Environmental Policy and Planning (EPP)

This seminar is the integrative forum for the principal elements of the Washington Semester experience. The course explores both the role of political institutions in policy formation and implementation and the primary managerial and leadership challenges that arise for implementing organization managers in American democratic public policy-making. Pre: Junior standing or instructor consent and acceptance into the Washington Semester program. (Cross-listed with PSCI 4624, pre. Junior Standing).

This course is part of the Washington Semester. Explores the relationship between the imperatives of democratic mobilization, policy choices and organizational choices, through intensive study of the operating context of a selected public or nonprofit organization. Examines implications of policy-maker choices for implementing institution dynamics and challenges. Pre: Junior standing and acceptance into the Washington Semester program required. (Cross-listed with PSCI 4644, pre. UAP 3714).

Application of data analytics concepts to community issues at local and global levels. Data sources, data quality, data representation and data ethics. Statistical analysis to improve community livability. Communication of data and statistics for community stakeholders. Evaluation of reports that use data. Sophomore standing or higher.

Principles of law involved in environmental issues, survey of environmental litigation, legislation, and administrative rulings. Law topics include natural resources, water pollution, private land use, air pollution, toxic substance, food, drug, pesticides, and biotechnology.

Examine and interpret physical changes in the rural and urban landscapes of the United States as they reflect cultural values; technologic innovations; immigration patterns; the roles of diverse professions over time; changing views of use, conversation, and preservation of national resources; and expectations for places of live, work, and play using an iterative writing process and reflective course discussions.

Institutions, functions, and policies of state, county, and municipal governments in the U.S.; issues confronting these governments in the federal system. (Pre. PSCI 1014).

Basic concepts of urban politics; governmental structures, policy processes, and political conflicts in U.S. cities, policy options for coping with urban problems. (Pre. PSCI 1014).

Economics of environment and sustainable development. Topics include economic efficiency, property rights, externalities, benefit-cost analysis, economic evaluation procedures, public and private conflicts in land use, water quality, and international growth/development/environmental issues. (Pre. AAEC 1005 or ECON 2005).

Economic dimensions and aspects of programs designed to impose quality controls upon the environment. Special emphasis on problems of controlling air and water pollution. (Pre. ECON 2005 or 2116 or 2126 or 2025H).

Introduction to experiential and cultural content of designed landscapes. Physiological, functional, and psychological factors that affect experience of the landscape. Study of cultural values, attitudes, and philosophies that have shaped historic and contemporary landscapes.

Principles and diverse applications of Geographic Information Systems, geographic coordinate systems, Cartesian map projections, spatial data sources, GIS databases, map representations, and illustrated spatial applications of GIS. Requires regular use of computer systems for geographic data analysis.

Use of automated systems for geographic data collection, digitization, storage, display, modeling, and analysis. Basic data flow in GIS modeling applications. Development of proficiency in the use of current GIS software. (Pre. GEOG 2084).

Overview and application of various methods used to study, represent, and understand communities in their urban and regional context. Data collection and analysis; population, land use, transportation, and economic forecasting; selecting and applying an appropriate method; designing and presenting a community study. Restricted to majors and minors only.

Examination of major development theories and contemporary issues and characteristics of low-income societies (industrialization, urbanization, migration, rural poverty, hunger, foreign trade, and debt) that establish contexts for development planning and policy-making.

Course examines the interdependences among the elements of the built environment of the city and those between the elements of the built environment and the policy/planning structure of the city. Considered are those elements associated with the primary urban activities (residential, commercial, industrial) as well as the urban form-giving infrastructure facilities that support those land uses (water supply, sewerage, solid waste disposal, transportation, education, recreation, health, and safety). (Pre. UAP 4754).

Practical design fundamentals for small scale renewable energy systems: solar building heating and cooling; solar domestic hot water; wind, photovoltaic, and hydroelectric systems; alcohol, methane, and other biomass conversion systems. Developing plans, programs, and policies to stimulate development of renewable systems. (Pre. MATH 1025 or MATH 1016).

Process of urbanization and theories and approaches of urban development. Debates on the meanings of sustainable urbanization and development in cities and how they are measured. Urban sustainability initiatives in the context of urban political economies, land-use practices, urban inequality and diversity, urban nature, and urban policy and politics. Programs and policies designed to enhance sustainable urbanization. Comparative approach and global perspective.

Connections among active transportation, physical activity, health, the environment, and the economy on local to global scales. Methods to assess walkability in a community and the influence of the built environment on rates of active transportation. Approaches to evaluate demographic and psychosocial predictors and physical and policy barriers to use of active transportation. Successful strategies to increase active transportation through community design guidelines, behavior change tools, transportation planning, and policy.

Introduction to the concepts and methods of ecological resource survey and analysis at regional and site scales. Approaches to environmental problem solving with an emphasis on data collection, evaluation, and synthesis using applicable technologies such as geographic information systems. Interpretation of landscape resource data for the purpose of physical planning and design. (Pre. LAR 1004).

Introduction to the environment and natural systems with emphasis on their relationship to planning and design. Topics include natural elements, structures, patterns, natural systems, ecology, landscape ecology, and sustainability. Application of relevant theories and methods related to the environment and natural systems in planning and design.

Application of information science to environmental management. Role of information science, mathematical and statistical modeling, geospatial technology, database management, knowledge integration, and decision science in environmental decision-making. Skills and techniques required to assist scientists and managers with the challenges of collecting, collating, archiving, modeling, analyzing, visualizing, and communicating information in support of natural resource management.

Role of forest ecosystems on the global carbon cycle, climate, biodiversity, and economies. Anthropogenic impacts on forest ecosystems and their ecological function in the face of changing climate. Climate-related threats to global forests, including loss of biodiversity, deforestation, forest fires, and invasive species. Sustainable forest management for anticipated future scenarios.

Modern concepts of sustainability changing plant use in urban settings. Fundamentals of urban plant systems in the context of urban ecosystem management. Philosophy and critical analysis of sustainability related to green infrastructure, including urban forests, green roofs, urban soils, urban wildlife, urban agriculture, and innovations merging plant and ecosystem functions with building and site engineering. Multi-disciplinary emphasis at site, regional, and global scales.

Examines the interconnections between energy use and social life. Considers the ways that modern social institutions, such as states, cities, and households are shaped by energy systems, particularly the pervasive use of fossil fuels. Explores the influence of energy extraction and commerce on economic development and global politics. Surveys major contemporary problems related to energy, including climate change and natural resource depletion. Develops an interdisciplinary framework, drawing insights from history, sociology, and economics, for evaluating policies to transition to a sustainable energy system.

Introduction to the hydrologic cycle, water resources, and related environmental issues. Emphasis on ethics and relationships between human needs for and effects upon water including: water quality, water treatment, and wastewater treatment; water for health, energy, and food; water management, laws, economics, and conflict; hydrometeorological hazards and climate change; and potential solutions for these and other critical water issues.

Environmental problems in their social, spatial, and global contexts. Impacts of globalization, neoliberalism, and population growth on the environment. Examination of effects of developed and developing countries on the environment. Focus on conceptualizing development, population dynamics, environmental justice, factory farming, energy and renewable energy, global health, disasters, and intercultural and global awareness.

Interdependence of social, economic, environmental, and technological components and how these change over time. Theories about city formation, structure, and change, with implications for sustainability, resilience, and globalization. (Pre. GEO 2244 or SPIA 2244).