UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

Browse

Filters

2020 - 20242

Settings

Subject: search.filters.subject.Participatory Action Research

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Spreading the Seeds of a Solidarity Landscape: Co-creating a Biophilic Landscape and Training Curriculum in Northern Italy
    (2024) Christensen, Mary Elizabeth; Ruggeri, Deni; Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (PSLA); Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    A wealth of research explores the link between biophilia, access to nature, health, well-being, and quality of life (Wilson, 1984; Kellert, 1997; Louv, 2008; Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Cooper Marcus & Sachs, 2013). Drawing on this body of research, nature-based interventions employed by social work professionals promote positive connections to nature and improve health and well-being for vulnerable populations (Obeng et al., 2023; Overbey et al., 2021). This thesis explores a participatory action research project using the case study of Villaggio Solidale, a charitable co-housing community in Northern Italy. Following the use of participatory methods, including co-creation, listening, observation, and prototyping, researchers are co-designing a Solidarity Landscape and co-creating a training curriculum with community social workers and educators to integrate nature-based interventions, biophilia, and well-being into the larger ecosystem surrounding Villaggio Solidale, ensuring that the landscape will become a central tool to support community solidarity, health, and well-being.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Geodesign and the Expression of Environmental Values: A Mixed Methods Evaluation
    (2020) Kuniholm, Matthew Whitney; Geores, Martha; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    There is a stark contrast between professed environmental values and actual action taken to express those values. This ‘value-action gap’ limits the extent to which individuals enact both simple and collective actions to address critical and declining environmental trends ranging from global climate change to species loss and habitat degradation. While conceptual models positing individual and institutional approaches to overcome the value-action gap do exist, they minimize the complexity of socio-environmental challenges, on the one hand, or the importance of individual action, on the other. This dissertation evaluates an alternative approach to overcoming the value-action gap using a participatory form of environmental design and planning known as geodesign. Despite its apparent benefits, the geodesign approach remains under-theorized and largely unevaluated from the geographic perspective. Using a taxonomic review of geodesign practice and two case studies, this dissertation critically evaluates geodesign practice, identifies opportunities to improve its participatory characteristics, and positions the geodesign framework for use in participatory action research. The results show that the geographic concept of place and theory of place making can improve geodesign practice, account for its current limitations, and explain its hypothesized role in overcoming the value-action gap.