Community Participation In Projects Research Articles

Bibliometric Analysis of Islamic Crowdfunding: A Literature Review of Its Journey.

The potential of Islamic crowdfunding to encourage the development of Islamic fintech globally, even in countries with non-Muslim majority populations, needs to be examined in a literature study on this issue. More extensive research is needed regarding the factors that most reliably predict the success of Islamic crowdfunding, such as compliance with Islamic crowdfunding laws, sustainability, and the potential of Islamic finance. This article describes a comprehensive and systematic Literature Review (SLR) regarding papers published in the field of Islamic crowdfunding. This research aims to contribute to a better understanding of Islamic crowdfunding, provide useful information for practitioners, and stimulate further research in the field to increase the success of Islamic crowdfunding. We conducted a review of selected papers to identify gaps and significant issues in Islamic crowdfunding, providing guidance for future researchers. This article review was based on 704 articles retrieved using the keyword "Islamic crowdfunding" from the Scopus database between 2013 and 2022. To minimize bias, we formulated 5 research questions to guide our analysis: RQ1: How do publication and citation rates vary annually? RQ2: How can we determine the most influential studies based on citation counts for each keyword? RQ3: What are the most common subject areas addressed in Islamic crowdfunding literature from 2013 to 2022? RQ4: What are the most frequently used keywords in Scopus documents? RQ5: How are Islamic values discussed in articles related to Islamic crowdfunding? The findings of this research demonstrate that Islamic crowdfunding, characterized by interdisciplinary scholarship, has emerged as an increasingly significant alternative for aiding society and the economy. It contributes to poverty alleviation and the development of specific sectors through channels such as crowdfunding for small and medium enterprises and social projects tailored to meet the diverse needs of Muslims. However, the challenge facing the future development of Sharia crowdfunding is that, despite its benefit of increasing community participation in projects aligned with religious values, it also carries the potential risk of investment losses and non-compliance with Sharia principles. Ways to address the current scarcity of Sharia fintech are also needed, ensuring its broader acceptance across all societal levels, and enhancing Muslims' understanding of compliance with Islamic religious rules, particularly Fiqh law. Urgently needed are specific fiqh regulatory guidelines to ensure that Sharia-compliant crowdfunding adheres to Islamic principles. Government support, particularly through legislation in countries where the majority of the population is Muslim, is crucial to enhance public participation and trust in Sharia crowdfunding.

Bibliometric Analysis of Islamic Crowdfunding: A Literature Review of Its Journey

Background The potential of Islamic crowdfunding to encourage the development of Islamic fintech globally, even in countries with non-Muslim majority populations, needs to be examined in a literature study on this issue. More extensive research is needed regarding the factors that most reliably predict the success of Islamic crowdfunding, such as compliance with Islamic crowdfunding laws, sustainability, and the potential of Islamic finance. This article describes a comprehensive and systematic Literature Review (SLR) regarding papers published in the field of Islamic crowdfunding. This research aims to contribute to a better understanding of Islamic crowdfunding, provide useful information for practitioners, and stimulate further research in the field to increase the success of Islamic crowdfunding. Methods We conducted a review of selected papers to identify gaps and significant issues in Islamic crowdfunding, providing guidance for future researchers. This article review was based on 704 articles retrieved using the keyword “Islamic crowdfunding” from the Scopus database between 2013 and 2022. To minimize bias, we formulated 5 research questions to guide our analysis: RQ1: How do publication and citation rates vary annually? RQ2: How can we determine the most influential studies based on citation counts for each keyword? RQ3: What are the most common subject areas addressed in Islamic crowdfunding literature from 2013 to 2022? RQ4: What are the most frequently used keywords in Scopus documents? RQ5: How are Islamic values discussed in articles related to Islamic crowdfunding? Results The findings of this research demonstrate that Islamic crowdfunding, characterized by interdisciplinary scholarship, has emerged as an increasingly significant alternative for aiding society and the economy. It contributes to poverty alleviation and the development of specific sectors through channels such as crowdfunding for small and medium enterprises and social projects tailored to meet the diverse needs of Muslims. However, the challenge facing the future development of Sharia crowdfunding is that, despite its benefit of increasing community participation in projects aligned with religious values, it also carries the potential risk of investment losses and non-compliance with Sharia principles. Ways to address the current scarcity of Sharia fintech are also needed, ensuring its broader acceptance across all societal levels, and enhancing Muslims’ understanding of compliance with Islamic religious rules, particularly Fiqh law. Conclusion Urgently needed are specific fiqh regulatory guidelines to ensure that Sharia-compliant crowdfunding adheres to Islamic principles. Government support, particularly through legislation in countries where the majority of the population is Muslim, is crucial to enhance public participation and trust in Sharia crowdfunding.

