Small Local Communities Research Articles

공동체복합지원시설의 시설현황 및 복합유형 분석

경제적 수준의 향상과 급속한 사회적 변화에 따라 국민들의 복지욕구가 다양화되면서 문화, 의료, 정신과 정보 차원으로 확대된 국민들의 종합적인 서비스에 대한 욕구가 변화하고 있다. 따라서 미래에는 작은 단위의 지역사회를 중심으로 주민의 행정, 복지, 여가, 문화, 정보화 요구를 수용하는 공간인 통합적 공동체복합지원시설의 구축이 필요하다. 공동체 복합지원시설은 지역주민들이 가장 손쉽게 접할 수 있는 만남의 장으로서 정보 교환을 비롯한 다양한 기초적인 서비스를 제공, 궁극적으로 주민들의 공동체 생활의 활성화에 기여하여 기존 도심의 재생과 활성화를 이루는데 이바지하여야 한다. 이에 본 연구는 공동체복합지원시설의 일반적 현황과 물리적 복합 형태를 파악하고 복합유형을 도출, 공간특성을 분석하였다. 현재 공급되고 있는 시설들은 이용자들 모두가 참여 할 수 있는 프로그램과 복합기능을 수용 수 있는 시설이 대체적으로 부족하다. 앞으로 계획되어질 공동체복합지원시설은 프로그램과 복합기능을 모두 수용 할 수 있는 시설을 우선하여 공공행정시설이나 장애자 시설, 노인시설을 같이 배치하여 혐오시설로 느껴지지 않도록 배려하여, 서로 교류하는 공동체 삶을 추구하도록 시설의 설계단계부터 방법 또한 필요하다고 보여 진다. 창의적인 복합개념이 도입되어 이동에 소요되는 시간과 비용을 이용자들에게 돌려줌으로써 여러 가지 기회를 부가적으로 제공받음과 동시에 다양한 삶이 확보 되어야 할 것이다. 지역의 고유한 특성이 반영이 되고, 이용자의 다양성을 고려하고, 사회적 변화에 순응과 변화를 동시에 기능할 수 있는 복합화가 되어야 할 것이다. 본 연구는 한계로는 조사 분석만으로 도출된 결과로 보편성에서 다소 미흡하다 할 수 있지만 공동체복합지원시설이 지역주민의 생활여건이나 현실적인 요구에 대응할 수 있는 공동체복합지원시설 복합화 계획을 위한 기초연구자료로서 활용 될 수 있을 것이라 판단된다. Welfare desire has been diversified according to the increase of economic level and rapid social change. The desire for comprehensive service on culture, medical, mental and information level has appeared. Accordingly, it is necessary to establish an integrated community mixed-support facility, a space of accepting administration, welfare, leisure, culture and informatization request in a small local community in the future. The community mixed-support facility is a meeting place of local resident for information change, various basic service and ultimately for activation of community in order to contribute to regeneration and activation of existing urban core. Thus, this study figured out general status of community mixed-support facility and physical mixed type and analyzed spatial characteristics. Current community mixed-support facility has insufficient program and space to participate in by local residents and to accommodate mixed function. The future planned community mixed-support facility must secure multiple opportunities for various types of life by returning time and cost to user through the introduction of creative mixed concept. While reflecting unique local characteristics, and considering diversity of users, it needs to make mixed facility to cope with social changes. This study is limited in that the study reached a conclusion by survey and analysis only. However, it is expected that the result can be used as basic research data for the planning of community mixed-support facility to cope with living conditions of local residents or realistic requirements.

