Civil Society Sector Research Articles

Deep Learning Meets Deep Democracy: Deliberative Governance and Responsible Innovation in Artificial Intelligence

Responsible innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) calls for public deliberation: well-informed “deep democratic” debate that involves actors from the public, private, and civil society sectors in joint efforts to critically address the goals and means of AI. Adopting such an approach constitutes a challenge, however, due to the opacity of AI and strong knowledge boundaries between experts and citizens. This undermines trust in AI and undercuts key conditions for deliberation. We approach this challenge as a problem of situating the knowledge of actors from the AI industry within a deliberative system. We develop a new framework of responsibilities for AI innovation as well as a deliberative governance approach for enacting these responsibilities. In elucidating this approach, we show how actors from the AI industry can most effectively engage with experts and nonexperts in different social venues to facilitate well-informed judgments on opaque AI systems and thus effectuate their democratic governance.

The Limits of “Good Law”: Civil Society Regulation in South Africa and Ethiopia

AbstractAt the end of apartheid, the South African government adopted laws regulating civil society that are widely seen as “good” laws: laws designed to encourage and facilitate a thriving civil society sector. In 2019 the Ethiopian government repealed the repressive, decade-old Charities and Societies Proclamation and replaced it with a much more open and permissive regulatory system, also aimed at facilitating a thriving civil society sector. This article compares South Africa's post-apartheid civil society organization (CSO) laws with Ethiopia's 2019 law, to examine the different and overlapping ways in which these regimes attempt to advance the interests of CSOs against an historical background of state oppression. In doing so, it examines what “good” regulation of CSOs constitutes in practice and finds that there are significant limits to the effectiveness of regulatory change in addressing the many, complex problems CSOs face, especially in the wake of political and legal oppression.

Challenges for the Integrated Management of Priority Areas for Conservation in Tamaulipas, México

Protected areas (PAs) are considered as a globally accepted strategy for biodiversity conservation that demonstrates the difficulties in meeting the proposed objectives; therefore, different conservation schemes are promoted to integrate the design of interfaces that favor the exchange of knowledge among different sectors, systems and stakeholders. The objective of this study was to characterize challenges regarding the protection of natural protected areas and other biodiversity conservation schemes in Tamaulipas, Mexico. This paper analyzed 39 areas with some form of protection status in addition to the 70 national and international designations that are part of them. A document review and 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts from the public, private, academic, and civil society sectors. The data were analyzed from a qualitative perspective using ATLAS.ti 9 software. The results show the overlapping of protection schemes in priority areas; the lack of policies and mechanisms that integrate the different schemes to facilitate the exchange between stakeholders; and regulatory, structural, governance, management, participation, and operational gaps, as well as the absence of comprehensive and long-term work. The importance of and challenges in articulating the different schemes and visions to achieve effective biodiversity conservation are evident.

The Role of Civil Society Sector in the Development of Art-Driven Regional Social Innovation: The Case of Benesse Art Site Naoshima and Art Setouchi

Recently art is increasing its presence as an “creative industry” to sustain local communities, by generating socio-economic values. Still, whether art can be a tool for social innovation to regenerate communities, especially in rural areas in aging societies, is an unanswered question. In this paper, we take the example of Benesse Art Site Naoshima and Art Setouchi in the island area of Western Japan, viewing how it transformed from a corporate-established museum to a regional initiative involving various stakeholders, including local residents and thus creating the process of dialogues and collaboration. By reconstructing the existing evidence with supplementary fieldwork and interviews and applying a tri-sectoral analysis of the processes, we present how the art sites developed to become a social innovation. We then illustrate the role of two key individuals, Soichiro Fukutake and Fram Kitagawa, and shed light on the different values and methodologies they brought into these art sites. We argue that such contributions from the civil society and philanthropy sector made a critical contribution to characterize BASN and Art Setouchi, in addition to the well-documented and recognized efforts from local government and business sectors. Finally, we propose that such values, methodologies, and persons who can embody and implement such values are crucial if other countries and areas are to replicate the model.

