Environment, Enterprise and Development

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/9919

This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's School of Environment, Enterprise and Development.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

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Now showing 1 - 8 of 8

Deep Decarbonization in Cities: Pathways, Strategies, Governance Mechanisms and Actors for Transformative Climate Action
(University of Waterloo, 2020-09-18) Linton, Samantha Hall; Clarke, Amelia Caroline
As the urgency for climate action heightens, local governments and stakeholders are developing short-term strategies and long-term pathways towards deep decarbonization at the local level. Urban areas are the largest place-based source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 71%-76% of global emissions, and are projected to house 60% of the global population by 2030. Local governments have direct and indirect control of over 52% of emissions that occur within their municipalities. This study aims to qualitatively explore eight cases of best practice cities that are leading the way towards decarbonization. The eight cases are: Bridgewater (Nova Scotia, Canada), Park City (Utah, USA), Guelph (Ontario, Canada), Lahti (Finland), Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada), Oslo (Norway), Toronto (Ontario, Canada) and New York City (New York, USA). Cases were chosen based on the ambitiousness of climate action targets. Each Canadian case was paired with an international case similar in population size. The study was conducted to qualitatively explore the emerging best practice initiatives as well as highlight any patterns among the cities, depending on the population size and/or the national context. The method of qualitative investigation involved interviewing key municipal staff or plan managers on the pathways that are being implemented, the governance structures, the key actors and the tools being used for plan development and implementation. The results of this study fill theoretical gaps in the literature around the pathways that cities of different sizes are developing and the results help to provide understanding and insight on the key variables in deep decarbonization planning and implementation variables. Through identifying the key variables in the urban climate action literature, this study aimed to explore which of these were being addressed in climate action plans, and if cities were going beyond what the literature prescribed. The key research questions related to which sectors were the focus of emissions reduction pathways, what strategies were developed for plan development and implementation, how the plans were organized and governed, what key actors were involved. This study made contributions to the literature on decarbonization frameworks in six key areas by extending the literature to include new initiatives that leading cities are developing. The areas that this study contributes to are: decarbonizing the energy sector in small cities, increasing capacity of local carbon sinks, developing green economy targets and workforce development, formalizing communication structures, bottom up vertical integration tactics, and creating funding mechanisms. The findings from this study can be useful for practitioners working towards local deep decarbonization as well as transnational city networks such as C40, CNCA and ICLEI as it highlights emerging best practices.
Implementing Community Climate Change Action Plans in Canada: The Relationship between Implementation Structure and Outcomes
(University of Waterloo, 2017-04-21) Wong, Krista; Clarke, Amelia Caroline
This research in collaborative strategic management and cross-sector partnership is a study of structures and outcomes in the context of community-wide climate action plans and community-wide energy plans in Canadian cities. Specifically, implementation structures, plan outcomes, and partner outcomes were examined in four Partners for Climate Protection member municipalities: District of Saanich (British Columbia), City of Guelph (Ontario), City of North Vancouver (British Columbia), and City of London (Ontario). The study was conducted to qualitatively explore these concepts in a new context, to understand if there are relationships among them, and to see if there are new lessons learned, or if there are transferable lessons from a previous study in the context of community sustainability plans. The method of qualitative investigation involved interviewing key municipal staff about the implementation structures and both outcome types, and their respective cross-sector core implementation partner organizations regarding partner outcomes. Findings show that these community-wide plans have five implementation structures: communication systems, monitoring systems, partner engagement, partner action, and municipal oversight. Plan outcomes, where available, are positively oriented in the direction of reaching plan goals, and partner outcomes are identical to those identified in the previous study, with a new partner outcome finding – moral support. Findings show that the five implementation structures are crucial for enabling the achievement of plan outcomes, and that partnership design in general is sufficient to produce partner outcomes. The results of this study fill theoretical gaps in the literature around implementation structures for community-wide climate and energy plans; support findings from the larger study by qualitatively examining structures outside of the context of the larger study; provide information useful for the implementation of community-wide climate and energy action plans; and provide an understanding of implementation structures important for plan outcomes.