Filling the Gap? Female Entrepreneurs in Szeklerland, Romania

In Romania the macro social structural fluctuation after the change of regime in 1989 induced several social variations having the effect that the degradation of the state public sector became untenable. The secession from the state sectors, the evolution of private sectors started slowly and manifests itself as a slow process even nowadays. This paper presents some facts and results of a research made among Hungarian women from a rural region, named Szeklerland (Harghita and Covasna county, Romania), women who are running their own micro, small or medium sized business. The empirical background is provided by interviews and a survey made among more than five hundred female entrepreneurs.In this rural area the division of social roles between men and women is still following - mainly - the old traditions. In this context we can consider that it is appropriate to analyze how women can succeed in developing a significantly different role-structure. For people living in this rural region the setting up and running a business by a woman could be even perceived as a challenge. And nevertheless starting a business by women can be considered as a very positive economic phenomenon: a “job-creator” strategy against unemployment and low family income, and in the same time an innovative labor market response to the economic changes and poor job opportunities. Andit could have key role in local development and prosperity-growth of the small local communities.

Indigenous Social Workers' Turnover Intentions in Taiwan: We Are More Disadvantaged than Our Clients!

After an observation of the high turnover rate among Indigenous social workers, particularly working in small Indigenous-owned local community associations in eastern Taiwan, research was conducted to understand the dynamic issues activating turnover intention. Twelve Indigenous service providers from six organisations underwent semi-structure interviews. The findings revealed that workers from small agencies are less protected whilst undertaking an entire range of problems and crises transferred from different tiers of organisations compared to their counterparts from larger organisations. An in-depth analysis demonstrated that Indigenous social work is increasingly dominated by a neo-liberal phenomenon, thereby imposing a strong threat to both the bidding organisations and the workers and creating adverse working conditions. Power further exerts itself in particular ways via the interaction between workers and organisations, activating turnover intentions. The findings urge a greater awareness of sensitivity to the heterogeneity of Indigenous communities, and encourage rethinking the strategies to improve employee retention and labour conditions.

Between local and global: Adult learning and development

Contents: Antonio Fragoso/Ewa Kurantowicz/Emilio Lucio-Villegas: Introducing the global and the local: a permanent tension for the increasing complexity of human development - Marjorie Mayo: Learning global citizenship? Exploring connections between the local and the global - Rennie Johnston: Community development for a change: reviewing different models - Adrianna Nizinska: Toward emancipatory learning in a global world of academia. Biographical contexts of experiencing HE: in search for life improvement - Rob Evans: Changing places: yearning to learn and the local/global tensions in a learning biography - Ewa Kurantowicz: Micro development: among localisation, de-localisation and re-localisation processes in the perspective of Polish social and political transformations - Emilio Lucio-Villegas: From local to global. What we learn from some experiences of local development in Andalusia (Spain) - Antonio Fragoso: Times goes by: an overview of local development in Portugal - Alberto Melo: Is there a right to development? - Licinio Lima: Adult learning and civil society organisations: Participation for transformation? - Akiko Hemmi/Jim Crowther/Eurig Scandrett: Environmental activism and "virtual social capital": help or hindrance? - Peter Taylor: Seeking good change: discovering the transformative potential of adult education - Rozalia Ligus: Migration and global learning spaces - Malgorzata Malec: Elderly people in small local communities of Lower Silesia - spaces of marginalization? - Marcin Golebniak: Learning diasporic identity: The case of Greek Political Refugees in Lower Silesia - Alcides Monteiro/Isabel Gomes: The landscape changes when we alter the perspective: envisaging new ways of looking at old problems through learning relationships with adults.

Community Archaeology as Knowledge Management: Reflections from Uneapa Island, Papua New Guinea

Over the last decade the concept of community archaeology has become a worldwide phenomenon; a convenient tagline largely describing the involvement of non-archaeologists in the practice of interacting with, uncovering, interpreting, and presenting the past. A plethora of new definitions and methodologies have been postulated, a marked increase in public funds invested in such initiatives is notable, as is the development of more rigorous evaluation strategies. Using Etienne Wenger’s ideas about ‘communities of practice’ (1998), I argue that community archaeology can be conceived as a form of knowledge management. In doing so, this paper reflects on the interactions between a small research team and local community during six months fieldwork on Uneapa, a remote island in the Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea. It considers the sets of relations that emerged whilst fi?eld-walking, surveying, and excavating Uneapa’s monumental landscape, and discusses how local ideas and knowledge influenced and altered the project methodologies and research questions being asked. This paper also highlights the challenges faced when reifying such engagements into research outputs.