Expanding Opportunities: A Framework for Gender and Socially-Inclusive Climate Resilient Agriculture

Limiting global warming to the 2°C target that countries have committed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement, and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, will require large-scale expansion of climate-resilient approaches in agriculture and food systems. In order to achieve the scale of change required, coordinated action is needed from global to local levels, from research to policy and investment, and across private, public, and civil society sectors. But at the same time, differential approaches are needed to address gender equality and women's concerns in climate-resilient agriculture. This article sets out a conceptual framework for scaling up climate resilient agriculture (CRA) approaches that are gender and socially inclusive by taking into account these constraints and inequalities across wider areas and different aspects of CRA. It builds on gender and climate-resilient agriculture research and project experience to argue that the additional integration of women's empowerment approaches and dimensions into this scaling framework provides the opportunity to promote gender equality while scaling up. It also identifies gaps and areas for further analysis and research. The intention is to identify potential pathways for developing a gender- and socially-inclusive set of options and strategies, in four key dimensions: climate resilient technologies and practices; climate information services that reach under-reached groups; inclusive finance mechanisms; and promoting leadership in decision-making.

Community-based responses for tackling environmental and socio-economic change and impacts in mountain social-ecological systems.

Mountain social-ecological systems (SES) are often rich in biological and cultural diversity with sustained human-nature interactions. Many mountain SES are experiencing rapid environmental and socio-economic change, demanding viable action for conservation to sustain ecosystem services for the benefit of their communities. This paper is a synthesis of 71 case studies of mountain-specific SES, submitted to the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) that identifies major drivers of change, associated impacts, and response strategies. We find that overexploitation, land use change, demographic change, and the regional economy are the most prevalent drivers of change in the IPSI mountain SES, leading to negative consequences for biodiversity, livelihoods, indigenous knowledge, and culture. To counter these challenges in the study SES, stakeholders from the public, private, and civil society sectors have been implementing diverse legal, behavioral, cognitive, technological, and economic response strategies, often with strong community participation. We outline the lessons learnedfrom the IPSI case studies to show how community-based approaches can contribute meaningfully to the sustainable management of mountain landscapes.

How Have the U.S. Coasts Changed (and How Are They Going to Change) as Cultural and Policy Spaces? An Example from California

Over the centuries, the coastal zones of the world have attracted agents of political expansion and instrumental maritime (e.g., fishing, shipping, boat building) industries seeking profit, and also great numbers of the general public seeking a place for residence, relaxation, outdoor recreation, tourism and other forms of play. The impressive amenities of the coastal zone are the economic value of natural resources and the social value of a sublime biophysical and human ecology. In the United States, the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 created a mandate for special area management plans to balance protection of the coasts with provisions that allow residence, visitation, and industry. This mandate is also found in the California Coastal Act of 1974 which created the California Coastal Commission. In the time since the passage of these acts, the cultural and policy spaces of California’s coast have changed dramatically. It is, however, an open question as to whether the Coastal Commission—and the many governmental entities with which it interacts—have succeeded or failed in their mandates. Whatever the conclusion drawn, this speculative essay suggests that climate change-induced future sea level rise will render the historic coastal management institutions and approaches obsolete. The future will be very different—ecologically, culturally, economically and politically. Coastal zone practitioners will be forced to reconfigure and expand their mandates and toolkit. We encourage a recognition that the challenge before them will be a new and very different one. It will call for an adaptation of the coastal management profession and the reorientation of the training and education of the next generation of coastal leaders in the public, private and civil society sectors. This should entail an expansion of disciplinary expertise to address human dimensions topics that include planned retreat, population and infrastructure relocation, social equity and environmental justice and be intimately informed by science and stakeholder engagement.

What is needed to promote gender equality in the cultural sector? Responses from cultural professionals in Catalonia

Despite the growing evidence of inequalities related to the presence, promotion and labor conditions of women in the cultural sector, as well as the factors that cause these inequalities, there is still a lack of research and consensus on the key measures that should be applied to reduce the effect of these inequalities. The aim of this study was to identify intervention measures, from both the public and private sectors, that will help promote gender equality in the Catalan context. In a three-round survey using the Delphi technique, cultural professionals were asked about the most appropriate measures to achieve gender equality in cultural employment. In this regard, this article presents an innovative data-gathering methodology for cultural studies, involving diverse stakeholders from the public, private and civil society sectors and contributing to informed decision-making processes. The highest priority measure identified in both the public and private sectors was related to compliance with legal provisions regarding the recognition of equal pay for work of equal value between women and men. The adoption of and compliance with laws and regulations aimed at advancing gender equality and the establishment of measures related to the reconciliation of work with family and social life was also prioritized highly by most professionals. The full set of measures proposed by cultural experts and affected groups can help to effectively address gender inequalities in the Catalan context and provide ideas for other local and national settings.

