4/8 Saturday Sessions
The Dynamics of Electric and Alternative-Fuel Vehicles
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM in Beacon F, Sheraton, Third Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Transportation Geography Specialty Group
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Bradley Lane - University of Kansas - Lawrence, KS
Chair(s):
Bradley Lane - University of Kansas - Lawrence, KS
Abstract(s)
8:00 AM Author(s): *Toon Meelen -
Bernhard Truffer - Utrecht University
Tim Schwanen - Oxford University
Abstract Title: The geography of user involvement in the up-scaling of sustainable innovation: the case of electric vehicles
8:18 AM Author(s): *Kerstin Westin - Umeå University, Sweden
Annika Nordlund - Umeå University, Sweden
Johan Jansson - Umeå University, Sweden
Olof Olssson - Umeå University, Sweden
Abstract Title: The geographic diffusion of electric vehicles in Sweden.
8:36 AM Author(s): *Kathleen Araujo - SUNY - Stony Brook
Jean Boucher - Stony Brook University
Omkar Aphale - Stony Brook University
Abstract Title: Geo-Spatial Adoption of Electric Vehicle Technology: A Socio-technical and Policy Assessment
8:54 AM Author(s): *Christopher D. Higgins - McMaster University
Mohamed Moataz - McMaster University
Stuart Collins - McMaster University
Mark Ferguson - McMaster University
Abstract Title: Size Matters: How Vehicle Type Affects Preferences for Electric Vehicles in Canada
9:12 AM Author(s): *Bradley W. Lane, PhD - University of Kansas - Lawrence, KS
Abstract Title: Estimating differences in interest in electric vehicle powertrains: The role of range anxiety
9:30 AM Discussant: Scott Kelley - University of Michigan
Discussant(s):
Scott Kelley - University of Michigan
Session Description: One of the major developments in transportation in the 21st century has been the introduction of alternative-fueled vehicles, particularly electric vehicles, into the commercial automobile market. Massive investments in technology and production as well as consumer purchase incentives have been introduced worldwide to encourage production and adoption of these vehicles. Moving automotive transportation away from reliance on petroleum as its exclusive fuel source would represent perhaps the most significant impact on improving the sustainability of transportation. However, thus far alternative fuel vehicles remain a niche market as they struggle to penetrate the mainstream automobile market. This session features presentations of state of the art research considering the geography of electric and alternative-fuel vehicles to better understand how they can impact sustainability in transportation.
Indigenous Water Governance: Global geographies of water governance in Indigenous communities
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM in Room 303, Hynes, Third Level
Sponsorship(s):
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Karen Bakker - University of British Columbia
Jennifer Baka - Pennsylvania State University
Chair(s):
Jennifer Baka - Pennsylvania State University
Abstract(s):
8:00 AM Author(s): *Caolan Barr - University of Toronto
Abstract Title: Colonial Obstructions: Dams and the Mapping of Epistemic Settler Violence on Treaty #3 Territories
8:20 AM Author(s): *Alice Cohen - Acadia University
Abstract Title: Community-Based Monitoring and Traditional Ecological Knowledge: A snapshot from Canada
8:40 AM Author(s): *Teresa Cavazos Cohn, PhD - University of Idaho - Moscow, ID
Kate Berry , PhD - University of Nevada - Reno
Kyle Powys Whyte, PhD - Michigan State University
Emma Norman, PhD - Northwest Indian College
Abstract Title: Indigenous Water Quality Governance: Decolonizing Space and Time
9:00 AM Author(s): *Deirdre Wilcock - University of Lausanne
Abstract Title: Collaborative critical methodologies in the Anthropocene
9:20 AM Author(s): *Jennifer Baka - Pennsylvania State University
Arielle Hesse - Penn State University
Karen Bakker - University of British Columbia
Erika Weinthal - Duke University
Session Description: This set of sessions focuses on the diverse histories and geographies of Indigenous water governance worldwide. The sessions bring together a set of internationally diverse case studies that critically engage with historically and geographically diverse contexts.
