‘Making Religion’ as a Form of State Territorialisation in Southeastern Myanmar

The coastal strip of the western peri-urban area of Barranquilla in the Atlántico Department (Colombia) is experiencing changes in human-environment interactions through infrastructure, residential, and tourism projects in a vulnerable landscape. In the hilly area, fragments of biodiverse tropical dry forest still exist in various states of conservation and degradation. To understand the interrelated social, economic, and ecological transformations in the area, we analyzed land use change on the local scale including the local community’s perception, because the local community is a key actor for sustainable land use. For the analysis of the interrelated social, economic, and ecological processes, we combined visual interpretation of high-resolution satellite imagery, on-site field land use mapping, and a spatial statistical analysis of the distribution of land use classes with in-depth interviews and a participatory GIS workshop, thus benefitting from the complementary methodological strengths of these approaches. The case study is the rural community of El Morro, which exhibits the typical social, economic, and ecological changes of the coastal strip of the western peri-urban area of Barranquilla. The local community perceives a continuous loss of forest area, but observations from on-site field mapping cannot confirm this linear trend. We observed a gradual replacement of traditional land uses such as smallholder agriculture, charcoal production, and cattle breeding by services for tourism, gated community projects for urban dwellers, and infrastructure projects; these spatial developments have several characteristics of rural gentrification. We conclude that the drivers of environmental degradation have changed and the degradation increased. The development projects of external companies have been rejected by the local community and have induced environmental consciousness among community members. Thus, the local community has become an advocate for sustainable land use in the study area.

The successful implementation of projects has been significantly impacted by the marginalization or omission of stakeholders in various aspects of organizational, project, or community management, including decision-making and resource distribution. In Nigeria, the practice of neglecting these key participants in infrastructure initiatives has led to substantial consequences for project timelines, financial allocations, and adherence to project specifications. The objective of this study is to investigate the implications of the exclusion of stakeholders in infrastructure projects success in Nigeria. A comprehensive survey was administered to gather data from 501 individuals representing various professional fields, including engineering, technology, technical work, contracting, consulting, and local community involvement. These participants were associated with three selected infrastructure projects in Nigeria. The survey respondents were categorized into three distinct groups: Project Managers, Design Consultants, and Local Community Residents. The research examined five crucial aspects: (1) how communities are involved in discussions and deliberations about infrastructure projects, (2) the extent of residents/communities participation in making decisions, (3) the consideration of stakeholders' attributes, including their knowledge, influence, power, and interests, (4) the various strategies, both collaborative and aggressiveness, employed by stakeholders to influence projects, and (5) how the perceived legitimacy and urgency of issues influence stakeholders' choice of aggressive tactics. Using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software, a descriptive analysis of the data to assess the extent of stakeholder exclusion from infrastructure projects in Nigeria was conducted. The study revealed several crucial findings about infrastructure projects in Nigeria: (1) Community engagement is limited, with 38.9% of participants agreeing and 37.7% disagreeing that local inhabitants are actively involved in discussions about these developments. (2) A considerable 45% of respondents disagreed that residents and communities are included in the decision-making process, indicating widespread exclusion. (3) A narrow majority (47.9%) of those surveyed believe that Nigerian infrastructure projects consider stakeholders' characteristics, knowledge, power, and interests. (4) The majority of participants (55.4%) indicated that stakeholders employed both collaborative and confrontational tactics to influence infrastructure projects. (5) 55.2% of respondents concurred that the perceived legitimacy and urgency of issues are the primary factors driving stakeholders' confrontational approaches in Nigerian infrastructure initiatives. The study results suggest that neglecting stakeholders can negatively impact infrastructure projects. Therefore, it is crucial for Nigerian project managers and design consultants to understand the possible adverse outcomes of stakeholder exclusion, which may result in project delays and abandonment. To ensure the effective execution of infrastructure projects in Nigeria, both government and private sector project sponsors must recognize all stakeholders and consider their perspectives. It is advised that project initiators engage all key stakeholders throughout the entire project lifecycle, from initial planning to final completion.

