Category: General Interest

Congratulations Shahidur Rashid Talukdar!

Congratulations to Shahidur Rashid Talukdar for successfully defending his PhD dissertation entitled “Policy conflicts among local government officials: How does officials’ engagement with regional governance relate to their position divergence on sustainability policy?” The abstract for his dissertation is provided below.

Shahidur will receive a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Public Affairs from the Center for Public Administration and Policy (CPAP) at Virginia Tech.

I served as a member of Shahidur’s doctoral committee, along with Prof. Karen Hult (Committee Chair), Dr. David Bredenkamp, and Dr. Stephanie Davis. It is customary in CPAP to hold PhD defenses in full academic regalia.

Abstract

Policy conflict plays an important role in shaping public policy—both as a process and as a product. The policy conflict framework—a relatively novel theoretical framework, developed by Christopher Weible and Tanya Heikkila in 2017—considers position divergence among policymakers a key characteristic of policy conflict, which can be affected several factors including organizational and network affiliation of policymakers. This dissertation analyzes position divergence among local and regional officials over community sustainability policy, with a focus on affordable housing, which is a major concern of community sustainability. This research examines if, and how, local government officials’ engagement with regional governance can play a role in shaping their policy positions. Understanding what influences officials’ policy positions is essential in managing conflicts that arise in the making of sustainability policies in general and affordable housing policies, in particular.

This study argues that local government officials’ engagement with regional governance can lower policy position divergence among them by influencing their policy core beliefs and policy relevant knowledge. This analysis includes testing several hypotheses using data from a state-wide survey of local and regional policymakers. Employing cross-tabulations, multivariate regressions, and ordered logit analysis, this study finds that (a) policymakers share a wide range of policy positions on community sustainability policies and (b) for local government officials engaged with regional governance, position divergence on community sustainability is lower than that among those who are not engaged with regional governance. Although position divergence on affordable housing among those engaged with regional governance is generally lower than those who are not engaged with regional governance, this finding is not robust. In some regions and localities, the relationship between position divergence and engagement with regional governance does not hold.

Furthermore, this study finds that local government officials’ engagement with regional governance is associated with higher levels of policy relevant knowledge, which can influence the policymakers’ policy positions. Policy core beliefs do not have a statistically significant relationship with policymakers’ engagement with regional governance. The analysis suggests that local government officials’ policy core beliefs may not be affected by their engagement with regional governance.

Congratuations Ibrahim Altasan (إبراهيم الطاسان)!

Congratulations to Ibrahim Altasan for successfully defending his PhD dissertation entitled “The Governance of Mobilized Urban Policies: The Case of Riyadh’s Transit-Oriented Development Program.” The general audience abstract for his dissertation is provided below.

Ibrahim has been a valued member of our Planning, Governance, and Globalization (PGG) doctoral community, where he has become known (by our undergraduates in the Smart and Sustainable Cities major) as our resident expert on Urban Footprint.

I co-chaired Ibrahim’s dissertation committee with Dr. Todd Schenk. We were joined on the committee by Dr. Robert Oliver and Dr. Hamad Alsaiari.

General Audience Abstract

Nowadays, city officials are looking outside their borders for urban policies that promote sustainability and improve quality of life. However, city officials rarely consider how differences between local urban areas could affect the adoption of urban policy. To address this challenge, the field of Urban Policy Mobility (UPM) emerged to shed light on how the unique local factors that shape each city environment affect what elements of an urban policy are or are not adopted. This study examines the changes that occurred when a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) urban policy was introduced in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In order to learn about the changes and challenges of Riyadh’s TOD policy, interviews were conducted with employees responsible for the policy. Additionally, TOD policy documents and other publications that contained information about Riyadh’s TOD were reviewed to obtain additional data to help build a deeper understanding of why certain policy elements were implemented and others were not. The study found that: 1) the TOD policy was not completely translated into Riyadh where the focus is more on increasing building density, diversifying land uses, and enhancing design aesthetics, which resulted in overlooking other important policy elements that enhance economic and social sustainability; and 2) the implementation of the TOD policy led to governance challenges due to the differences in how urban planning is undertaken in Riyadh when compared with TOD policy environments in western countries. This in-depth study of Riyadh’s experience can inform other cities that are looking to implement urban policies borrowed from overseas.