We are particularly interested in the articulation between (post)colonial and Indigenous governance practices. These practices have deep colonial roots, and their contemporary analysis has increased urgency given ongoing processes of accumulation by dispossession, and intensifying impacts and tradeoffs due to resource development (particularly at the water-energy nexus). We invite participants to present empirical case studies which to speak to a broad range of issues, including (but not limited to):
• Indigenous resistance at the water-energy nexus (particularly hydropower, hydraulic fracturing)
• Colonial histories and identity formation
• Colonial epistemologies and waterscapes
• Indigenous approaches to water conflict negotiation
• Forms of water governance rights and ownership
• Critical theorizations of development and postcolonialism
• Water and governance of Indigenous lands
• Links between land and water grabbing
• Water and Indigenous rights
Energy Cultures, Communities and Consumption: Exploring the social, political and cultural dynamics of energy system change I
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 8:00 AM - 9:40 AM in Gardner A, Sheraton, Third Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Frances Fahy - National University of Ireland, Galway
Jennie C. Stephens - Northeastern University
Chair(s):
Frances Fahy - National University of Ireland, Galway
Abstract(s):
8:00 AM Author(s): *John Whitton, PhD - University of Central Lancashire
Ioan M Parry, MSc - University of Central Lancashire
Abstract Title: What is an Energy Community? Conceptualizing a Definition for Theory and Practice
8:20 AM Author(s): *Matthew J. Burke, PhD Candidate - McGill University
Jennie C. Stephens, PhD - Northeastern University
Abstract Title: Energy Democracy: Political Power and Renewable Energy
8:40 AM Author(s): *Laurence L Delina, PhD - Boston University/Rachel Carson Center at LMU Munich
Abstract Title: The Pa Deng Model for rural energy transitions in Thailand: communities, configurations, contestations, and connection
9:00 AM Author(s): *Thomas Webler, Ph.D. - Keene State College
*Seth Tuler - Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Hannah Rettig - Keene State College
Abstract Title: The Nuclear Energy Transition In America: Stakeholder Involvement In Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning
Session Description: Energy systems are in transition from predominantly centralized fossil fuel-based infrastructures to more heterogeneous configurations that rely heavily on multiple types of renewable energy. Beyond technological change, this transition involves potential for fundamental social, cultural, and institutional shifts in individual, household, and community assumptions about energy consumption as well as new opportunities for ownership, engagement and control of energy production. Enhanced understanding of the interconnected socio-cultural, socio-political and socio-economic dynamics of energy system change offers insights with relevance to current initiatives and future scenarios.
Within these two sessions we present papers that critically examine the social, political and cultural dynamics of energy system change.
Japan after 3/11: Global Perspectives on the Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Meltdown
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 10:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Orleans, Marriott, Fourth Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Asian Geography Specialty Group
Hazards, Risks, and Disasters Specialty Group
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Unryu Suganuma - J. F. Oberlin Univesity
Chair(s):
Pradyumna P. Karan - University Of Kentucky
Abstract(s):
10:00 AM Introduction: Pradyumna P. Karan - University Of Kentucky
10:05 AM Author(s): *Yukio Yotsumoto - Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Shunichi Takekawa - Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Abstract Title: The Social Aspects of Fukushima Residents' Sufferings after the 3.11 Nuclear Disaster
10:25 AM Author(s): *Kenji Yamazaki - Iwate University
10:45 AM Author(s): *Tomoko Yamazaki - Iwate University
Abstract Title: School and Disaster Culture in Sanriku Coast, Japan
11:05 AM Author(s): *Unryu Suganuma - J. F. Oberlin Univesity
Abstract Title: Nuclear Energy Politics of Fukushima in Japan
11:25 AM Discussant: Pradyumna P. Karan - University Of Kentucky
Discussant(s):
Pradyumna P. Karan - University Of Kentucky
Session Description: Extreme events in nature attract special interest because of their dramatic violence and the human suffering they often inflict. The Japanese live in one of earth's vulnerable seismic zones and have developed towns and villages on the coast. They have sited factories and industries next to the coast. Then, with a clap, a boom, and a roar, the earth shakes, followed by a platoon of giant waves so loaded with energy it has its own tsunami. The water cuts a swath along the coast of Tohoku. So it went on March 11, 2011 (3/11 the Japanese use that label the way Americans talk of 9/11), another extraordinary chapter of living dangerously in Japan's seismic zone.
