RCE Salisbury - 2020

Promoting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Analysis of Best Practices enacted by UNA Chapters in the Southern Region
CSV
Basic Information
Title of project : 
Promoting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Analysis of Best Practices enacted by UNA Chapters in the Southern Region
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Salisbury
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
Brittany Foutz
Organizational Affiliation: 
RCE Salisbury Co-Director
E-mail: 
blfoutz@salisbury.edu
Name: 
Nathaniel Sansom
Organizational Affiliation: 
RCE Salisbury Member
E-mail: 
nsansom1@gulls.salisbury.edu
Format of project: 
Research Study: YouTube Presentation, Research Report
Language of project: 
English
Date of submission:
Saturday, November 7, 2020
Web link: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=karojxad5Sg&list=PLxyi1mweiqq1vNJgMwfscUvKNCJVuaSKQ
Does this project link to any education and/or sustainable development policy or policies?: 
No
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Americas
Country: 
United States
Location(s): 
Salisbury, MD
Address of focal point institution for project: 
Salisbury University, 1101 Camden Ave, Salisbury, MD 21801
Ecosystem(s):
Agricultural, Coastal, Urban/Peri-urban
Target Audience:
Higher
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
The Eastern Shore began the twenty-first century with strong growth across multiple economic indicators. The region gained jobs at double the rate of the rest of the state from 2001 to 2007 while also outpacing the state in net business creation and keeping pace in wage growth. However, there are more people experiencing poverty now than there were 30 years ago. Maryland’s poverty rate is 19 percent higher than it was in 1990 – a year that the U.S. economy entered a recession – and there are nearly 200,000 more Marylanders trying to get by on incomes below the federal poverty line. Nearly every county in the state has a higher poverty rate than it had in 1990. While unemployment rates have continued to decline since the 2008 recession, wages often are not high enough to support a family. However, Maryland has a history of supporting effective programs that help lift people out of poverty. Working together, the state can do even better. Maryland is working strongly to support efforts to address the state’s many unmet needs and invest in the success of all Marylanders.
The State of Maryland has an estimated population of 6,052,177 people based on the most recent US census calculations. When broken down into regional populations, the Eastern Shore of Maryland region includes the following nine counties: Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Worcester, and Somerset. The sparse populated counties of the Eastern Shore of Maryland have a combined population of 454,889 or 13% of the state population.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
SDG 13 - Climate Action

The core area in the region constitutes the “shore counties” or those that reside either within or on the Chesapeake Bay (watershed) and along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. This includes all of the counties in Delaware, Maryland, and nineteen of the forty counties in Virginia. These physical locations are being subjected to the quickest increases in climate change activities and the poorest residents in these locales will experience severe detrimental impact on their quality of life.
SDG 4 - Quality Education

Secondly, the citizens of the Delmarva Peninsula, by and large, have lower levels of educational attainment and lower incomes. RCE Salisbury will focus in part on communities in these areas that experience the highest high school dropout rates where the social reproduction of poverty is endemic.
SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

The most vulnerable members of this region are in the crosshairs of climate change and educational disadvantage. Both will lead to increased social conflict and with limited resources and limited planning the consequences are dire. These dynamics will impact the foundational resources that people and the institutions built on these resources - depending on for survival, security, and prosperity.

Contents
Status: 
Ongoing
Period: 
June, 2020
Rationale: 
Following the conclusion of this study, RCE Salisbury will endeavor to reinforce our research and outreach capacities by partnering with UNA Salisbury to both inspire future academic research and to help shape collaborative outreach efforts through which our UNA leaders, RCE Fellows, and Millennium Fellows will partner to further the mandate of the United Nations and help Salisbury University faculty, students, and staff get involved with the UN SDGs and research taking place at the Bosserman Center and on the campus of Salisbury University. Data collected through this study will allow the student researcher serving as UNA Southern Region Campus Fellow to identify areas for capacity reinforcement and improvement. Once completed, this study will serve a dual purpose benefiting both UNA Chapters across the Southern Region and the Salisbury University Community sponsoring this study. In accordance with its stated purpose to identify and communicate best practices and innovative outreach techniques employed by UNA Chapters to Chapters throughout the region, this study will also serve to identifies areas for improvement by which allied organizations within the Salisbury University Community can pursue opportunities for growth and partnership.
Objectives: 
The objective of this study is to further the understanding of best practices employed within UN Association
Chapters located within the Southern Region.
Activities and/or practices employed: 
The research question will be as follows: What are the differences in the United Nations Association Southern Chapters located within the thirteen states and the District of Columbia, which comprise the UNA’s Southern Region? This study will be cross-sectional, meaning it will only take place once, and will use an online survey of twelve questions. The survey time estimate will take between five to twenty minutes to complete. At the conclusion of this study, a report outlining all of the study’s findings will be made available to one's UNA Chapter and the general public in an online format. This report will include a list of trends and best practices observed within the Southern Region and will provide suggestions for ways in which one's Chapter can continue to work both independently and collaboratively with other Chapters throughout the Southern Region. The report will also be provided to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, as requested through a Salisbury University 2020 Summer Mentorship Grant.
Size of academic audience: 
50+
Results: 
This is an ongoing project but a lot of UN Association Chapters have partaken in the project.
Lessons learned: 
The researchers learned the importance of quality research results through employing analytic induction. The primary method employed in this cross-sectional qualitative study was that of analytic induction. In order to collect data from UNA Chapters to illuminate best practices, Google Forms was utilized to create and
distribute a survey that will consist of no more than 15 questions. The researchers also took advantage and saw the value of online capabilities such as Google Forms.
Funding: 
Salisbury University Office of Graduated Studies and Research Summer 2020 Research Mentor Grant
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
Indirect
SDG 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture 
Indirect
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Indirect
SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 
Direct
SDG 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 
Indirect
SDG 6 - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all 
Indirect
SDG 7 - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all 
Indirect
SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all 
Indirect
SDG 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation 
Indirect
SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries 
Indirect
SDG 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 
Direct
SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns 
Indirect
SDG 13 - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts 
Indirect
SDG 14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development 
Indirect
SDG 15 - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss 
Indirect
SDG 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 
Indirect
SDG 17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development 
Direct
Theme
Traditional Knowledge  
Direct
ESD for 2030-Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Developing capacities of educators and trainers 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 4 - Mobilizing youth 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
state: 
Indirect
Update: 
No