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Purpose: This study aims to uncover and develop explicit knowledge of existing smart communities (SCs) to guide services and business solutions for enterprises and serve community users in a well-thought-out manner. These sagacious frameworks will assist in analyzing trends and reaching out to pre-existing setups with different degrees of expertise. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic overview is provided in this paper to unify insights and competencies toward building SCs; a hybrid analytical approach is used consisting of machine learning and bibliometric analysis. Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) are the primary databases for this purpose. Findings: SCs implement cutting-edge technologies to enhance mobility, elevating information and communication technology (ICT) skills and data awareness while improving business processes and efficiency. This system of SC is an evolution of the conventional method. It provides a foundation for intelligent community services based on individual users and technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data. Manufacturing-based, service-based, retail-based, resource management and infrastructure-based SCs exist in the literature. Originality/value: The paper summarizes a conceptual framework of SCs based on existing works around SCs. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first systematic literature review that uses a hybrid approach of topic modeling and bibliometric analysis to understand SCs better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This interdisciplinary paper blends knowledge from computer science and economics in proposing a complex dynamic system subpopulation model for a blockchain form of local complementary currency, generic to the Grassroots Economics Foundation's Community Inclusion Currency (CIC) implemented in Kenya. Our contribution to the emerging economics literature is five-fold: (i) we take a novel meso-economic approach to elicit utility from actual transactions data and reveal an 'optimal' disaggregation number of typical community subgroups; (ii) we relate the local CIC functioning to a nation-wide currency board monetary regime to argue that such a credible CIC implementation ensures trust in the CIC and makes it a valuable market-based channel to alleviate poverty, in addition to humanitarian or government aid channels. However, (iii) we also find evidence in our data that substitutes for real-world money such as CICs are perceived as inferior, and hence CIC systems can only be transitional. Then, (iv) we reveal that, for a poor population, saving dominates as a use of a cluster's CIC balance, accounting for 47%, followed by purchase of food and water, 25%. Despite these dominant patterns, (v) we uncover a considerable heterogeneity in CIC spending behavior. Our contribution to the related computer-science and Tokenomics literature is two-fold: (i) we provide an open-source scaffold for modeling CIC viability and net flows; (ii) to simulate a subpopulation mixing process, we employ a network-based dynamical system modeling approach that is better grounded in economic principles and monetary theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the civil sector in society is of utmost importance for the democratic values of a country and the promotion of civic awareness. Cooperation between civil society organizations and businesses is a model that has been proven to work. In the Republic of North Macedonia, with the adoption of the Law on Donations and Sponsorships in Public Activities in 2006 and the Law on Associations and Foundations in 2010, the legal framework that regulates this area was harmonized with European standards, and the foundations were laid for the development of measures that will help the sustainability of the civil sector. Appreciating the contribution of the civil sector and its significant role in the development of society, encouraging pluralism, tolerance, and the development of democracy, 3 strategies for the cooperation of the government with the civil sector with an action plan were adopted in the Republic of North Macedonia in the past 15 years. These strategies were largely implemented through the adoption of several amendments to the aforementioned laws. In this paper, a detailed analysis is made of the Law on Donations and Sponsorships in Public Activities and the Law on Associations and Foundations in 2010 with their amendments. Research has also been done on the practical application of the legal norms that will indicate the advantages and weaknesses of these provisions. The primary goal of this paper is to determine the possibilities and ways to strengthen the cooperation between civil organizations and foundations and the business sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants play a vital role in numerous domains, including medicine, agriculture, and environmental balance. Furthermore, they contribute to the production of oxygen and the retention of carbon dioxide, both of which are necessary for living beings. Numerous researchers have conducted thorough research in the classification of plant species where certain studies have focused on limited numbers of classes, while others have employed conventional machine-learning and deep-learning models to classify them. To address these limitations, this paper introduces a novel dual-stream neural architecture embedded with a soft-attention mechanism specifically developed for accurately classifying plant species. The proposed model utilizes residual and inception blocks enhanced with dilated convolutional layers for acquiring both local and global information. Following the extraction of features, both streams are combined, and a soft-attention technique is used to improve the distinct characteristics. The efficacy of the model is shown via extensive experimentation on varied datasets, including several plant species. Moreover, we have contributed a novel dataset that comprises 48 classes of different plant species. The results demonstrate a higher level of performance when compared to current models, emphasizing the capability of the dual-stream design in improving accuracy and model generalization. The integration of a dual-stream architecture, dilated convolutions, and soft attention provides a strong and reliable foundation for the botanical community, supporting advancement in the field of plant species classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rural transformation driven by regime shift is obvious around the world, and there is still insufficient research exploring related effective analytical frameworks and ideas. Transformation adaptation is widely used in the field of disaster research as a concept of dynamic systems' evolutionary development, emphasizing fundamental changes in the structure or function of systems and promoting equity and justice for communities in social–ecological systems. This paper critically reviews and synthesizes the literature