The Sustainability of Local Community under the Globalization: The Case of Kao Yi Sarn, Samutsongkram, Thailand

The purpose of this article is to explain the factors that enable Kao Yee Sarn, a small local community in Samutsongkram province, maintain its identity as a ‘Thai community’ despite the strong influences of global change. The study uses the concept of EBS for the investigation of the interactions among places, user groups, socio-behavioral-cultural phenomena and time. Literature reviews, direct observations and interview were conducted. It was found that the balance of the dynamic interaction among environment, social economic culture and residences’ behaviors is the key factor that enables Kao Yee Sarn to maintain its identity.

Keeping at Arm’s Length or Searching for Social Proximity? Corporate Social Responsibility as a Reciprocal Process Between Small Businesses and the Local Community

This article examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility and locality in the small business context. This issue is addressed by studying the interplay between small businesses and local community based on the embeddedness literature and using the concept of social proximity. On the basis of 25 thematic interviews with owner-managers a typology is constructed which illustrates the owner-managers’ perceptions of the relationship between the business and the local community. The findings emphasize the importance of reciprocity as it is suggested that corporate social responsibility in relation to locality is constructed as a response to the interpretations of reciprocal community support between small business owner-managers and local community.

Ecotourism-related products and activities, and the economic sustainability of small and medium island chalets

Environment-related products and activities in the tourism industry are popular among visitors to Malaysia. Such is the case off the coast of East Peninsular Malaysia, where several coral islands offer various ecotourism activities. The present study examines the products and activities offered in the four islands and related issues on the economic sustainability of small and medium island chalets (SMICs). Through the multi-method approach, results show that island hopping and combination tours are the most popular products. Meanwhile, snorkeling, round-island trips, and diving are the most highlighted activities. These ecotourism-related activities are mainly due to the attractiveness of the environment, which has drawn large numbers of tourists to the chalets on these islands. SMICs established their businesses in the late 1990s on the back of growing confidence in the tourism industry in the 1980s. Visitors include almost equal numbers of both local and international tourists. SMICs’ product and activity development are highly correlated with environmental attractions, thus positively contributing to the economic sustainability of SMICs. The present study proposes that the most appropriate business model for SMICs would be that of a small local business community operating in the island. This model would help maintain the sustainability of the island-tourism sector.

Community, consumerism and credit: the experience of an urban community in North-West Ireland

The problems of debt and consumerism are global phenomena. Although credit has become widely available, it is an iniquitous paradox that those most in need (those dependent on low wages or state benefits) pay substantially more for their credit than the better-off. The study focuses on how forces that operate at a global level – consumerism and the international monetary system – impact on small local communities, in this case, a relatively deprived, urban, public housing estate in the City of Derry, Northern Ireland. The community is traditional and cohesive with horizontal bonds of extended kinship-helping networks of reciprocity and interdependence, culturally homogeneous with a strong sense of identity – Catholic, working class and nationalist; and spatially defined – post-conflict segregated and geographically immobile. The community can be characterised as having strong links of shared communitarian values and informal systems of mutual aid, on the one hand, and weak ties into the wider world producing a sense of insularity, isolation and stagnation, on the other. The impact of debt and consumerism in the community was investigated using a series of focus groups held with representatives of key constituencies – women, teenagers, children and older people. Five key themes were generated from a process of categorical analysis of the focus-group data; these themes described the consumerist pressures and reported the financial struggles and resulting threat to well-being. The constituent groups of the local community reported a diverse experience of strain, isolation, powerlessness and guilt. Their experience of consumerism was age-differentiated and their choice of contemporary status markers was made within the cultural context of the local community. These markers included both iconic acquisitions and rituals of ceremonial celebration – First Holy Communion, Halloween, Christmas and St. Patrick's Day – occasions which provided key opportunities for conspicuous consumption. The study was concerned to generate a sense of how local community action might effectively tackle such powerful global forces of consumerism and the multinational credit industry. Such an intervention might include education on financial and media literacy, money management and debt advice services, consciousness-raising anti-consumerist workshops, programmes of personal development and an agenda for political action.

