Factors contributed by community organizations to the motivation of teachers in rural Punjab, Pakistan, and implications for the quality of teaching

Improvement in the quality, efficiency, and equity of education, to a considerable extent, depends on the nexus of teaching and learning, which is in turn influenced by the quality of teachers. The teacher has been identified as the single most important factor influencing the quality of education by the Indian Education Commission and the National Policy on Education. Consequently, the government of India, like that of many other developing countries, has been trying to meet the challenge of improving the quality of education by improving teacher quality on several fronts—by raising pre‐service education requirements, improving teacher training, increasing the diversity of the teaching force and promoting stronger participation by local government and community organizations. However, the appointment of contract teachers, popularly termed as ‘para‐teachers’, in the primary education sector at a mass level raises serious question regarding the quality of education at primary level, as in the majority of schemes the academic and professional qualifications for these teachers have been relaxed and lowered as compared to those of regular teachers. They are also paid less. Therefore, a peculiar situation is prevailing in India's primary schools where we have two sets of teachers appointed as ‘regular’ and ‘para‐teachers’ working in the same school and performing the same duties, but are governed by different service conditions. This situation raises questions such as ‘Can India aspire to quality education and school effectiveness in such a situation?’, ‘Who are these para‐teachers, what is the rationale behind their appointment and how widespread is the practice?’ These and other important concerns are discussed in this paper, and the implications identified for school effectiveness and quality of primary education in India.

The paper presents various approaches to the definition of «quality of higher education» that exist in the foreign and domestic scientific literature. Particular attention is paid to the analysis objectivist, competence and relativistic approaches to defining the essence of the quality of higher education. Analyzes the quality system of higher education: quality potential of higher education, the quality of the process of higher education and quality results of higher education. The first approach analyzes the quality of higher education on the basis of input parameters and university educational system (professional level of teachers, the level of logistical support, level of knowledge of students in the initial phase of training, etc.) and outputs (rating graduates, job opportunities, etc.). Relativistic approach based on the achievement of learning objectives. It turns out that as far as the level of educational achievements of students meet the planned result in a requirement educational standards. Competence approach aimed at improving the quality of the educational process in the current period. In assessing the quality of higher worlds consider creative cognitive activity of students, the level prevailing in their skills. According to these approaches, quality higher education is characteristic of higher education that reflects comes state educational standards and requirements of the individual and society. From this we can assume that the quality system of higher education is necessary to distinguish three elements: quality potential of higher education, the quality of the process of higher education and quality results of higher education. The quality of the potential of higher education is reflected in characteristics such as the quality of the educational standard of quality educational programs, the quality of material, information and methodological framework, the quality of the teaching staff, the quality of teaching (educational process, educational activities), quality of research, quality of entrants and students quality education and so on. The quality of the process of higher education – is the quality of education, quality of education technology, the use of active learning, control of the educational process, the quality of faculty motivation for creativity and effectiveness of teaching quality ratio of students to teaching, the intensity of the educational process, methods of presentation of knowledge. As noticed in the Law of Ukraine «On Higher Education», «quality of education – the level of the educational process in higher education that meets the standards of higher education, provides people quality education and promote the creation of new knowledge». Quality of Higher Education describes the result of educational activities, awareness of professionalism, recognition and implementation of individual abilities and characteristics, satisfaction of consumers, employment, careers and salaries, self-mastery methodology as a guarantee application of knowledge and practical skills to benefit from a certified specialist. The Law of Ukraine «On Higher Education» insisting that «the quality of higher education – the level of a person obtained knowledge, skills and other competencies that reflects its competence, in accordance with the standards of higher education». The conditions to ensure the quality of higher education in Ukraine. Effective tool to ensure the quality of higher education in Ukraine serve European and national qualifications framework, including Qualifications Framework European Higher Education Area (LCD EHEA in 2005), the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (YERK NVZH, 2003), the National Qualifications Framework ( NLC 2011) and the implementation of internal and external quality assurance in accordance with the standards and guidelines for quality Assurance in the European higher education area.