on adaptation to construct an evaluation framework of transformative adaptation of social–ecological systems. This framework is applied to the analysis of the adaptive process, capacity, and outcomes of rural tourism transformation in different cases of Shaanxi Province, China. The results were as follows: (1) The shift of regime state in the process of rural transformation adaptation has diversified, while the tourism regime shift with active adaptation has better adaptive capacity and outcomes; (2) a strong community foundation and benefit-sharing tourism development model can promote adaptation in the rural system; and (3) social relationship networks, farmers' collective interests and discourse power, and rural economic and material conditions are the key factors affecting the adaptation of rural tourism transformation. This study provides practical analytical tools and opportunities for improving adaptation of the rural tourism transformation at the global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry is lagging behind in the digital race, thus not living up to its potential to drive the knowledge economy of the Built Environment (BE). This paper explores the motivations for change: why the 4+5IR is worth not resisting and what 4IR technologies could benefit the Quantity Surveying Profession (QSP). The introduction to the new concept of change management is used to illustrate how the QS workplace can go about embracing digital transformation (4IR), concentrating on human-centric, sustainable and resilient nuances (5IR). A form of documentary research, namely a literature review study, has been undertaken to review pertinent research and extract relevant information though content analysis about the digitalisation relevant to the Built Environment, the construction industry and its value chain, and the Quantity Surveying Profession specifically; knowledge innovation and creativity economy, as well as how change management strategies assist the implementation of digital transformation. The QSP, as part of the BE, appears to have compelling reasons to adopt 4IR to improve and enhance their service offering to the construction industry value-chain, thereby contributing to the BE's attainment of the SDGs. To accept the challenge of digital transformation, the application of change management theories in the QS workplace offer the opportunity to learn new concepts as well as adopt 4IR technology, through a scientific approach for QS practices to accept the challenge of digital transformation. The paper offers a roadmap toward achieving digital transformation by the QS community based on a literature review study, however, it is suggested these be tested through empirical data collected among QS practices who have determinedly set about adopting 4IR technology. The QSP risks becoming inexorable, if it continues to ignore the 4+5IR. The 'science' of change management offers a forensic approach to efficiently manage a transformative process and should be an approach which QSs' respect and value, given they apply it in their every-day activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities can be a significant source of well-being. Design literature has recently paid attention to social design and social innovation and has advanced our understanding of designing for communities in many ways. One thing that has been left to the sidelines has been those imageries that shape communities. They are usually seen but unnoticed, but important in their consequences. This paper builds on Garfinkel's ethnomethodology to explicate some of these imageries through a series of four Plant Hotels in Helsinki and one in Stockholm. Inspired by relational art they were meant to explore community-formation with minimal rules. They were treated as breaching experiments that led us to classify the imageries into four main orientations. The paper discusses how these imageries create a web of assumptions that create and maintain communities and make them robust, and how they can be turned into design material that helps us to reimagine communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of savings groups in resilience to urban climate-related disasters. Savings groups are a rapidly growing phenomenon in Africa. They are decentralized, non-institutional groups that provide millions of people excluded from the formal banking sector with a trusted, accessible, and relatively simple source of microfinance. Yet there is little work on the impacts of savings groups on resilience to disasters. In this paper, we use a combination of quantitative and qualitative evidence from Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) to shed new light on the role that savings groups play in helping households cope with climate-related shocks. Drawing on new data, we show that approximately one-quarter of households have at least one member in a group, and that these households recover from flood events faster than those who do not. We further argue that the structure of savings groups allows for considerable group oversight, reducing the high costs of monitoring and sanctioning that often undermine cooperative engagement in urban areas. This makes the savings group model a uniquely flexible form of financing that is well adapted to helping households cope with shocks such as repeated flooding. In addition to this, we posit that they may provide a foundation for community initiatives focusing on preventative action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bahamas Advanced Study Institute & Conferences (BASIC) is a center that brings together scientists and students to exchange ideas and conduct research in physics and related fields. It offers additional learning opportunities for students and provides ideal working conditions for researchers. This document introduces BASIC and includes a selection of papers presented at the institute's events in 2022 and 2023. The events were attended by a small group of scientists who presented their research in an informal setting, encouraging active discussion and audience participation. The document invites readers to participate in future events and acknowledges the sponsors and supporters of BASIC. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: This paper attempts to evaluate the current collaborative model of disaster management initiated by the Indonesian Government at the regional level. The paper aims at providing recommendations for a more functional model of local communities' resilience by promoting the synergy of roles among the community, industry and local government. