SUSMETRO : Impact Assessment Tools for Food Planning in Metropolitan Regions : IA tools and serious gaming in support of sustainability targets for food planning, nature conservation and recreation

By offering a series of decision support tools for stakeholders of metropolitan regions, SUSMETRO facilitates and enables evidence-based decision making by means of ‘serious gaming’. Making use of the Phase 1 thematic maps such as on agricultural competitiveness, nature conservation and recreational values, stakeholders can compare impacts of traditional versus innovative forms of agricultural production. The SUSMETRO Impact Assessment tool provides information on the expected effects of spatial planning with regard to the self-supportive capacities of the region (ecological footprint) and the share of recreational and nature conservation facilities (land use functions), offering cost-benefit calculations regarding the expected economic revenues. The whole process is embedded in a Landscape Character Assessment process and guided by Knowledge Brokerage procedures to strengthen the science-policy interface. In sum, the SUSMETRO approach allows a wide range of stakeholders to co-develop images for sustainable Metropolitan Agriculture

“Naturalizing the nation”: the rise of naturalistic nationalism in the United States and Canada

Perhaps the most vexing problem in philosophy and social theory concerns the relative importance of material and ideal factors for social action. Karl Marx, for instance, with his notion of base and superstructure and his materialistic interpretation of the dialectic process, made a clean break from the idealism of his Hegelian heritage (McLellan 1977:390; Swingewood 1991:62–63). Nevertheless, idealism proved resilient and later came to inform the thinking of both actor-oriented (that is, phenomenologist, ethnomethodologist, symbolic interactionist) and structure-oriented (that is Functionalist, Structuralist) theorists

Field sketching and the interpretation of landscape : exploring the benefits of fieldwork and drawing in contemporary landscape practice

This thesis explores potential roles for field sketching in, landscape observation and assessment, landscape planning and design, landscape representation, and in addressing the experiential dimension of the landscape.The research seeks to define and legitimise the old technique of field sketching, and the use and development of field sketches by students and practitioners of landscape architecture, and other landscape disciplines. The wider values of, fieldwork, hand -generated field notations, drawing as an interactive dialogue with others, and the sketch as a type of landscape representation, are also recognised.Whilst accurate representation and precise geometrical definition of the landscape can now be achieved quickly with photographs and by semi - automated digital means, interpretation requires careful observation. Sketching involves an observer stopping and looking and interpreting slowly and carefully. Field sketching and the uses of the field sketch are proposed as bringing an effectiveness to landscape work, valuable because of the interpretation it involves, and the time it does take: timeless because of its simplicity.A personal way of working is investigated, based on a Grounded Theory approach. Systematic analysis of case studies is made through reflection-on-practice. Practice observations (data) are collated and interpreted by practical sorting tasks, to propose a series of how to do and why important principles regarding field sketching. External support for the research findings is sought from literature, considering the broad themes of: fieldwork and the experience of landscapes, field sketching and drawing as craft and expression, and developing and using field sketches.Applications for field sketching to meet contemporary needs in landscape architecture are proposed: the sketch as a designer's tool, sketch-based visualisations as interpretive images, and field sketching as a participative technique that can be used to engage the inquirer, collaborators, and the public with landscape experience -grounded decisions

Graphical conversations of HOME: Performing landscape

pp. 93-106 of the Journal of the LUCAS Graduate Conference, Issue 6 (2018). The complete issue can be found at: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/5771

Farmscapes : picturing land transformation in nineteenth-century America.

This dissertation examines American farmstead imagery of the nineteenth-century and how those images reflect the environmental history of the North. In this study, images of farms illustrate, through the landscape, the transition from subsistence farming to agribusiness that fundamentally changed American life and the land over the century. By comparing the actual ecological and economic conditions of the farm and farmer to the images depicted by artists, it is possible to see both representations of change and the persistence of the agrarian myth in spite of dramatically different realities. This study focuses on the process of change in the American landscape, beginning on the north eastern coast in the early nineteenth century and developing westward through the end of the century with Frederick Jackson Turner\u27s closing of the western frontier. Chapter One provides a foundation for the yeoman ideal using works like Thomas Cole\u27s The Hunter\u27s Return (1845). Industrious, independent, hard-working, and noble, the yeoman cleared the countryside and established subsistence farms across the northeast, bringing to fruition Jackson\u27s agrarian nation. Chapter Two demonstrates the transition from pioneer yeoman farmstead to farmer’s agribusiness as reflected in imagery from the mid-nineteenth century. From technological advancements to prospect views, images of agribusiness express very different values than the yeoman farmsteads in the wilderness. Works by Jasper Francis Cropsey and Edward Hicks are the focal points of this chapter. Chapter Three looks at the farmstead along the Union and Confederate boundary as a site of anti-slavery sentiment. Farms were simultaneously the site from which slaves wished to depart, the site that harbored them in the escape, and the site of their potential futures, while providing an escape from war for their free counterparts. Other than those depicting Southern plantations, farm imagery that deals specifically with issues of slavery is scarce. Robert Duncanson, Sanford Gifford Robinson, Worthington Whittredge, and William McKendree Snyder provide examples in this chapter. Finally, Chapter Four follows the path west, looking at representations of major agricultural centers in the West, including the Great Plains and California. This chapter is divided into two sections. The first examines monolithic narratives of a singular Great West, and the second section looks at specific people and places of the West