March 28, 2011).
Indigenous Water Governance: Global geographies of water governance in Indigenous communities
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 10:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Room 303, Hynes, Third Level
Sponsorship(s):
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Karen Bakker - University of British Columbia
Jennifer Baka - Pennsylvania State University
Chair(s):
Jennifer Baka - Pennsylvania State University
Abstract(s):
10:00 AM Author(s): *Dr. Bharat KHUSHAL Punjabi, Dr. - UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Abstract Title: Old Wine in a New Bottle? Water Institutions and Geography in Mumbai's Renewed Push for extending its Hydrological Frontier
10:20 AM Author(s): *Sue Jackson, Associate Professor - Griffith University
Kate Berry, Professor - University of Nevada, Reno
10:40 AM Author(s): *Tsion Mesfin Woge -
Tsion Mesfin Woge - Water Cooperation and Peace Programme
Abstract Title: Indigenous Approaches to Water Conflict Negotiation: the Anuak and their Approaches to Water Conflict Negotiation
11:00 AM Author(s): *Severine Bouard - Institut agronomique néo-Calédonien
Alexandre Budke - University of Cologne, Seminar für Geographie und ihre Didaktik, Gronewaldstr. 2, 50931 Cologne, Germany
Caroline Lejars - CIRAD, UMR G-eau, 34196 Montpellier Cedex 5,France. IAC, Institut agronomique néo-Calédonien, Nouvelles ruralités et destin commun, BP 06, 98825 Pouembout, Nouvelle-Calédonie
Joachim Bürkner - University of Potsdam, Institute of Geography, Karl –Liebknecht -Straße 24/25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
Pierre-Yves Le Meur - IRD, Institut de recherche pour le développement, UMR Gouvernance, Risque, Environnement, Développement (GRED), Montpellier cedex 5, BP 64501, France.
Catherine Sabinot - IRD, Institut de recherche pour le développement, UMR Espace pour le Développement, Centre IRD Anse Vata, BPA5 98848 Nouméa Cedex, Nouvelle-Calédonie
Katherine Daniell - Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University (ANU), Linnaeus Way, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia
Abstract Title: Investigating Freshwater governance in a decolonization context: knowledge, values & policies. The case of New-Caledonia
11:20 AM Discussant: Jennifer Baka - Pennsylvania State University
Discussant(s):
Jennifer Baka - Pennsylvania State University
Session Description: This set of sessions focuses on the diverse histories and geographies of Indigenous water governance worldwide. The sessions bring together a set of internationally diverse case studies that critically engage with historically and geographically diverse contexts.
We are particularly interested in the articulation between (post)colonial and Indigenous governance practices. These practices have deep colonial roots, and their contemporary analysis has increased urgency given ongoing processes of accumulation by dispossession, and intensifying impacts and tradeoffs due to resource development (particularly at the water-energy nexus). We invite participants to present empirical case studies which to speak to a broad range of issues, including (but not limited to):
• Indigenous resistance at the water-energy nexus (particularly hydropower, hydraulic fracturing)
• Colonial histories and identity formation
• Colonial epistemologies and waterscapes
• Indigenous approaches to water conflict negotiation
• Forms of water governance rights and ownership
• Critical theorizations of development and postcolonialism
• Water and governance of Indigenous lands
• Links between land and water grabbing
• Water and Indigenous rights
Framing urban sustainability: Smart, efficient, green, or just
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 10:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Clarendon, Marriott, Third Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Human Dimensions of Global Change Specialty Group
Urban Geography Specialty Group
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Heather Sander - University of Iowa
Peleg Kremer - Villanova University
Chair(s):
Heather Sander - University of Iowa
Abstract(s):
10:00 AM Author(s): *Peleg Kremer, PhD - Villanova University
Dagmar Haase, PhD - Humboldt University, Berlin
Annegret Haase, PhD - Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH - UFZ
Abstract Title: Lessons learned from an Urban Sustainability Futures discussion at the EcoSmmit 2016
10:20 AM Author(s): Angel Hsu, Ph.D. - Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Yale-National University of Singapore
*Ryan Thomas, MCP - Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
Abstract Title: Piloting an index linking urban environmental performance and social inclusion
10:40 AM Author(s): *Olubunmi Alugbin - Lagos,Nigeria
Abstract Title: APPROACHES AND CHALLENGES TO GENDER INEQUALITIES AND URBAN SUSTAINABILITY IN NIGERIA