Wounded Soldier Fighting on two Fronts

Given the fact that the covid-19 pandemic virus has had a pervasive impact on almost every sphere of life globally, it is noteworthy to highlight the role and position of the civil society sector, and this paper intends to do so by striking at two matters. Initially, outlining the impact on the functioning and activities of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), to then proceed with their response to the crisis, through new multifarious initiatives/activities. The analysis was developed by using, essentially, unobtrusive data and direct non-participatory observations of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Kosovo that have had initiatives against covid-19. Although CSOs were badly affected by the pandemic as such, and the consequences it brought, whether, through measures and/or neglect from the central level, they still found the resources and willingness to launch initiatives to combat the pandemic in the form or different. All over the country, appeared organizations which among their activities found a place for awareness campaigns, material and financial assistance to citizens in need, production of masks, face shields, and other protective equipment for citizens or health institutions, and providing voluntary assistance as health staff. To link practice with theory, there are presented cases of NGOs that well reflect scholarship ideas such as the need to have a classification of CSOs based on activities, the importance of their IT repertoires, coproduction, and especially the response to the crisis. The importance of this study grounds on the benefit it brings to understanding the role and contribution of CSOs in exceptional times of crisis, especially for a society that underestimates and neglects this sector.

CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES FOR PREVENTION AND COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM

States use a variety of approaches, mechanisms, models and programs to prevent and combat violent extremism and radicalism. Some of them are newly developed, and others already existing. They aim to enable practitioners, professionals and members of the local community to apply their various skills, knowledge and capacities for early prevention of violent extremism and radicalization, ie to identify vulnerable persons and persons at risk and provide them with the necessary support to be redirected in a non-violent way before committing a crime. Different types of approaches, mechanisms, models and programs are influenced, among others, by the nature of the threat, the socio-political situation in the country, the security situation, as well as by the prevailing norms and circumstances, management structures, resources, capacities, risk assessments and traditions.
 The aim of the paper is to summarize and analyze the modern peacebuilding approaches used to prevent and combat violent extremism and to draw conclusions about their effectiveness. In doing so, the challenges and weaknesses of such programs will be identified, in order to overcome and improve them in the future and to show better results in achieving their goals. The paper specifically analyzes and discusses the EU approach to capacity building in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism aimed at promoting the capacity of state institutions to provide criminal justice and law enforcement, while respecting human rights and the rule of law. Supporting key preventive measures against violent extremism and countering terrorist financing are also top priorities for preventing terrorist activities and their consequences.
 Creating such approaches/models for preventing and combating violent extremism should be followed by a broad consultation process with key national and local stakeholders, governments and the civil society sector, as well as law enforcement professionals and others who can provide support depending on the needs of the process. Such a process should not be rushed; creating the necessary multidisciplinary support for effective access takes time and patience, including from politicians, policymakers, practitioners, and members of the public, who may seek prompt action in the context of modern-day terrorist and violent extremist threats.

MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL (MDG) AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN INDONESIA

The adoption of the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) in the Millenium Summit in 2000 by all 189 member of the UN General Assembly was a defining moment for global cooperation in the 21st century. The MDG is global framework to face the challanges regarding human resources development in the world. In the Indonesian context, the question is: “do targets and indicators contained in MDG have accorded with domestic values ?” the question is relevant because the MDG will never be achieved if the MDG does not accomodate local values. Localization of the MDG must be first step to take in achieving MDG for each country. Refer to the recent condition in Indonesia, there are several problems in achieving MDG targets such as: (i) quality of human resources, (ii) infrastructure, (iii) implementation of the decentralization, (iv) slow economy recovery, (v) law enforcement, and (vi) existence of several conflict regions. Based on those conditions, achieving the targets and indicators of MDG in Indonesia is not easy. Collective effort involving international community like donors and national community like civil society, business or private sector and universities is a must.

Foreign aid projects and trust in political institutions

AbstractDo foreign aid projects undermine citizens' trust in local and national political institutions? Drawing on institutional theories of political trust, I hypothesize that foreign aid projects reduce trust in political institutions by lowering citizens' perceptions of government performance and raising perceptions of corruption. To analyze the impact of aid projects on trust, this article utilizes geolocated survey data on citizens' trust in political institutions from Afrobarometer Rounds 2–5 (2003–2012) and data on the location of foreign aid projects from AidData's Aid Information Management Systems datasets for Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda. Using a spatial difference‐in‐difference strategy, the empirical results find that active aid projects are on average associated with decreased trust in the president, parliament, and local government council. An exploratory sectoral analysis suggests that the negative average treatment effect is driven by projects in the transportation, agriculture, education, and civil society sectors.