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the study objective, the authors conducted the qualitative approach. The study used The Hyogo Framework to Action (HFA) 2000–2015 disaster management approach. The HFA approach contains substances of disaster management guidelines on social, economic and environmental aspects, as well as the strategies for implementing the guidelines. Findings: The study's findings have indicated that substandard institutions can hamper collaborative processes and lower the level of community resilience. A collaborative model can appropriately operate when the formal institution plays its role as the central coordinator and ensures that transparency, decision-making and representation are met. Furthermore, the community and formal educational institutions are essentials as the foundation of building community resilience. Practical implications: This study was limited to a case study in an Indonesian popular tourist destination. Hence, it could be extended by conducting comparative studies with other destinations in developing countries to explore their disaster management and the government involvement in each respective countries. Social implications: This study was limited to a case study in an Indonesian popular tourist destination. Hence, it could be extended by conducting comparative studies with other destinations in developing countries to explore their disaster management and government involvement in each respective country. Originality/value: In this paper, the authors propose a novel approach to improve the current disaster management model. The proposed approach focuses on designing an institutional model for tourism destinations' disaster management, where the stakeholders are less-functional in working collaboratively. The study findings suggest that educational institutions and disaster communities must take the mediator role in bridging knowledge transfer among the government, the community and the tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habit has primarily been considered along seemingly divergent trajectories, either as a mechanism that limits creativity or as a transition of imagination into embodied activity (Elizabeth Grosz (2013) 'Habit today: Ravaisson, Bergson, Deleuze and us', Body & Society 19(2&3): 217–39). An interplay of these two aspects is clearly seen in music improvisation, in which performances unfold through well-honed patterns of technique and processes of listening and learning. Yet while the development of good habits is considered essential to performance within distinct cultural traditions or stylistic genres, little attention has been devoted to identifying the types of habits needed for engagement in cross-cultural performance settings. This paper broadens the scope of habits typically explored within jazz studies and music pedagogy, conceptualizing habit in a way that resonates across contemporary Australian jazz and Yolŋu manikay (public ceremonial song) from Australia's Northern Territory. We emphasize the relational dimensions of habit as they form a foundation for community formation through performance, involving processes of imitation and evocation, and learning through participation. Through this heuristic braiding of habits in jazz and manikay, we argue that habits of musical performance both locate performers within distinct traditions while allowing freedom to innovate. This dynamic allows for the elevation of these traditions within new contexts and relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries have evolved from collections to convening spaces over the past 30 years and the next evolution of libraries will see library leaders and workers advance community building. Leveraging the centrality of their spaces and the appreciative view their communities extend, library leaders and workers can build on the authentic concern we hold for our community's wellbeing by fostering libraries as places for community transformation, regardless of library type. This article applies a powerful methodology for building community that assumes that conventional ways societies realize change is flawed because it fails increasingly large numbers of our citizens, despite our collective efforts to double down on what is not working for most of us. The shift from a retributive agenda to a restorative one where citizens reclaim their power and leaders' job is transformed from solving problems to convening powerful conversations becomes the work of libraries and leaders. It should be noted that this article grew out of a series of conversations between the author and Peter Block, who advised on the content and structure of the paper and whose book Community: The Structure of Belonging provides the foundation of community building that this contribution adapts to a library leadership context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to provide a better understanding of negative consumer–brand relationships in social-media-based anti-brand communities from a consumer culture theory (CCT) perspective. In particular, it investigates the purpose and the meaning of the consumer participation in online anti-brand communities, also through the analysis of the ways in which they express negative feelings toward the hated brands. Design/methodology/approach: This study applies a "symbolic netnographic" method to six anti-brand communities related to four global brands, namely, Apple, Nestlé, Uber and McDonald's. Moreover, several interviews were conducted with anti-brand community administrators. Findings: The findings show that the main reason for consumers to join anti-brand communities is a desire to participate in the construction of new meanings and values of modern consumption, translating their ideological incompatibility with certain brands into negative engagement and activism aimed at destroying the hated brand's image and reputation. Furthermore, the findings reveal that brand anthropomorphism is a frequent means of communication also used in the context of negative consumer–brand relationships, to strengthen the battle against the hated brand in a more frontal and direct manner. Research limitations/implications: Although this research provides some initial insights into negative consumer–brand relationships in the social media anti brand communities, the paper also has some limitations. The netnographic approach should be analyzed within more and different anti-brand communities. In this investigation, the authors perceived how difficult it is to obtain feedback from communities and to secure the collaboration of their administrators. There is also a need for research on other potential factors that can play a key role in negative consumer–brand relationships in social-media anti-brand communities, such as cultural capital or the impact of cultural perceptions. Moreover, future research should focus on different types of products and brand services, such as hedonic vs. utilitarian brands, as these might generate different types of consumer behavioral responses. Finally, a further direction for future research would be to consider the set of "brand recovery strategies" that can be implemented by companies to deal with negative consumer–brand relationships, including the identification of situations in which "not acting" could be preferable. Practical implications: Understanding the antecedents and types of negative consumer–brand relationships enables companies to identify "brand recovery strategies" for managing