The future of education in our country is very dependent on the extent to which the quality and quality of teachers in this country. The quality of good teachers will encourage a very significant improvement in the quality of education. For this reason, careful planning is needed, evaluative actions that are routinely carried out so that we can see and analyze how ways and methods in supporting the quality of education depart from the quality of the teachers themselves. Currently, the paradigm of education governance is very dependent on the principles of transparency, accountability, good vision and mission. all of this can be done with a note that there is quality education administration. Quality education administration. One of the variables to be developed is a good teacher governance model called the concept of good teacher governance. How the role and function of the concept of good teacher management as an effort to create the concept of quality education administration in this country will be the main focus and study in this descriptive writing and review.

This research highlights correlational variables derived from teachers’ attitudes regarding the impact of socioeconomic status on the quality of education and teaching in Kosovo. The research design is descriptive with a theoretical-empirical character. The population is determined numerically and includes around 23,200 teachers from seven regions of Kosovo working in pre-university education from grades 1 to 12. The research was conducted with a sample of 738 teachers from over 50 schools. The study’s results indicate that the socioeconomic status of teachers is correlated with the quality of teaching and education in general. Through teachers’ attitudes, the study enabled the understanding of a consistent correlation regardless of variables such as marital status, rural-urban residence, number of employed family members, qualifications, work experience, and professional development. The findings recommend that the socioeconomic status of teachers should be taken into account when formulating strategies and policies for enhancing the quality of education and teaching in pre-university education in Kosovo.

In Lithuania and in every developed country in the world, it is important to ensure the effectiveness, continuity and competitiveness of educational institutions in new markets. Educational process quality is defined as student’s edification and comprehensive development of student’s innate powers in compliance with the standards of education and school goals.
 In educational institutions quality must be ensured by school leaders and teachers as well as the whole school community. That is why it is important to establish an ongoing quality integrity system – self-assessment in schools. The e quality of educational process is assured by a continuous aspiration of perfection requiring to establish a regular and consistent evaluation system which can balance the state education policy, educational institution‘s goals and community needs.
 To ascertain self-assessment’s influence of educational process quality in Lithuanian comprehensive schools the following research tasks were raised:
 1) to describe the practice of self-assessment quality in Lithuanian comprehensive schools in 2008-2010;
 2) to distinguish the advantages of self-assessment that help to raise the quality of the educational process in schools.
 A survey was carried out in 2010–2011, to analyze how education quality in Lithuanian comprehensive schools is assessed and managed. Analysis of the survey data revealed that the quality of self-assessment and the usage of its results in comprehensive schools is far from perfect and does not completely meet the needs of students. The e survey confirms the necessity of closer cooperation among school leaders and community, for interaction helps to organize and manage expedient educational practice.

Ill fitting legal shoes pinch citizen’s foot. Chinese Proverb Never ask of money spent where the spender thinks it went. Nobody was ever meant to remember or invent what he did with every cent. Robert Frost There is a sense in which discussions of public law and debates about budgeting have a good deal in common. Both budgets and law are essential to the task of public administration. Without legal authority and budgetary resources, agencies cannot function. Indeed, without legal authority they do not even exist, and without financial resources they exist in name only. Cooper, Phillip J (1999) ‘Courts and Fiscal Decision Making’, in: Handbook of Government Budgeting (San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass) p 502. In a global environment of emerging trading blocs, it is imperative for small island states to pay attention to the adequacy of a major plank of a country’s financial infrastructure viz, the public financial management system. For the purposes of this paper, the components of this system are considered...

There are various aspects of social exclusion. Social exclusion refers to individuals or groups being deprived of participation in social development processes such as health, education, living standard, social and political activities, etc. There is a vast body of international literature that defines these processes, but very little detailed empirical analysis available on rural Pakistan. This paper presents a situational analysis of social exclusion in rural Pakistan, using the Pakistan Rural Household Panel Survey (Round 2) data set to compute the flexible multidimensional social exclusion index. A simple ‘sum-score’ technique is used to estimate the depth of social exclusion at the household level. These social exclusion indicators are then aggregated to measure exclusion at the ethnic, regional and provincial levels. The results show that 52% households in rural Pakistan are deprived in wealth, income, agriculture resources, health, education, social and political participation and financial hardship. Households in rural Sindh are more deprived than households in rural Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The ethnic groups Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki, Balochi and Pakhtun are all deprived at certain levels in their respective provinces. However, Saraiki households are more deprived than Punjabi households in rural Punjab and Sindhi households in rural Sindh. These decentralized results can be used to formulate policies to help marginalized societies/ communities at the local and regional levels.

