use of natural re-sources. His case studies include investigations of how primary producers - farmers and fishers - impact and depend upon terrestrial and marine ecologies. He is particularly interested in understanding (mis)matches between the values, interests of farmers and fishers and the social and ecological opportunities to realize their preferred farming and fishing styles.
13 April 2016
Global Street Politics
26 February 2016
Population pyramids
Although I think that population pyramids are most interesting when made for smaller communities, the website, World Population Pyramids, lets you see them for most countries around the world, from 1950-2030. I found the graphs for Vietnam, which has undergone dramatic change during that period, to be fascinating. While many are so symetrical as to make you question whether they measure male and female distinctly, Qatar had fairly lopsided results.
I wish we had this for US counties.
I wish we had this for US counties.
14 January 2016
Boring places
This is a great time to be thinking about study abroad for the summer. Late last semester we heard about landscape architecture in Croatia. Our department has a class in Germany (There will probably be a full description at our common lecture on Jan 20).
I worry that some students wait for the big opportunities in places like Paris or Rome, but the BBC ran a piece this week called In Praise of Boring Places, that will leave you yearning for smaller alternatives. "They alter our “muscle memory” – our natural inclination to grow accustomed to anything – and, in the process, make us stronger, better. Isn’t that why we travel in the first place?"
I worry that some students wait for the big opportunities in places like Paris or Rome, but the BBC ran a piece this week called In Praise of Boring Places, that will leave you yearning for smaller alternatives. "They alter our “muscle memory” – our natural inclination to grow accustomed to anything – and, in the process, make us stronger, better. Isn’t that why we travel in the first place?"
13 July 2015
The newest UNESCO World Heritage sites
UNESCO has announced its latest class of World Heritage Sites, These are places of significance around the world that are seen as central to our collected heritage on this planet. The original class of 1978 included Yellowstone and Mesa Verde, with the Grand Canyon and Independence Hall getting added later. In Spain, I lost count of how many our class visited, but it included the Historic City of Toledo, the silk trading centers in Valencia, Gaudi's work in Barcelona, the Hospital Santa Pau and Palau de la Música Catalana, the historic center of Cordoba, and the Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín in Granada.
2015 brings a few interesting additions to the list which only has a little over 1,000 entries. In the US, the San Antonio Missions have been added, including the Alamo (I hope they don't post the plaque in the Alamo's basement where no one can see it). Jamaica's Blue and John Crow Mountains were also added this year. Elsewhere, Britain's remarkable Forth Bridge and Turkey's ancient city of Ephesus also made the list.
Check out the list of all 27 newly inscribed sites. Explore the interactive map of all 1031. Do you disagree with any? Are you worried about the sites that have been delisted and what it means for other threatened sites? Or do you just want to pack your bags and start visiting some?
2015 brings a few interesting additions to the list which only has a little over 1,000 entries. In the US, the San Antonio Missions have been added, including the Alamo (I hope they don't post the plaque in the Alamo's basement where no one can see it). Jamaica's Blue and John Crow Mountains were also added this year. Elsewhere, Britain's remarkable Forth Bridge and Turkey's ancient city of Ephesus also made the list.
Check out the list of all 27 newly inscribed sites. Explore the interactive map of all 1031. Do you disagree with any? Are you worried about the sites that have been delisted and what it means for other threatened sites? Or do you just want to pack your bags and start visiting some?
09 February 2014
Lecture - Anita Bakshi
Rutgers University Landscape Architecture Common Lecture
February 12, 2014 from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Cook/Douglass Lecture Hall, Room 110, Cook Campus
Dr. Anita Bakshi completed her PhD in Architecture at the University of Cambridge, and is currently working as a Researcher with the Conflict in Cities Research Programme. Her PhD research on Cyprus focused on urban memory in the divided capital of Nicoisa – exploring personal memories and imaginings
related to Nicosia’s walled city center and the Buffer Zone, an uninhabited no-man’s land, that
divides it. She received her BA degree in architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California at Berkeley. She has worked in architectural design firms in Berkeley, Chicago, and Istanbul as well as researched architectural heritage in Berlin and Cappadocia, Turkey. Current research interests include memory and history in divided cities, the design of memorial structures, the politicization of heritage, mapping and visual research methodologies for complex urban environments, and the overlap between urban spatial practices and issues of social and economic justice.
09 September 2013
How should we internationalize planning education?
How should we internationalize planning education?