negativity in the appropriate manner. Moreover, negative feelings toward brand could even be an opportunity for improving branding management. Originality/value: This research improves on previous few studies dealing with online anti-brand communities from a CCT perspective. Firstly, it provides a holistic perspective of negative consumer–brand relationships in general and specifically of brand hate, thus advancing our understanding of the sociocultural dynamics of negative consumer–brand relationships; secondly, it provides new insights into the brand anthropomorphism phenomenon emerging in the negative feelings context. Overall, this research contributes to knowledge for both academics and managers as to why, how and for what purpose consumers experience negative engagement toward certain brands in the specific context of social-media-based anti-brand communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Within a neoliberal environment, financial vulnerability of households has become an increasing challenge and there is a requirement of financial literacy education, a necessary activity to facilitate sustainable development and well-being. However, this is seldom a mainstream discourse in social work deliberations. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach: First, introducing the neoliberal impact on financial well-being and capability for vulnerable households, the authors' postulation is substantiated on a seven-point argument. The contexts of financially vulnerable households are sketched. Second, a conceptualisation of financial literacy is offered, and third, perspectives on and approaches to financial literacy as a fundamental capability are presented. This is followed by a theoretical foundation of community education as a practice model in social work to develop financial capabilities. In the fifth place, prevailing practices of Financial Capabilities Development (FCD) programmes are offered. Subsequently, the implications of a neoliberal environment for social work practice are examined. Findings: The revised global definition of social work encourages the profession to understand and address the structural causes of social problems through collective interventions. As a response, it is argued that community education towards FCD of vulnerable households within a neoliberal environment should be an essential discourse in social development. Originality/value: The authors reflect on the significance of FCD, highlighting its contribution towards human security and sustainable development. Although this paper draws on Southern African contexts, the discourse finds resonance in other contexts across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In order to address global warming, most countries in the world have established carbon neutral targets and are continuously taking action to achieve carbon neutrality. The building sector accounts for 36% of end-use energy consumption and 37% of energy-related CO2 emissions globally, so carbon mitigation in building sector is considered to be the most critical step in completing the "last mile" of global carbon neutrality. Low-carbon buildings and communities are the foundation for achieving low-carbon cities and the key transition to reach the goal of carbon neutrality. Therefore, this review aimed to: (a) provide a comprehensive review of countries' policies on low-carbon buildings and communities and a theoretical basis for improving the corresponding laws and regulations; (b) investigate low-carbon technologies related to building and community construction and operation, as well as identify the current technology gaps; (c) provide a comprehensive overview of low-carbon buildings and communities assessment systems to analyze and evaluate the economic, technical, environmental and social benefits of current building and community energy systems; and (d) identify enablers and barriers in low-carbon buildings and communities to provide direction for future research. The results of this paper can provide comprehensive insights in to further achieving low-carbon buildings and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interreligious endowments in the strict sense were beyond the imagination of medieval founders and churchmen alike. Among similar phenomena, however, Latin Christendom did experience changes of monastic observances, which were often shaped as refoundations. In the late eleventh century, when monastic reform movements became increasingly important, a number of canonries (communities of secular clerics) were reorganized as monasteries. Hasungen in Hesse is an interesting case, founded and refounded by the same bishop for spiritual, political and personal reasons. This paper looks at the reaction of the former canons. By analysing charters and narrative evidence, it asks about their agency in adapting to the change of observance. Although monastic "reform" had the potential to marginalize the former canons, they not only accepted the refoundation: during the eventful first decades of the new monastery, they managed to keep alive the memory of, and connections to, the social environment which their pre-monastic community had been rooted in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most discussions on religious activism in Hong Kong focus on Christianity. Building on C. K. Yang's classic theory of diffused religion, this article first distinguishes Chinese religious institutions from less institutional religious practices and expressions and argues beyond this popular assumption and representation of Christianity by considering elements of Buddhism, Daoism, and Chinese folk religions in recent activism, revealing a more complex religious ecology. Second, this paper uncovers a longer historical trajectory whereby colonial forces attempted to co-opt Christianity to legitimize their power, which explains why assumptions concerning Christian domination exist in the first place. Furthermore, colonial policies, Cold War politics, and Chinese regimes have all co-opted institutional religious elites in Hong Kong for ideological purposes, resulting in institutional Chinese religions in Hong Kong, such as Buddhism and Daoism, being connected with the Chinese Communist Party, whereas the linkage between Christianity and liberty is reinforced. At the same time, without secularizing forces from Mainland China, religions in Hong Kong, including Christianity, institutional Chinese religions, and less institutional folk religions, have all diffused into secular institutions and with each other, contributing to the foundation of the Chinese community in the past and the pursuit of democracy, justice, and freedom today on a grassroots, non-institutional level. In this way, this article not only offers critical insight into the role of religion in Hong Kong activism and the often neglected history of religious co-optations under British colonialism and in the Cold War but also provides a theoretical contribution in terms of furthering our understanding of the relationship among religious