Background. Quality education is inseparable from how leaders can empower all elements in schools by school conditions. Improving the quality of school-based education, starting from the state of schools that are believed to have weaknesses, is time for improvements. Purpose. Therefore educational leaders must be observant in seeing which conditions are most important for improvement or change so that the goal of improving the quality of school-based education achieves its goals. Making changes in the context of improving the quality of education cannot be done alone but requires the full support of all elements of the school, starting from educators, education staff, students and the school community. Method. This article uses the literature review method by analyzing several research results and some literature related to educational leadership and school-based quality. The literature review method collects data using various literature, such as books, journals, and other references that are considered appropriate to the research topic Results. Effective educational leadership can cover all aspects of schools' need to improve quality, especially the quality of teaching staff as the frontline. The qualified teaching staff is a benchmark for school progress which will eventually become the quality of education. Therefore, it needs to be empowered according to the expertise possessed so that the quality of teaching staff can be improved sustainably. Educational leadership in carrying out their duties must be distinct from their leadership style, which also affects the quality of education. Conclusion. In addition, educational leadership also has competencies that are part of the leader's self to realize the achievement of educational goals.

Community schools provide an alternative mode of education delivery in Zambia. They have helped in making basic education accessible to many school goingage children. In addition, community schools have helped in strengthening relationships between schools and surrounding communities; and pupils do not have to travel long distances to schools. Considering that both regular and community basic schools play a very important role in the provision of education, the study sought to establish the quality of education in 12 selected rural basic schools belonging to both categories in the Northern Province of Zambia. Although the fi ndings indicated that all stakeholders felt that some learning was taking place, it was clear that neither community nor regular basic schools provided what may be referred to as good quality education. However, the picture emerging from the fi ndings was that the situation in regular basic schools was slightly better than that found in community schools. Suggestions from respondents on ways of improving the quality of basic education included, among other things, rehabilitating of existing infrastructure, building new classroom blocks and enough teachers' houses, provision of adequate desks as well as teaching and learning materials, deployment of an adequate number of trained teachers, and running of regular inservice training courses.

PurposeDespite Bangladesh's great strides in formulating disaster management policies following the principles of good governance, the degree to which these policies have successfully been implemented at the local level remains largely unknown. The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) to examine the roles and effectiveness of local-level governance and disaster management institutions, and (2) to identify barriers to the implementation of national policies and Disaster-Risk-Reduction (DRR) guidelines at the local community level.Design/methodology/approachBetween January 2014 and June 2015 we carried out an empirical investigation in two coastal communities in Bangladesh. We employed a qualitative research and Case Study approach, using techniques from the Participatory Rural Appraisal toolbox to collect data from local community members as well as government and NGO officials.FindingsOur study revealed that interactive disaster governance, decentralization of disaster management, and compliance by local-level institutions with good governance principles and national policy guidelines can be extremely effective in reducing disaster-loss and damages. According to coastal community members, the local governments have generally failed to uphold good governance principles, and triangulated data confirm that the region at large suffers from rampant corruption, political favoritism, lack of transparency and accountability and minimal inclusion of local inhabitants in decision-making – all of which have severely impeded the successful implementation of national disaster-management policies.Research limitations/implicationsWhile considerable research on good governance has been pursued, our understanding of good disaster governance and their criteria is still poor. In addition, although numerous national disaster management policy and good governance initiatives have been taken in Bangladesh, like many other developing countries, the nature and extent of their local level implementation are not well known. This study contributes to these research gaps, with identification of further research agenda in these areas.Practical implicationsThe study focuses on good disaster governance and management issues and practices, their strengths and limitations in the context of cyclone and storm surges along coastal Bangladesh. It offers specific good disaster governance criteria for improving multi-level successful implementation. The paper deals with International Sendai Framework that called for enhancement of local level community resilience to disasters. Thus, it contributes to numerous policy and practice areas relating to good disaster governance.Social implicationsGood disaster governance would benefit not only from future disaster losses but also from improved prevention and mitigation of natural hazards impact, benefiting society at large. Improvement in knowledge and practice in disaster-risk-reduction through good governance and effective management would ensure local community development and human wellbeing at the national level.Originality/valueThe failure of local-level government institutions to effectively implement national disaster management and resilience-building policies is largely attributable to a lack of financial and human resources, rampant corruption, a lack of accountability and transparency and the exclusion of local inhabitants from decision-making processes. Our study identified the specific manifestations of these failures in coastal communities in Bangladesh. These results underscore the vital need to address the wide gap between national DRR goals and the on-the-ground realities of policy implementation to successfully enhance the country's resilience to climate change-induced disasters.

