Tool For Community Development Research Articles

These Photos Were My Life: understanding the impact of participatory photography projects

This article analyses the impact of participatory photography as a tool for community development. In recent decades, participatory arts and media initiatives are increasingly agency – rather than community-led, their value assessed using linear evaluative models and framed in terms of short-term, measurable, results. It is argued that these tendencies impede the potential critical contribution of participatory photography to social change processes and fail to capture important aspects of the psychosocial, political and subjective impact of projects. As a result projects struggle to prove their worth: the evidence base is weak and learning about the social reality of practice is hindered.

Civilizing the Devil’s Own Country. The Scouting movement in Netherlands New Guinea as a tool for social, cultural and political change, 1950–1962

AbstractBy using Scouting in Netherlands New Guinea between 1950 and 1962 as a case-study, this paper critically analyses the idea of ‘Sport has the power to change the world’ – a positivist notion that has caused governments and NGOs alike to present physical exercise as a tool for nation-building, education, health, community development and social inclusion. This paper argues that indeed Scouting was used in Netherlands New Guinea as a tool for social, cultural and political change. However, less idealistic motives also underlay the development of the Scouting movement. Local agency and the ways Scouting was used by Papuan Scouts to advance their own agendas will also be taken into account.

When Living and Working Well Together in Organizations Changes Into Good Social Coexistence: The Talent Club Case

In our contemporary age, where a combination of individualism and mutual distrust is unhappily common among people and society is “liquid” and disoriented, so-called intermediate units (groups, associations) are a precious resource that promotes positive coexistence within organizations and in local communities, too. The present contribution describes an example of such an intermediate unit, the Talent Club, located in a peripheral neighborhood of a metropolitan area in northern Italy. This case study shows the development of positive living and working together in organizations and their transformation in the tool for community development and good coexistence. Qualitative and quantitative data show that the relational aspect is crucial because it promotes authentic exchange among people, supporting participation and social cohesion against self-referential habits and isolation. Although at present the Talent Club is mostly functioning in a affiliating coexistence among members, seeds of a more generative coexistence are clearly detectable.

DEBATING EDUCATION AND POLITICAL REFORM: THE FREINET MOVEMENT AND DEMOCRATISATION IN SPAIN (1975-1982)

Abstract In the mid-1960s, the Freinet movement took on new life - first with the name Association for Correspondence and the School Printing Press - Acies -, and later as the Popular School Cooperative Movement - MCEP. In a short space of time, the organisation grew to contain over a hundred members and supporters, who, along with the process of the Transition to democracy, laid the foundations for many of Acies/MCEP's projects - both pedagogical and political projects. Of greatest importance amongst these were conferences, teacher-training seminars and the bulletin Colaboración (1976-1985), which was the organ of expression and communication for Spanish teachers following Freinet's principles. During the period of political transition to democracy, Acies/MCEP was one of the most active and dynamic Educational Renewal Movements in Spain. The present article explores the contributions of the Freinet movement to the democratisation of education in Spain - in particular, the political-pedagogical discussion on the principles and purposes of public education, how to understand it, the problems posed by the existence of privately-subsidised education, and the role of the school as a tool for community development and an arena for civic participation. For these reasons, as a documentary source to be explored in depth, the bulletin Colaboración has been chosen; it offers an example of the pedagogical press for teachers in the Spain of 1970s and 1980s, as it helped shape the educational mindset in place during this period and in the following years.

Addressing housing and neighborhood revitalization needs in Georgia’s rural and small towns: A study of the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing

This study examines the role of the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing, a capacity building program, in increasing human and community capital to address housing and community development needs. Consistent with previous research on rural and small towns, poor housing conditions, infrastructure problems, and lack of funding for neighborhood revitalization were among the most pressing problems identified by program participants. Participation in the program appeared to improve housing-related human capital and the use of housing and community development tools and programs for the 25 communities in the study. Though limited in scope, this research begins to fill a gap in understanding of how local communities can build capacity to respond to local housing and neighborhood needs. Future research using qualitative data would provide clarification of some findings and add context to the broader study results.