TAFF Award for Best Documentary Short

Our USAID LASER PULSE team is honored to take home the prize for Best Documentary Short (Directed by Bethany Teague) at The African Film & Arts Festival (TAFF) in Dallas.

Please visit our Facebook page to learn more about the The Vegetable Connection documentary.

Visiting Professor – University of Florence

Today, I began a summer position as a visiting professor in the Department of Economics and Management at the University of Florence. During my time here I will deliver seminars on inclusive economics and Multiple Use Water Services (MUS), engage in a two-day workshop on Behavioural Ecological Economics (at the University of Florence), co-teach a summer school on Leveraging Ecological Economics to Advance the Sustainability Transition (at the University of Pisa), and co-teach a Hiking Ecological Economics Summer School (in the Apuan Alps). I’m looking forward to meeting over 100 students from across the EU, US, and beyond who have enrolled in the above activities.

Recording of VT Food, Housing, and Well-being Presentation

The recording of our presentation on Addressing Food, Housing, and Well-being at Virginia Tech: Results from the 2019 & 2021 Survey to the VT Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, can now be accessed here.

Food, Housing, and Well-bing at Virginia Tech

On Wednesday, April 26, at 3:30pm, please join Dr. Jessica Agnew and I to learn about the results from our 2019 and 2021 food access and well-being studies at Virginia Tech. The report from our 2019 study can be accessed here. We will provide a brief summary of the 2019 results and then share the findings from the 2021 study. We will also discuss the events that led to the creation of The Market of Virginia Tech and will outline the future research that is underway.

2023 Study Abroad Program

The three main components of our 2023 study abroad program in Italy are now open for any student to apply. Virginia Tech students who are accepted into the VT program will be automatically enrolled into each part of the program.

VT Students: The application portal will remain open for the next week, so please apply this week if you would like to be considered for the program. Please also make sure you apply for a GEO Scholarship (due March 15th).

Non-VT/International Students: I hope you will considered applying to one or more parts of the program via the links below. In 2022, we had over 20 countries represented in the Pisa summer school that hosted around 40 students. It was a really engaging and culturally rich experience for everyone involved in the program.

Get Out There with SPIA – Slides & Recordings

Please find below links to the 3-minute presentations given during the “Get Out There with SPIA” event held on February 10. The slides from the event can be accessed here. 

If you have any questions about a specific program/course, please reach out to the lead faculty member(s) listed below. The first two summer programs have an application deadline of February 15, so please apply before then if you would like to be considered for one of these. 

Washington, D.C. Semester, Leadership through Policy & Governance (WSLG) (Summer) & U.S. Congressional Oversight in Action (Winter)

Study Abroad in Italy (Florence, Pisa, and the Apuan Alps), Sustainable Transitions in Employment, Economic Welfare, and the Environment (Summer)

Support Provided by the VT Global Education Office

Washington, D.C. Semester in Global Engagement (WSGE) (Fall and Spring)

UAP 2004 Real Estate (Summer, online course)

SPIA 2005, 2006, & 2014 Urban Analytics (Summer, online course)

Homeland Security Policy (HSP) Graduate Certificate (open to seniors) (Video)

Study Abroad, Sustainable Policy Making & Planning in Europe (Summer)

  • The 2023 program is full. If you are interested in the 2024 program, please make sure you apply early in the fall semester. 
  • Contacts: Ralph Buehler, ralphbu@vt.edu; Todd Schenk, tschenk@vt.edu

Get Out There with SPIA!

VT undergraduate and graduate students, please join us (in room 111, Architecture Annex or via zoom) on Friday, February 10 at 12pm to learn more about SPIA’s off campus and summer opportunities. 

During the event, faculty will give 3-minute presentations on their programs/courses to provide a broad overview of the full range of unique opportunities available to students.

SPIA Seminar (9/16, 12-1pm)

What is the relationship between climate change and increasing inequality? How can a different paradigm and representation of the world help advance a more sustainable future?

In this seminar, Dr. Tiziano Distefano (an Assistant Professor at the University of Florence) will explore how Ecological Macroeconomics (EM) and Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) can be used to merge diverse knowledge, data, and methodologies to address complex environmental problems and their connections with the socio-economic system. Dr. Distefano will present his EM-IAM research focused on Italy and France, and will discuss how this analysis approach could be applied to the US.

When: September 16, 12-1pm (EST)

Location: Room 111, Architecture Annex

Zoom: Register here