Economics – 麻豆视频 Mon, 17 Nov 2025 19:39:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon_logo-32x32.jpg Economics – 麻豆视频 32 32 Lusaka鈥檚 Expanding 麻豆视频 Partnerships Look to Solve Capacity Issues聽 /stories/lusakas-expanding-epic-partnerships-look-to-solve-capacity-issues-2/ Fri, 02 Feb 2024 21:55:10 +0000 /?post_type=case_stories&p=17737 Read More... from Lusaka鈥檚 Expanding 麻豆视频 Partnerships Look to Solve Capacity Issues聽

]]>
Like many other African cities, Lusaka is facing rapid urbanization and various challenges related to inequality, climate change, economic opportunity, and service delivery. The city is faced with limited technical capacity to deliver essential services to all 3.3 million people and with a growth rate of about 5% annually, Lusaka鈥檚 Local Authority is unable to match the growing demand for public services. The Local Authority is overwhelmed and is currently looking for strategies to help mitigate these issues. Similarly, the University of Zambia has sought to reform its teaching, research, and community engagement strategies to become more relevant to the immediate environment through research and teaching partnerships for community development. To meet both the city and University goals, the 麻豆视频 model provides a simple but powerful tool that can draw upon the skills and technical know-how of academicians, researchers, and their students, to help aid Lusaka鈥檚 struggling municipality. 

Lusaka already has a history of using the 麻豆视频 model on a smaller scale as the city signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Zambia to institutionalize the 麻豆视频 model in Lusaka. For the past four years, the model has been implemented on a small scale and has resulted in significant gains for the city. Currently, the City Council of Lusaka and the University of Zambia are looking to expand the 麻豆视频 model to create city-wide positive change to locally relevant issues such as climate change adaptation, waste management, and urban planning. This project will look to begin in August of 2023 and end by August 2024. 

In taking steps to expand the model, the City hopes to build capacity among all 麻豆视频 model actors in Lusaka through training, sensitization, and community engagement so that skills are created for upscaling deployment of the 麻豆视频 model in Lusaka. The City would also like to collaborate with other entities to identify community development interventions that are in line with the principles of the 麻豆视频 model and make investments to support urban climate adaptation, social and gender inclusion in city development plans, and support learning and innovation at a community level. Finally, the city would also like to undertake capacity development actions that look to build sustainability in all future 麻豆视频 interventions in Lusaka through expanded partnerships for 麻豆视频 innovations. 

In support of the goals, the project will look to sensitize at least 20 Departments at the University of Zambia to adopt the 麻豆视频 model in teaching and research. To increase the application of the 麻豆视频 model and principles in the community, the project will increase the capacity of all nine Departments at the Lusaka City Council. This research will work to accelerate the implementation and expansion of the 麻豆视频 model by expanding the agreement to build sustainability. Over 500 students are planned to be involved in the 麻豆视频 model beginning with graduate courses in Economics, Geography, Urban Planning, Development Studies, Environmental Management, Public Health, Geomatics, GIS, Environmental Education, Civil Engineering, and Education. 

There will be many actors involved throughout this project to meet as many goals as possible. The project will be implemented as a collaboration between the Lusaka City Council, the University of Zambia, and selected communities with each party holding a very specific role in the project. For instance, the Lusaka City Council will provide a specific policy framework for community interventions to take place. Communities will anchor and support all activities in the collaboration while the University of Zambia will provide the students and research capacity needed to expand the Epic model in the city. Members of the community will also take the lead in identifying key problems in the communities and in respective wards. Community members will be represented within each project by community leaders, Community-Based Organizations, Ward Development Committees, and residents. 

The University of Zambia will undertake capacity development activities to increase capacity on 麻豆视频 model implementation and raise awareness among the MoU actors. This includes training for students, Course conveners, Deans of Schools, and Heads of Departments at the University of Zambia and the Lusaka City Council. In terms of providing knowledge, university students will provide time and a technical understanding of selected topics and community members will supply time and local knowledge. Students will also take time to engage with communities to define priority interventions through the 麻豆视频 model. 