11:00 AM Discussant: Heather Sander - University of Iowa
Discussant(s):
Heather Sander - University of Iowa
Session Description: Urban areas pose numerous environmental and social challenges and the notion of urban sustainability developed, in part, as a means for addressing these challenges. Since its inception, urban sustainability has been conceptualized in a variety of both disparate and similar ways that are reflected in the numerous interdisciplinary approaches to it. These approaches include smart growth frameworks that focus on compact, multi-use urban structure and design; zero-impact approaches centered on achieving resource efficiency via technological means; green infrastructure and nature-based approaches that focus on ecosystem services, mimicry of nature, and human wellbeing; as well as approaches centered around the production of environmentally-just cities, the distribution of environmental benefits and costs and meaningfully integrating underrepresented groups in decision making. These sessions will bring experts variety of disciplines and approaches to urban sustainability and from around the globe together to present research and discuss different perspectives and approaches to urban sustainability.
Energy Cultures, Communities and Consumption: Exploring the social, political and cultural dynamics of energy system change II
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 10:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Gardner A, Sheraton, Third Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Frances Fahy - National University of Ireland, Galway
Jennie C. Stephens - Northeastern University
Chair(s):
Jennie C. Stephens - Northeastern University
Abstract(s):
10:00 AM Author(s): *Frances Fahy - National University of Ireland, Galway
Henrike Rau - LMU, Munich
Abstract Title: ENERGISE: Developing an innovative theoretical framework fusing social practice and energy cultures approaches
10:20 AM Author(s): *Bronwyn Lazowski - University of Waterloo
Paul Parker, Ph.D. - University of Waterloo
Abstract Title: Assessing the influence of smart grid interventions on residential energy culture
10:40 AM Author(s): *Aaron Russell - University of New Mexico
11:00 AM Author(s): *Autumn Thoyre - San Francisco State University
Abstract Title: "Don't wait for your regular bulbs to burn out": Toward a theory of green obsolescence
11:20 AM Discussant: Jennie C. Stephens - Northeastern University
Discussant(s):
Jennie C. Stephens - Northeastern University
Session Description: Energy systems are in transition from predominantly centralized fossil fuel-based infrastructures to more heterogeneous configurations that rely heavily on multiple types of renewable energy. Beyond technological change, this transition involves potential for fundamental social, cultural, and institutional shifts in individual, household, and community assumptions about energy consumption as well as new opportunities for ownership, engagement and control of energy production. Enhanced understanding of the interconnected socio-cultural, socio-political and socio-economic dynamics of energy system change offers insights with relevance to current initiatives and future scenarios.
Within these two sessions we present papers that critically examine the social, political and cultural dynamics of energy system change.
Energy Transitions Research: Current Status and Future Directions
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 1:20 PM - 3:00 PM in St. Botolph, Marriott, Second Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Jennie C. Stephens - Northeastern University
Kathleen Araujo - SUNY - Stony Brook
Chair(s):
Jennie C. Stephens - Northeastern University
Panelist(s):
Laurence Delina - Boston University/Rachel Carson Center at LMU Munich
Jennie C. Stephens - Northeastern University
Kathleen Araujo - SUNY - Stony Brook
Thomas Webler - Keene State College
Session Description: Energy transitions research currently receives significant attention and funding in the EU, but not as much in North America. This panel will explore the potential and limitations of transition research, and discuss the robustness and connectivity of current and future energy transitions research. The panel aims to understand the applicability of energy transitions research and scholarly directions through exploration of areas for expanding the theory and practice-based study with a finer transitions lens. In addition to the panelists officially listed for this session, David Cash (UMass Boston), James Meadowcroft (Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada), Jochen Markard (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), and Nicholas Ashford (MIT, Cambridge) have also accepted invitations to participate on the panel, however their availability will be dependent on the specific date and time that the panel is scheduled.