Monuments of Power

Travelling to the Peace River Valley from Vancouver, I saw firsthand the impact upon the land, from large mining enterprises leaving polluted rivers, streams, and lakes; the clear cutting of forests, and the introduction of industrial work camps disrupting the structure of communities with economic and social impacts resulting from a disproportionate change in regional gender ratio with the introduction of a mostly male, transient resource work-force. This thesis support paper serves as but a brief investigation of the complex – and contentious – aspects created by authoritarian landscape architecture with respect to the Site C Dam in North Eastern BC. It is my hope that this project has added a little to the record of documentation regarding the Site C Dam. In the future, I look to further explore and create an analysis of structures of power and authority. In addition to paintings mentioned in this text, I have also been painting a series of gift portraits and landscapes of places at risk from the Site C Dam. I will be returning with these to the Peace River in 2019, to give them back to the people who have been fighting for the future

July 12, 2018

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/thedmonline/1290/thumbnail.jp

The potential of urban agriculture in Montréal: A quantitative assessment

Growing food in urban areas could solve a multitude of social and environmental problems. These potential benefits have resulted in an increased demand for urban agriculture (UA), though quantitative data is lacking on the feasibility of conversion to large-scale practices. This study uses multiple land use scenarios to determine different spaces that could be allocated to vegetable production in Montréal, including residential gardens, industrial rooftops and vacant space. Considering a range of both soil-bound and hydroponic yields, the ability of these scenarios to render Montréal self-sufficient in terms of vegetable production is assessed. The results show that the island could easily satisfy its vegetable demand if hydroponics are implemented on industrial rooftops, though these operations are generally costly. Using only vacant space, however, also has the potential to meet the city’s demand and requires lower operating costs. A performance index was developed to evaluate the potential of each borough to meet its own vegetable demand while still maintaining an elevated population density. Most boroughs outside of the downtown core are able to satisfy their vegetable demand efficiently due to their land use composition, though results vary greatly depending on the farming methods used, indicating the importance of farm management

The Development of \u3ci\u3eAn Artist\u27s Paradise: Minnesota Landscapes: 1840-1940\u3c/i\u3e

An Artist\u27s Paradise: Minnesota Landscapes 1840-1940 was an exhibit that opened on January 25 and ran through June 22, 2003 at the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul, Minnesota. The exhibition featured oil paintings and works on paper of the Minnesota landscape by Minnesota artists. This thesis is a recap of the process of putting together the exhibition, the educational activities held during the exhibition, as well as the intellectual basis for the exhibition from the perspective of the co-curator. The first chapter is a narrative that describes the co-curator\u27s role in the location, selection and negotiations to obtain the necessary works of art for the exhibitions as well as the installation of the exhibit. It also describes the role of co-curator in the training of the museum docents and his participation in a curator\u27s panel. The second chapter is a discussion of the intellectual basis for the exhibition. The argument presented in the exhibition was that the early traveling artists, who first presented images of Minnesota\u27s landscape to the rest of the country with their initial views of Minnesota, established a paradigm that later artists, with stronger ties to the state would cultivate. The model that these artists established was a belief in the potential of the land. The exhibit also examines the impact of impressionism and the impact of the variety of styles that constituted European Modernism on the artist\u27s interpretation of the Minnesota landscape. No distinct Minnesota style emerges, but the exhibition provides a link to the artistic heritage of the nation with a Minnesota perspective. The remainder of the thesis consists of brief biographical sketches of each artist whose work was in the exhibit, as well as text panels and label texts, and illustrations of the works

Sketching the Stories of the Ausbund

This project investigates the ballads compiled into the Ausbund, which literally means “a true selection or sampling. This hymnbook is the oldest one continuously in use in the world. Although the hymnbook was compiled by Amish and Mennonite ancestors, only the Amish use it today. Through creative non-fiction, this series of essays sketches ways in which the hymnbook continues to influence the Amish and Mennonite community. It attempts to prove that the Ausbund is a unique piece of art that has literary, cultural, and spiritual value. It had value in the sixteenth century, when most of the hymns were penned, but its value has increased in the intervening centuries. It preserves and promotes a sacrificial culture, one that draws identity and meaning from the songs