institutions, state apparatuses, and diffused religion on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Civic agriculture," a term first coined by rural sociologist Thomas Lyson, refers to forms of agriculture that occur on a local level, from production to consumption, and are linked to a community's social and economic development. Sixteen years since its original articulation, the term "civic agriculture" has taken on greater significance in research, political activism, and community organizing. Grown from the roots of civic community theory, civic agriculture functions as a new branch of civic community theory that is ripe for theorization. In revisiting the foundations of the term, this review paper seeks to consolidate current and future research in the field of civic agriculture with a focus on its link to social welfare. This begins by reviewing the foundations of civic community theory and discussing how they influence research related to civic agriculture. As we report in this paper, there remain considerable gaps in understanding of how civic agriculture can be fomented by--or is related to--indicators such as demographics, concentration of power, community cohesion, and civic engagement. Consequently, the assumed links between local food systems and social welfare must continue to be studied to determine correlation and causality. This understanding is particularly important during this time of global pandemic, when the flaws and inequities of global supply chains are exposed and where, in many cases, civic agriculture met the increasing interest in local food. The COVID-19 pandemic has amply demonstrated the fragility and instability of global food supply chains, making the need for local food systems more significant and more relevant to communities across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Community engagement or community involvement in Aboriginal health research is a process that involves partnering, collaborating and involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or potential research participants to empower them to have a say in how research with Aboriginal communities is conducted. In the context of Aboriginal health, this is particularly important so that researchers can respond to the priorities of the community under study and conduct research in a way that is respectful of Aboriginal cultural values and beliefs. One approach to incorporating the principals of community engagement and to ensure cultural oversight and guidance to projects is to engage a community reference group. The aim of this study was to describe the process of establishing an Aboriginal community reference group and terms of reference. The community reference group was established to guide the research activities of a newly formed research collaboration aiming to to develop osteoarthritis care that meets the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. Methods: Adopting a Participatory Action Research approach, this two-phase study was conducted in Victoria, Australia. In phase one, semi-structured research yarns (a cultural form of conversation used as a data gathering tool) were conducted collaboratively by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal co-investigators to explore Aboriginal health stakeholder perspectives on establishing a community reference group and terms of reference. In phase two, recommendations in phase one were identified to invite members to participate in the community reference group and to ratify the terms of reference through a focus group. Data were analyzed using a framework analysis approach. Results: Thirteen people (eight female, four male) participated in phase one. Participants represented diverse professional backgrounds including physiotherapy, nursing, general practice, health services management, hospital liaison, cultural safety education, health research and the arts. Three themes were identified in phase one; Recruitment and Representation (trust and relationships, in-house call-outs, broad-spectrum expertise and Aboriginal majority); Purpose (community engagement, research steering, knowledge dissemination and advocacy) and; Function and Logistics (frequency and format of meetings, size of group, roles and responsibilities, authority, communication and dissemination). In phase two, six Aboriginal people were invited to become members of the community reference group who recommended changes which were incorporated into the seven domains of the terms of reference. Conclusion: The findings of this study are captured in a 10-step framework which describes practical strategies for establishing a community reference group and terms of reference in Aboriginal health research. Plain English Summary: Community engagement or community involvement in Aboriginal health research is a process that involves partnering with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or potential research participants to empower them to have a say in how research with Aboriginal communities is carried out. In the context of Aboriginal health, this is particularly important so that researchers can respond to the priorities of the community and conduct research in a way that respectful of Aboriginal cultural values and beliefs. One approach to community engagement in research is to form a community reference group to provide input to the research project. Although using a community reference group is considered to be an effective way to involve community members in research, often there are practical challenges in setting up and sustaining such a group. In this paper, we set out to describe an approach used to set up a community reference group for a new Aboriginal health research project exploring joint pain in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This involved interviewing 13 health professionals and researchers (12 who identified as Aboriginal and one who identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) about how to best go about setting up a community reference group. We used recommendations from these participants to inform who we approached to be members of the group and how the group would function. In describing the process we used to establish a community reference group, we were able to design a 10-step practical guide which may help other research groups who are looking to conduct new, ethical Aboriginal health research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community is the foundation of modern cities, where urban residents spend most of their lifetime. Effective and healthy community design plays a vital role in improving residents' living quality. Pedestrian network is an indispensable element in the community. Successful pedestrian network design can help the residents be healthy both physically and mentally, build the awareness of "Go Green" for the society, and finally contribute to low-carbon and green cities. This paper proposes a community pedestrian network design method based on Urban Network Analysis with the help of the Rhino software. A