EESG Plenary Talk: Crude residues
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 1:20 PM - 3:00 PM in Simmons, Marriott, Third Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Jennifer Baka - Pennsylvania State University
Chair(s):
Jennifer Baka - Pennsylvania State University
Panelist(s):
Session Description: Crude residues: The workings of failing oil infrastructure in Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico, Mónica Salas Landa
Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork in and around Poza Rica—an emblematic oil town that flourished in the aftermath of the nationalization of the Mexican oil industry in 1938—this article looks at how the material and social visibility and invisibility of failing infrastructure is constantly being renegotiated and achieved by those living amid it. Rather than a given physical quality, I demonstrate how (in)visibility is the outcome of everyday corporate practices, toxic mundane encounters, air technologies, as well as affective attachments that illuminate or obscure the harmful presence of oil and its infrastructure in this industrial town. I suggest that the ways in which different contours of perceptions and imperceptions are negotiated are central to understanding how people living in and on oil endure risk, precariousness, and suffering.
Infrastructures of climate governance I: Physical infrastructure
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 3:20 PM - 5:00 PM in Salon K, Marriott, Fourth Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group
Economic Geography Specialty Group
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Sophie Webber - UCLA
Tyler Harlan - University of California, Los Angeles
Chair(s):
Tyler Harlan - University of California, Los Angeles
Abstract(s):
3:20 PM Author(s): *Tyler Harlan - University of California, Los Angeles
Abstract Title: Small hydropower and the low-carbon frontier in China
3:40 PM Author(s): *Rebecca Elliott - London School of Economics
Abstract Title: Non-Structural Infrastructures: Flood Insurance as a Technique of Climate Governance
4:00 PM Author(s): *Kwame Ntiri Owusu-Daaku - University of South Carolina
Abstract Title: Mapping the International Actors Involved in the Funding and Implementation of Sea Defense Systems in the Volta River Delta of Ghana
4:20 PM Author(s): *Lauren Gifford - University of Colorado, Boulder
Abstract Title: Ties that bind: Forest carbon, conservation funding, and climate change mitigation
4:40 PM Author(s): *Kimberley A Thomas, PhD - University of Pennsylvania
Abstract Title: The Biopolitics of Climate Finance in the Asian Water Sector
Session Description: Market-based mechanisms for climate governance have predominantly failed to deliver on expectations of large-scale emission reductions, social benefits, or financial returns. From the Clean Development Mechanism, the EU Trading Scheme, to REDD+, carbon markets and offset programs have been stymied by the over-allocation of emissions permits, falling prices for carbon credits, problems of additionality and leakage, and swings in political moods. Carbon offsets, in particular, have been unable to bring about promised environmental and social outcomes, and have been unrewarding for credit suppliers and investors. Thus, what has been called the 'new carbon economy' (Boyd, Boykoff, and Newell 2011) has lost some of its mainstream appeal, and is better seen as lurching and faltering rather than rapidly expanding as proponents might wish. For geographers, this validates a large body of critical work on climate governance, which has highlighted the incompatibility of market-based policies with managing climate and environmental changes. These studies have found that market mechanisms have limited ability to constrain emissions, arguing that they can exacerbate social and economic inequality and reduce resource access for local communities (e.g. Heynen et al. 2007; Bond 2012; Beymer-Farris and Bassett 2012). Such critiques of the failures of the new carbon economy have now reached the mainstream, with financial flows migrating to other kinds of climate investments. Given this, a continued focus on the market mechanisms of climate governance risks overlooking other, equally important, policy choices and investment flows.
Following recent studies that demand we 'follow the money' (Christophers 2011; Dempsey and Suarez 2016) in environmental and climate politics, this session seeks to open up and connect scholarship on the 'real assets', or infrastructures, of climate governance. We take climate infrastructure to mean infrastructure up and down the carbon commodity chain (Bridge 2011) - from the mitigation investments of energy installations and green buildings, to adaptation through upgraded utilities, seawalls and levees. In focusing on the infrastructures of climate governance, we examine how and why such investments are designed, financed, and constructed, paying attention to the connected logics of state, regulation, and markets. In doing so, we aim to build conceptual insights into how these logics reproduce a dominant mode of climate change governance, as well as produce landscapes of climate infrastructure with political, social and environmental effects. Moreover, by focusing on both mitigation and adaptation, our goal is to highlight the connections and disconnections between energy, emission reductions, and adaptation, and their associated policies, investments and infrastructure.
