Problems Of Local Communities Research Articles

Current pesticide practices and environmental issues in Vietnam: management challenges for sustainable use of pesticides for tropical crops in (South-East) Asia to avoid environmental pollution

Pesticides are widely used in modern agriculture to minimize financial losses and maintain food supplies. In southeast Asia, where agriculture is the principal economic activity, pesticides are considered essential, particularly in tropical regions seeking to enter the global economy by providing off-season fresh fruits and vegetables. The absence of a strong legal framework for pesticides facilitated a significant increase in the use of low-quality pesticides. Farmers ignore the risks, safety instructions, and protective directives when using pesticides. They are only concerned about the effectiveness of the pesticides for killing pests, without paying attention to the effects on their health and the environment. The improper usage of pesticides and the incorrect disposal of pesticide wastes contributed to the pollution of groundwater, surface water, and soil, and induced health problems in local communities. This paper describes the impact of the exposure of pesticides on human health and water resources in connection with the usage of pesticides and their management. Because of availability, the data are mainly taken for Northern Vietnam, and applied to the water quality in the delta; nevertheless, the problem relates to all countries in the delta, and similar situations may be found in other regions, particularly in Asia.

Methodological approaches of research on management in adult education

Social scinces, including andragogy, recently shift attention to qualitative research methods, attracted by qulitative data as a source rich in descriptions of processes and problems in local communities. If we consider this and other statements-that qualititive methods are the most useful and most frequent approach at the early stages of the development of certain scientific fields - and add the fact that the management in adult education became the focus of interest and development in the past decade, in this paper we considered: which methodological approach is the most common in research on management in adult education-is it posibly the qualititive and interpretative respectively? It is expected that in this filed of study contemporary methodology is applied, meaning the same methods as in other studies, for one cannot expect that the phenomenon of management developed its (own) research methodology.

ARCELORMITTAL and Corporate Social Responsibility

ARCELOR MITTAL (AM) is the world’s largest steel producer with a combined capacity of over a hundred million tons. Steel is a basic commodity for any country – for its infrastructure, for its construction, automobile, and a host of downstream industries. Yet, the production of steel is steeped in a dilemma between the need for development and the need for preservation. The latter relates to natural resources and the environment as much as it relates to the resettlement and rehabilitation of thousands of poor people who are invariably affected whenever major projects in steel or other metals are undertaken. The issue assumes highly complex proportions in the case of organizations like AM. Operating in over 60 countries with differences in culture, administration, geography and stage of economic development, AM cannot have a 'one size fits all' approach to the problem. The regulatory mechanisms are different as are the expectations of the local people. Nature has a fascinating sense of balance. With some exceptions, natural resources are found in abundance in the least developed and developing countries.Technologies to harness the resources into a form that humanity can use to advantage emanate from the developed world. The agenda for economic development of the two sets of countries is not the same. Countries endowed with natural resources are also home to some of the poorest people in the world – those earning less than US$ 2 per day. In this scenario, how do large corporations ensure that economic development occurs wherever they operate? Further, how do they ensure that such development has a human face – factoring the needs and aspirations of the local communities and delivering inclusive growth? It is a challenge as well as an opportunity. Through their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, corporations can demonstrate that they care. They can show the world that one can do well by doing good and that the creation of long-term shareholder value and sensitivity to pressing problems of local communities are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are complementary.The present case examines AM’s initiatives in CSR and the impact thereof on the communities in which the Company operates. The case has some unique characteristics. AM is a Company formed largely through the acquisition route. Thus, there is a basic question of integrating the internal culture of the organization itself. Then there is the need to take local communities into confidence and reassure them that the well-being of the organization would not be at the cost of the well-being of the affected communities. At a macro level, AM also needs to put in place initiatives that impact the whole world and convey a message that it is a responsible and responsive Corporate Citizen.

The impact of a geographic technologies professional development institute on Middle Eastern and North African teachers

Basic education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) seems to be characterized by lecture methods of instruction, a lack of interdisciplinary approaches and a disconnection with local community problems. During 2008, a “My Community, Our Earth” (MyCOE) workshop was organized in the MENA region and involved teachers of geography, math and science. It aimed to promote and support the use of geographic methods and technologies, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS), regarding sustainable development topics as a way to improve primary and secondary teaching and learning through an interdisciplinary approach and connection to local issues. These subjects were integrated to a perspective based on spatial thinking, spatial analysis, active learning and problem solving on a variety of regional and local issues. This article explores the impact that the MyCOE workshop may have on participants’ learning. Preworkshop and postworkshop questionnaires were administered, and the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data shows that the respondents’ expertise was reinforced and that they learned to use geographic technologies. In addition, the MyCOE workshop resulted in the development of a more concrete vision among participants of what basic math and science education could be in Arab nations, by using geographic learning as a framework for integrated education.