Through this research, the relationship between communities, the Lusaka City Council, and the University of Zambia will be strengthened. There will additionally, be聽 improved community service and a better understanding of development actions in communities particularly those focused on strengthening climate resilience in flood-prone areas, aligning with SDG 13. This 麻豆视频 project will bring improved governance and civic awareness in communities where 麻豆视频 projects will take place and see increased accountability from all parties involved in community development in Lusaka.聽聽

This project is ongoing and will be finished in 2024.

]]>
Storm Water Project /projects/storm-water-project-2/ /projects/storm-water-project-2/#respond Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:38:33 +0000 https://portal.epicn.org/case-stories/storm-water-project/ Read More... from Storm Water Project

]]>
Trash discarded on urban lands frequently makes its way into streams, creeks, rivers, and eventually
the ocean, as rainstorms wash it into gutters and storm drains. This trash pollutes California waters and
adversely affects beneficial uses that support aquatic life, wildlife, recreation, water supplies, and public
health.
In 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted an Amendment to the Water Quality Control
Plan for Ocean Waters of California (Ocean Plan) to Control Trash emitted into waterways (Part 1 Trash
Provision of the Water Quality Control Plan for Inland Surface Waters, Enclosed Bays, and Estuaries or ISWEBE
Plan). Collectively referred to as 鈥渢he Trash Amendments,鈥 the policy objective is to provide statewide
consistency for the regulatory approach to protect aquatic life and public health beneficial uses and reduce
environmental issues associated with trash in state waters, while focusing limited resources on high trash
generating areas. Put simply, the California Ocean Plan prohibits trash exceeding five millimeters in size
from discharge into any waterway in California. The Trash Amendments of the Ocean Plan are implemented
through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits (Phase I, Phase II, Industrial
General Permit and Construction General Permit and individual Permits), and are not enforceable until
incorporated into a Permit. The City of San Marcos (COSM) is a NPDES Phase I Permittee.

]]> This project was completed as part of the 2018-2019 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Ramsey County. The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program is a loan program that provides financing for energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy retrofits for commercial, industrial, and multifamily residential properties. PACE helps property owners overcome the challenge of gathering up-front capital for energy improvements, and makes it easier to transfer the cost of the improvements if the owner decides to sell the property. Nationally, PACE has been a successful tool for retrofitting residential properties. Thus far, PACE has not been used to finance any multifamily residential projects in Ramsey County. Ramsey County project lead Mary Lou Egan worked with a student in Jennifer Edwards’ PA 5721: Energy Systems and Policy course to investigate the potential use of PACE for multifamily residential projects, using case studies of such projects in other states. The student’s final report is available.

]]> This project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. The City of Ramsey has a successful business retention and expansion (BRE) program that has been focused on small-business development and growth. To advance these efforts, the City would like to pursue new initiatives to attract, retain, and grow businesses, including developing a long-term vision and strategy for a business incubator. To assess the feasibility of a business incubator, students in Bob Streetar鈥檚 Community and Economic Development class researched extended case studies of four types of business incubators in Minnesota (government-owned, STEM-based, nonprofit, and coworking), as well as several alternatives to traditional business incubators that could assist new start-ups and spur economic development. A final report and presentation are available.

]]> This project was completed as part of the 2017-2018 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Ramsey. The City of Ramsey has long had a goal to create destinations in the community for residents to shop, eat, and enjoy entertainment. Market forces make achieving this goal challenging, and current efforts have fallen short of meeting community expectations. To help the City identify economic development and marketing strategies to attract more retail and restaurant development, students in Dr. Fernando Burga鈥檚 Land Use Planning analyzed retail trends nationally, mapped retail development in surrounding communities within a short driving distance from Ramsey, analyzed Ramsey’s demographics to identify a target retail market, proposed a branding strategy to create a unique retail “identity,” analyzed the challenges and opportunities presented by currently zoned commercial properties in the city, and recommended policy and other changes to facilitate future development of retail. The students’ final report is available.