How Dynamic Academic Medical Centers Improve Communities: The Case of the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health

Academic Medical Centers (AMC) are unique healthcare resources that offer services to their local communities. As societal priorities shift, AMCs are identifying approaches to practice community engagement. Although many examples of AMCs exist in the literature, few have targeted resources for specific health topics like occupational health. This case study identifies examples of community engagement from AMCs around the U.S. It also offers a unique perspective of community engagement from the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (RMCOEH), housed within the Department of Family and Preventative Medicine at the University of Utah. This center is one of eighteen National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Education and Research Centers (ERC). We use the Community Engagement Continuum to consider community engagement across various degrees of relationship between the public and AMCs, including outreach, consulting, involvement, collaboration, and shared leadership. Continuing education, course work connecting students with the community, and multiorganization research projects are approaches RMCOEH uses to engage with communities. Although there are many ways for AMCs like RMCOEH to serve the community, there are opportunities for AMCs to improve community engagement efforts through cultural shifts and community participation in projects. We explore such opportunities specifically for RMCOEH.

English

The research on which this paper is based was conducted in Geita District, Tanzania, to assess the nature of community participation in irrigation projects in three villages (Nzera, Lwenge and Nyamalulu) to find out whether community participation used in the projects was likely to lead to their long term sustainability. A cross-sectional research design was adopted in which a combination of purposive and simple random sampling techniques was employed to select a sample of 120 respondents. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through questionnaire survey, key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussions. Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to compute descriptive statistics and do inferential analysis while qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. The results showed that community participation in the projects was inadequate to lead to their long term sustainability due to low (< 50% except in terms of contribution of resources) participation in all implementation stages. The understanding of community participation among the beneficiaries was limited (<50%) in all aspects.  Women participation was limited (37.5%).  Hence community participation was used more as a means than an end. Therefore, it is argued that community participation needs to be enhanced in order to improve sustainability of irrigation projects. Hence, it is recommended that that there should be concerted efforts to sensitise and mobilise the community members to participate effectively in all aspects of the projects from problem identification to implementation. Key words: Community participation, participatory approaches, community empowerment, project sustainability.

Project Management and Community Participation within Small Island States: An Examination of Stakeholder Engagement in Belize in an Era of the Sustainable Development Goals

This paper seeks to understand how Local Community Development and Conservation Organisations manage their relationship with their key stakeholders, which in the context of our paper are the donors, local partner communities and the government. The study ascertains how organisations pursue the quest to achieve their goals/mission, in an era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by using the stakeholder accountability framework. The paper further examines how Local NGOs manage the relationship between such missions and project implementation and whether they reflect stakeholder needs and expectation. The authors use qualitative methodologies involving interviews, focus group discussions/meetings and participants’ observations to address the research objectives and questions. The study observes some (dis)connection between community participation in projects that are being implemented, organisational goals and local needs. The study further reveals that there is a potential disconnect between organisation mission and the pursuit of participatory sustainable development. The study underscores the fact that effective stakeholder participation is critical for achieving local sustainable development targets. The authors conclude that upward accountability to donors and governments seems to be a stronger incentive for Local NGOs compared to downward accountability. We argue that such patterns must to be addressed to ensure the attainment of the critical local targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. The paper recommends the need to formalise both downward and inward accountability mechanisms in order to ensure that community development values are being integrated into project implementation that are aimed at addressing local development needs.

