Poster Session
Estimating the Impact of Climate Finance and Agricultural Development Funds on the Environmental Sustainability of Countries Participating in the Belt and Road Initiative
Poster Session Lochan Kumar Batala
The Belt and Road Initiative is a vast infrastructure and economic development project spanning multiple countries, and understanding the impact is crucial for balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability. However, in recent years, several studies have investigated the impact of energy consumption and economic growth on BRI countries’ environmental quality. The studies overlooked the impact of climate finance, agriculture development funds, and BRI investment on environmental performance in BRI countries. This study bridges an existing knowledge gap by analyzing the potential impacts of BRI investments, climate finance, and agricultural development funds on the environmental performance of countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for 2002 to 2022. In this study, panel unit root tests, the Westerlund cointegration test, as well as augmented mean group (AMG), and cross-section augmented distributed lag (CS-ARDL) estimators were applied to assess both long-term and short-term outcomes. The primary results show cross-sectional dependency, slope heterogeneity, and cointegration among study variables exist. AMG results reveal that BRI investment, climate finance (CLF), and agriculture development funds (ADF) have a positive effect on environmental performance (EP). In contrast, population growth, foreign investment inflows, and energy intensity adversely affect environmental performance. Furthermore, our subsample analysis results of CS-ARDL show CLF has a negative relation with EP in low-income countries, while positive in middle- lower and middle-upper countries in both the short and long run. The study findings offer valuable insights and policy recommendations for achieving harmonious development and environmental sustainability within the BRI framework.
Designing for Climate Change in the US National Parks View Digital Media
Poster Session Lee Lines
Rising sea levels, increasing groundwater salinity, and higher storm surges are impacting national parks in Florida and along the Atlantic coast (Everglades NP and Acadia NP). In the American West, extreme drought and wildfires are transforming forest habitats, causing flooding and erosion that threaten historic park buildings and archaeological sites (Mesa Verde NP). At Mt. Rainier National Park, all 25 glaciers are either thinning or retreating, amplifying flooding and debris flows, burying old growth forests in sediment, and threatening historic 1920s park buildings. National Park Service efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change encompass a wide range of actions. Efforts to adapt run the gamut from proactive and visionary (e.g., redesigned structures at Everglades NP) to mostly defensive (e.g., Nisqually River levee at Mt. Rainier NP). Efforts to mitigate carbon emissions include LEED certified buildings (Mesa Verde NP) and a zero-emission shuttle system at Zion National Park. Every project designed to address climate change must be consistent with the park service’s “dual mandate” to facilitate visitation while leaving park resources unimpaired for future generations. These inherent tensions make the US national parks an ideal laboratory to explore climate change design. The research findings and visual evidence presented in this poster are based on roughly eight weeks of fieldwork (from 2017 to 2024) across multiple national parks. Research findings highlight the opportunities and challenges of climate change design across the US National Park System.
Assessing Environmental Concerns of the Tren Maya: Deforestation and Biodiversity Threats
Poster Session Gabriel Montecchi, Carolin Lusby
Tourism and urbanization have controlled Quintana Roo’s economy for decades. Of all of Mexico’s states, Quintana Roo is the most popular tourism destination. The state has been funding major infrastructure projects with the desire to accommodate a growing populace and a thriving tourism industry. Proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in 2018, the latest project known as the Tren Maya, aims to connect the Yucatán Peninsula to the existing Mexican railway system. However, this ongoing mega-infrastructure project is expected to yield unprecedented effects that will change the composition of the region's landscape. Despite its anticipated economic benefits, the Tren Maya is expected to bring drastic changes to Quintana Roo’s landscape and tourism industry. This problem is prevalent to the region as the natural landscape is exponentially affected by the pressures of urbanization and tourism. This study provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the train on the region's landscape. Specifically, we assess environmental factors such as forest cover density, deforestation, fragmentation, land use changes and disruption to wildlife. In addition, we examine socioeconomic factors by placing emphasis on the local economy, growth in tourism, new train stations as nuclei of development poles, and the disparities that may arise from these establishments across the state. This research explores these impacts comprehensively, emphasizing how land use changes induced by the Tren Maya have and will continue to affect Quintana Roo. The results may serve to inform long-term assessments and guide future management strategies.
Contextualizing Environmental Polarization in the United States Using Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort Modeling
Poster Session Jordan Lipner
We are exploring the nuanced ways in which uncontrollable factors, such as political polarization, shape public opinion on environmentalism over time. While extensive research has documented the decline in public support for environmentalism and its association with factors like age, gender, education, income, and political affiliation, these studies often fail to account for the broader socio-political contexts influencing these attitudes. We are using hierarchical age-period-cohort (HAPC) models to analyze trends in Americans' willingness to support environmental spending from 1973 to 2014, using data from the General Social Survey (GSS). It builds on previous work by considering individual traits and key period factors, such as media coverage, political elite influence, and economic conditions, in an attempt to more comprehensively understand the complex factors shaping public environmental attitudes. Existing HAPC models have provided valuable insights into the role of political affiliation and period effects but have yet to be applied to environmental opinions. As such, there is still a need for methodological advancements that account for those broader social, economic, and political influences. By incorporating additional period factors, we aim to enhance our understanding of how political and economic contexts interact with individual characteristics to drive changes in public support for environmentalism over time.