Networks and Fault Lines: Understanding the role of housing associations in neighbourhood regeneration: a network governance perspective

The changing role of housing associations in neighbourhood regeneration This study aims to increase our understanding of the role of social housing organisations in neighbourhood regeneration governance networks, in order to enhance the performance and outcomes of these networks. Our understanding of how governance networks work is still limited, especially concerning the role of non-state actors like housing associations. Hierarchical government steering is increasingly mixed with market mechanisms and networked forms of decision-making. These shifts in governance often result in more complex decision-making that can easily lead to deadlocks, low-quality outcomes and ambiguous anchorage of democratic principles. Neighbourhood regeneration takes place in rather exceptional governance networks. The organisations involved, and the problems at hand, are place-based. Actors, like housing associations, local authorities and community organisations, are more or less ‘locked’ into the regeneration network and need to collaborate in order to solve the problems. The complexity of neighbourhood renewal processes is often very high, due to the large number of actors involved, and the combination of insufficient housing quality, lack of affordability and supply, along with social and economic problems that need to be addressed. Housing associations focus on the delivery of affordable decent quality housing; but, in many countries—like the Netherlands and England—these organisations also have an important role in neighbourhood regeneration. Housing associations are non-profit organisations that provide housing for low and moderate-income households. They operate largely autonomously from the government, although they are often strongly regulated and dependent on government subsidies. Housing associations in England and the Netherlands share many organisational characteristics and hybrid third-sector values emerging from the need to balance social and economic objectives. They have largely similar tasks and responsibilities, but work in very divergent contexts. This study devotes careful attention to the contingencies of time and place of decisionmaking in order to regenerate insights that are also relevant outside the case-study areas. Therefore, this study places Dutch and English housing associations in their respective political economies, welfare regimes and rental housing systems. The study also highlights the ambiguous position—between state, market, and society—of housing associations. Neighbourhood regeneration evolved from slum clearance and complete area redevelopment in the 1950s and 1960s, towards more integral place-based approaches—in the 1970s and 1980s—with a stronger emphasis on improving the existing housing stock and involving local communities. The nature of the involvement of housing associations in neighbourhood regeneration has changed over time in response to government policies, public opinion, their own strategies, and the strategies of their umbrella organisations. In both England and the Netherlands, their increasingly prominent role —especially after the start of the new millennium—was driven by pressures on housing associations to take a leading role in neighbourhood regeneration. A governance network perspective on neighbourhood regeneration The emergence of the ‘network society’ has led to a fragmentation of power and resources. This fragmentation has led to increased interdependence of actors; public, private and community actors need to collaborate to solve problems. This study uses a governance network approach to explore the complexity and uncertainties involved in neighbourhood regeneration decision-making. The study explores five interrelated questions [see Chapter 1, §1.2], each related to a component of a theoretical framework on decision-making in a network setting. These questions involve context, networks, actors, processes and outcomes. In order to answer the research questions, a qualitative, comparative, longitudinal exploration based on a case study methodology, was conducted. To ensure that comparable cases were explored, similar ‘focal actors’ were chosen (i.e. housing associations), as well as similar ‘policy outputs’ as starting points for the study (i.e. the drafting of neighbourhood regeneration plans). Based on these criteria, housing association Midland Heart, and the neighbourhood Lozells in North/West Birmingham, was selected as the English case study. In the Netherlands, housing association De Huismeesters, and De Hoogte, a neighbourhood in Groningen, were selected. Personal accounts have been an important data source for this study; 70 interviews with 45 different individuals were conducted between 2007 and 2014 in Groningen, and Birmingham. In addition, for the case study in The Hague (Chapter 5), around 25 interviews were conducted in 2004. That chapter was a first introduction to the explanatory capabilities of the network governance perspective. Research results The introductory chapter explores contextual factors—such as economic, social and political developments—that affect the role of housing associations in neighbourhood regeneration. Chapters 3 through 7 contain sections which describe the context relevant to that specific chapter. Chapter 8 is more reflective in nature and discusses the impact of post-crisis ‘Big Society’ (UK), and Participation Society (NL) government policies, as contingency factors for the role of housing associations in relation to local communities. Finally, Chapter 9 brings all the components of the theoretical framework together and especially reflects on the significant impact of contextual developments on the role played by housing associations in neighbourhood regeneration decision-making, and delivery. This research also highlighted the strong network relationships between housing associations and local authorities, but also revealed the often troublesome interactions between housing associations and residents. The title of this thesis: “Networks and Fault lines” is intended to reflect this. This research took place in a period of unexpectedly dynamic economic, social and political developments, i.e. the global financial crisis, the housing-market downturn, government austerity, and a more restricted interpretation of the state’s role in delivering welfare services. The impacts of these developments varied across the two cases. The Dutch housing association proved more resilient to contextual developments than its English