The Green Entrepreneur: Visionary, Maverick or Opportunist?

Given the importance of green entrepreneurs in the transition towards a truly sustainable society, this paper proposes frameworks for investigating the motives of entrepreneurs who set up green businesses. Different perceptions of 'green' are explored and although the paper focuses particularly on 'green-green' businesses, the scope for investigation encompasses all possible forms of green start-ups. The main approach taken in the paper is to review the literature on entrepreneurs generally, and approaches to classifying entrepreneurs with a view to gaining useful insights for the green context. An exploratory typology of green entrepreneurs is proposed, which has been adapted and developed from Thompson's four dimensions of entrepreneurship (1998). The terms 'ethical maverick', 'ad hoc environpreneur', 'visionary champion' and 'innovative opportunist' are coined to describe different motives or orientations of the green entrepreneur. Frameworks are proposed to investigate the motives of, and influences on, green entrepreneurs. The ultimate aim is to gain insights for policy makers and educators into ways to foster green entrepreneurship.entrepreneurship, sustainability, green, start-ups, motivation, typology

Problematising qualitative research in organisations: Three voices, three subjectivities, three struggles

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the authors’ multiple subjectivities, in research and in practice which are ever shifting in context with each other. The authors present richness of understanding which can be revealed when researchers eschew consensus, certainty and easy solutions. The authors aim to show that plurality of ontological and epistemological approaches combined with diversity in understanding and subjective experience is necessary in qualitative research in organisations. Design/methodology/approach – The authors take a playful and incomplete narrative approach in their critical reflection on the subjectivities being silenced or ignored in organisations and in academia. The authors present an unsettling and ambiguous read but the aim is to question the formulaic, linear, simplistic solutions and structures evident in organisations and academia that silence uncertainty, emotions, voice and creativity through standardisation and the rhetoric of collaboration for performance enhancement. This process the authors have termed philosophical violence. Findings – The authors identify philosophical violence as a dominant theme in qualitative research, in organisational practice and within academia. In contrast, the authors’ embodied subjectivities preclude the reaching agreement or consensus too quickly, or indeed, at all. The authors’ embodied struggles add to the understanding of ambiguity, difference, critical reflexivity and understanding, providing richness and accommodating diversity and paradox in the inquiries in the organisations. Originality/value – The authors show the struggles as hopeful and the non-collaborative collaboration as a resource from which the authors can individually and jointly develop new understandings of working and thus survive the philosophical violence found in organisations and in research. Honouring subjectivities is essential for rich qualitative research in organisations

Building First-Generation Campus Advocates: Who, When, How?

In this virtual roundtable session learn how three high touch point student-centered offices collaborate together to support first-generation students at Monmouth University. We will share best practices from our experiences for how to build partnerships and advocates across campus. Then we will participate in a breakout session to help support your current needs. The goal is for first-generation advocates to learn who you need to build relationships with and how to start that dialog

Regulating Sustainable Production

Zoning that supports urban manufacturing may offer new opportunities to promote sustainability benefits ranging from improved job accessibility to reduced waste and resource use. However, industrial uses in urban areas face displacement from competing and conflicting uses. While the process of industrial gentrification is well documented, little work has examined how planning strategies and regulations affect urban manufacturing and its potential contribution to sustainable economic development. Drawing on a review of planning documents and interviews with food and beverage manufacturers, we examine how planning regulates the sustainability potential of manufacturing enterprises in Melbourne, Australia. In doing so, we contribute a deeper understanding of the ways that zoning affects urban manufacturing and the obstacles, tensions, and trade-offs urban planners face in creating a more sustainable local manufacturing base

Identifying the 10 Most-Pressing Issues Facing Local Food Systems in the Southern Region

This study was conducted to develop a list of the most-pressing issues facing local food systems in the Southern Region. A Delphi study that surveyed key informants across the Southern Region of the U.S. was used to develop the list. In the first round, informants were asked to list the three most-pressing issues. In the second round, they ranked all of the issues, which was used to create the top 10 issues: profitability, support for local food systems, education of the public, farming practices/knowledge, marketing and promotion, accessibility and affordability, lack of farms and farmers, regulations and certifications, infrastructure, and coordination of efforts. In the third round, informants indicated their level of agreement with the inclusion of the issues in the top 10. A key element of this list of issues is their interconnected nature and understanding that addressing one issue will likely affect others, indicating the need for a systems-based approach for addressing local foods. How these issues present will be different by location, so a one-size-fits-all model of local food systems is unlikely to be successful

Putting Participants at the Centre of HIV Cure Research

Curing HIV infection moved from the aspirational to the theoretically plausible with the apparent elimination of latent HIV from Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the Berlin Patient, after receipt of a stem cell transplant from a donor homozygous for the CCR5-Δ32 gene deletion. As HIV cure-related research has expanded, much of the science has centred on biomedical outcomes, and less on the people for whom a cure is being sought. Specifically, there has been limited inquiry directed towards understanding the motivations, perceptions, desires, needs, and experiences of people living with HIV who are asked to participate in cure-related research. This relative lack of attention is troubling when considering trade-offs, risks, demands, and burdens accompanying many of these investigations, such as intensively monitored antiretroviral pauses in effective HIV therapy, large volume blood draws and leucaphereses, and dosing with experimental immunotherapies