Framing urban sustainability: Smart, efficient, green, or just 3
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 3:20 PM - 5:00 PM in Clarendon, Marriott, Third Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Human Dimensions of Global Change Specialty Group
Urban Geography Specialty Group
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Heather Sander - University of Iowa
Peleg Kremer - Villanova University
Chair(s):
Peleg Kremer - Villanova University
Abstract(s):
3:20 PM Author(s): Mirjam Schindler - Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Luxembourg
Marion Le Texier - Université de Rouen
Geoffrey Caruso - Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Luxembourg
Abstract Title: Location and socio-economic sorting in the use of green space: evidence from Brussels
3:40 PM Author(s): *Heather A Sander, PhD - University of Iowa
Cody B Hodson - University of Iowa
Chang Zhao - University of Iowa
Abstract Title: A framework for assessing urban social and environmental sustainability
4:00 PM Author(s): *Dustin L. Herrmann - Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education affiliate with US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Kirsten Schwarz - Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Kentucky University
Timothy M. Bowles - Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire
Wen-Ching Chuang - Natural Research Council affiliate with US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH
Ahjond S. Garmestani - National Risk Management Research Lab, US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH
Tarsha Eason - National Risk Management Research Lab, US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH
William D. Shuster - National Risk Management Research Lab, US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH
Abstract Title: An Agroecological Approach to Managing for Resilience in Shrinking Cities
4:20 PM Author(s): *Chang Zhao - University of Iowa
Heather A Sander - University of Iowa
Abstract Title: Wild pollinators and urban agriculture: Assessing pollination supply and demand across urban landscapes
4:40 PM Discussant: Peleg Kremer - Villanova University
Discussant(s):
Peleg Kremer - Villanova University
Session Description: Urban areas pose numerous environmental and social challenges and the notion of urban sustainability developed, in part, as a means for addressing these challenges. Since its inception, urban sustainability has been conceptualized in a variety of both disparate and similar ways that are reflected in the numerous interdisciplinary approaches to it. These approaches include smart growth frameworks that focus on compact, multi-use urban structure and design; zero-impact approaches centered on achieving resource efficiency via technological means; green infrastructure and nature-based approaches that focus on ecosystem services, mimicry of nature, and human wellbeing; as well as approaches centered around the production of environmentally-just cities, the distribution of environmental benefits and costs and meaningfully integrating underrepresented groups in decision making. These sessions will bring experts variety of disciplines and approaches to urban sustainability and from around the globe together to present research and discuss different perspectives and approaches to urban sustainability.
Resource-based Communities and Resiliency: the case for planning
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 5:20 PM - 7:00 PM in Vineyard, Marriott, Fourth Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Leith Deacon - University of Alberta
Chair(s):
Leith Deacon - University of Alberta
Abstract(s):
5:20 PM Author(s): *Leith Deacon, PhD, RPP, MCIP - University of Alberta
Kristof Van Assche, PhD - University of Alberta
Monica Gruezmacher, PhD - University of Alberta
Abstract Title: Tempering the Cycles of Boom/Bust: Lessons from Western Canada
5:40 PM Author(s): *Kristin K. Smith - Montana State University
Julia H. Haggerty, PhD - Montana State University
Abstract Title: Planning for Pipelines: A Case Study in Community Resilience from the North Dakota Oil Fields
6:00 PM Author(s): *Stephan H. Nieweler, M.Sc.Pl. - Simon Fraser University
Abstract Title: Megaprojects and the Planning-Development Nexus in the Transitioning Industrial Towns of Northwest British Columbia
6:20 PM Author(s): *Julia Haggerty - Montana State Univ
Kristin Smith, MSc. - Montana State University
Abstract Title: Impact Assessment & Monitoring in Energy Boomtowns: Benefits and Drawbacks of Adapting Existing Planning Models
Session Description: Resource-based communities (RBCs), specifically those reliant on the extraction of oil and gas, are an important feature of the economic geography in many parts of the world. While the economic significance of the sector is impressive and is often an important driver of regional growth, relatively little scholarly attention has been given to examining the link between resource-based communities, resiliency, and planning. Given the current downturn in resource-based economies (oil extraction in particular), this session will provide an opportunity to bring together researchers working with a wide variety of data and methods to share findings and conclusions about the current state of research linking resource-based communities, resiliency, and the role of planning.
