ORCID

0009-0006-0624-0699

Keywords

Public Administration; Climate Governance; Sustainability Policy; Resilience Planning; Social Equity; Mental Health Policy

Abstract

This dissertation examines how sustainability and resilience are defined, implemented, and experienced across three levels of climate governance: household perception, community experience, and federal policy. Climate resilience is often evaluated through infrastructure performance, emissions targets, restoration timelines, and preparedness systems, yet these measures do not fully capture how residents experience uncertainty, support, equity, and mental health. To address this gap, the dissertation develops and applies the Integrated Policy Framework for Sustainability and Resilience (IPFSR). IPFSR organizes six domains into three functional categories: policy outcomes, human-centered dimensions, and implementation mechanisms. Sustainability and operational/physical resilience are treated as policy outcomes; mental health and social equity as human-centered dimensions; and community engagement and policy integration as implementation mechanisms. Using a three-paper design, the dissertation applies IPFSR across household survey data, community focus group narratives, and federal sustainability plans. Paper 1 uses survey data from a National Science Foundation-funded project to examine the relationship between perceived household vulnerability and Perceived Hurricane Disruption Risk (PHDR) in the REACH Hub demonstration context. Results show a positive but marginal association between perceived household vulnerability and PHDR. Paper 2 uses secondary qualitative analysis of focus group transcripts from a U.S. Department of Energy-funded project to show that power outages created mental health and governance burdens as residents managed stress, caregiving responsibilities, unclear restoration timelines, uneven assistance, and reliance on informal support. Paper 3 analyzes 26 federal agency sustainability plans and finds implementation asymmetry: sustainability is consistently operationalized, while mental health is nearly absent and social equity and policy integration are mostly symbolic. Together, the findings show that equitable resilience governance requires more than technical systems. The dissertation contributes to public administration by showing how policy design, institutional coordination, community support, mental health, and household capacity must be integrated to make resilience and sustainability meaningful for residents.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Stevens, Kelly

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

Public Affairs

Format

PDF

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

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