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Author

Rositsa T. Ilieva

Other affiliations: The New School
Bio: Rositsa T. Ilieva is an academic researcher from City University of New York. The author has contributed to research in topics: Food systems & Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 15 publications receiving 347 citations. Previous affiliations of Rositsa T. Ilieva include The New School.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings indicate that social media activity in parks is positively correlated with proximity to public transportation and bike routes, as well as particular park characteristics such as water bodies, athletic facilities, and impervious surfaces, but negatively associated with green space and increased proportion of minority ethnicity and minority race in neighborhoods in which parks are located.

186 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2018
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss challenges and opportunities for the use of social media data in sustainability research and practice at the city level, and identify useful directions for future research, and suggest that solutions to most SMD challenges already exist.
Abstract: A voluminous and complex amount of information — ‘big data’ — from social media such as Twitter and Flickr is now ubiquitous and of increasing interest to researchers studying human behaviour in cities. Yet the value of social-media data (SMD) for urban-sustainability research is still poorly understood. Here, we discuss key opportunities and challenges for the use of SMD by sustainability scholars in the natural and social sciences as well as by practitioners making daily decisions about urban systems. Evidence suggests that the vast scale and near-real-time observation are unique advantages of SMD and that solutions to most SMD challenges already exist. In this Review, the authors discuss challenges and opportunities for the use of social-media data in sustainability research and practice at the city level, and identify useful directions for future research.

161 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest opportunities for cities to engage in what they call strategic practice management to support shifts toward sustainable practices, and thus sustainable socio-technical systems are composed of everyday practices that are forged as they are performed in specific places.
Abstract: Socio-technical systems are composed of everyday practices that are forged as they are performed in specific places. Transitioning these systems toward sustainability involves changing the practices that constitute and reproduce them. This is true of the food system, which is enacted by the performance of activities, from food production to disposal, in specific communities. Cities shape, support and normalize food practices, and in the process play an important role in transitioning the wider food system. The practice of shopping at farmers markets in NYC by recipients of federal food benefits illustrates how this and related practices are initiated, encouraged, coordinated, and enacted, and how corresponding shifts in the meanings, competences and material elements comprising a practice influence the food system. Based on this case, the paper suggests opportunities for cities to engage in what we call strategic practice management to support shifts toward sustainable practices, and thus sustainable socio-technical systems.

83 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an in-depth comparative analysis of the 2030 Agenda and the sustainable food systems strategies of five of the ten largest cities in North America (New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Toronto) helps to uncover key gaps and areas of convergence between goals, objectives, and evaluation frameworks.
Abstract: The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the transition from Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), heralds an important turn in global sustainability policy. With implementation now taking place in all countries, regardless of GDP, a key question is how affluent governments in large metropolitan areas can effectively contribute to global sustainable development. This paper argues that urban food systems strategies—a relatively new tool in local policymaking in the Global North—have the potential to amplify and consolidate national and international efforts in this direction and facilitate a more synergistic approach to SDG implementation. An in-depth comparative analysis of the 2030 Agenda and the sustainable food systems strategies of five of the ten largest cities in North America—New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Toronto—helps to uncover key gaps and areas of convergence between goals, objectives, and evaluation frameworks. Goal- and indicator-level analyses cast light on promising areas for cross-jurisdictional cooperation and suggest that, while not without limitations, urban food systems strategies offer manifold pathways to streamline global, national, and local implementation efforts and effectively forward the 2030 Agenda over the next decade.

40 citations

Book
13 Sep 2016
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the rise of the urban food planning movement in the Global North and provide insights into the new relationship between cities and food which has started developing over the past decade, shedding light on cities as new spaces for food system innovation and on food as a tool for sustainable urban development.
Abstract: This highly original work examines the rise of the urban food planning movement in the Global North and provides insights into the new relationship between cities and food which has started developing over the past decade. It sheds light on cities as new spaces for food system innovation and on food as a tool for sustainable urban development. Drawing insights from the literature on socio-technical transitions, the book presents examples of pioneering urban food planning endeavours from North America and Western Europe (especially the Netherlands and the UK). These are integrated into a single mosaic helping to uncover the conceptual, analytical, design, and organizational innovations emerging at the interface of food and urban policy and planning. The author shows how promising "seeds of transition" to a shared urban food planning agenda are in the making, though the urban food planning niche as a whole still lacks the necessary maturity to lastingly influence mainstream planning practices and the dominant agri-food system regime. Some of the strategic levers to cope with the current instability and limitations of urban food planning and effectively transition it from a marginal novelty to a normalized domain of policy, research, and practice are systematically examined to this end. The conclusions and recommendations put forward have major implications for scholars, activists, and public officials seeking to radically transform the co-evolution of food, cities, and the environment.