Infrastructures of climate governance II: Market infrastructure
is scheduled on Saturday, 4/8/2017, from 5:20 PM - 7:00 PM in Salon K, Marriott, Fourth Floor
Sponsorship(s):
Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group
Economic Geography Specialty Group
Energy and Environment Specialty Group
Organizer(s):
Sophie Webber - UCLA
Tyler Harlan - University of California, Los Angeles
Chair(s):
Leigh Johnson - University of Oregon
Abstract(s):
5:20 PM Author(s): *Patrick Bigger - Lancaster University
Leigh Johnson - Oregon University
Brett Christophers - Uppsala University
Abstract Title: Climate bonds and the infrastructure of risk distribution
5:40 PM Author(s): *Ariana Randal - Texas A&M University
*Olivia Wolford - TexasA&M University
Jayme Walenta - Texas A&M University
Abstract Title: Linking corporate climate investments and calculative practices across space
6:00 PM Author(s): *Matthew Archer - Yale University
Abstract Title: Incommensurabilities, Indicators, Infrastructures: The production and consumption of global sustainability
6:20 PM Author(s): *Sarah E. Knuth - University of Michigan
Abstract Title: Filling a "Financing Gap": US Clean Energy Infrastructure and the Securitization Frontier
6:40 PM Discussant: Gregory Simon - University of Colorado Denver
Discussant(s):
Gregory Simon - University of Colorado Denver
Session Description: Market-based mechanisms for climate governance have predominantly failed to deliver on expectations of large-scale emission reductions, social benefits, or financial returns. From the Clean Development Mechanism, the EU Trading Scheme, to REDD+, carbon markets and offset programs have been stymied by the over-allocation of emissions permits, falling prices for carbon credits, problems of additionality and leakage, and swings in political moods. Carbon offsets, in particular, have been unable to bring about promised environmental and social outcomes, and have been unrewarding for credit suppliers and investors. Thus, what has been called the 'new carbon economy' (Boyd, Boykoff, and Newell 2011) has lost some of its mainstream appeal, and is better seen as lurching and faltering rather than rapidly expanding as proponents might wish. For geographers, this validates a large body of critical work on climate governance, which has highlighted the incompatibility of market-based policies with managing climate and environmental changes. These studies have found that market mechanisms have limited ability to constrain emissions, arguing that they can exacerbate social and economic inequality and reduce resource access for local communities (e.g. Heynen et al. 2007; Bond 2012; Beymer-Farris and Bassett 2012). Such critiques of the failures of the new carbon economy have now reached the mainstream, with financial flows migrating to other kinds of climate investments. Given this, a continued focus on the market mechanisms of climate governance risks overlooking other, equally important, policy choices and investment flows.
Following recent studies that demand we 'follow the money' (Christophers 2011; Dempsey and Suarez 2016) in environmental and climate politics, this session seeks to open up and connect scholarship on the 'real assets', or infrastructures, of climate governance. We take climate infrastructure to mean infrastructure up and down the carbon commodity chain (Bridge 2011) - from the mitigation investments of energy installations and green buildings, to adaptation through upgraded utilities, seawalls and levees. In focusing on the infrastructures of climate governance, we examine how and why such investments are designed, financed, and constructed, paying attention to the connected logics of state, regulation, and markets. In doing so, we aim to build conceptual insights into how these logics reproduce a dominant mode of climate change governance, as well as produce landscapes of climate infrastructure with political, social and environmental effects. Moreover, by focusing on both mitigation and adaptation, our goal is to highlight the connections and disconnections between energy, emission reductions, and adaptation, and their associated policies, investments and infrastructure.