Participatory environmental governance of infrastructure projects affecting reindeer husbandry in the Arctic

Participatory governance in the transformation of the South African energy sector: Critical success factors for environmental leadership

The rapid growing of urban populations has triggered the deterioration of natural resources and acceleration of climate change. Therefore, the development of sustainable infrastructure is playing an important role in order to minimize these issues. Generally, most of the sustainable rating tools are designed to focus on building projects only but not applicable to infrastructure projects. Specifically in Malaysia, there is limited studies have been done on the application of sustainable rating system to the infrastructure projects and literature also reveals that the Malaysian construction industry players still have little understanding on the sustainable infrastructure assessment. With these limitations, hence, this paper corresponds to fill the gap by exploring the sustainability attributes in assessing the infrastructure projects. In this paper, an extensive literature review was conducted to give an overview of several worldwide practical sustainable infrastructure rating tools and identifies the most important attributes for assessing the infrastructure projects, which is based on comprehensive and conventional reviews of considerable volume of published journals from 1993 until 2023 in the area of sustainable infrastructure rating system. Based on the best reference of CEEQUAL sustainability topic areas, the results of the review clarified that a total of 14 attributes like effects on neighbours, users, and the workforce; relation with the local community and other stakeholders; transport; material use; waste management; use of land; restoration of contaminated land; landscape issue; water environment; water resources; flood risk; historic environment; ecology and biodiversity; besides energy consumption and carbon emissions are identified as the relevant sustainability attributes for assessing the development of infrastructure projects in Malaysia.

Residents’ communities feature to make innovative tourism development strategies. Residents play an indispensable role in developing policies and sustainable tourism infrastructure projects. A few research studies have sought to understand the animated influence of sustainable tourism opportunities on residents’ life. The study examines how tourism opportunities enhance residents’ quality of life in the context of the New Silk Road Initiative. The main objective of the current research study is to analyze the interplay of perceived impacts of New Silk Road tourism infrastructure development on local communities’ perception of sustainable tourism development and perceived quality of life. Previous researches were focusing on sustainable tourism projects incorporated various approaches to describe the linkage between the chosen variables. This study built and tested a causal model that specified the direct and indirect interconnections of perceived tourism infrastructure, sustainable tourism development, and residents’ perception of the quality of life. This study incorporated a self-administered questionnaire to collect data sets from Kazakhstan’s residents. The findings indicated that both direct and indirect effects of the New Silk Road Initiative of tourism infrastructure exhibited significant and positive influence on residents’ quality of life through residents’ perceived sustainable tourism development. The results indicated that the New Silk Road Initiative for tourism infrastructure positively effects developing sustainable tourism opportunities, which, in turn, escalates residents’ life quality. Besides, findings are useful in designing the promotions of sustainable tourism governance and residents’ welfare under New Silk Road Infrastructural Projects. However, solely tourism infrastructure strategies cannot improve residents’ quality of life. Economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors are vital to developing sustainable tourism at the destinations and need concentration to stimulate and ensure the positive impact of tourism infrastructure on specific beneficial outcomes. The findings’ implications are useful in developing more infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan.

The fast and widespread environmental changes that have intensified in the last decades are bringing disproportionate impacts to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. Changes that affect water resources are particularly relevant for subsistence-based peoples, many of whom already suffer from constraints regarding reliable access to safe water. Particularly in areas where water is scarce, climate change is expected to amplify existing stresses in water availability, which are also exacerbated by multiple socioeconomic drivers. In this paper, we look into the local perceptions of environmental change expressed by the Daasanach people of northern Kenya, where the impacts of climate change overlap with those brought by large infrastructure projects recently established in the Omo River. We show that the Daasanach have rich and detailed understanding of changes in their environment, especially in relation to water resources. Daasanach understand observations of change in different elements of the social-ecological system as an outcome of complex interactions between climatic and non-climatic drivers of change. Our findings highlight the perceived synergistic effects of climate change and infrastructure projects in water resources, driving multiple and cascading impacts on biophysical elements and local livelihoods. Our results also demonstrate the potential of Local Ecological Knowledge in enhancing the understanding of complex social-ecological issues, such as the impacts of environmental change in local communities. To minimize and mitigate the social-ecological impacts of development projects, it is essential to consider potential synergies between climatic and socioeconomic factors and to ensure inclusive governance rooted in local understandings of environmental change.