case study of a typical community in Guangzhou, China was implemented, specifying the steps of the proposed method. The findings presented include the features of the citizens and the accessibilities of the neighbors that are obtained from the community pedestrian network simulation. The limitation and scalability of this method was discussed. The proposed method can be essential to designing healthy and sustainable communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the challenges of community self-organisation in contemporary China, where the retrenchment of the party-state and the decline of social cohesion under late socialism have left underresourced communities increasingly responsible for the self-provision of public goods and services. Through a comparison of two case studies – a village shareholding corporation and a community foundation – the paper identifies three dimensions of institutional choice in community self-organisation: the efficient maximisation of resources, the equitable distribution of resources, and the affective recruitment of ideological support. This analysis suggests both a tradeoff between efficiency and equity and a reliance on nostalgia as the basis for the selective mobilisation of affect. These dynamics intersect to produce programmatic biases that privilege the interests of some residents while excluding others. While new forms of affect can help increase inclusion, the initial choices made by organisers result in institutional path dependencies that prove difficult to escape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study which investigates the current status of chuchotage, or whispered interpreting, as a technique performed by community interpreters in Australia. The objective of the study is to understand the interpreters' experience in providing this form of interpreting and identify the associated challenges. The aim is to inform future education for aspiring interpreters and continuous professional development for practitioners on this interpreting technique. Traditionally, chuchotage has predominantly been performed in international meetings and conferences. Therefore, it has been a staple skill taught as part of conference interpreting courses. This form of interpreting works more effectively than the consecutive mode in certain community settings, such as some healthcare consultations and courtroom hearings. In Australia, chuchotage is an essential skill for community interpreters operating at the professional level, and therefore has been added to the new certification testing that the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) has implemented since 2018. Prior to 2018, NAATI did not assess interpreters for this skill and, thus, when the new certification system was introduced, NAATI offered a one-day workshop as gap training, providing accredited interpreters with the foundations required for community settings. Through a post-workshop questionnaire, data were collected from 741 participant interpreters. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses provide insights into who among the practitioners performed this form of interpreting, the community settings where they provided such service, their self-appraised level of skilfulness, and the client feedback they received. Recommendations for future training in this technique are made based on the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Philanthropic partners have always played a critical role in the management and maintenance of national parks in the U.S. Cultivating strong relationships with the communities of color, particularly African Americans, has been a major challenge for the National Park Service (NPS). As ethnic populations increase in share of the U.S. total population, the lack of diversity in NPS partnerships will be increasingly problematic for national parks funding and stewardship. Building philanthropic partnerships with African American audiences will be critical to the long-term sustainability of the NPS. While philanthropy is present and strong in the Black community, further research is needed to ascertain how the NPS can inspire and sustain philanthropic actions among Black donors in support of national parks. This paper presents an overview of the literature on Black philanthropy and the findings from focus group interviews to understand how African Americans perceive their philanthropy and the ways they connect their giving to national parks. The focus group interviews occurred between February and June 2018 in Raleigh, NC; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; and Washington, DC. Participants included mostly African American donors who were actively involved in community foundations, philanthropic associations, and giving circles. The study found that Black philanthropy is embedded in the community life; measured not only in money, but also in time and talent; and, driven by race and humanity. Participants also noted that a general lack of awareness as an important reason why they had not considered giving in support of national parks in the past. They suggested that making more visible the Black history of national parks would likely increase African American donors' interests and stewardship. We suggest the NPS broaden its lens in forming strategies for connecting to Black donors (and audiences in general). Findings in this report present unique opportunities for the NPS to cultivate enduring and meaningful relationships with African American communities in support of national parks. Specifically, the NPS should leverage Black philanthropy to build partnerships, recognize the importance of social empowerment, expand cultural memory as part of the NPS visitor experience, and build on the concept of giving circles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Independent foundations deliver grants for the welfare of communities. The founder can be an artist and the artist, as philanthropist, is a very recent topic and issue in social sciences, whose approaches usually mean the artist either as a starving or a star. Their foundations can be both operating and grant-making and relationship marketing can shape community engagement, both as regards fundraising in order to increase endowments and as regards grant-making thanks to multiple sponsors and financing mechanisms. Effective communication is crucial for relationship marketing and essential for helping foundations to understand their audiences. In addition to the website, communication of these foundations can include digital communication strategies and social media, that allow real-time communication among many actors. The aim of this paper concerns American artist-endowed foundations, managing with arts or community issues with different performances and communication. The methodology includes the analysis of mission statements, websites and 990 Forms, and a cluster analysis of 2016's accounting data. Thanks to the cluster analysis, economic performances, fundraising and fund-giving are highlighted and a concentration