Speaker: Dr. Andrea Frank, Senior Lecturer,
Cardiff University, School of Planning and Geography (Cardiff, UK)
When: 4:00 PM
Where: 113, Civic Square, College Avenue Campus
Sponsor: Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Speaker: Dr. Andrea Frank, Senior Lecturer,
Cardiff University, School of Planning and Geography (Cardiff, UK)
When: 4:00 PM
Where: 113, Civic Square, College Avenue Campus
Sponsor: Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
15 January 2013
Trove maps
The National Library of Australia has created an online treasure trove of documents called, appropriately, Trove. Check out the diverse international map collection,
19 December 2011
14 February 2011
Early Modern Chinese Cities
As China becomes an important shaper of the world, understanding the influence of its cities is important for planners. As such, this could be a fascinating lecture:
Professor William T. Rowe (Ph.D. Columbia) is John and Diane Cooke Professor of Chinese History and current chairperson of the History Department at Johns Hopkins University. He established his reputation as a meticulous scholar with two studies on 19th-century Wuhan entitled Hankow: Commerce and Society in a Chinese City, 1796-1889 (1984) and Hankow: Conflict and Community in a Chinese City, 1796-1895 (1989) respectively. More recently, he authored a biographical study on an 18th-century scholar-official and statecraft thinker (Saving the World: Chen Hongmou and Elite Consciousness in Eighteenth-Century China, 2001), chronicled the socio-economic history of a Chinese county from the mid-14th century to the 1920s (Crimson Rain: Seven Centuries of Violence in a Chinese County, 2007), and published a new history of the last Chinese imperial dynasty (China's Last Empire: The Great Qing, 2009).
While cities in late medieval and early modern Europe have long been recognized for their "catalytic" role in the formation of the modern world, Chinese cities have been conceived, until very recently, as basically static and inherently unable to bring about the transformation of Chinese society from tradition to modernity. In his talk, Professor Rowe will demonstrate just how wrong this earlier conception of the Chinese city was and how, in fact, Chinese cities from the sixteenth century onward became a focal point for the incremental but radical changes of Chinese society at large. As a result of these changes, a distinctively urban culture developed, and a proliferation of old and new forms of voluntary organizations led to the challenge of the monopoly of authority claimed by the late imperial bureaucratic state and thus laid the foundation for the modern Chinese state.
Please visit us at http://www.ciru.rutgers.edu
Early Modern Chinese Cities: Catalysts for Historical Change by Prof. William T. Rowe from Johns Hopkins University
Time: 4:30 pm on Thursday, February 17, 2011
Venue: Room A, B & C Rutgers Brower Commons, 145 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08902
Open to the Public, All are welcome
Professor William T. Rowe (Ph.D. Columbia) is John and Diane Cooke Professor of Chinese History and current chairperson of the History Department at Johns Hopkins University. He established his reputation as a meticulous scholar with two studies on 19th-century Wuhan entitled Hankow: Commerce and Society in a Chinese City, 1796-1889 (1984) and Hankow: Conflict and Community in a Chinese City, 1796-1895 (1989) respectively. More recently, he authored a biographical study on an 18th-century scholar-official and statecraft thinker (Saving the World: Chen Hongmou and Elite Consciousness in Eighteenth-Century China, 2001), chronicled the socio-economic history of a Chinese county from the mid-14th century to the 1920s (Crimson Rain: Seven Centuries of Violence in a Chinese County, 2007), and published a new history of the last Chinese imperial dynasty (China's Last Empire: The Great Qing, 2009).
While cities in late medieval and early modern Europe have long been recognized for their "catalytic" role in the formation of the modern world, Chinese cities have been conceived, until very recently, as basically static and inherently unable to bring about the transformation of Chinese society from tradition to modernity. In his talk, Professor Rowe will demonstrate just how wrong this earlier conception of the Chinese city was and how, in fact, Chinese cities from the sixteenth century onward became a focal point for the incremental but radical changes of Chinese society at large. As a result of these changes, a distinctively urban culture developed, and a proliferation of old and new forms of voluntary organizations led to the challenge of the monopoly of authority claimed by the late imperial bureaucratic state and thus laid the foundation for the modern Chinese state.
Please visit us at http://www.ciru.rutgers.edu
Early Modern Chinese Cities: Catalysts for Historical Change by Prof. William T. Rowe from Johns Hopkins University
Time: 4:30 pm on Thursday, February 17, 2011
Venue: Room A, B & C Rutgers Brower Commons, 145 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08902
Open to the Public, All are welcome
11 February 2011
Tough economy? Consider the Peace Corps
Instead of becoming a temporary employee doing something more menial than you want after you graduate, maybe you should fight the bad economy and go talk to the Peace Corps. When I see the Peace Corps listed on students' grad applications I know that they've been through an intense maturing process and have a larger world view than many other applicants. Their experiences will be broad and they will know how to problem solve.
On Friday February 18th you can visit with the Peace Corps here at Rutgers at the Diversity Fair.
On Friday February 18th you can visit with the Peace Corps here at Rutgers at the Diversity Fair.
