Concept Of Community Research Articles

Nano-hydroxyapatite Before the Science Court

In October 2015, the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety issued a Preliminary Opinion on Hydroxyapatite (nano). Past industrial experience with this material and participation in ISO/TC-229, Nanotechnologies, led me to submit comments on the Committee’s interpretations of physico-chemical properties, especially solubility, that in retrospect were also probing of the Committee’s collective understanding of nanomaterials. The Committee’s responses are examined against a background of other Opinions issued in the same time period. The expert’s role and responsibility, whether as an individual or a group member or in representing a scientific discipline, are examined through the concept of epistemic community taken from the public policy literature. A central theme is the Committee’s framing of chemical narratives such that its administrative procedures are projected onto the nanomaterial safety literature that is itself undergoing considerable investigation and revision. Inherent to this analysis is the singular role of toxicologists in the regulatory process. A related exchange by Australian and New Zealand colleagues is examined for its parallels to the SCCS actions, and there is a cursory discussion of later SCCS Opinions regarding Hydroxyapatite (nano).

Reimagining Pride: An Ethical Community Approach

Joburg Pride, Africa’s first Pride march, has dramatically changed from the first Pride of 1990. It is now a depoliticised and commercial event that takes place in spaces far removed from the everyday realities of most LGBTIAQ+ South Africans. Pride marches and events have the potential to operate as disruptive spaces—spaces that challenge the status quo, claim space for marginalised identities and contextualise the LGBTIAQ+ experience within the broader South African experience. Pride has the potential to be the political vehicle it once was, drawing attention to, and organising to address hate crimes, for instance. However, the organisers do not appear to be interested in pursuing this political aspect of Pride, and instead are drawn to sponsorship and an “apolitical” position that will retain funding from large corporations. Drawing on an anti-racist queer feminist historical study of Joburg Pride from 1990 to 2013, this article proposes an approach to Pride that could see it return to its political roots. This article applies Terry Cooper’s concept of ethical community to Pride, arguing that a more ethical and inclusive Pride is possible, and that establishing an ethical Pride community can counter the violence that many still experience outside of the LGBTIAQ+ community, and within.

Rethinking the Work of Theologians in the Pandemic's Wake

This article focuses on what the pandemic reveals about theological work in the academy and imagines a way forward. Too often, theologians are ground down, isolated workers, overworked, and strapped for time. They constantly must choose between progress in the guild and their familial and communal relationships. This false choice starves theologians of meaning and purpose, and, in such scarcity, inflames pursuit of status. However, a communal conception of theological academic work could mitigate some of these frictions. To imagine this possibility, we draw upon our collective experiences of working in Benedictine institutions that also argue for communal approaches to living, learning, and experiencing God. We draw ideas from the Rule of Benedict as a model for life-giving community that we think can be resituated in academic life.

A Platform of Critical Barriers to Socially Sustainable Residential Buildings: Experts’ Perspective

The concept of sustainable cities and communities is endorsed as one of the seventeen goals of sustainable development. Since buildings represent an essential element of the city, they play a primary role in achieving the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of cities. Previous studies have pointed to the lack of emphasis on the social aspect of buildings. Aiming to fill the gap, this research is focused on identifying barriers that hinder the adoption of social sustainability (SS) measures and practices in residential buildings, as a first step in overcoming these barriers and enabling faster achievement of SS goals. The initial platform of barriers was derived from a comprehensive review of the published literature, international reports, and green building rating systems. For the selection of critical barriers, the Delphi method was used with the participation of 60 international experts. Of 58 barriers initially identified from the literature and experts’ suggestions, 29 were selected as important and classified into five groups. Further, in each of these groups three barriers were singled out, the overcoming of which would facilitate and speed up buildings’ SS to the greatest extent. These results provide insight into barriers to SS for policy makers, developers, and planners, invite further studies on this topic, and provide a starting point for other researchers to identify the most relevant barriers in different contexts, i.e., countries and regions with their specific characteristics. This will further create the conditions for the elimination of barriers to SS by focusing on the most critical issues.

The OSCE and climate security: diplomatic practice in a changing geopolitical context

Abstract This article analyses the role of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the field of climate security. In 2021, the OSCE unanimously adopted a ministerial decision on climate change despite rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and the US. Why and how was this possible? The article answers these questions, drawing on a unique set of qualitative data collected from interviews with diplomats and officials conducted during Sweden's OSCE chairpersonship. The analytical framework draws on the concept of communities of practice to analyse how Swedish and like-minded diplomats built on the OSCE's approach to security to informally expand the domain of knowledge on climate-related security risks in the organization. The article suggests that the current political impasse in the OSCE does not necessarily mean that initiatives advanced by groups of like-minded states, in collaboration with the OSCE secretariat, need to be paralyzed. The findings reveal important features of multilateral diplomacy on climate security as well as how the OSCE works in practice.