Together Against Climate Change: Factors Influencing the Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior of Generation Z in Formal and Informal Education View Digital Media
Poster Session Stefanie Greubel, Janne Fengler
In the face of climate change, younger generations in particular appear to suffer from tensions when faced with the challenge of balancing individual freedom with the needs and desires of the larger global community. The “Fridays for Future” movement shows that many young people feel the urge to express their concerns or even become politically active in the face of the task of finding their way in life and developing a sense of resilience while facing growing insecurity in the social, ecological, economic, and technological spheres. The poster focuses on one of the main questions of an exploratory study conducted in relation to this desideratum, which examines the individual motives of the participants in their cultural context: Which factors can be identified in young people that influence their knowledge, attitudes and behavior regarding sustainability? Data on personal, systemic and social resources, environmental knowledge, attitudes towards sustainability and environmental behavior were collected from N = 2219 German students aged 12 to 18 years using questionnaires. Multivariate analyses reveal differentiated insights into similarities and differences between subpopulations that differ, for example, in sociodemographic terms, in terms of their socialization at school, and more terms of their cultural and social context. From this, conclusions can be drawn as to how current and future generations of students can be empowered and enabled, institutionally, collectively and individually, to master the many challenges between developing individuality, assuming responsibility and engaging in the human community.
Place Based Learning and Community Supported Agriculture: Getting to the Root of Interdisciplinary Problems View Digital Media
Poster Session Amanda Almond, Sean Mac Donald
By taking an interdisciplinary approach to increasing local and sustainable vegetable consumption, the Green Team Initiative's tailored interventions to increase awareness about the benefits of consuming local produce and provide opportunities for direct engagement with the process of cultivation. This includes a community supported agriculture (CSA) site on campus that facilitates a direct alternative to sourcing food. Our framework uses the transtheoretical model of behavior change to initiate three interventions aimed at increasing readiness to consciously consume more produce through campus collaboration and student involvement. A series of invited speakers discuss the environmental and ethical impacts of factory farming. Understanding the economic and ecological benefits of sustainable agricultural practices increases consciousness about the benefits of eating locally. Second, we worked with student-led clubs and campus organizations to promote place-based learning gardening projects. Participants engage in cultivating produce as well as attend tours that teach about different growing practices, encouraging self-reflection while having a transformative impact on our local environment. Finally, a CSA produce pick-up stand on site for purchase on a sliding scale promotes direct action and sustained positive behavior. The team believes that by connecting people to the physical world, we might notice the impact of climate change on our day-to-day lives. Isolation and inaction ensue because we distance ourselves, cognitively, from the reality of the grueling work to harvest crops for consumption in turbulent climate conditions (heat exhaustion, drought, policy changes targeting migrant workers); thereby making behavior change both imperative yet daunting.
Rethinking Business Education - Can Business Schools Truly Drive Sustainable Development?: Addressing the Tensions Between Economic Growth and Genuine Sustainability in Business Education View Digital Media
Poster Session Caroline D. Ditlev-Simonsen
Martin Parker’s article in The Guardian, titled “Why We Should Bulldoze the Business School,” is one of several critical examinations questioning whether teaching business growth and increased consumption can genuinely align with sustainable development. While most business schools now offer comprehensive programs aimed at supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and while both research and curricula increasingly focus on sustainability, the pace of this transition remains too slow. It is often constrained by the prevailing principles of economic growth, which rely on resource exploitation and environmental degradation. This raises a crucial question: how can business schools authentically contribute to sustainable development—rather than engaging in greenwashing and using the SDG framework to obscure unsustainable practices?
Botulism in Biscayne Bay: A Threat to Local Wildlife View Digital Media
Poster Session Amanda Burke
This poster details the trends over three years of patients at Pelican Harbor Seabird Station presenting with botulism in Miami, Florida. Survival and release rates and efficacy of Toxiban will be analyzed as well as detailing information about the water conditions in Biscayne Bay at the times/location of intake, such as algal blooms, and fish kills to determine any patterns consistent with patient intake.
Typography as a Tool for Change: Merging Design Education with the United Nations SDGs View Digital Media
Poster Session Samira Shiridevich
This poster explores how typography can serve as a creative tool for advancing sustainable development, showcased through the innovative Daily Drop Cap project. Designed for Typography 1 students, the project aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), encouraging students to research, interpret, and visually communicate key themes such as climate action, gender equality, and responsible consumption. Each class begins with a focused design exercise where students create unique drop caps inspired by their selected SDG, integrating sustainability concepts into their work. The project fosters critical thinking, collaborative feedback, and iterative refinement, equipping students with technical and creative skills while raising awareness of global challenges. By merging design education with sustainability, this initiative demonstrates how creative disciplines can inspire impactful action and meaningful engagement with sustainability goals. It highlights the transformative potential of art and design in addressing complex global issues, contributing to a more just, resilient, and interconnected world.