Rad je kulturnoantropološka analiza suodnosa velikih infrastrukturnih projekata u Gorskom kotaru s populacijom i krajolikom. Primjenom kvalitativnog etnografskog metodološkog okvira, analiziraju se prakse, naracije, sjećanja, mašta i osjećaji u kontekstu tri infrastrukturna projekta: Lujzinska cesta, građena od 1803. do 1811., koja spaja gradove Rijeku i Karlovac; brana u Lokvama s akumulacijskim jezerom, građena od 1952. do 1955; i autocesta Rijeka – Zagreb, građena od 1970. do 2008. godine. U skladu sa suvremenim kulturnoantropološkim pristupima društveno-kulturnog oblikovanja prostora te kroz povijesni i političko-ekonomski kontekst, cilj je pokazati transformaciju prostora pod utjecajem infrastrukture. Istraživanje doprinosi razumijevanju značenja infrastrukture za društvo te povezuje tehnološki, kulturni i društveni segment infrastrukturnih projekata u ruralnom kraju.

Failing to manage relationship risks is a common and significant cause of delay on infrastructure projects. Relationship risks may arise from interactions between stakeholders in an infrastructure project, such as between the sponsor (client) and their supply chains, the sub-contractors on site, the local community, regulatory bodies and governments. This chapter will therefore identify relationship risks that have an impact upon infrastructure projects and propose some possible approaches to management. While recognising the need to deal with the relational aspects arising from the interactions between all these various stakeholders, the chapter focuses on managing the relationships between the different firms, including the sponsor (client), that come together to form the project and deliver the infrastructure. In the next section of the chapter, we set out the aim and objectives.