Особенности эпистемических сообществ как актора политического влияния

The article discusses the theoretical and methodological features of studying the concept of an epistemic community through the prism of a historical perspective on the formation of the concept. The study of represented communities deserves significant attention within political science. Researchers could potentially use this concept and its proposals in the study of the theory of civil war resolution, the formation of alliances, the change of identities, etc. The article touches upon the question of the expediency of concentrating epistemic communities only on international processes, and provides an example of studies that apply the concept at the national level in specific states. The research covered in this article attempts to answer an important question: why do some epistemic communities manage to convince decision makers that their policies are preferable, while others do not. Further research of epistemic communities will help to study in more detail many issues related to the influence that expert communities have on political decision-making.

Indigenous relationality: definitions and methods

The following seeks to advance relational research methods by providing more specificity in how relationality is defined, and by engaging commonly held refrains on relational research. Responding to concerns about Indigenous relationality being pan-Indigenous, we suggest a three-part framework that defines Indigenous relationality. First, relationality as a defining aspect of global Indigeneity; second, relational understandings that emerge from specific Indigenous nations and third, relationality as manifest within inter-Indigenous connections. Building on our definitional work, we argue that three common refrains within relational research methods should be extended. First, researchers should be able to balance a slippage between the particular context of Indigenous nations and the general context of Indigenous relationality. Second, we have to do more than simply value relationships, and consider how we use relationality for critical thinking. Finally, ensuring accountability within Indigenous research requires us to revisit how we analyze the concept of community.

Situating Community Archives Along the Continuum of Community-Engaged Archival Praxis: Autonomy, Independence, and the Archival Impulse

Community archives is a widely used concept in both archival scholarship and the archival profession, yet, to date the concept lacks a clear and consistent definition. In attempts to increase inclusivity in the community archives paradigm, scholars have refused to offer a strict definition for the term, resulting in the conflation of community archives and community-based archival practices occurring in institutional repositories. This article reviews the definitions offered in the growing body of community archives literature and offers a reframing of the umbrella concept of community archives through the lens of community engagement. In applying the principles of Arstein’s Ladder, a framework that describes the level of citizen engagement in public planning projects, the authors offer the Continuum of Community-Engaged Archival Praxis that articulates the distinction between community archives and other archival practices that fall on a spectrum of community-based archival projects. Returning to earlier definitions of community archives that center on the autonomy of the community, they ground community archives in the concept of the archival impulse as a means for identifying the impetus of a community-engaged archival project and the directionality of the control over the archives. The continuum and impulse provide a means for disambiguating the myriad concepts that fall under the moniker of “community” and for more clearly defining the relationship between institutional repositories and the communities that they seek to engage.

Socio-Professional Group of IT Specialists: Conceptualization of the Theoretical and Methodological Foundations of the Study

Introduction. For sociology, it is important to understand the content and forms of integration of IT specialists as one of the types of social associations. Such an analysis is important to carry out since the interpretation and content characteristics of this community subsequently guide all other elements of the strategy of theoretical and empirical research. In particular, it is relevant to identify: in what capacity of a “professional community” or “professional group” IT specialists act as a real social phenomenon.Methodology and sources. Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of IT specialists involved identifying the nature and forms of their social integration: as socioprofessional groups, or as socio-professional communities. Based on the analysis of the fundamental provisions of foreign and Russian sociologists F. Tennis, J. Shchepansky, R. Merton, K. Manheim, T.M. Mills, P.A. Sorokin, V.A. Yadov, and many others, the differences in the understanding of “community” and “group” are revealed as a reflection of the special essential characteristics of these forms of integration.Results and discussion. The results of the analysis of statistical data show that the concept of a social group is used much more often than the concept of community in characterizing integration processes; this is a more relevant category for modern research. The results confirm the significant connection between the concept of “group” and the concepts of “values”, “common goal”, and “professional”. Exploring the numerous features of IT specialists, such as self-education, the desire to organize training based on introspection, significant differences from other specialists in the system of professions “human-sign system”, such as erudition and logical thinking, mastering mathematics, English language, the Internet as necessary starting conditions for entering the profession, the authors use the definition of a professional or social group.Conclusion. IT professionals should be considered a special socio-professional group with all the signs of such social integration. IT professionals operate in today's multidimensional social space. As a social group, IT specialists are united by the presence of a common feature – activities in a special environment – in the information and digital space, common social values.