Ecotourism as Community Development Tool in Rural villages of Indonesia and Cambodia

Ecotourism as Community Development Tool in Rural villages of Indonesia and Cambodia

Sustaining spirit: a review and analysis of an urban Indigenous Australian cultural festival

ABSTRACT Indigenous Australian festivals have long been tools for cultural maintenance and revival, cultural sharing and economic opportunity for Indigenous Australian communities. Recent research indicates the multiple benefits festivals may offer to Indigenous Australian communities and their contribution to building a more harmonious Australia, but also notes considerable knowledge gaps. This article reviews and analyses the Spirit Festival, a major annual urban Indigenous festival in Adelaide, Australia. It explores the issues in operationalizing and maintaining the Getz paradigm for responsible and sustainable events in an increasingly neo-liberal world. Based on in-depth quantitative and qualitative research, it highlights how the transformation of events from tools for community development to tools to attract tourists through event tourism may have serious repercussions for the sustainability of these events and undermine their social and cultural value, particularly for Indigenous stakeholders. Special attention is paid to the tensions between social goals and harsh economic reality, the complex issues surrounding management processes, funding and partnership, the importance for Indigenous peoples of positive visibility and the role of reconciliation that festivals can play. It poses the key question: who and what are Indigenous festivals for – a question applicable worldwide and to many forms of Indigenous tourism.

Gestión del riesgo de desastres en el caribe colombiano desde la óptica de organismos de socorro y administraciones locales: el caso del sur de Atlántico

OBJECTIVE: To analyze how the risk management policy is applied in the territorial area in the southern part of the department of Atlantico (Colombian Caribbean) starting from the perspective of institutional actors and members of the communities affected by winter disasters who integrate civil protection agencies. METHOD: Qualitative study based on action research, developed in six municipalities through document review, interviews and focus groups. RESULTS: Reduced level of ownership of the policy as a tool for territorial planning and community development by the institutions, low participation of municipal agencies and poor integration of the community. CONCLUSIONS: The relevance of the social processes involved in the implementation of the policy by pointing out the mistakes that the studied actors reported in the carrying out of this process is emphasized.

Floating agriculture: a potential cleaner production technique for climate change adaptation and sustainable community development in Bangladesh

Global climate change is anticipated to intensify the vulnerability of Bangladesh (a low-lying country formed by the alluvial plain of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river systems) to floods and waterlogging, and therefore, the country needs to be equipped with adequate adaptation strategies, particularly those based on traditional knowledge and locally available materials. In this paper, we present a systematic and in-depth review of existing literature to examine the possibilities of indigenous floating agriculture as a technique for climate change adaptation and sustainable community development in Bangladesh. Our review indicates that the indigenous floating agriculture holds enough potential to help farming communities in the flood prone regions of Bangladesh to sustain lives and livelihoods during floods and long-term waterlogged conditions. This technique has a unique quality of providing a wide range of agricultural, environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits, which ultimately render it as an environmentally sound, economically feasible, and socially viable practice. Case studies on a number of promotional and experimental floating agriculture projects in different regions of Bangladesh revealed that the floating agriculture greatly supported farming communities to adapt to adverse waterlogged conditions by allowing vegetable production for daily consumption, income generation, community mobilization, and by increasing land-holding capacity. Along with providing food and nutrition security, this technique also strengthened the community capacity to grow and sustain agricultural practices in the subsequent floods and waterlogging conditions. Although this technique has a number of sustainability challenges as highlighted in this study, many of these are possible to overcome through proper planning and long-term management initiatives. We recommend policy implications and future research needs that could be effectively utilized to render this technique as a suitable tool for climate change adaptation and sustainable community development in Bangladesh.

Turismo de naturaleza en áreas protegidas de México. Una propuesta de conservación, aprovechamiento y desarrollo local en el Nevado de Toluca

El turismo de naturaleza en Áreas Protegidas de México se considera desde finales del siglo XX como un instrumento de desarrollo socioeconómico. Puesto que esta estrategia es relativamente novedosa para Latinoamérica, su implantación exige de un tratamiento especial y cuidadoso para cada una de las partes del sistema turístico. Se hace necesario asumir los principios de conservación y aprovechamiento sostenible. Se analiza en este caso el Parque Ecológico Ejidal de Cacalomacán, localizado dentro del Nevado de Toluca. Es una zona de interés para la conservación de la biodiversidad, en donde el turismo de naturaleza se ha convertido en una herramienta de desarrollo comunitario. La metodología empleada ha sido el Sistema Ponderado de Inventario y Evaluación de Recursos.