Time-dependent solutions of the spatially implicit neutral model of biodiversity

Previous research into the neutral theory of biodiversity has focused mainly on equilibrium solutions rather than time-dependent solutions. Understanding the time-dependent solutions is essential for applying neutral theory to ecosystems in which time-dependent processes, such as succession and invasion, are driving the dynamics. Time-dependent solutions also facilitate tests against data that are stronger than those based on static equilibrium patterns. Here I investigate the time-dependent solutions of the classic spatially implicit neutral model, in which a small local community is coupled to a much larger metacommunity through immigration. I present explicit general formulas for the eigenvalues, left eigenvectors and right eigenvectors of the models’s transition matrix. The time-dependent solutions can then be expressed in terms of these eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Some of these results are translated directly from existing results for the classic Moran model of population genetics (the Moran model is equivalent to the spatially implicit neutral model after a reparameterization); others of the results are new. I demonstrate that the asymptotic time-dependent solution corresponding to just these first two eigenvectors can be a good approximation to the full time-dependent solution. I also demonstrate the feasibility of a partial eigendecomposition of the transition matrix, which facilitates direct application of the results to a biologically relevant example in which a newly invading species is initially present in the metacommunity but absent from the local community.

Participatory Management Process in Local Tourism Development: A Case Study on Fisherman Village on Samui Island, Thailand

This paper explores, assesses and discusses a community participation approach in local tourism development planning initiated by the small local community of Samui Island, southern Thailand, in order to understand the pattern of the participatory management process in local tourism development after tourist development has had a significant effect on the local community on the island. The research was conducted in Fisherman Village, Bo Phut Sub-district on Samui Island using both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analyses. This research successfully described the process of socio-ecological interaction on local tourism development. The results show the innovative approach of adapting the community participation concept to diversified local conditions. The process of community participation was assessed to understand the pattern and practice of local community for their tourism development. Factors associated with people's participation were also analyzed. The paper concludes that, along with the participatory management process, there was a significant role played by the local leader and by cooperation among tourism stakeholders in the planning and implementation that led the community to pursue local tourism development.

IMPORTANCE OF REGIONAL LOCAL COMMUNITY ON THE MERGER OF MUNICIPALITIES IN HOKKAIDO

We clarified that Central City Regions which residents recognized for Municipality they lives in Hokkaido. Their Recognition lead their area of daily life, we call it, "Regional Local Community".When we compare Regional Local Community to Area of Municipalities which already Merged, the following became clear. 1) Merger of Municipalities ratio is high in the Regional Local Community. 2) Participation of Central City Region to Merger of Municipalities ratio is low. 3) Merger of Municipalities ratio is low in small scale Regional Local Community. 4) Merger of Municipalities lato is low in Municipality which far from the Central City Region.3) and 4) are problems due to a characteristic of Hokkaido. Than the above, It is necessary to consider the Central City Regions on Wide-Area Administration, and the combination that accepted the situation.

Disability, Heroism and Australian National Identity

Disability, Heroism and Australian National Identity

What Happens When Wal-Mart Comes to Town: An Empirical Analysis of the Discount Retailing Industry

In the past few decades multi-store retailers, especially those with a hundred or more stores, have experienced substantial growth. At the same time, there is widely reported public outcry over the impact of these chain stores on small retailers and local communities. This paper develops an empirical model to assess the impact of chain stores on the profitability and entry/exit decisions of small discount retailers and to quantify the size of the scale economies within a chain. The model has two key features. First, it allows for flexible competition patterns among all players. Second, for chains, it incorporates the scale economies that arise from operating multiple stores in nearby regions. In doing so, the model relaxes the commonly used assumption that entry in different markets is independent. The estimation exploits a unique data set that covers the discount retail industry from 1988 to 1997 and yields interesting results. First, Wal-Mart’s expansion from the late 1980s to the late 1990s explains about fifty to seventy percent of the net change in the number of small discount retailers. Failure to address the endogeneity of the firms’ entry decisions would result in underestimating this impact by fifty to sixty percent. Second, scale economies were important for both Kmart and Wal-Mart, but the magnitude did not grow proportionately with the chains’ sizes. Finally, direct government subsidies to either chains or small retailers are unlikely to be effective in increasing the number of firms or the level of employment.