For the Common Good: The Symbiosis between Individual and Community in the Philosophy of Xunzi

The concept of community within Confucianism is deeply rooted in its unique understanding of individuals. This is exemplified by Xunzi, who claims that individuals, driven by their growing desires for satisfaction, would fight over limited resources and hence lead themselves to social disorder and distress. Thus, he evaluates human nature to be evil, thereby highlighting the necessity of forming a community. Keeping in view Xunzi’s aims of establishing a harmonious co-existence amongst individuals who “desire or hate the same things” (yuwu tongwu 欲恶同物), this paper explores his considerations and justifications when accessing the individual and the community. Firstly, the origins of community arise from the survival crises of individuals in the state of nature. As individuals face the dilemma of disorder, they opt to form a community. This would, to a certain extent, endow individuals with rationality and the capacity to suppress their desires, therefore differentiating them from animals. Secondly, the principle of fen 分 (social division) is important in maintaining social order and uniting individuals under the governance of the jun 君 (lord). Differentiated justice embodied in the concept of fen also presents a contrast from the universal implications of qun 群 (community). Following social distinctions and affiliations, people are then absorbed into the ritual structure and social relationships as embedded individuals. Thirdly, realizing the common good would depend on the moral transformation of individuals and their identification with values that define an ideal community on a spiritual level, ultimately reflecting the essence of ancient Chinese universalism.

Examining Complex Problem Solving in Communities Through the Lens of Kirton'S Adaption‐Innovation Theory

The current philosophical paper brings the concepts of community, complex adaptive systems, wicked problems, and Kirton's (2011) adaption‐innovation (A‐I) theory together as a model to encourage practitioners to recognize the importance of cognitive diversity for sustainable and impactful solutions. Leadership and change practitioners often face the complexity of addressing community based wicked problems. A‐I theory offers an additional perspective to help teams foster structural changes in these complex adaptive systems.

El concepto de comunidad en los proyectos de intervención comunitaria: disonancias, opacidades y rupturas

In this document, I suggest that Community research and intervention must go beyond conceptions based on chimeric models of community, defined as the group of people who share territory, history, customs, and interests. From an analytic-comparative perspective, the roots of the concept of community are explored, showing the heuristic capacity to think of it as a model of social relationship and intersubjective action. A structuralist approach is proposed for the understanding of all psychic, social, symbolic, and material relations; determinants for the functioning and reproduction of the community and therefore, determine the field of action for Community intervention projects.

Growing superdiverse, growing apart—Modes of incorporation of international migrants in rural areas

AbstractThis article analyses the perceived impact of international migration on host rural communities from the perspectives of local stakeholders. Based on in‐depth interviews conducted in two rural locales in Norway, we identify a consensus about the indispensability of international labour migrants for the demographic and economic sustenance of the host rural communities. At the same time, the perspectives of stakeholders convey a complex picture of labour migration. The perceived impact of international migration is related to the tempo of migration and to the prior local history of migration that affects how it is represented and handled locally. Depending on the context, international migration may be treated as a common‐place phenomenon or as a force that profoundly affects the conception of the local community. Our findings illustrate a socio‐spatial variation of responses to international migration locally and suggest the emergence of new local social divisions along the growing superdiversity of rural communities.

A community of practice approach to the co-development of digital pedagogy: a case study of primary school teacher education practicum

ABSTRACT This case study aims to identify which characteristics that define the concept of Community of Practice (CoP) can be recognised at the primary school teacher education practicum and how stakeholders perceive digital pedagogy in the context of practices for co-development. The case study took place in a primary school teacher education practicum at the University of Lapland in Finland and involved teacher educators (n = 2), student teachers (n = 5), and in-service primary school teacher mentors (n = 6) who are considered the stakeholders of the case study. The results indicate that the practicum included characteristics that, to some extent, supported the CoP model, including the criteria negotiated goal, addressed challenges, co-development of the community, leveraged individual’s expertise, and regular and intentional interaction. The stakeholders perceived digital pedagogy as an approach that, through employing variety of digital technologies in their teaching practices, can enhance the pupils’ learning process.

Discovering and Interpreting Biased Concepts in Online Communities

Language carries implicit human biases, functioning both as a reflection and a perpetuation of stereotypes that people carry with them. Recently, ML-based NLP methods such as word embeddings have been shown to learn such language biases with striking accuracy. This capability of word embeddings has been successfully exploited as a tool to quantify and study human biases. However, previous studies only consider a predefined set of biased concepts to attest (e.g., whether gender is more or less associated with particular jobs), or just discover biased words without helping to understand their meaning at the conceptual level. As such, these approaches can be either unable to find biased concepts that have not been defined in advance, or the biases they find are difficult to interpret and study. This could make existing approaches unsuitable to discover and interpret biases in online communities, as such communities may carry different biases than those in mainstream culture. This paper improves upon, extends, and evaluates our previous data-driven method to automatically discover and help interpret biased concepts encoded in word embeddings. We apply this approach to study the biased concepts present in the language used in online communities and experimentally show the validity and stability of our method

Transformation of the Jewish Cultural Code of Sefer in the Social Strata of the Shtetl