Community Participation in Corporate Social Responsibility Projects: The Case of Mumias Sugar Company, Kenya

This study examined community participation in projects funded by Mumias Sugar Company in Mumias Division under Corporate Social Responsibility. The study objectives were to identify the Corporate Social Responsibility projects funded by Mumias Sugar Company and determine the levels of community participation therein. Research design was descriptive and explanatory case study and considered both primary and secondary data. Interviews were used to collect data and the questions comprised of structured and semi - structured and administered by the researcher. The researcher made physical observations on actual operations of projects funded under CSR. Secondary data was obtained from available official company and government records, both published and unpublished sources. Targeted Population comprises 283 households. Due to homogeneity of community members, 125 households from the target population were sampled using multi- stage sampling. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The levels of community participation were analyzed using a five point scale by use of SPSS and Excel. The results were presented in tables and graphs and the researcher made interpretation, conclusion and finally drew effective recommendations. The study revealed that Mumias Sugar Company (MSC) supported Corporate Social Responsibility as a marketing strategy with low community participation. Also, MSC sponsored what the community needed as philanthropic donations but there was low participation of community members in all stages of such projects' management. The study recommends that MSC should avail information on CSR programmes inclusive of their funding to the community members for effective governance. MSC should establish a research and development section which would be essential in determining the viability, acceptability and participation of community members in the CSR committee, initiatives and projects meant for the community and avoid any form of elite capture.

English

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of community participation in the Community-Based Ecotourism Projects in the Brong-Ahafo Region. The sample of the study was 281 respondents and these were randomly selected. Also, opinions of 14 leaders were purposively selected for the in-depth interview. Data were collected using both questionnaires and interviews.  The study utilized a multi-stage sampling procedure to select respondents. The findings showed that effects of community participation on tourism development involved environmental protection, conflict resolution, employment and time consuming. Barriers to community participation in the projects were religious beliefs, lack of government support, funds, appropriate knowledge in tourism and lack of co-operation by some residents. In general, there was no significant difference in barriers to community participation among the socio-demographic characteristics of residents in the projects. It was recommended that the government through the rural banks in the area should initiate a special tourism related micro-finance scheme for the communities. Finally, the government should support the local communities by improving infrastructure and providing enough security to the projects in the region.   Key words: Barriers, community participation, tourism development, residents.

An ‘engineer–client’ framework for participation in community-scale infrastructure projects

The importance of community participation in projects in the developing and developed world is widely recognised, despite considerable debate regarding what participation means in practice. In the developing world context, there is a distinct debate on how participation can achieve its stated goals of creating ‘ownership’ among targeted beneficiaries without becoming susceptible to elite capture or excluding marginalised groups. Projects that involve engineering analysis present a further challenge: to incorporate external technical expertise in decision-making so that project outcomes are improved, without compromising the participative process. The paper sets out a practical framework that reconciles the critical importance of early, meaningful community involvement in decision-making with the active role of the engineer as a technical adviser and facilitator. It is targeted for application in community-scale infrastructure development projects, where the community is the primary targeted beneficiary. The framework draws a parallel with a traditional engineer–client relationship, in which the client's (in this case the community's) needs and preferences drive the design process and in which final design approval rests with the client, but where the engineer plays an active role in helping to understand and interpret the client's needs and develops engineering responses through an iterative, responsive design process.

USER PARTICIPATION IN THE PROCESS OF PRESERVATION A Case Study of Bologna Historical Core Preservation Project

Historic city centres all over the world have suffered from neglect as well as harmful developments. Many historic districts have been ripped off their traditional fabric & cultural essence, due to insensitive decision of the governing bodies. Many renewal / preservation projects have failed to retain the socio-cultural essence of space / area. The main reason for all these is the fact that planners / architects completely disregard the communities or inhabitants living in such old historic areas, and refrain from indulging into an interactive participation with the communities for whom they are working. This paper looks into the importance of community participation in projects of historic preservation and the impact it has on the success of such projects. The case of Bologna Preservation Project is discussed, where community participation has been the key to success.