ratio indicates the degree of involvement either in specific arts (visual, performing, etc.) and creativity or in community welfare and other issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing international interest in place-based approaches to improve early childhood development (ECD) outcomes. The available data and evidence are limited and precludes well informed policy and practice change. Developing the evidence-base for community-level effects on ECD is one way to facilitate more informed and targeted community action. This paper presents overall final findings from the Kids in Communities Study (KiCS), an Australian mixed methods investigation into community-level effects on ECD in five domains of influence–physical, social, governance, service, and sociodemographic. Twenty five local communities (suburbs) across Australia were selected based on 'diagonality type' i.e. whether they performed better (off-diagonal positive), worse (off-diagonal negative), or 'as expected' (on-diagonal) on the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) relative to their socioeconomic profile. The approach was designed to determine replicable and modifiable factors that were separate to socioeconomic status. Between 2015–2017, stakeholder interviews (n = 146), parent and service provider focus groups (n = 51), and existing socio-economic and early childhood education and care administrative data were collected. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses were undertaken to understand differences between 14 paired disadvantaged local communities (i.e. on versus off-diagonal). Further analysis of qualitative data elicited important factors for all 25 local communities. From this, we developed a draft set of 'Foundational Community Factors' (FCFs); these are the factors that lay the foundations of a good community for young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the upcoming ARNOVA conference and its theme of "Advancing the Public Good in an Era of Disinformation, Mistrust, and Democratic Backsliding." It also announces the recipient of the Nonprofit Management & Leadership Editors' Prize for the Best Scholarly Paper, which goes to Viviana Chiu Sik Wu for her article on community leadership in community foundations. The article proposes a multidimensional conceptual framework for community leadership and analyzes 539 annual reports of U.S. community foundations to understand their leadership capacities. The article contributes to the understanding of community leadership and provides preliminary evidence for future research. [Extracted from the article]

This paper presents a preliminary study on migrant's adaptation in the post-nomadic settlements inside Mongolia's Ulaanbaatar and China's Nantun (Evenk Autonomous Banner or Ewenke Zizhiqi) using specific examples of education and housing. The research fields were selected in order to find urbanised areas with herders migrating to the city, and where such movement is numerous enough to establish districts or at least impact the urban culture. Therefore the context differs from the situations when fewer families enter a relatively large settlement and have to adjust to the found conditions. At first glance the recently urbanised areas might seem a provisional imitation of the city, as a result of the century-long development. The migrants define their culture-based settlement. The shared condition of the selected settlements is the status of a post-nomadic migration destination. Therefore there is an expectation of some shared similarities in city-life adaptation. Presenting such exemplary districts illustrates the interesting social dynamics in the post-nomadic cities. Among the similarities of the formation of the post-nomadic settings, we find some common mechanisms shaping social dynamics in migration, then community foundation. They arise even in the context of exceptionally diverse frameworks of state urban policies. We will also discuss gentrification processes in newly emerged districts and their impact on the cityscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is implemented in professional sport, specifically to compare and contrast different organisational structures used in the implementation of CSR. A qualitative case study methodology was adopted, drawing on interviews with key stakeholders of 12 professional sporting organisations and their relevant CSR departments. Secondary sources such as annual reports, newsletters, websites and other organisational documents were also collected and analysed. This research found a variety of challenges and opportunities for employing CSR, including alignment of strategies, conflict of power and access to resources. Discussions explore how communication, collaboration and different governance models can improve the inter-relationship of these entities. This paper offers an empirical identification of critical opportunities and challenges within professional sporting organisations. This paper extends the current research by looking at CSR management and governance, specifically exploring the inter-relationship between professional sporting organisations and their associated foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the relationships that individuals have with their communities. This work was prepared as part of the ASA Data Expo '13 sponsored by the Graphics Section and the Computing Section, using data provided by the Knight Foundation Soul of the Community survey. The Knight Foundation in cooperation with Gallup surveyed 43,000 people over 3 years in 26 communities across the United States with the intention of understanding the association between community attributes and the degree of attachment people feel towards their community. These include the different facets of both urban and rural communities, the impact of quality education, and the trend in the perceived economic conditions of a community over time. The goal of our work is to facilitate understanding of why people feel attachment to their communities through the use of an interactive and web-based visualization. We will explain the development and use of web-based interactive graphics, including an overview of the R package Shiny and the JavaScript library D3, focusing on the choices made in producing the visualizations and technical aspects of how they were created. Then we describe the stories about community attachment that unfolded from our analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic, public crises, ageing, and social fragmentation have exposed the fragility of community systems. This paper proposes the hypothesis that governance structure and institution affect the functional system and adaptability of the community, and forms a framework of structural-institutional-functional adaptation. Using comparative analysis of cases from different governance structures and self-organizing foundations. The government governance structure and weak self-organization foundation of Hongmei community form the dependence on the government to improve