29 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the role and ethics of planners acting as sources of misinformation are considered, and a practical and politically sensitive form of progressive planning practice is defined. But the authors do not discuss the role of planners in this process.
Abstract: Abstract Information is a source of power in the planning process. This article begins by assessing five perspectives of the planner's use of information: those of the technician, the incremental pragmatist, the liberal advocate, the structuralist, and the “progressive.” Then several types of misinformation (inevitable or unnecessary, ad hoc or systematic) are distinguished in a reformulation of bounded rationality in planning, and practical responses by planning staff are identified. The role and ethics of planners acting as sources of misinformation are considered. In practice planners work in the face of power manifest as the social and political (mis)-man-agement of citizens' knowledge, consent, trust, and attention. Seeking to enable planners to anticipate and counteract sources of misinformation threatening public serving, democratic planning processes, the article clarifies a practical and politically sensitive form of “progressive” planning practice.

1,961 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Creative City as discussed by the authors is a classic and has been republished many times, aiming to make readers feel: "I can do that too" and to spread confidence that creative and innovative solutions to urban problems are feasible however bad they may seem at first sight.
Abstract: The Creative City is now a classic and has been republished many times. It is an ambitious book and a clarion call for imaginative action in running urban life. It seeks to inspire people to think, plan and act imaginatively in the city and to get an ideas factory going that turns urban innovations into reality. Its aim is to make readers feel: ‘I can do that too’ and to spread confidence that creative and innovative solutions to urban problems are feasible however bad they may seem at first sight.

870 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: From smart grids to disaster management, high impact problems where existing gaps can be filled by ML are identified, in collaboration with other fields, to join the global effort against climate change.
Abstract: Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, and we, as machine learning experts, may wonder how we can help. Here we describe how machine learning can be a powerful tool in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping society adapt to a changing climate. From smart grids to disaster management, we identify high impact problems where existing gaps can be filled by machine learning, in collaboration with other fields. Our recommendations encompass exciting research questions as well as promising business opportunities. We call on the machine learning community to join the global effort against climate change.

441 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an extensive literature review of concepts, definitions and principles of agroecology, and their historical evolution, considering the three manifestations of Agro-ecology as a science, a set of practices and a social movement.
Abstract: There is consensus that the global food system is not delivering good nutrition for all and is causing environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity, such that a profound transformation is needed to meet the challenges of persistent malnutrition and rural poverty, aggravated by the growing consequences of climate change. Agroecological approaches have gained prominence in scientific, agricultural and political discourse in recent years, suggesting pathways to transform agricultural and food systems that address these issues. Here we present an extensive literature review of concepts, definitions and principles of agroecology, and their historical evolution, considering the three manifestations of agroecology as a science, a set of practices and a social movement; and relate them to the recent dialogue establishing a set of ten iconic elements of agroecology that have emerged from a global multi-stakeholder consultation and synthesis process. Based on this, a consolidated list of principles is developed and discussed in the context of presenting transition pathways to more sustainable food systems. The major outcomes of this paper are as follows. (1) Definition of 13 consolidated agroecological principles: recycling; input reduction; soil health; animal health; biodiversity; synergy; economic diversification; co-creation of knowledge; social values and diets; fairness; connectivity; land and natural resource governance; participation. (2) Confirmation that these principles are well aligned and complementary to the 10 elements of agroecology developed by FAO but articulate requirements of soil and animal health more explicitly and distinguish between biodiversity and economic diversification. (3) Clarification that application of these generic principles can generate diverse pathways for incremental and transformational change towards more sustainable farming and food systems. (4) Identification of four key entry points associated with the elements: diversity; circular and solidarity economy; co-creation and sharing of knowledge; and, responsible governance to enable plausible pathways of transformative change towards sustainable agriculture and food systems.

208 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Critical areas for the development of the field include integration of different types of information in data mashups, development of quality assurance procedures and ethical codes, improved integration with existing methods, and assurance of long-term, free and easy-to-access provision of public social media data for future environmental researchers.
Abstract: The analysis of data from social media and social networking sites may be instrumental in achieving a better understanding of human-environment interactions and in shaping future conservation and environmental management. In this study, we systematically map the application of social media data in environmental research. The quantitative review of 169 studies reveals that most studies focus on the analysis of people’s behavior and perceptions of the environment, followed by environmental monitoring and applications in environmental planning and governance. The literature testifies to a very rapid growth in the field, with Twitter (52 studies) and Flickr (34 studies) being most frequently used as data sources. A growing number of studies combine data from multiple sites and jointly investigates multiple types of media. A broader, more qualitative review of the insights provided by the investigated studies suggests that while social media data offer unprecedented opportunities in terms of data volume, scale of analysis, and real-time monitoring, researchers are only starting to cope with the challenges of data’s heterogeneity and noise levels, potential biases, ethics of data acquisition and use, and uncertainty about future data availability. Critical areas for the development of the field include integration of different types of information in data mashups, development of quality assurance procedures and ethical codes, improved integration with existing methods, and assurance of long-term, free and easy-to-access provision of public social media data for future environmental researchers.

203 citations