]]> The City of Springfield faces deteriorating street conditions due to a steady
decline in transportation funding. The City believes a possible solution to this
problem is to improve its local streets with funding from residential property
assessments. However, to encourage property owners to bear the costs of
improving roads, the City would like to better understand the value of local street
improvements. This paper surveys the existing literature on amenity valuation
and infrastructure investment and proposes a hedonic price regression to
estimate the impact local street conditions have on residential house prices. Our
results suggest better street conditions have a positive effect on Springfield
house prices when property values exceed a minimum sales price threshold.
Based on these findings, we conduct a cost-benefit analysis of local street
improvements and suggest additional considerations for the City of Springfield.

]]> The City of Delano seeks to increase the energy efficiency of its public infrastructure to reduce energy use and costs. Students will collaborate on two projects: 1) a benchmarking study of public buildings and 2) an analysis for street lighting upgrades. Based on their analysis, students will propose potential improvements/upgrades to public buildings and evaluate the technical and political feasibility of the proposed upgrades; students will also determine options for updating the City鈥檚 street lighting to LED lighting and the payoff times for different updating scenarios. Students will provide these policy recommendations to the City in a report, and students will also create a dynamic analytical tool for the City that can be updated as parameter values change or additional data become available. Students will also present their work to the Delano City Council or city staff. Students鈥 work will also assist the City in advancing their GreenStep City rating through increasing the energy efficiency of public infrastructure.

Project Overview Poster
City Council Presentation, May 31, 2016
Project Film
City Outcomes
Students determined that the City could generate net savings of $854,000 over the next ten years with efficiency upgrades.
The City has integrated these efficiency upgrades into their capital improvement plan.
Delano鈥檚 City Council will review this plan and determine when the projects will be completed with respect to budgetary constraints each year.

]]> Students will perform a detailed study of the economic benefits that the region gains from its water resources. The study will analyze waterdependent businesses, tourism activities, and special events. Analysis will examine exported economic sectors; impacts on hotels, restaurants, airports, and other hospitality industries; increased tax revenues for local governments; and other impacts. This project will be undertaken alongside the Water Quality Improvement Plan course in Landscape Architecture.

]]> Students will assess the market for a temporary ice skating rink in downtown Cleveland, including site, positive and negative impact, rink size, period of operation, requirements for installation, operation and site restoration, and economic impact.

]]> Project Overview
The City of Elk River has organized solid waste collection for its residents through two haulers (Randy鈥檚 Environmental Services and Republic Services). The haulers are under contract with the City of Elk River until 2022. Residential accounts are set up and billed through Elk River Municipal Utilities. Customers pay a monthly fee on their utility bill for their collection services based on the size of the garbage cart, the rate of pick up, and whether or not they participate in organics waste collection. The haulers take the garbage to Great River Energy, which also charges the city for disposal and separation of compostable bags.

The city鈥檚 contract fee to the haulers is set until 2022, but the residential customer rates have not been adjusted since 2013. Students will examine whether current customer rates offset the current costs to the city or whether the city is subsidizing collection. Also, students will explore options for billing the 鈥渇ree鈥 recycling (fee currently included with garbage charge) separately from garbage to prevent recycling charges from being taxed. Finally, students will examine the possibility of eliminating the separate charge of organics collection (possibly by incorporating the residential fee for organics collection into garbage collection fees).

Project Overview Poster
City Outcomes
Based on the information provided in the student project, a proposal was made by city staff to the City Council for a new waste rate structure in 2018

Read the final student report delivered to the local gov/community partner.

Sustainable Communities Partnership Contact Info

University Faculty Contact
Michael Walrath
Economics

walrath@stthomas.edu
6519625680

Local Government / Community Contact
Kristin Mroz

Enviornmental Technician

]]>
/projects/evaluating-current-solid-waste-rate-structure-3/feed/ 0