The Sustainability and Governance Lab is an interdisciplinary research hub that investigates the planning, adoption, implementation, and effectiveness of policies and programs that promote sustainable development.
Our ongoing research programs include:
- Clean Energy Innovation and Policy
- Climate Change and Disaster Resilience
- Economic Development
- Land Use Policy, and
- Smart Cities and Digital Governance.
Our research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, The Solar Foundation, Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, and the American Institute for Economic Research. We are also collaborating with our community partners at all levels to develop strategies that improve the environmental health, social equity, and economic vitality of our community.
Research Programs
Clean Energy Innovation and Policy
In this area, we study:
- Clean energy technology innovation and diffusion
- Impacts and implementation of energy policies and sustainability programs
- Community engagement approaches
- Energy justice
Climate Change and Disaster Resilience
In this area, we study:
- Climate change
- Disaster resilience
Economic Development
In this area, we study:
- Driving forces of urban innovation and entrepreneurship
- Local economic development strategies and their impacts on economic outcomes, social equity and sustainability
Land Use Policy
In this area, we study:
- Local adoption of various growth management programs
- Effective of growth management programs in curbing urban sprawl, inducing desirable development patterns, and fostering sustainability
Smart Cities and Digital Governance
In this area, we study:
- Smart city technology adoption
- How smart city technologies affect citizen engagement & public service delivery
News
09/29/2022: Our paper “Perception of Hurricane and COVID-19 Risks for Household Evacuation and Shelter Intentions” has been published in The Professional Geographer. It tests households’ evacuation decisions given the potential conflicts between the perceived risks from a hurricane and the coexisting pandemic.
07/12/2022: Heewon Lee’s paper “Public Service Delivery on Mobile Apps: Factors of Diversification and Coproduction” has been published in the International Journal of Public Administration. Her study builds an understanding of local governments’ decisions to provide public services using mobile apps and incorporating interactive services for coproduction.
05/25/2022: Heewon Lee has published her single-authored article “Collaborative governance platforms and outcomes: An analysis of Clean Cities coalitions” in the Governance. This research examines the way collaborative platforms create, scale, and affect the outcome of supplying alternative fueling infrastructure.
04/21/2022: Yixin Liu successfully defended his dissertation and will start his postdoc in the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC) at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs this summer. Congratulations, Dr. Liu!
03/08/2022: Our paper “Encouraging voluntary government action via a solar-friendly designation program to promote solar energy in the United States” has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This article reports the results of a national evaluation we did for The Solar Foundation’s SolSmart Program.
03/01/2022: We launched our interdisciplinary research project: “Developing A Platform to Incorporate Net-Zero Targets in Upgrading Infrastructure Resilience in the Florida Panhandle”. The project is sponsored by the FSU Collaborative Collision Program (Award: $25,000; PI: Dr. Tian Tang).
Contact Sustainability and Governance Lab Team