Conhecendo o Meio Ambiente em Rio Bonito: Uma Prática Lúdica e Educativa no Colégio nossa Senhora de Nazaré, Nova Friburgo-Rj

A presente pesquisa foi desenvolvida na cidade de Nova Friburgo, mais precisamente no sétimo distrito – Lumiar –, na localidade de Rio Bonito. Por não haver na região nenhum trabalho educativo de conscientização e de reflexão e com informações à população sobre as principais questões ambientais, objetivou-se fazer um diagnóstico socioambiental junto a essa comunidade local dos seus problemas para, posteriormente, realizar atividades educativas de cunho ambiental na Escola Municipal Nossa Senhora de Nazaré. Para tal, a estratégia educativa utilizada foi a contação de estórias. O instrumento de pesquisa aplicado foi o questionário direcionado às famílias e aos docentes. A partir dos principais problemas apontados, foram priorizados aqueles de ordem ambiental, tais como: a poluição do rio, o lançamento dos resíduos sólidos em locais não apropriados e a caça armada. Assim, essas questões foram trabalhadas entre os alunos na escola local, por meio da contação de estórias. Também foram realizadas outras atividades educativas lúdicas. Ao final, pôde ser observado que não somente os contos, mas também as atividades complementares, auxiliaram no trabalho de educação ambiental, visto que as crianças, além de se interessar pelo assunto, participaram intensamente, refletiram, trocaram e construíram conhecimento.

RURAL PEOPLE’S ATTITUDES TOWARDS GIRLS EDUCATION IN SHARKIA AND BENI SUEF GOVERNORATES

The study aimed at identifying rural people’s at-titudes towards girls education through identifying the attitudes level of rural people, determining the significant differences between interviewees in both Sharkia and Beni Suef governorates, identify-ing the relationship between studied independent variables and attitudes degree of rural people to-wards girls education and finally determining the relative contribution of most important variables in explaining the variance in attitudes degree of rural people.The study was conducted in “Beni Amer and Al-Asloogy” villages from Zagazig district “markaz”, Sharkia governorate and “Belfia” and Tazmant Al-Sharkia” from Beni Suef district “markaz”, Beni Suef governorate. Data were collected by personal interview questionnaire after testing its validity, and data were collected during March and April 2007. The following statistical methods were used: Pearson simple correlation coefficient, t-test, step-wise analysis, frequencies and percentages.The following represent the most important results of the study: Rural people attitudes towards girl’s education in Sharkia and Beni Suef governorates were posi-tive representing about 53% and 49% respec-tively. No significant differences were found between the two studied governorates in regard of atti-tudes towards girls’ education. The most important related variables to rural people attitudes towards girls’ education in bothgovernorates were: interviewee’s age, interview-ee’s years of education, family’s monthly in-come, interviewee’s culture cosmopoliteness, in-terviewee’s participation degree in development projects, social organizations membership, pov-erty prevalence degree in village from interview-ees’ point of view and interviewee’s perception to local community problems, except family’s av-erage age, family size and degree of interview-ee’s utilization of local community services were effective only in Sharkia governorate. Four independent variables explain about 47% of the variance in the dependent variable (rural people attitudes degree towards girls’ education) in Sharkia governorate which are: interviewee’s age, satisfaction upon community provided ser-vices, interviewee’s organization membership, and family’s participation in developmental pro-jects. Three independent variables explain about 65% of the variance in the independent variable (rural people attitudes degree towards girls’ education) in Beni Suef governorate which are: family’s par-ticipation in developmental projects, interview-ee’s years of education and interviewee’s organ-ization membership. The most important reasons that apprehend rural people from educating their girls in both governorates were: low economic status, people unconvinced with education, traditions and cul-ture that prevent girls’ education. Their sugges-tions to enhance girls’ education were: convince and raise rural people’s awareness about girls’ education, expand school establishments in all villages regarding population density and de-crease young girls’ laborers phenomena.

Developmental informatics at IIT Bombay

IIT Bombay's Developmental Informatics Lab is a cross disciplinary group consisting of 6 faculty, 30 research staff and several students. The lab is working towards increasing access to information -- through the use of internet and communication technologies -- to communities in the developing world especially rural and small town India. The lab is supported by Indian Government funding sources as well as corporate and multi-lateral agencies to solve technical problems in local communities in sustainable ways. This paper focuses on two mature projects of the lab -- one caters to Indian farmers while another helps with the education of tribal populations.

地域社会と連携した創造性工学教育

The purpose of this study is to document how students can be provided with a creative engineering education in collaboration with the local community. It is important for students to tackle the problems of local community. The involvement of young people, such as college students, in solving the problems of local communities will contribute to their revitalization. Kanazawa Institute of Technology (KIT) created two introductory engineering design courses : Engineer Design I (ED I) and Engineer Design II (ED II). ED I is taught in the freshman year, and ED II is taught in the sophomore year. KIT started a collaborative project with Nonoichi Town, where KIT campus is located. Officials of Nonoichi Town supplied KIT students in ED II with real project themes, to which solutions were needed, in order to improve the quality of town life. The officials provided students with valuable information and practical advice. As a result, students were able to generate excellent and viable design solutions.