counterpart; especially its ability to continue the neighbourhood investment programme. National government funding was less important to the Dutch housing association: the organisation already had access to neighbourhood regeneration investment resources. Other contextual factors, such as the characteristics of the national political economies, welfare and housing systems, indirectly affected the role played by housing associations. These factors mainly influenced the characteristics of the governance networks and the decision-making processes within these networks. Explored through the networks component are the characteristics of the governance networks that housing associations participate in: interdependencies, strength of network relations, and the nature of the coordination mechanisms that underline decision-making. The key concepts to exploring networks are introduced in Chapter 2, and further developed in Chapters 3, 5 and 7. We found high levels of uncertainty, generated by the variety of, and the interdependencies between, actors, the closed-mindedness of actors to the arguments of other parties, and the changes in composition of the governance network. For example, the research found substantial cross-national differences, and indications that network characteristics change and fluctuate over time. In contrast to the situation in Groningen, the dependency of the Birmingham network on external government funding negatively affected the stability and the performance of that network. In Groningen, top-down government intervention also negatively affected the stability of the network, but for other reasons. The, short-lived, abundance of resources for regeneration led to such a high number of new actors, issues, goals and decision-making arenas that the governance network was unable to function properly for some time. The network actors increased the complexity of policy games of their own volition. Sometimes, this was induced by the national government, when local network actors responded to steering instruments such as government subsidies. This led to more network complexity and dynamics in the form of new goals, network actors and decision-making arenas. The third research component—the actors— explored the perceptions and objectives of housing associations, and other key network actors concerning neighbourhood regeneration investments and activities. Housing associations in both case-study areas took a prominent role in neighbourhood regeneration activities, and collaborated closely with local authority departments in drafting regeneration plans. The housing associations regarded improving the quality and variety of the local housing stock as an important element in creating a more mixed community, and retaining and attracting more affluent households. The local authorities supported this predominantly longterm ambition. Residents were more concerned with tackling short-term liveability issues, such as anti-social behaviour, crime and litter. The role of housing associations changed during the 2007-2014 fieldwork period. From occupying a leading role in the regeneration process—in partnership with the local authority—at the start of the exploration in 2007, this role transformed into a more facilitating and supporting role. This appears to have been brought about by two related factors: a serious decline in available regeneration resources, and an increased emphasis on the responsibilities of individual residents and local communities under the influence of the Participation Society agenda, in the Netherlands, and the Localism agenda in England. Residents and private-sector organisations were rarely directly involved in regeneration decision-making. With a little hindsight, one could formulate the contention that these actors were not fully represented in the governance network because the incumbent network actors (i.e. the housing associations and local authorities) chose the devil they knew. They opted for state involvement to acquire investment resources, rather than facing the uncertainties that would have resulted from expanding the network to include residents and private-sector organisations as full and mature network actors. Decision-making processes constitute the fourth component of this study. It explored the decision-making interactions inside the neighbourhood regeneration networks, with a special focus on the interaction strategies used by housing associations. This study found that housing associations in the Groningen and Birmingham cases had a prominent and often leading role in the policy arenas where regeneration policies were developed. National governments in both countries had a strong impact on how these processes evolved, leveraged by the alluring investment resources offered by national regeneration programmes, and the preconditions accompanying these resources. Decision-making took place in arenas that almost exclusively consisted of housing association and local authority professionals. Residents were largely given a consumerist role in the process: their views on neighbourhood needs were collected through various instruments to involve residents, such as surveys and street interviews. Their views were, implicitly, taken into account in the decision-making. Residents were most often not part of these processes and not involved in the development of regeneration investments plans. Not all decision-making arenas were closed to residents. The housing associations in both case-study areas did involve residents as co-decision-makers in more ‘hands-on’ neighbourhood issues such as improving playareas, tackling garbage and litter problems. Decision-making conflicts and deadlocks were rather limited in the investigated governance networks. There was a strong impetus for the housing associations and the local authorities to reach agreements: no consensus would very likely mean no national government funding. Housing associations and local authorities used rather traditional instruments to facilitate decision-making, such as limiting the number of actors involved, and enforcing strict time constraints on decision-making processes. Outcomes are the fifth and last component of this study. In this component we explored how the network—and housing associations in particular—contributed to decision-making and neighbourhood regeneration outcomes. It is evident that the housing associations in the case-study areas contributed significantly to neighbourhood regeneration activities, not only because they channelled considerable investments into the areas, but also due to their strong network relations and frequent