Implementing Sustainable Community Plans through Market-based Instruments
(University of Waterloo, 2015-10-09) Zhou, Ying; Clarke, Amelia Caroline
Sustainable community development has gained momentum in recent years in order to address complex environmental, social and economic problems at the local level. Municipalities and communities are also becoming interested in the implementation of sustainable community plans. These plans are sometimes called integrated community sustainability plans (ICSPs), local agenda 21s, or may be part of a municipal official/master plan. They generally include environmental goals on: transportation, water, waste, air quality & energy, climate change, food security, ecological diversity and/or land use. Although there are over 1000 of these plans in Canada and over 10,000 worldwide, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the gap between formulating and implementing such plans. The focus of this research is on the potential use of Market-Based Instruments (MBIs) for implementing sustainable community plans. Many researchers have investigated the importance of price signals and market-based mechanisms for sustainability. These studies have highlighted the need for Market-Based Instruments as a means for sustainability. Literature discusses the importance of a sustainable community plan for sustainable development and the benefits of Market-Based Instruments for communities. From this review, existing Market-Based Instruments were synthesized and a preliminary set of Market-Based Instruments was developed, for the creation of a Sustainability Alignment Methodology (SAM) tool. SAM tool that was developed for this research, is one which considers Market-Based Instruments under municipal jurisdiction. It might help to achieve the environmental goals in a sustainable community plan. The framework of the developed SAM was deductively tested with publicly available information from two mid-size Ontario communities - the city of Kingston and the Region of Waterloo. Further inductive findings were collected through focus groups with key municipal staff. These two communities were chosen from across Ontario based on a set of criteria. The focus groups gained information on the list of market-based instruments, the categorization of the market-based instruments and the set of scoring criteria. The preliminary version of the SAM tool found acceptance during the focus groups, with some recommendations for revision – such as the exclusion of the scoring criteria. Based on these findings, the preliminary draft of the SAM tool was revised to be more user-friendly. The revised version contains over 50 Market-Based Instruments across eight different environmental topics and identifies the municipal departments associated with these MBIs. This study makes an important contribution to sustainable community development by equipping municipal governments with a better understanding of market-based instruments and providing a useful tool for helping implement their sustainable community plans. It also contributes theoretically to our understanding of MBIs that are applicable at the local level.
Leadership Competencies for Managing and Implementing Sustainability Plans in Canada
(University of Waterloo, 2018-06-29) Chai, Ziqi; Clarke, Amelia Caroline; MacDonald, Adriane
To achieve sustainable initiatives, local authorities are implementing sustainability plans by two different approaches, implementing community-wide sustainability plans with multi-stakeholder partnerships and implementing corporate sustainability plans without multi-stakeholder partnerships. These plans, including Integrated Community Sustainability Plans and Climate Action Plans have roots in global sustainability movements shaped by United Nations initiatives, such as Agenda 21 and Local Agenda 21. Within these movements, municipal actors are both pursuing sustainability goals at the corporate level and partnering with local organizations to achieve sustainability goals at the community level. The role of leadership is recognized as central to the effective management of plan implementation. Professional managerial competencies, as well as sustainability expertise and specialized cross-sector leadership competencies, have been generally discussed as important competencies for individuals managing the formulation and implementation of sustainability plans. However, there is scant research that examines such micro-level dynamics of plan implementation and of multi-stakeholder partnership management, including the specificities of these competencies, such as what competencies are linked to them and how individuals use them to achieve results. This research explores which competencies are most needed to implement sustainability plans and/or manage partner engagement across sectors. The study identifies nine competency clusters and forty-nine competencies. The nine competency clusters include communication, project management, individual attributes, knowledge management, problem-solving, teamwork and cooperation, team leadership, engagement, and impact and influence. Early insights indicate that competencies, such as knowledge integration, communication, facilitation, and relationship-building, are key to facilitating cross-sector collaborations. Similarly, project management, teamwork and cooperation, and team leadership are key to inside sector collaborations. Improved understanding of the key competencies needed to implement sustainability plans may inform training and post-secondary curricula for educating future sustainability practitioners. Ultimately, the aim of this research is to help communities attract and develop the human resources necessary to meet their climate action, energy conservation, and other sustainable development goals.