Space agriculture for habitation on Mars with hyper-thermophilic aerobic composting bacteria

Manned Mars exploration, especially for extended periods of time, will require recycle of materials to support human life. Here, a conceptual design is developed for a Martian agricultural system driven by biologically regenerative functions. One of the core biotechnologies function is the use of hyper-thermophilic aerobic composting bacterial ecology. These thermophilic bacteria can play an important role in increasing the effectiveness of the processing of human metabolic waste and inedible biomass and of converting them to fertilizer for the cultivation of plants. This microbial technology has been already well established for the purpose of processing sewage and waste materials for small local communities in Japan. One of the characteristics of the technology is that the metabolic heat release that occurs during bacterial fermentation raises the processing temperature sufficiently high at 80–100 °C to support hyper-thermophilic bacteria. Such a hyper-thermophilic system is found to have great capability of decomposing wastes including even their normally recalcitrant components, in a reasonably short period of time and of providing a better quality of fertilizer as an end-product. High quality compost has been shown to be a key element in creating a healthy regenerative food production system. In ground-based studies, the soil microbial ecology after the addition of high quality compost was shown to improve plant growth and promote a healthy symbiosis of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Another advantage of such high processing temperature is the ability to sterilize the pathogenic organisms through the fermentation process and thus to secure the hygienic safety of the system. Plant cultivation is one of the other major systems. It should fully utilize solar energy received on the Martian surface for supplying energy for photosynthesis. Subsurface water and atmospheric carbon dioxide mined on Mars should be also used in the plant cultivation system. Oxygen and food production for human thus rely on local Martian resources. A tree growing subsystem will also give an interesting feature to Martian agriculture. In addition to producing excess oxygen, trees’ rigid body will provide structural material, which can be used for habitat construction. The combination of hyper-thermophilic aerobic composting, plant cultivation, and tree growing with utilizing in-situ natural local resources available on Mars can provide important elements which can enable space agriculture on Mars.

Traditional Burnt-Lime Production at Mayapán, Mexico

Lime was widely utilized throughout ancient Mesoamerica. Drawing on the expertise of traditional Maya lime producers from a small local community, we address the energetics, material inputs, and archaeological signature of burnt-lime production in the Northern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. When compared with the estimated lime usage at the Maya site of Mayapan, the data collected from experimental lime burning suggest that traditional lime production was reasonably labor intensive and used large, albeit sustainable, quantities of raw materials, especially wood. Lime manufacture was an important component of ancient Mesoamerican economic life, especially in urban settings where it may have been a full time occupation for some, at least during certain parts of the year. This analysis allows us to predict what the remains of lime burning sites should look like and where they are most likely to be encountered archaeologically.

The Importance of Partnerships: The Relationship between Small Businesses, ICT and Local Communities

An international association advancing the multidisciplinary study of informing systems. Founded in 1998, the Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a global community of academics shaping the future of informing science.

On a Life-Saving Mission: Nurses’ Willingness to Encounter With Intimate Partner Abuse

The main purpose of this qualitative study was to explore in depth selected expert nurses' experiences of the phenomenon of violence against women and the nurses' roles as health care providers to those women. The authors adopted a grounded theory method and produced an emerging theory comprising two key themes: nurses' personal perceptions toward intimate partner violence and nurses' feeling equipped to intervene. The findings showed that violence against women existed in a small local community and raised pitfalls caused by nurses' knowing the inhabitants. Furthermore, the findings indicate the devotion of nurses and the importance of their role in the care of battered women and the sharing of knowledge. Thus, the nurses compensate for a lack of training through personal maturity and security within the social context.