interactions with government agencies and local communities. The actions of network actors have improved the quality of some parts of the housing stock. Joint projects have been delivered to improve the public realm and contribute to neighbourhood safety. The research found that actors used very divergent process, input, output and outcome yardsticks to measure success, ranging from the number of projects and activities started, to the amount of money spent, the increase in resident satisfaction, the number of decision-making conflicts overcome, and the improvement achieved in quality-of-life indicators. These yardsticks changed over time and varied from actor to actor. This demonstrated how fluid the assessment of regeneration outcomes can be. New rounds of decision-making, as well as new network actors, led to a review of old decisions, sometimes with a different assessment of the outcomes achieved. Challenges for governance network approaches The governance network perspective has supported the exploration of the role played by housing associations in neighbourhood regeneration decision-making. It has increased our understanding of the complexity and the uncertainties involved in networked forms of decision-making. Governance network theory helped us identify instruments and strategies used by housing associations and local authorities to support regeneration decision-making. The governance network perspective is a rather new academic discipline that can be further developed. This study contributed to this development by addressing some issues and challenges; firstly, the role of residents in decision-making arenas, and secondly, the assessment of governance network outcomes. The theoretical and methodological implications of residents as neighbourhood regeneration co-producers Policy-makers expect a more active role of residents and local communities in the co-production of neighbourhood regeneration. This more inclusive approach may contribute to the quality and legitimacy of decisions made in governance networks, but the efficiency of decision-making will most probably not benefit. The trade-off between efficiency and legitimacy that arises from increased resident involvement is a challenge that calls for the further development of the governance network theory. This research suggests several avenues that could be followed to address this challenge. Firstly, a more extensive use of Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action, as explored in Chapter 8, might be undertaken to supplement the governance network theory. Secondly, more use could be made of the body of knowledge and theories developed in England during the New Labour government (1997-2010), which was often explicitly concerned with networks that linked governments with citizens and local communities [see Chapter 9]. The assessment of governance network outcomes Co-production of neighbourhood regeneration can lead to more democratic and inclusive approaches to decision-making. This is likely to result in better outcomes, but not necessarily in greater consensus among the actors involved. Within network governance approaches, there is a tendency to define satisfactory outcomes as those that enjoy the greatest joint support of the actors involved in the process. More inclusive approaches, which engage a wider range of actors, might appear to be less successful as the benchmark of satisfaction is raised to include a wider range of preferences and experiences. Therefore, we need a more refined assessment of outcomes produced by increasingly heterogeneous networks. Governance network approaches could develop methods – or develop connections with other theories and methodologies – that help evaluate the success of governance networks by combining substantive regeneration outcomes, actor and stakeholder satisfaction, and network learning. Preventing ‘cherry picking’ in the use of assessment yardsticks is essential, given the disinclination of actors to closely scrutinise the outcomes produced by governance networks (as found in this research). Further development of network governance approaches may increase our understanding of how actors construct the yardsticks to evaluate success, and provide tools to facilitate a more comprehensive assessment of network outcomes [See chapter 9]. Housing associations as champions of networks in vulnerable neighbourhoods This research demonstrated that housing associations can play an important stabilising and cohesion-enhancing role in neighbourhood regeneration networks. Their interests are vested in the value of the local housing stock, and this financial incentive secures some level of commitment to vulnerable neighbourhoods. Their hybrid characteristics enable housing associations to collaborate with community, market and government organisations. Moreover, their professional capabilities and their relatively-easy access to resources allow them to champion neighbourhood needs, in cases where communities lack the capacity or cohesiveness to champion their own. Using the leeway that housing associations have, as a hybrid organisation, is an extremely delicate exercise. They should seek a balance between the very different and variable expectations of the outside world. This balancing act is only attainable when housing associations can combine proficiency in network management, with increased accountability. Each neighbourhood is different, and housing associations should take a role that is appropriate to each neighbourhood. To do this, they should increase their knowledge of the neighbourhood challenges and assess the capabilities of residents and the local community to address these problems. Housing associations can support the development of governance networks to address these problems by helping craft networks in such a way that they include all relevant parties, and by providing small but stable funding to support network development and by improving accountability in decision-making processes. There are strong arguments for housing associations to take a central role in neighbourhood regeneration. Housing associations are among the most prominent frontline agencies supporting vulnerable people and places. Through their housing stock, they are literally ‘anchored’ in the most deprived communities. Housing associations should not become the ‘jack-of-all-trades’ in neighbourhood regeneration, but can help develop, nurture and maintain well-functioning and stable regeneration networks which vulnerable neighbourhoods need. Housing associations can be the long-haul champion that neighbourhoods and local communities need.