Local Sustainability Partnerships: Understanding the Relationship Between Partnership Structural Features and Partners’ Outcomes
(University of Waterloo, 2020-04-21) Castillo Cifuentes, Valentina; Clarke, Amelia Caroline
The number of cross-sector social partnerships (CSSPs) has increased at both global and local levels. This is due to the benefits that they bring in solving complex problems such as unsustainable development, and to the organizations that partner in CSSPs. Current research has stated that partner organizations obtain positive outcomes when they join CSSPs. In this study, outcomes are understood through a Resource-based View approach. Moreover, past research has mentioned that structural features within CSSPs - such as communication systems, monitoring and reporting, partner engagement, renewal systems, among others - help partner organizations to achieve their goals. Nevertheless, there is still a gap in the literature about the relationship between the structural features and partners’ outcomes in large CSSPs. This research studies three large CSSPs: Barcelona + Sustainable in Spain (B+S), The Gwangju Council for Sustainable Development in South Korea (GCSD), and Sustainable Montreal in Canada (SM). Each of these CSSPs has more than a hundred partners from civil society, public and private sectors. Through a mixed-methods approach, this research explores the relationship between the structural features of the three large CSSPs and the value given by the partner organizations to their achieved outcomes. Secondary data from three video interviews, and three follow-up interviews with the coordinators of the CSSPs about the structural features was analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Secondary data from 186 partner organizations of the CSSPs was collected through a survey, and it was analyzed through ANOVA Test with the purpose of finding differences in the value given by the partner organizations to their achieved outcomes. With both data sets, abductive analysis was conducted in order to analyze the relationship between the structural features and the partners’ outcomes. The results from the structural features show that the CSSPs adopted similar structural features, however, there were some main differences in monitoring and reporting, partners’ engagement, and the sector composition of the partners. The results of the ANOVA Tests for the partners’ outcomes show differences in community capital outcomes achieved by the partners of Sustainable Montreal, as well as differences in the physical capital outcomes achieved in GCSD. In B+S, there were differences found in the public sector regarding the achieved outcomes on financial capital. The abductive analysis results indicate that the difference shown by the partners of Sustainable Montreal in the value of their achieved outcomes is likely due to the partners’ engagement, decision-making mechanisms, as well as their monitoring and reporting systems. The difference for GCSD is likely due to their monitoring and reporting, along with their partner’s engagement. Lastly, for B+S, the results are likely due to the composition of the partnership. In conclusion, this research offers seven structural features for large CSSPs that are implementing sustainable community plans. In terms of partners’ outcomes, there were differences found outcomes across CSSPs, especially in GCSD and SM. However, it was not possible to find differences across sectors for each CSSP, with the exception of the public sector in B+S. Lastly, in terms of the relationship, the structural features that explain why partner organizations give different values to their achieved outcomes are partners’ engagement, monitoring and reporting, decision-making, and composition of the CSSPs. Understanding the resources that partner organizations can achieve from partnering in a CSSP is crucial for engaging key partner organizations that can contribute with their resources skills to the achievement of the CSSPs’ goals.
New Revenue and Cost-Savings through Operationalizing Sustainable Community Plans within Small Municipalities in Ontario
(University of Waterloo, 2015-05-28) DeBoer, Reuben; Clarke, Amelia Caroline
This thesis explores the cost-saving potential of market-based instruments (MBIs) and other cost-savings mechanisms for small Ontario municipalities looking to operationalize their sustainable community plans. Market-based instruments are policy tools that encourage behavioral change through financial incentives or disincentives such as water pricing, anti-idling by-laws and user-pay garbage disposal (Clarke & MacDonald, 2012). Small Municipalities refer to all areas with municipal responsibilities, such as local administrations, with an urban core population of 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. Small municipalities are using sustainable community plans (SCPs) as a way to determine necessary areas of change. While 265 communities across Ontario are reaping the benefits of their sustainable community plans, small municipalities have been slow in operationalizing their plans due to limited financial capabilities. As a potential response to these limited financial capabilities, three research questions were developed: RQ1: Which market-based instruments or other cost-saving initiatives are related to sustainable community plan operationalization, and are generating cost-savings (and/or new revenue) in small municipalities? RQ2: What is the business case for operationalizing SCPs in small municipalities? RQ3: What are the sustainable community budgeting implications and local government policy implications of this study? Including, what new contributions does this study provide for literature? A multi-case study analysis using key informant interviews was used to research the use of market- based instruments and other cost-saving initiatives as a means of operationalizing small municipalities SCPs within five case communities: Halton Hills, Huron County, Frontenac County, King Township and Huntsville. The research was conducted in partnership with Lura Consulting; Lura is a sustainable consulting agency that specializes in formulating sustainable community plans. Face-to-face interviews with key sustainability personnel were conducted to record the usage of cost-saving or new revenue initiatives. The results of the study describe 22 of the 45 most common market-based instruments and other cost-saving initiatives that are being utilized within the case communities as a means of operationalizing SCPs. Of the total most commonly used cost-saving initiatives, 67 of the 105 initiatives have been directly or indirectly implemented within the case communities. These results further validate the inclusion of market-based instruments as a means of revenue generating or cost-savings.