Wahlbeck's paper 1 provides a succinct and accurate overview of the public health approach to global mental health. Conceptually, public health incorporates not just evidence-based interventions from high-income countries, but also significant emphases on positive behavioral health, prevention, recovery, and social, cultural and environmental factors. Expanding global mental health to include positive behavioral health – and therefore all people – offers the advantage of attention to developmental needs, resilience, prevention, and recovery 2. The behavioral health field has ignored these issues and the related empirical research findings for too long. Relatedly, shifting from “mental health” to “behavioral health” could underscore the broad focus on healthy behaviors rather than a narrower focus on mental illness. As one ramification, mainstreaming behavioral health to the entire population may reduce stigma for those who experience the most severe disabilities. The practical implementations of the Movement for Global Mental Health have been criticized extensively 3. Despite its holistic and laudable rhetoric, implementation attempts have largely involved an expansion of Western evidence-based biomedical or psychological interventions delivered via lay health workers and have not been sensitive to cultures and communities. Local communities often object to the imposition of Western models of individual mental illness when the problems are widespread, the culture is not so individualistic, and behaviors are obviously related to war, poverty, gender discrimination, lack of opportunity, and so on. The failure to engage communities and understand cultural values and norms has sometimes worsened rather than relieved widespread community distress 4. The use of lay health workers helps to expand services and engender trust 5, but these workers typically make diagnoses and dispense medications or psychological therapies following a Western medical model. How could community engagement efforts align more closely with local culture? One basic strategy could be to start with local people on the ground. “Top-down” solutions (i.e., those developed by government experts) that are imposed on communities are often bureaucratic, reductionistic, overly prescriptive, and insensitive to local culture and context. The expensive and inefficient Veterans Administration Healthcare system in the U.S. is often cited as an example of the failure of top-down systems 6. By contrast, “ground-up” approaches (i.e., those developed by local stakeholders and communities) may better serve the goals of public mental health by valorizing local knowledge, competence, and resources. People on the ground – those experiencing behavioral health problems, their families, and their communities, aligned with local leaders, professionals, healers, and health workers – may in fact be in a better position to recognize local needs and resources, to understand local culture, to select and adapt appropriate evidence-based practices, and to innovate solutions. Local culture, however, may sometimes perpetuate stigma and even violations of human rights – hence the need for collaborations with professionals via mutual learning. Learning communities (multi-disciplinary groups focused on a specific health issue) have successfully combined local stakeholders with outside experts to discuss, select, and evaluate potential solutions 7. Community engagement could be enhanced on a global basis via several strategies. First, governments should give priority and funding to ground-up approaches. Community engagement in health care has a long and rich tradition, including principles and strategies for identifying and solving problems 8. Local community activation has in fact often produced positive changes and sometimes led to national and international health reforms: witness the women's health movement in the 1960s and the AIDS movement in the 1990s in the U.S.. Second, the field should recognize that people with behavioral health syndromes generally have goals that differ from those of professionals 9. Rather than more and more medications to reduce symptoms, people generally want support in finding meaningful functional roles. If local people (rather than industry, government, and the medical profession) were to choose services and goals, behavioral health would shift dramatically. For example, women who are oppressed and abused would be likely to emphasize education, advocacy, legal action, employment, and financial independence rather than poly-pharmacy. Third, healthcare systems should encourage people to develop natural resources, e.g., clubs, peer-support groups, spirituality, yoga, and other mindfulness-based therapies 10. These interventions, delivered by lay community members, are widely available in culturally specific forms and languages and can enhance prevention, resilience, treatment, and recovery. Government should encourage and strengthen these natural supports in local communities before assuming that more hospitals, professionals, and medications are the answer. Fourth, lay health care workers should be given the opportunity to collaborate with the people in their communities in selecting the medical and psychosocial interventions that they want and obtaining the training that they need to be effective 11. Likewise, they should be given the choice to veto or adapt interventions that are perceived as harmful or culturally insensitive. Such an approach may require extensive discussions within communities and suspension of Western hegemonic beliefs about the immutability of science-based interventions. Fifth, behavioral health technologies should be used to enhance all of these efforts in ways that maximize choice and cultural tailoring. A wide variety of web-based and mobile health applications are demonstrating effectiveness for prevention, empowerment, resilience, treatment, and maintenance 12. Low-income and middle-income countries are rapidly developing the connectivity that could facilitate widespread distribution, perhaps through lay health workers. Expanding and using these resources could helpfully overcome what is often perceived as the lack of a professional workforce while simultaneously empowering local communities. Global attention to positive behavioral health for all people is essential. We would not gainsay efforts to increase access to evidence-based interventions, but current efforts should include a meaningful understanding and respect for local cultures, communities, and resources.

Infrastructure projects are considered a primary source of economic growth, stimulating trade and investment, and supporting national development goals. While these projects offer numerous benefits, they also raise significant socioeconomic challenges for the local communities. This study investigates the impact of infrastructure development on sustainable livelihoods within the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project framework. The research examines the factors that influence the income and livelihoods of the local population potentially affected by the project. Utilizing primary data and a generalized least squares (GLS) model, the study quantifies these factors' impact on the affected population's income and living standards. The analysis reveals several significant socioeconomic and geographical influences on local living standards. These factors include pre‐existing income levels, educational attainment, household size, proximity to development projects and technological awareness. Notably, geographical proximity to infrastructure projects plays a key role, with income levels and living standards decreasing as the distance from projects (road infrastructure, economic zones and energy projects) increases. Conversely, living standards improve with higher educational attainment (both for individuals and family members) and greater experience. Interestingly, technological awareness also emerges as a significant factor. Individuals who are comfortable using social media and mobile phones and have experience in information technology have seen marked increases in their income levels. Based on these findings, the study recommends continued investment in infrastructure projects alongside targeted initiatives. These initiatives should include educational programs that focus on relevant skills and provide affordable access to technology, complemented by programs that promote digital literacy and awareness.