Practitioner perspective on REDD: Commercial challenges in project‐based rainforest protection financing in the Asia Pacific region

AbstractThis paper presents a practitioner perspective on community‐based REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) projects in the Pacific Islands. It draws upon the author's experience in forest conservation financing since 1987, and REDD project and programme design, development and implementation since 2006. The aim is to highlight the commercial challenges faced by REDD practitioners, and explore strategic (including policy) solutions to meet these challenges. The paper begins by situating REDD as a tool for forest conservation and community development. Following a brief overview of the key elements of REDD project development procedures, the paper examines commercial (particularly market access) challenges faced by project proponents, together with challenges associated with the supply and demand dynamic for REDD credits in the global carbon market. This is situated against a backdrop of global policy stagnation in the REDD sector and the implications of this for those at the frontier of community‐based forest protection efforts on the ground. The paper culminates by showing the importance of an effective partnership between governments, rainforest communities and the private sector in regional and global rainforest conservation financing.

A Conceptualisation of Alternative Forms of Tourism in Relation to Community Development

Tourism development is promoted as a tool for poverty alleviation and community development. Global and local tourism remain within the current hegemonic neoliberal milieu. Different forms (terminologies) of alternative tourism development approaches have been proposed; however, their positioning in relation to neoliberal mainstream tourism has been questioned. The paper aims to compare different forms of alternative tourism development in relation to neoliberalism and community development, specifically by contrasting community-based tourism (CBT) with ecotourism (ET), responsible tourism (RT), pro-poor tourism (PPT) and fair trade tourism (FTT). The paper argues that while CBT’s origin, as well as its development, is to promote a break with neoliberalism and facilitate holistic community development, its actual meaning and operations have been re-shaped and co-opted by neoliberalism. On the other side, the origin and development of ET, RT, PPT and FTT have been in accordance with a neoliberal approach to tourism development; therefore, they are not meant to change the modus operandi of the tourism sector. It is argued that the original conceptualisation and practices of CBT should be the proper strategies to facilitate holistic community development and restructure the tourism industry in a more just and equitable manner. For ET, RT, PPT and FTT to practice what they have proposed to do, it is suggested that they should be integrated within CBT’s original approach. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1667

The benefits and limitations of using cricket as a sport for development tool in Samoa

This study investigates benefits and challenges associated with the use of sport – in this case cricket – as a community development tool in Samoa. This Pacific Island nation, like others in the region, has been the focus of various development programs in the post-colonial era, with developed economy neighbours like Australia and New Zealand providing aid funding. Some of that has involved sport as a development tool, underpinned either by funding from the national government, foreign aid agencies, or a combination of both. The present paper, by focusing on a cricket for development (CFD) program in Samoa, aims to explore outcomes and limitations associated with the use of sport as a community engagement tool. The paper pursues that goal by examining the activities of relevant sport and government organisations, and – most crucially – it interviews key stakeholders involved in the CFD process in Samoa. In short, the prime purpose of this paper is to identify and interpret – from the perspective of locals – whether the CFD program has brought benefits to Samoan communities, and the challenges and limitations they see thus far. This is important because, to date, there has been an absence of qualitative inquiry into the efficacy of sport for development (SFD) programs in Samoa, and very limited research in a Pacific Islands context.

Community development and livestock promotion in rural Nepal: effects on child growth and health.

More than 50% of children in Nepal are malnourished. Economic growth and poverty reduction are not always sufficient to improve the health and nutritional status of children. Heifer Nepal uses livestock training as a tool for community development and poverty alleviation but does not directly address child health and nutrition. To systematically assess the effects of Heifer activities on child health and nutrition. The study was a 2-year, longitudinal, randomized, controlled trial in six communities in Nepal (both Terai and hills), pair-matched for specific characteristics, randomly assigned to receive Heifer community development activities at baseline (intervention) or 1 year (control). At 6-month intervals over a period of 2 years, child anthropometric and comprehensive household surveys were performed. Four hundred fifteen households were enrolled containing 607 children 6 months to 5 years of age. The intervention and control communities were equivalent for baseline socioeconomic status, household size, ownership of land and animals, and child nutrition and health. At 12 months (prior to animal donations), the Terai intervention group had improved child weight (p = .04), improved child height (p = .05), and reduced sick days (p = .03), as well as increased household income (p = .004), increased ownership of animals (p = .04) and land (p = .04), and improved sanitation practices (p < .01). In all districts, longer participation in Heifer activities corresponded to more improvement in child height-for-age z-scores. Heifer interventions resulted in improved socioeconomic status and household income per family member. Children under 60 months of age in the intervention group had greater incremental improvement in height-for-age and weight-for-age z-scores than children in the control group, and longer participation in Heifer activities was associated with better growth. Poverty alleviation programs, such as Heifer, may indirectly benefit child growth.