Strategies Employed by the Locals in in the Process of Nominating Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan Temple to be Inscribed on the World Heritage List

This study was intended by the overwhelming progress of nominating Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan Temple to be Inscribed on the World Heritage List. Such phenomenon intrigued me to investigate all involving groups in terms of their characteristics, differences from others, interconnection, strategies adopted for the nomination effort, related factors and their impacts on the nomination effort. A qualitative research design was employed through document search, observations, interviews a target group of 43 individuals, divided into two groups, namely the formal and informal. The study results revealed that dynamic of the nomination participation progressed in the midst of conflict between the formal also referred to as the government sector, or the civil society sector, each of which also harbor disagreements within the sector itself. The formal or government sector assumed the most prominent role because of its power and resourceful position. Its lead runs in alignment with the government’s mechanism. However, owning to the fact that its strategies did not significantly emphasize engagement with communities, the communities devised strategies to negotiate with the nomination committee. Despite that, the power over a steering wheel still belonged to the government.

Adaptive project management for the civil society sector: towards an academic research agenda

In order to react adequately to the complex, fast-changing and politicised environments in which development projects operate, donors have started adopting more adaptive project management approaches. Projects dealing with civil society actors in particular are said to benefit from adaptive management. As adaptive management largely depends on locally led and politically smart programming, it is presented as one avenue for addressing long-standing problems of civil society organisations, such as donor dependency, lack of legitimacy and accountability issues. However, the evidence base concerning the effects of adaptive management is scarce and rather anecdotal and an overarching definition of adaptive management has not been established. In order to work towards an academic research agenda for adaptive management, the article systematically reviews twenty-one case studies to generate insights into what donors and implementers consider as adaptive practices, their perceived effects, obstacles and derived recommendations. The article thus contributes to identifying which actors are driving the adaptive agenda, which practices are considered as adaptive, what we can learn from first pilot interventions and which research gaps can be derived from this analysis.

Sustainability in Participatory Sports Events: The Development of a Research Instrument and Empirical Insights

The United Nations (UN) considers sports as an important enabler of sustainable development. The popular and fast-growing Participatory Sports Event (PSE) sector can play an important role in this regard, however, research that measures and reports sustainability in PSEs is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to construct and validate a research instrument based on the UN’s sustainable development goals, and to examine sustainability in PSEs. To this end, an online survey was administered among a representative sample of 303 PSE organisers, located in Flanders, Belgium. A confirmatory factor analysis affirmed the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the instrument and provided evidence for its validity and reliability. The results reveal significant discrepancies between the three dimensions, with a noticeable lower score for environmental sustainability compared to social and economic sustainability. Furthermore, challenges are highlighted in the field of the civil society sector and in walking sports events. The findings also indicate that large-sized events are more likely to be sustainable. The current study can act as a foundation for future research on sustainability in PSEs and can assist PSE organisers and policymakers to increase the sustainability-related performance of the sector.

Society on board? External board members and the embedding of Swedish higher education organizations in society, 1998–2016

ABSTRACT Boards in higher education organizations (HEOs) play multiple roles. While they govern, boards are also expected to embed HEOs in society. Indeed, recent higher education reforms in Europe have emphasized the embedding role of HEO boards more than their governing role. But, although these reforms are widespread, we still know little about the ways in which boards are affected by ambitions of embedding HEOs. The aim of our paper is to explore how such ambitions are expressed through HEO board nominations and compositions. We address this aim by turning to Sweden, whose higher education system has, during the past three decades, undergone recurrent reforms that emphasize the embedding role of boards at public HEOs. Our study builds on a longitudinal dataset of external HEO board members’ positions, employers, and simultaneous board seats, collected for 1998, 2007, and 2016 so as to accompany Swedish reforms. We find that external board members, over time, embedded HEOs in expanding and sprawling networks of ties to organizations from the public, private, and civil society sectors. Our findings push the literature beyond its focus on private sector ties by showing how governmental reforms lead HEOs to embed among public and civil society organizations as well.

Malvinas: diseño y experiencias de un regreso. El Centro de Recuperación del Personal de la Fuerza (junio-julio 1982)

Between June 9 th and July 4 th , 1982, the Centro de Recuperacion del Personal de la Fuerza operated within Campo de Mayo, one of the places designed by the Argentinian Army to receive and isolate a few thousand officials, sub-officers and conscripted soldiers for a few days after returning from the Falklands War. Even if it is an experience limited in time and space, the hypothesis of this work is that its intensive study provides valuable aspects on at least two dimensions. On the one hand, it grants information on how the war experience began to be interpreted within the Argentine Army and how, in this context, control mechanisms and their borders were reimagined. On the other hand, the experience of the CRPF also allows a better understanding of how some sectors of Argentine civil society in mid-1982 related in general to the dictatorship and in particular to the war.