The success of protected areas depends to a large degree on the support of local communities living in and around these areas. Research has shown that where communities receive tangible and/or intangible benefits, from protected areas they are often more supportive of conservation. Rwanda introduced a tourism revenue sharing policy in 2005 to ensure that local communities receive tangible benefits specifically from protected area tourism and to enhance trust between the Rwanda Development Board (the then Rwanda Office of Tourism and National Parks) and local communities, and to incentivize the conservation of wildlife and protected areas. This study reviewed the tourism revenue sharing programme over the last 15 years, including primary and secondary data, which included interviewing more than 300 community members living around three national parks, as well as other relevant stakeholders. The results show that the tourism revenue sharing programme has resulted in a positive linkage between the national parks and development. Since 2005, ~80% of the funding was used for infrastructure and education projects. The funds are distributed through local community cooperatives, and most local people who are members of these cooperatives had received or were aware of tangible benefits received by the community and tended to have more positive attitudes toward tourism and the national parks. Despite a large amount of tourism revenue being disbursed over the 15-year period, there are still challenges with the programme and the overall impact could be enhanced. Recommendations as to how to address these are presented.

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of Chinese infrastructure projects on the sustainable development of transport and logistics systems in Kyrgyzstan, including economic, environmental, and social aspects. The study analysed investment flows and the impact of transport infrastructure, evaluated the use of modern construction technologies, and conducted an environmental analysis of infrastructure projects and regional economic integration. It was found that Chinese infrastructure projects in Kyrgyzstan contribute to a significant improvement in the transport network, which has a positive impact on the economic development of the country. Projects such as the modernisation of the Bishkek-Osh road significantly reduce transportation time transportation costs, which stimulates the growth of trade and investment. However, potential risks have also been identified, including environmental problems such as increased pollution levels and impacts on local ecosystems. Social aspects also require attention: improved infrastructure has contributed to job creation, but has also caused displacement of local communities and a change in their way of life. The analysis showed that Chinese investments in infrastructure help to integrate Kyrgyzstan into regional transport and trade networks, which increases its strategic importance in Central Asia. In order to minimise the negative impact on the environment, it is recommended to strengthen environmental control and develop measures to compensate for the consequences for local communities. The study provides information on the complex impacts of Chinese infrastructure projects on the sustainable development of transport and logistics systems.

More and more infrastructure projects have been developed due to rapid economic growth worldwide. Compared to other construction projects, infrastructure projects are known for their long operational periods, construction complexity, and large impact on local communities. These issues make sustainable infrastructure development a growing necessity. However, the patterns and trends of sustainable infrastructure research remain vague without a systematic review and analysis. This study reviews the current sustainable infrastructure research using scientometric analysis techniques; that is, citation burst, keyword co-occurrence, direct citation and co-citation analyses. The findings reveal the trends of sustainable infrastructure research, main research areas within the scope of sustainable infrastructure, research front and pattern of citations in sustainable infrastructure research. The research findings also contribute to recognizing research gaps in the extant sustainable infrastructure literature and therefore provide directions for future research.

Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) have increasingly engaged in outward foreign direct investment in recent years, and particularly into the infrastructure sector of developing economies. This has been prompted by the infrastructure-led economic integration plan of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. However, such collaboration faces many challenges. Infrastructure projects are often undertaken in industries, countries, and regions posing particular and difficult challenges, and with divergent, often conflicting interests, with the ensuing conclusion that the MNE is simply exploiting the project and not delivering value to the host country. Overall, not only does the infrastructure project have to be well-functioning with expected returns (or savings) realized, but these projects face close scrutiny from local communities, labor, opposition parties, neighboring countries, and various international bodies and nonprofits, requiring delicate handling of the principals involved. The unfolding of these issues and their management by the multinational are examined through an in-depth longitudinal case study. The data are drawn from major participants and stakeholders around a leading Chinese MNE and the mega project of the construction of a major hydropower plant in Pakistan.