Carbon Free Boston: Social equity report 2019

OVERVIEW: In January 2019, the Boston Green Ribbon Commission released its Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report, identifying potential options for the City of Boston to meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The report found that reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 requires three mutually-reinforcing strategies in key sectors: 1) deepen energy efficiency while reducing energy demand, 2) electrify activity to the fullest practical extent, and 3) use fuels and electricity that are 100 percent free of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The Summary Report detailed the ways in which these technical strategies will transform Boston’s physical infrastructure, including its buildings, energy supply, transportation, and waste management systems. The Summary Report also highlighted that it is how these strategies are designed and implemented that matter most in ensuring an effective and equitable transition to carbon neutrality. Equity concerns exist for every option the City has to reduce GHG emissions. The services provided by each sector are not experienced equally across Boston’s communities. Low-income families and families of color are more likely to live in residences that are in poor physical condition, leading to high utility bills, unsafe and unhealthy indoor environments, and high GHG emissions.1 Those same families face greater exposure to harmful outdoor air pollution compared to others. The access and reliability of public transportation is disproportionately worse in neighborhoods with large populations of people of color, and large swaths of vulnerable neighborhoods, from East Boston to Mattapan, do not have ready access to the city’s bike network. Income inequality is a growing national issue and is particularly acute in Boston, which consistently ranks among the highest US cities in regards to income disparities. With the release of Imagine Boston 2030, Mayor Walsh committed to make Boston more equitable, affordable, connected, and resilient. The Summary Report outlined the broad strokes of how action to reach carbon neutrality intersects with equity. A just transition to carbon neutrality improves environmental quality for all Bostonians, prioritizes socially vulnerable populations, seeks to redress current and past injustice, and creates economic and social opportunities for all. This Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report provides a deeper equity context for Carbon Free Boston as a whole, and for each strategy area, by demonstrating how inequitable and unjust the playing field is for socially vulnerable Bostonians and why equity must be integrated into policy design and implementation. This report summarizes the current landscape of climate action work for each strategy area and evaluates how it currently impacts inequity. Finally, this report provides guidance to the City and partners on how to do better; it lays out the attributes of an equitable approach to carbon neutrality, framed around three guiding principles: 1) plan carefully to avoid unintended consequences, 2) be intentional in design through a clear equity lens, and 3) practice inclusivity from start to finish

Thermal and cardiovascular strain imposed by motorcycle protective clothing under Australian summer conditions

Motorcycle protective clothing can be uncomfortably hot during summer, and this experiment was designed to evaluate the physiological significance of that burden. Twelve males participated in four, 90-min trials (cycling 30 W) across three environments (25, 30, 35 °C [all 40% relative humidity]). Clothing was modified between full and minimal injury protection. Both ensembles were tested at 25 °C, with only the more protective ensemble investigated at 30 and 35 °C. At 35 °C, auditory canal temperature rose at 0.02 °C min(-1) (SD 0.005), deviating from all other trials (p \u3c 0.05). The thresholds for moderate (\u3e38.5 °C) and profound hyperthermia (\u3e40.0 °C) were predicted to occur within 105 min (SD 20.6) and 180 min (SD 33.0), respectively. Profound hyperthermia might eventuate in ~10 h at 30 °C, but should not occur at 25 °C. These outcomes demonstrate a need to enhance the heat dissipation capabilities of motorcycle clothing designed for summer use in hot climates, but without compromising impact protection. Practitioner\u27s Summary: Motorcycle protective clothing can be uncomfortably hot during summer. This experiment was designed to evaluate the physiological significance of this burden across climatic states. In the heat, moderate (\u3e38.5 °C) and profound hyperthermia (\u3e40.0 °C) were predicted to occur within 105 and 180 min, respectively

Thermal and cardiovascular strain imposed by motorcycle protective clothing under Australian summer conditions

Motorcycle protective clothing can be uncomfortably hot during summer, and this experiment was designed to evaluate the physiological significance of that burden. Twelve males participated in four, 90-min trials (cycling 30 W) across three environments (25, 30, 35 °C [all 40% relative humidity]). Clothing was modified between full and minimal injury protection. Both ensembles were tested at 25 °C, with only the more protective ensemble investigated at 30 and 35 °C. At 35 °C, auditory canal temperature rose at 0.02 °C min(-1) (SD 0.005), deviating from all other trials (p \u3c 0.05). The thresholds for moderate (\u3e38.5 °C) and profound hyperthermia (\u3e40.0 °C) were predicted to occur within 105 min (SD 20.6) and 180 min (SD 33.0), respectively. Profound hyperthermia might eventuate in ~10 h at 30 °C, but should not occur at 25 °C. These outcomes demonstrate a need to enhance the heat dissipation capabilities of motorcycle clothing designed for summer use in hot climates, but without compromising impact protection. Practitioner\u27s Summary: Motorcycle protective clothing can be uncomfortably hot during summer. This experiment was designed to evaluate the physiological significance of this burden across climatic states. In the heat, moderate (\u3e38.5 °C) and profound hyperthermia (\u3e40.0 °C) were predicted to occur within 105 and 180 min, respectively