IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Via Zoom
View video.
*********************************************************************************
Advocates: Citizen engagement with the law to address water governance in Cape Town and Accra
This talk will discuss how those living and working in underserved areas of Cape Town, South Africa and Accra, Ghana perceived the links between water related concerns in their communities, law, and space. The talk will engage the fields of geography and legal studies and specifically to legal geography which lies at the intersection of these two disciplines. This will deepen an understanding of the reciprocal relationship between the use of space and law and the ways that these can co-create each other. The study in Cape Town and Accra draws on interviews with activists and legal professionals as well as on local, state, or international laws, regulations, and court filings. This talk will also help sketch the ways to conceptualize the legal landscape and mobilize resources to better address the needs in these communities. This resulted in a multi-sited and interdisciplinary examination of water governance, which should inform scholarly discussions about the role of law in water equality.
Scott McKenzie
IRES PhD Program
Bio:
Scott is a PhD candidate in Resource Management and Environmental Studies working under the supervision of Dr. Leila Harris. Scott’s research and writing focuses on how contending notions of scale and regulation affect water policy (within the water-energy-food nexus). His work considers the relationship between the natural environment, human development, and law. He has also worked as a development agent for the United States Peace Corps in Morocco and as a lawyer.
Empirical Analysis of One-way Carsharing in Metro Vancouver
Vancouver is considered the one-way carsharing capital of North America. While very popular, especially with younger demographics, some key questions have lingered about the value of such services. Early research, mostly based on user surveys, suggested many benefits, such as significant reduction in private car ownership and better utilization of public transit infrastructure. But surveys are notorious for self-selection among respondents and aspirational answers to questions. We collected data about the actual use of vehicles from their open APIs for both Car2Go and Evo. We explored actual use patterns from over 5 million observations of vehicle locations and availabilities that can accompany the findings in the literature for better understanding and improving the one-way carsharing service.
Nima Jamshidi
IRES MSc Program
Bio:
Nima Jamshidi is a second-year Master of Science student at UBC under the supervision of Hadi Dowlatabadi at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability (IRES). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Tehran, where he focused on several projects from different fields, including Structural Finite Element Model Updating, and Water Resources Engineering. In order to broaden his knowledge about socio-ecological systems, he has joined IRES where he studies sustainable transportation, using data-driven analyses.