The subject of the study is the transformation of the main Jewish cultural code of the Sefer -Book, from stratum to stratum in the culture of Jewish shtetls. Shtetls were called urban-type settlements in Eastern Europe - the Jewish pale of settlement. The Sefer code, originally embodying the foundations of Jewish law and worldview, the written and oral Torah, pointed to the path to the Almighty through its study. The perception of the rules within each stratum differed in a number of features: the Misnageds, as well as the Karaites and Krymchaks, had strict adherence to the laws, and the Hasidim had an emotional perception. With the advent of the Jewish Enlightenment-Haskalah, and later the globalization of the twentieth century, the Sefer code began to personify the light of knowledge as a whole, as the main goal, including both religious and secular sources. Education in the religious stratum was perceived as the knowledge of God and his creations, and in the atheistic environment - as an end in itself, remaining the main goal in all strata. The obtained research results can also be applied to ethnocultural studies of other ethnic groups. The study applied the method of historicism in retrospect of the functioning of the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, the comparative method in the comparative characteristics of cultural and religious concepts of various Jewish communities, methods of analysis and synthesis in the formulation of the scheme of cultural codes and their conjugations. The study for the first time characterizes the author's universal morphological scheme of Jewish cultural codes, from which the hierarchy and interrelationships of the main groups of symbols, as well as the key meanings and the main meaning, which is the center of intersection of all codes, are understood. Conclusions: 1. The cultural area of the Eastern European shtetl towns was distinguished by stable patterns associated with the compact residence of the Jewish population and traditional occupations, as well as a worldview based on the Jewish religion. After the disappearance of the shtetls due to globalization, the cultural and ideological foundation became the basis of the activity and thinking of scientists, literary and artistic figures who emerged from it. 2. The Sefer cultural code embodies not only the Torah and its derivatives, but also identifies the main goal - the acquisition of knowledge, which is the same for representatives of all social strata of the Shtetl - Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Jews, Karaites, Krymchaks, Misnageds, Hasidim, representatives of Haskalah, and later atheists and agnostics.

More Is Required of Us: Complicating an Ontology of Experience at the Heart of Community-Based Research

More Is Required of Us: Complicating an Ontology of Experience at the Heart of Community-Based Research

Gods, Goddesses, and Mortals for the 21st Century: The Reinstallation of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Collection of Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art

Gods, Goddesses, and Mortals for the 21st Century: The Reinstallation of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Collection of Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art

The Heart of the Citizenship Education and Revival of New Schools in Europe

Abstract Our present time is characterised by many contradictions and the aspect of uncertainty indicates a sense of our deep loss of values. Education is the traditional space, in which generations create meanings and adults prefigure the future. Despite the idea of liquid modernity, which dominates our existence, we are convinced that we inherit meaningful testimonies of schools born in the spirit of the Reform from the pedagogic culture of the last two centuries. Schools, such as Dalton, Jena Plan, Decroly and Freinet, are still alive and bringing us a new message of citizenship education coherent with the impulse of their founders. Following our field study to investigate the reality of the Schools of Method in the areas of the Flanders and Brussels we were able to draw a solid concept of community. In the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we assume that the modern western culture reaches its task to convert the dispute into tolerance. Citizenship education wishes to overcome any separations and indicates the road to peace and harmony. It is not by chance that Reform Schools are now reaffirming the original impulse. They are transforming the contradictions of our postmodern society into the management of daily education. Headmasters and teachers are seriously opting for movement and variety of the curriculum against school stereotypes of the disciplines. Children become protagonists of the reformation, using the methodology of dialogue, development and discovery. Teachers and parents appear to be fundamental parts of the process, and learning democracy in school begins with the practice of a council of pupils: discussing, deciding, doing. The external world actively enters schools to shape life. History is composed of the biographies of senior citizens, mainly grandfathers, and languages are matter of pride for children from families with migrant backgrounds.

Community Conceptions and Perceptions of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Ternate

The community's input on climate change issues in the city of Ternate is urgently needed. The purpose of this study is to document how the people of Ternate City understand and respond to issues of climate change mitigation and conditions. This study used a community-based participatory research method involving 30 people consisting of community members, teachers, lecturers, and students. Focus group discussions (FGD) and photovoices were conducted to obtain data on causes, impacts and solutions to climate change problems in the city of Ternate. The research results confirmed that the people in the city of Ternate feel the negative impacts of climate change in the city, such as reduced water sources, loss of plant vegetation (for example: mangroves, sago and sea grass), reduced marine habitats, floods and landslides at several points, increased sea level. The main causes of climate change in the city of Ternate are the establishment of non-environmentally friendly development policies, the lack of public knowledge and awareness of climate change adaptation, and the lack of regional regulations at the city to village levels related to environmental issues. The solutions offered by the community are very diverse but according to the community, the government and young people need to conduct education, mitigation, and adaptation to climate changes in the city of Ternate.