◆ TOPIC: Sustainability Backfire: Public Participation and Leadership for Inclusivity

◆ PRESENTER: George C. Homsy (Associate professor, Binghamton University)

◆ ABSTRACT: Sustainability is typically treated as a top-down, technical challenge that does not require local feedback or input. In this talk, Professor George Homsy will draw on two of his papers to talk about two aspects of public participation in sustainability initiatives. First, Homsy will describe the ways that sustainability policies might break down or backfire when officials fail to directly involve residents, particularly disenfranchised residents. Second, Homsy discusses the role of local government leadership on sustainability policymaking. He and his co-author (Dr. Kristina Lambright) finds that women leaders make it more likely that women-led jurisdictions adopt more sustainability programs in particular areas. Homsy will outline his upcoming research project which examines whether female leaders’ greater openness to citizen involvement in the policymaking process and women’s socialization to focus on communal rather than individual interests help account for our findings.

◆ SHORT BIO: Dr. George C. Homsy directs the Sustainable Communities master’s degree program and the Environmental Studies undergraduate degree program at Binghamton University, in Binghamton, New York, U.S.A. Homsy is an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration at Binghamton University.

◆ WEBEX link: snu.webex.com/meet/snuadi

◆ INQUIRY: gspabk@snu.ac.kr