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In the context of urbanisation and rural decline in the world, reverse entrepreneurship plays a vital role in facilitating the reverse flow of various resources for rural revitalisation. However, little is known about the process of community transformation in the Global South, referring to community participation and reconstruction of social relations, both internally and externally, for community development. This paper attempts to fill this gap by focusing on how reverse (return and/or immigration from urban areas) entrepreneurs work with the host community and stakeholders (government, investors, companies and other supporters) to develop a shared vision and collective identity. We pay special attention to how reverse entrepreneurs identify critical resources and innovation opportunities for community participation and facilitate effective communication and cooperation between community and stakeholders to develop common interests and long term cooperation. Based upon the analysis of 12 micronarratives of grassroots innovators collected along the Yellow River of China, this paper contributes to rural revitalisation debates by presenting a conceptual model, "resource-vision-identity" to illustrate the process of community transformation facilitated by reverse entrepreneurship. This paper extends our knowledge of reverse entrepreneurship by highlighting the importance of shared vision and collective identity as key outcomes of community transformation. Learning the lessons from rural revitalisation practices in China and other countries, the concept of community transformation emphasises the participation and contribution from smallholder farmers to co-development of vision and identity. Directions for further research and policy implications are provided. • A dimension of community transformation for farmers' participation. • A framework of "resource-vision-identity" for rural revitalisation debates. • Shared vision and collective identity for reverse entrepreneurship research and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing use of the payment for ecosystem services (PES) represents a prominent institutional shock triggered by external interventions on livelihoods of natural resource managers. To reconcile the needs for both conservation and development, a deep understanding on the influence mechanisms of PES on farmer livelihood resilience is paramount, particularly in dynamic and uncertain contexts. Taking the Rangeland Ecological Protection Subsidy and Reward scheme that has been implemented in pastoral China since 2011 as a case study, the paper empirically investigates the impacts of PES on livelihood resilience of livestock farmers in Qinghai Province. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of herder livelihood resilience from three dimensions—buffering, self-organizing and learning capacities, multiple linear regression was applied to examine the PES impacts. Resilience enhancement was mainly found in buffering capacity for herders with a medium to large herd size. Results of univariate parallel mediation models further reveal that household income growth and diversification and livestock upsizing were three key intermediary processes that mediated the enhancement and together contributed 28.83% of the total effect. The findings help narrow a knowledge gap in understanding whether, how and for whom PES contributes to improve farmer livelihood resilience. To achieve "win-win" outcomes, we stress that greater attention should be given to tailoring design and implementation of PES programs to align with the specificity of local contexts. • Impacts of one rangeland PES program on herder livelihood resilience are examined. • Ecological compensation has significantly enhanced the livelihood resilience of herders. • Buffering capacity is enhanced more than self-organizing and learning capacity. • Income growth and diversification as well as herd upsizing are three crucial mediators. • Larger-scale herders are improved stronger than smaller-scale ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership and social networks substantially influence the collective actions in rural communities. It is important to understand how village elites influence villagers through social networks and facilitate collective actions, especially for indigenous communities. This paper takes the rice terrace social-ecological system (SES) of the Hani ethnic minority in China as a case and adopts a mixed methodology to explore the diversified roles of various types of village elites in the collective actions of managing four social-ecological sub-systems: forests, villages, terraces, and water. Results reveal that institutional and non-institutional elites play different roles in coordinating the collective actions of managing four sub-systems. Social network analysis shows that village elites have high degree centrality and play bridging roles between different sub-groups, but differences exist between the network patterns of managing forests and water and managing villages and terraces. Contagion models show that both friendship and advice networks contribute to the social influence among villagers, but advice networks have larger influences in managing villages, terraces, and water than friendship networks. This study provides insights into the heterogeneity and dynamics of village leadership and social networks in managing rural SESs that are experiencing rapid socio-economic changes, and the results contribute to making integrative and adaptive planning and development policies for indigenous communities. • Social network analysis is used to study indigenous natural resource management. • Institutional and non-institutional elites play different roles in managing Hani rice terrace system. • Elites have high centrality and play bridging roles in collective actions. • Friendship networks and advice networks have different roles in behavioral contagion. • Heterogeneity and dynamics of leadership and social networks in governing rural SES are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]