09 March 2010
Film Screening: A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil
Center for Latino Arts and Culture presents:
A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil
Thursday, March 11
8:00-10:00 pm
Graduate Student Lounge, CAC
126 College Avenue, New Brunswick
Cities should be a solution not a problem for human beings. The city of Curitiba, Brazil has demonstrated for the past 40 years how to transform problems into environment-friendly, cost-effective solutions that can be applied in most cities around the world. Ecology and Conservation, 2007 Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival.
Join us for a post screening conversation with film director Maria Terezinha Vaz and Rutgers Department of Landscape Architecture professor David Tulloch.
Last in a four-part series entitled Ecologies in the Balance in Latin American and the Caribbean: A Documentary Film Series.
Sponsored by the Committee to Advance Our Common Purposes, the Center for Latin American Studies, The Department of Human Ecology, The Department of Latino and Hispanic Caribbean Studies, The Office of International Programs at the School of Arts and Sciences, Central and
South American Association, Rutgers Union of Cuban American Students, Latin American Student Organization, Rutgers Capoeira Club, [em]POWER Rutgers Chapter, and the Graduate Student Association.
20 January 2010
LiveBlog: Kat Kohler on The Netherlands
The LiveBlog is back! The common lecture is back and begins with Kat Kohler (seen to the left, sketching in Spain) speaking about The Netherlands.Ms. Kohler is a recent winner of the DeBoer Travel Prize which supported a study trip she took last summer to the Netherlands. Her investigation endeavored to explore a myriad of ways that the Dutch have dealt with water as an environmental hazard. Needless to say, they are pretty concerned about sea level rise. An interesting example was the Oostershelde Storm Surge Barrier which protects during storms, but lets the tides flow otherwise.
If you are an LA student at Rutgers (with a 3.0 or better), you can apply to take your own study trip this summer. You'll need to write a proposal that impresses the reviewers with a serious question and approach to the investigation. Applications for DeBoer Travel Prize will be due the Monday after Spring Break. Details will be posted in Blake Hall.
Where would you go? Remember, you can't win if you don't apply.
Cool Class: field study of Tuscany, Liguria and Piedmont
The Italian Landscape: A field study of Tuscany, Liguria and Piedmont
Department of Landscape Architecture & Study Abroad
Rutgers University
Dates: May 24 - June 14, 2010
Credits: 3
Course number: Register through Rutgers Study Abroad
Instructors:
Ari Novy: Departments of Landscape Architecture and Plant Biology,
Rutgers, Former Restoration Gardener at Villa La Pietra (Florence)
Carla Tiberi: Landscape Architect, Piedmont, Italy
Former Instructor at Rutgers Department of Landscape Architecture
Summary:
Introduction to historic landscapes and gardens in Italy with special focus on Tuscany, Liguria and Piedmont. Throughout the course, you will visit several urban and rural landscapes. Emphasis will be placed on the historic and contemporary context of the Italian environment with relation to political, economic and military power, urban space, restoration, literature, agriculture, tourism and Anglo-American influence. We will also discuss 'green design' and sustainability in Italy in comparison with the United States. Course work will include research, observation, analysis, and documentation of various gardens and landscapes. Review and discussion periods will be held to evaluate your work, to share insights, and to discuss the attributes of each site. All coursework will be in English. Both instructors have lived in Italy for several years, are fluent in Italian, and pride themselves on knowing many 'secret treasures' of Italy that they will enthusiastically share with the students.
Themes:Eco- and Cultural- Tourism
Garden and Urban Restoration
Gardens, Landscapes and Power
Landscapes and Literature
Sustainable Agriculture and Design
The Anglo-American Obsession with Italy
Urban Spaces of the Piedmont, Liguria and Tuscany
Accommodations, Food and Travel:
Housing is in apartments and hotels in shared rooms with bathroom facilities. You will have different housing arrangements in each city you visit. Please contact the Landscape Architecture Department for specific details regarding accommodation during the program. The cost of most food is not included in the program fee although some hotels may include breakfast and there are several group dinners included in the course fee. You may be allowed to prepare some of your own meals in the kitchens of the residence units or eat in local establishments. All travel within Italy, including entrances to museums and gardens, is included in the course fee. Travel to and from Italy is the responsibility of the individual student. If you need help or suggestions for travel arrangements you can contact the program director.
Program Director
Ari Novy will direct the program in Italy. He is able to help you with advising, problems you encounter, travel suggestions, and a host of other tips and advice relating to the program. Questions regarding the program should be directed to Ari Novy (arinovy@rci.rutgers.edu).
Approximate Cost: $3,600. Includes tuition, most fees, housing, excursion, travel within Italy, some food and basic medical insurance. Air travel, most food, and personal expenses are not included.
This course is open to all students from any university.
For more information please go to
http://studyabroad.rutgers.edu/program_italy_landscapearch.html or e-mail
arinovy@rci.rutgers.edu.