Sexual violence (SV) is a public health crisis that disproportionately impacts minoritized communities. SV is prominently associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related health outcomes. Access to early psychosocial intervention may be effective for reducing the long-term health consequences. Community-based organizations (CBOs) are uniquely positioned to address the immediate health and support needs of survivors of SV. However, significant barriers exist to CBO service engagement. Engaging individuals with lived experience offers unique insight to improving access and experiences with CBOs. In this qualitative descriptive study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with survivors of SV (n = 20) to understand their experiences with CBOs to develop recommendations for improving support services. Interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis methods. Results fell into three themes encompassing prominent and salient ideas shared across and within interviews: Survivor-Centered Services, emphasizing the importance of centering survivor autonomy in services; Expanded Organizational Outreach, discussing how CBOs may meaningfully increase trust and engagement; and Enhanced Organizational Service Offerings, illustrating needs related to finances and housing, among other social determinants. Findings emphasized the importance of CBOs in promoting the health and wellbeing of SV survivors and highlighted opportunities for improvement related to access to, and quality of, support services offered.

This working paper explores the intersection of decentralisation and democratic development in Cambodia, focusing on the role of community-based organisations (CBOs) in enhancing local government accountability. Drawing on field research in five communes, the study examines three types of CBOs—School Support Committees (SSCs), Forestry Communities (FCs), and Community Fisheries (CFs)—and their interactions with Commune Councils (CCs). The research identifies three critical dimensions of accountability: citizen participation in CBOs, partnerships between CBOs and CCs, and the political power of CCs within the broader governance system. Findings reveal that while CCs are increasingly responsive and open to collaboration, their limited mandates and resources constrain their ability to deliver meaningful accountability. CBOs, though active and locally rooted, often depend heavily on external NGOs, which can undermine their legitimacy and effectiveness. The study concludes that strengthening civil society, improving the capacity and autonomy of CCs, and accelerating deconcentration reforms are essential to fostering democratic accountability in rural Cambodia. Policy recommendations include enhancing local participation, clarifying institutional roles, and aligning responsibilities with resources to support sustainable governance.

This three-paper study examines the equitable integration of community based organization representation in leadership structures in SFUSD schools implementing the community schools model. Paper 1 explores the context for community schools strategy implementation in San Francisco public schools. It includes a brief history of local community schools work, particularly highlighting the partnership with Beacon Centers, a known prototype for successful school-community collaboration. Additionally, it details the concepts of shared leadership, the equitable integration of community based organization (CBO) voice, as well as the impact of power dynamics on school-CBO partner collaboration. The second paper is a qualitative cross case analysis of three schools (including the researcher's site), that explores how they share leadership and integrate community based organization (CBO) representation in leadership structures within those community schools. The schools were comprised of an elementary, middle and high school, all of which were in the process of implementing the community schools strategy. Beacon Centers were located at two of the school sites and their roles were specifically examined. Finally, the third part of the study is a policy paper that focuses on schools and CBO partners sharing leadership practices when implementing the community schools approach. It proposes recommendations that would facilitate and strengthen the equitable inclusion of community based organization voice in leadership structures in San Francisco community schools.