Working Together to Build Cooperative Food Systems

First paragraphs: The combined challenges of food insecurity, agriculture-related environmental decline, corporate concentration, and the decline of community resilience are being met by growing societal interest in developing more just and sustainable food systems. A recent emphasis on cooperation and innovative forms of collective action within the food movement invokes a community-centered approach to food provisioning where collective problem-solving and democracy take center place in the development agenda (Ikerd, 2012). Cooperative alternative food networks are becoming powerful tools for community development and important vehicles for cultivating democratically controlled food systems at multiple scales. The papers in this special issue provide an important contribution to our understanding of the function, the challenges, and the potential of collective action in enabling more just and resilient food systems. Cooperative alternative food networks represent a break from the competitive productivism of the dominant food economy and create new relational spaces that hold promise for overcoming the pragmatic and political limits of some of the more individualistic approaches in the local/ sustainable food movement. These include cooperative forms of: food hubs, local food networks, farmers' markets, CSAs, box schemes, buying clubs, and value chains, along with a range of agriculture and food cooperatives owned by farmers, consumers, workers, and in emerging multistakeholder cooperative structures. With a renewed emphasis on civic governance, the resulting food-provisioning systems are based on principles of participatory democracy, solidarity, and reciprocity (Renting, Schermer, & Rossi, 2012) and provide spaces to nurture collective subjectivities required for transformative food practice and politics (Levkoe, 2011)....

Pros and Cons of Hosting International Tourists: Is It Rational?

Homestay hosting is increasingly becoming popular in tourists destinations in different parts of the world. And it is, presently, being used as a tool for sustainable community development. Despite its seeming virtue and it often being positioned as an attractive alternative tourism product/accommodation; academic work has not yet critiqued homestay tourism in the same manner. An empirical knowledge of the good and bad side of hosting is relevant to help devise measures to minimise or if possible eliminate such hosting problems. This article, thus, provides a critical and timely review of homestay tourism, using in-depth interviews with 12 host families in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. The study found that homestay hosting is beneficial to host families as it offers social interaction and preservation of local culture, a sense of local pride, income and employment, and educational opportunities for operators' children. Notwithstanding the benefits, challenges exist including culture shock, seasonality of homestay business, insecurity and delayed payments by some intermediaries. In the end, the implications of understanding both the positive and negative aspects of hosting international tourists are discussed.

Federally Sponsored Local Economic and Community Development: A Look at HUD's Section 108 Program

The Section 108 program operates the loan guarantee portion of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Specifically, Section 108 allows CDBG grantees to transform a portion of their CDBG funds into federally guaranteed loans large enough to pursue physical and economic revitalization projects that can renew entire neighborhoods. This article presents findings from an analysis of Section 108 projects funded in fiscal years 2002–2007, including financing details, funded activities, and project outcomes. The study is designed to answer the following three core issues: (1) What types of projects are being funded, and what is the nature of those projects? (2) How are Section 108 projects funded, and how are they repaid? (3) What outcomes did the investments produce? In sum, the study team found that Section 108 is an important tool for community development because it allows jurisdictions to pursue larger projects with outcomes that cannot be funded through annual CDBG grants; yet, the complexity and size of Section 108 projects mean that local capacity and support are vital to the successful planning and completion of these projects.

Festivals, community development and sustainable tourism in the Karpaz region of Northern Cyprus

The organization of festivals has recently been emphasized in the Karpaz region of Northern Cyprus as a strategy for sustainable tourism development. Hence, this paper explores the relationship between festivals, community development and sustainable tourism in this region. A multi-method qualitative research approach was used. The study found that community-oriented festivals aim to function primarily as a tool for community development through sustaining a socially constructed sense of social identity and preserving the so called ‘Cypriot’ cultural values. However, these festivals have been subject to processes of commodification as migration from mainland Turkey has taken place and the demographics of the Karpaz region changes. This has significant policy implications for sustainable tourism development in this region of Cyprus.

When words arrive: a qualitative study of poetry as a community development tool

When words arrive: a qualitative study of poetry as a community development tool

A case study of small-scale coffee production: coffee farming as a potential tool for environmental conservation and community development in rural Minas Gerais, Brazil

This paper is based on research conducted about small-scale coffee farming in Rosario da Limeira, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The paper connects the global coffee market and new trends within the coffee market with the reality of small-scale coffee production. The paper considers the transition to a sustainable coffee production system as a potential tool for environmental conservation and community development. The role of coffee farming in the identity and livelihood of local people is considered, as well as obstacles to change. The paper concludes by proposing different ideas as to how local coffee farmers might be able to make the transition to more sustainable systems of coffee production. The case study examined in this paper is very specific, but the obstacles and opportunities for the communities of Rosario da Limeira parallel rural communities worldwide.