Life History of Migrants, Life Story of a Community

This paper analyzes the processes and effects of migration in a community based on an interview survey using a life-history methodology of persons who migrated to the Osumi-shoto Islands. The Osumi-shoto Islands were selected as a study area and include: Yakushima, which has seen a rise in the number of tourists after it was registered as a World Natural Heritage Site in 1993; Tanegashima, which has received nationwide attention as mecca for surfing in recent years; and Mishima-mura, which has seen a remarkable decrease in population and substantial efforts to reverse that trend in three small isolated islands (Take-shima/Iwo-jima/Kuro-shima).The islands are near each other, but differ greatly, so I focus on the differences among migrants to each island. Though each migrant has his or her own history to tell, I was able to find some common characteristics.(1) There are many people selecting these remote islands as a place to live after retirement. For example, in Yakushima, retirement migrants are attracted to the island because they are longing for nature and because of residential development by real estate agents. However, the retirement generation requires medical care and other facilities, and this problem has influenced migration patterns. In addition, local reception differs greatly in terms of how people enter the local community.(2) Tanegashima is long and narrow from north to south, and it is a suitable environment for surfing because people can go to a beach in a short time and the wind blows from the east or west. Surfer who came to live as a part of a life of surfing, are scattered throughout the island, and the migration processes are various. Because the local inhabitants have a negative image of the surfers, the latter have tried to overcome this negative image and to contribute to the community. There is a local non-profit organization which connects migrant surfers with local surfers and which helps strengthen relations with the local inhabitants.(3) The number of tourists increased after Yakushima Island was registered as a World Natural Heritage Site. Among the managers of eco-tour guide businesses, more than two-thirds are migrants. In addition, most of the employees are migrants. They do migrate easily because they can find work and it becomes clear that there is a low possibility of migration if there is no employment.(4) I found that each migration often triggers a chain movement of migration in families. How-ever, in the case of island migrants, it may be said that the freedom of migration is high. This paper is only a beginning since it is based on a limited sample. However, the method of analyzing migration though life-story interviews can elucidate the migration process and influence on the area. Life-story interviews provide a deeper insight into the motivations for and processes of migration than is possible through an analysis based on general statistics and questionnaire surveys. In attempting to analyze migration from a micro-viewpoint, life-story interviews that focus on the effects of migration on a small local community provide a broader view of migration as a social phenomenon. However, in analyzing such data, researchers need to pay attention to the problem of privacy.

Conceptualizing ‘social capital’ for health promotion in small local communities: a micro‐qualitative study

AbstractThis paper reports on a micro‐qualitative case study of peoples' experiences of local community life in a south‐east English town. This material is used as the basis for a critical discussion of the suitability of Putnam's notion of social capital as a conceptual tool for the design and evaluation of ‘community strengthening’ policies and interventions. The study was motivated by a concern that too much debate about social capital has been conducted by academics and policy‐makers in a top‐down manner, with inadequate attention to the realities of life in the local communities that they refer to. Three‐hour semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 37 residents in two less affluent wards in our town of interest. Informants—half men and half women, and spread across the 15–75 age group—were encouraged to talk about their personal experiences of local community life. Interview findings are presented within the ‘norm’ categories of trust, neighbourliness and reciprocal help and support, and the ‘network’ categories of participation in informal networks, voluntary groupings and community activist groupings. Our case study points to a number of ways in which Putnam's concept needs to be refined if it is to inform ‘community strengthening’ policies and interventions in England. Far more notice needs to be taken of the role played by informal networks of friends and neighbours in the construction of local community life. Attention also needs to be given to the complex and shifting geographical spread of peoples' significant social networks. Putnam's conceptualization of cohesive local communities and his unitary notions of trust and local identity may also be unduly essentialist. In our particular communities of interest, they failed to capture the fluidity of local community norms and networks in a rapidly changing society. They also failed to do justice to the extent to which social distinctions—such as age, gender, ethnicity and housing tenure—shape and constrain the way in which people create, sustain and access social capital. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.