The Perspectives and Roles of Multinational Enterprises in Local Sustainable Development
(University of Waterloo, 2019-08-27) Eang, Monida Laura; Clarke, Amelia Caroline
As the rate of urbanization increases, cities face mounting socio-ecological challenges. At the local level, businesses are essential for developing cities and livelihoods and providing services to local communities. Local sustainable development addresses pressing urban challenges and future opportunities by mobilizing and empowering multi-level actors for creating transformative changes for societal systems, yet there is limited research linking the private sector, multinational enterprises (MNEs) in particular, and their impact on sustainable development at the local level. MNEs bring distinct strengths to the sustainable development agenda, including: their access to capital, resources, and advanced technology; their ability to transfer resources globally; and their impact on the global economy. Together, their collective resources and assets enable MNEs to reach large-scale solutions needed to coordinate and mobilize pathways for accelerating local sustainable development. The study used a mixed methods research approach to analyze sustainability reports uploaded and registered to the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database and filtered reports by MNEs with explicit reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In total, the study analyzed 349 sustainability reports. Through discourse and frame analysis, qualitative content analysis, and bivariate analysis, reports were examined to analyze how MNEs frame local-level sustainability efforts and to identify the roles of MNEs in local sustainable development. The results show that MNEs frame their local-level efforts with sustainability through five perspectives: corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, partnerships, sustainable development, and environmental, social, and corporate governance. The results also identify 10 roles that MNEs can play in local sustainable development, namely through three dominant categories: enabling, facilitating, and coordinating roles. MNEs contribute to local sustainable development as an awareness raiser, community capacity builder, consultant, employee developer, financer, innovator, leverager of supply chains and procurement, partner, product and service provider, and program deliverer. In conclusion, this thesis helps organizations and practitioners leverage the engagement of MNEs by providing an understanding of how MNEs’ legitimate their own actions towards society through the self-declaration of contributions in their sustainability reports which frame their efforts on local-level sustainability. The results show that MNEs are indeed willing to participate in efforts for local sustainable development and have the capacities, resources, and willingness to contribute to local sustainable development planning.
Understanding the Influence of Money Variables on the Outcomes of Sustainable Community Plans
(University of Waterloo, 2018-05-23) Cai, Yushuo; Clarke, Amelia Caroline
Globally, there is a growing popularity among local governments to apply Cross-Sector Social Partnerships (CSSP) to implement Sustainable Community Plans (SCPs). The aim of this study is to understand the link between the distribution of resources and plan outcomes, and to examine the roles of five plan and structure variables (i.e., oversight by government; collaborative oversight; partner engagement mechanism; number of partners; and community-wide actions) as mediators and moderators. A quantitative method has been used to analyze the data collected from 106 communities worldwide. The main findings of this study indicate the importance of contributed resources (internal, partnership structural, community-wide) on the implementation of SCPs. The results also highlight the critical role community-wide actions play in mediating the relationships, and the significance of collaborative oversight, partner engagement mechanism, and number of partners have in mediating the relationship.

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Browsing Environment, Enterprise and Development by Author "Clarke, Amelia Caroline"