INCORPORATING CREATIVE LEARNING INTO HORTICULTURE CLASSES

The Clemson University Communication Across The Curriculum program is coordinating a creative response for learning (CRL) project to provide students with creative learning and critical thinking opportunities relevant to course content while creating a learning community. Faculty representing numerous disciplines asked their students to respond with creative projects (e.g., drawings, poems, posters, multimedia, sculpture, music, etc.) to the subject matter of the course. Students in Horticulture courses responded by writing poems in a Landscape Appreciation class, designing creative solutions to environmental problems in a Landscape Design Class, and installing an Ethnobotany Garden in a landscape implementation class. The landscape design and implementation classes used a service learning methodology to identify and solve problems in local communities. Following a four-part process of preparation, action, reflection, and celebration, students in the design class completed plans for thirteen theme gardens constituting a Children's garden in the South Carolina Botanical Garden. The following semester, landscape implementation students built the first of the series, an Ethnobotany Garden, using teamwork and university/community partnerships. They also practiced individual creative thinking and building skills through the design and installation of creative projects including a bat house, a stained glass and a broken tile birdhouse, four container gardens, artistic stepping-stones, and a dramatic metal sculpture of a butterfly representing the sustainable wildlife habitat aspect of the Children's garden. College students and faculty working on the Ethnobotany Garden project alone contributed over 1,000 hours to their community while learning more about both the art and the science of landscape design and implementation.

Local Participation in the Planning and Management of Ecotourism: A Revised Model Approach

Ecotourism is increasingly being advanced as a strategy to help address economic and social problems in local communities, and as an appropriate and effective tool of environmental conservation. The full and effective participation of local communities in the planning and management of ecotourism is, however, rarely a feature of ecotourism projects. At best, ecotourism projects tend to aim for the 'involvement' of local people, and at worst, ecotourism projects can ignore the issue of local participation completely. Such projects frequently fail after a relatively short period of time. This paper sets out to identify a number of elements of good practice in incorporating the fundamental principles of local community participation into the processes by which ecotourism projects are planned and managed. Taking lessons from this good practice, and drawing on a model previously developed in the early 1990s by Susan Drake, a revised model approach for local participation in the planning and management of ecotourism is then introduced and discussed. While this revised model approach was originally developed in the context of marine ecotourism in the EU Atlantic Area, it is arguably more generally applicable to different types of ecotourism projects and across a wider spectrum of geographical locations.

Globalization and the Values of Volunteering as Leisure

Cultural globalization may be a way to foster the values or volunteering as a leisure experience. Volunteerism may offer one way to bring people together to address the problems of local communities as well as the global village. Defining volunteering is complicated because it is a cultural activity that is conditioned by multiple factors including ethnic traditions, religious beliefs, and legal regulations. In countries around the world, however, people in governmental as well as not for profit organizations are realizing the economic and social benefits of volunteering. An implication of globalization may be opportunities to share information about volunteering and how volunteers use their energy to supplement human capital as well as social services. Three related but distinct dimensions are discussed regarding volunteerism and how it relates to leisure and recreation including individual, organizational, and community aspects. In a globalized world where it is easy to become disillusioned with feelings of powerlessness, volunteerism might be a leisure activity that offers ways to express individual interests as well as to foster community and global commitments.

PROTECTION OF SURFACE WATER QUALITY IN RURAL AREAS-CASE STUDY SHARED POPESTI

“România curat?” represents a complex system of activities and actions judiciously correlated in order to improve the environmental conditions and population health, and implies the developing of an adequate mentality of community, a realistic evaluation of environmental problems. In this respect, the present paper approaches to one of the most important local community problems, namely collecting and cleaning of the waste waters resulted from daily activities. We attempted to create a model, which might be applicable in practice, of collecting and cleaning the waste waters resulted from daily activities of a village. This work also describes the
 impact that the exploitation of the sewage network-waste water treatment station system will have upon environmental factors.

A Study of Selected Health Education Implications

Abstract This study was the identification of certain health education implications for secondary schools. Selected health problems of local communities were surveyed by means of a checklist administered to 164 professional workers concerned with health. Those areas of health neglected by the public schools were determined by means of a checklist completed by 180 school teachers and administrators. Further health education implications were determined by surveying the needs and interests of 360 secondary school students. It was found that (a) health curriculums should be vitally concerned with the teaching of the effects of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco; mental health; and sex education; (b) secondary schools need to add mental health education and sex education to the school curriculum; (c) more effective means of health instruction need to be devised in certain health areas; (d) certain health areas need to be emphasized at different stages in the secondary schools; and (e) interests and worries differ gr...