03 November 2009
That means 10am Eastern
If you've never tried on online seminar before, here is an interesting chance to participate in the global learning community:
The Global GIS Academy and WUN,
Jointly with QMRG of RGS/IBG (UK) and Education Section UCGIS (USA)
Present:
The first seminar in the Autumn/Fall e-seminars series: Dynamic Modeling in a GIS Environment
This year’s joint e-seminar series will return to the topic of dynamic modelling in a GIS environment.
Wednesday 4th November at 1500 GMT
Mark Birkin (Leeds):
GENeSIS: Generative simulation for the spatial and social sciences.
ABSTRACT: The seminar is concerned with the development of synthetic models of demographic evolution in cities and with the use of such model frameworks in urban and regional planning. I will argue that individual-based representations combining insights from both microsimulation and agent-based modelling are most appropriate for this purpose. An approach which combines population generation with dynamic simulation and 'what if?' activity modelling will be described and illustrated, with applications ranging from transportation and housing provision to health care. I will draw attention to two important requirements for further model enhancement: the in- corporation of better mechanisms for dealing with the evolution of urban infrastructure; and im- proved means for validation of both model assumptions and outcomes.
The seminars are open to all. For details of how to join the e-seminar using the MarratechTM video conferencing environment, and further seminars in the same series, see:
http://www.wun.ac.uk/ggisa/seminars.html
Please note that if your install the client it is still necessary to go to the WUN ‘room’ by typing:
>FILE
>OPEN LOCATION
>http://marratech.wun.ac.uk:8000/connect.jsp?sid=10002
Dave Unwin (d.unwin@wun.ac.ukd.unwin@wun.ac.uk>) (WUN Global GISc Academy Coordinator)
Steve Carver (s.j.carver@leeds.ac.uks.j.carver@leeds.ac.uk>)
The Global GIS Academy and WUN,
Jointly with QMRG of RGS/IBG (UK) and Education Section UCGIS (USA)
Present:
The first seminar in the Autumn/Fall e-seminars series: Dynamic Modeling in a GIS Environment
This year’s joint e-seminar series will return to the topic of dynamic modelling in a GIS environment.
Wednesday 4th November at 1500 GMT
Mark Birkin (Leeds):
GENeSIS: Generative simulation for the spatial and social sciences.
ABSTRACT: The seminar is concerned with the development of synthetic models of demographic evolution in cities and with the use of such model frameworks in urban and regional planning. I will argue that individual-based representations combining insights from both microsimulation and agent-based modelling are most appropriate for this purpose. An approach which combines population generation with dynamic simulation and 'what if?' activity modelling will be described and illustrated, with applications ranging from transportation and housing provision to health care. I will draw attention to two important requirements for further model enhancement: the in- corporation of better mechanisms for dealing with the evolution of urban infrastructure; and im- proved means for validation of both model assumptions and outcomes.
The seminars are open to all. For details of how to join the e-seminar using the MarratechTM video conferencing environment, and further seminars in the same series, see:
http://www.wun.ac.uk/ggisa/seminars.html
Please note that if your install the client it is still necessary to go to the WUN ‘room’ by typing:
>FILE
>OPEN LOCATION
>http://marratech.wun.ac.uk:8000/connect.jsp?sid=10002
Dave Unwin (d.unwin@wun.ac.ukd.unwin@wun.ac.uk>) (WUN Global GISc Academy Coordinator)
Steve Carver (s.j.carver@leeds.ac.uks.j.carver@leeds.ac.uk>)
02 November 2009
Largest Mayan pyramid
A lost Mayan city that is so important that People Magazine is covering it? That must be big. But, it is in Guatamala.
If you've never seen a Mayan ruin, you might as well start of with those that you could see on our Winter Session course, Cultural and Ecological Landscapes of the Yucatan.
If you've never seen a Mayan ruin, you might as well start of with those that you could see on our Winter Session course, Cultural and Ecological Landscapes of the Yucatan.
22 July 2009
Cool Class: See, note the cenotes
Mexico has an unfair proportion of the world's cenotes. Those are those giant cave/groundwater/hole things that people like jumping into. Now's your chance to see them, some ancient ruins, some incredible ecosystems and maybe a beach.
Rutgers Study Abroad is working with the LA Department to offer a 3-credit winter class on the Cultural and Ecological Landscapes of the Yucatan that will expand your multicultural studies while keeping you out of trouble during the break.
The ecology alone should be worth it, but the timeline of history there is amazing. But sign up now if you can, because when everyone gets back for the fall it may be too late.
16 July 2009
Another Rutgers faculty blog
RU professor, Daniel Goldstein, is running a blog for his current study abroad class in Bolivia: bolivia-ru.blogspot.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