Horizontal Local Governance and Social Inclusion: The Case of Municipality-Civil Society Engagement During Refugee Reception in Malmö, Sweden

This study takes its departure from literature on the far-reaching engagements from civil society during the 2015 “refugee crisis” in Europe as it seeks to understand the status of collaborative governance at the local level. It takes an in-depth look of Malmö, a city in Sweden which in 2015 became the centre for the Swedish refugee reception and solidarity initiatives. The study identifies challenges and opportunities of horizontal collaborations to develop the social dimension of city resilience. It includes eleven interviews with key actors from the civil society sector as well as from the municipality and utilizes theory on solidarities in the “refugee crisis” together with social cohesion and inclusion as a framework for analyzing data. This allows for a comprehensive appraisal of the (spatially produced) responses to migration from the city's horizontal alliances. The findings suggest that there are diverse conclusions to be made about the long-term potential of horizontal collaborations in bringing about social resilience. On the one side it is discovered that short-term project collaborations may only serve to “fill the gap” left by neo-liberal local governments and not bring about the structural change needed. On the other side, it is found that horizontal collaborations can be a strategy for civil society actors to influence more inclusive alternatives by bringing the realities of refugees into local policy making, particularly those refugees otherwise rendered invisible due to legal categorizations. Lastly, there are suggestions made for how to enhance the opportunities of horizontal collaborations in creating a socially cohesive, inclusive and resilient city.

Articulating the Effect of Pesticides Use and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The Science of Improving Lives through Decision Impacts

Nothing vast comes into a mortal’s life without a curse. Identifying the pathways of pesticide impact can be multifaceted as well as complex, as humankind faces the magnificent challenge of food systems reconfiguration toward providing and delivering healthy foods that individuals can access while protecting planetary health. Ideally, chemical pesticides used inappropriately in agricultural activities has shaped serious health as well as environmental problems in the global south. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as well as World Health Organization (WHO) approximate that the rates of pesticide poisoning occur 2-3 times per minute, having roughly 20,000 employees dying yearly from exposure, mostly in emerging countries. From an environmental point of view, “chemically-polluted runoff” comes through fields that pollute both ground as well as surface waters, destroying freshwater ecosystems, damaged fisheries, as well as creating growing and sustainable "dead zones" in the coastal areas near the river’s mouths of the drain agricultural areas. The environmental as well as health hazards resulting from pesticides could remain comparatively avoided through education as the first step towards achieving the SDGs as well as creating sustainable incentives toward curbing the overuse trend. Other important challenges need to be resolved, for example social inclusion; poverty reduction; education, increased equity as well as health care; sustainable energy; conservation of biodiversity; water security; and changing climate adaptation as well as mitigation. These challenges are interlinked as well as embodied in 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which all UN member states have accepted since 2015 as well as built round the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, managing the rapid accelerators considerately will need negotiation as well as collaboration from a wide range of civil society sector, private as well as public actors. The time has come toward putting the challenge of sociotechnical innovation as well as massive human ingenuity toward usage to safeguard the next generations as well as the planet future. While, the world is not on the pathway toward realizing its global goals come 2030. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, uneven progress had been witnessed, as well as more focused considerations was required in many areas. The sudden onset of the pandemic abruptly hampered the SDGs implementation and, in other cases, twisted decades of progress backwards.

Valuing the Invaluable(?)—A Framework to Facilitate Stakeholder Engagement in the Planning of Nature-Based Solutions

Nature-based solutions (NBS) have emerged as an important concept to build climate resilience in cities whilst providing a wide range of ecological, economic, and social co-benefits. With the ambition of increasing NBS uptake, diverse actors have been developing means to demonstrate and prove these benefits. However, the multifunctionality, the different types of benefits provided, and the context-specificity make it difficult to capture and communicate their overall value. In this paper, a value-based framework is presented that allows for structured navigation through these issues with the goal of identifying key values and engaging beneficiaries from the public, private, and civil society sector in the development of NBS. Applied methods such as focus groups, interviews, and surveys were used to assess different framework components and their interlinkages, as well as to test its applicability in urban planning. Results suggest that more specialized “hard facts” might be needed to actually attract larger investments of specific actors. However, the softer and more holistic approach could inspire and support the forming of alliances amongst a wider range of urban stakeholders and the prioritization of specific benefits for further assessment. Consequently, it is argued that both hard and soft approaches to nature valuation will be necessary to further promote and drive the uptake of NBS in cities.