the functional system. Qicai Community is a market governance structure, which realizes multi-functional adaptability in design, but the weak self-organization foundation increases the cost of operation and institution. Hemu Community is a multi-agent structure based on the self-organization institution, which improves the multi-functional adaptability under the cooperation of self-organization and the government. The case comparison shows that the governance structure and institutional adaptability are the basis of functional adaptation, which together constitute the system adaptability. From the perspective of CAS, the bottom-up self-organization structure has more flexible adaptability. The multi-agent governance structure based on the self-organization is more conducive to the improvement of functional adaptability. But market and government mechanisms each have their own irreplaceable roles. This paper proposes that the government and the market embedded in the multi-agent structure and institutional framework of self-organizing governance, and realize the collaborative adaptation of the three dimensions, which is of great significance for the transformation of community governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon principles for public engagement and for impact assessment (IA) follow-up, this paper distils best practice principles specific to public participation in IA follow-up. Literature review, followed by a simple survey distributed to IA follow-up and/or public engagement practitioners, helped identify key principles and related published sources. Twelve principles for public participation in IA follow-up are presented, which relate to (1) mandatory public reporting, (2) ease of access to published material, (3) full transparency, (4) clarity about the IA follow-up process, (5) input to decision-making, (6) continuous access to IA follow-up activities and feedback, (7) independent verification, (8) two-way communication, (9) partnerships, (10) Indigenous inclusion, (11) participatory monitoring, and (12) involvement in adaptive management. They form a ladder of public engagement; the initial principles pertain mainly to information provision, with increasing levels of participation and legitimacy inherent in the latter principles. The principles are intended to provide a foundation for practitioners and community members involved in IA follow-up to enhance practice at all stages of the development life cycle, helping to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While social media platforms are valuable for examining the online engagement of nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, the research considerations underlying social media data remain opaque to most. Through a systematic review of nonprofit studies that analyze social media data, I propose a methodological framework incorporating three common data types: text, engagement and network data. The review reveals that most existing studies rely heavily on manual coding to analyze relatively small datasets of social media messages, thereby missing out on the automation and scalability offered by advanced computational methods. To address this gap, I demonstrate the application of supervised machine learning to train, predict, and analyze a substantial dataset consisting of 66,749 social media messages posted by community foundations on Twitter/X. This study underscores the benefits of combining manual content analysis with automated approaches and calls for future research to explore the potential of generative AI in advancing nonprofit social media research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networks are growing, community detection has become one of the hot topics in social network research. As various types of social networks continue to emerge, universal community detection approaches are becoming increasingly important. As the real community division is dynamic, the community structure will appear or disappear with the passage of time. Therefore, the authenticity and real-time of the division become the core foundation of community detection, and the design of a real-time algorithm based on real division has great challenges. In this paper, we propose a dynamic community detection algorithm dynamic clustering by fast search and find of density peaks (D-CFSFDP) based on the partition of nodes-follow relationships to improve the accuracy and adaptability of real complex community detection. In D-CFSFDP, a distance metric based on trust is defined, the user relationship in the social network is quantified as a distance matrix, and the size of the matrix element is used to measure the degree of the user relationship. Then we use kernel density estimation on the distance matrix, and compile the statistics of the impact of each node in the network. We combine the improved KD-Tree model and mean integrated squared error criterion to improve the calculation flow, so that it adapts to different sizes of data sets to improve the calculation accuracy. Based on the principle of density peak clustering and the community attributes, the internal structure and natural outside structure of the community can be obtained according to the distance between the nodes. Finally, the remaining nodes are allocated by distance to the corresponding community to complete the community division. The static community division is further extended to a dynamic detection algorithm that gets linear time complexity. Therefore, we can change the community structure by updating the node relationships in the network. Through the visualization software we can observed that, the D-CFSFDP algorithm give the results of community division with a clear natural and internal hierarchical structure. With the increase of community scale and difficulty of division, D-CFSFDP algorithm has excellent stability. In the real data set and the Douban network, the community division is more close to the real division result, the adaptability is good and the feasibility and validity are verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This theory is based on the idea that both bureaucratic and community primary groups are essential for achieving most tasks in our society. At the same time they have antithetical atmospheres. Therefore, they are best linked when they are at some midpoint of social distance. If they are too close, there will be conflicts because of their atmospheres. If they are too far, they will not be able to coordinate to solve their mutual problems. The paper suggests eight possible mechanisms of coordination which can link bureaucratic organizations with primary groups. It suggests the theoretical bases for determining which of these mechanisms tends to close social distance and which tends to open distance. It further suggests what kinds of bureaucratic structures can tolerate each type of coordinating mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community foundations are nonprofit organizations promoting philanthropy for projects useful in a defined geographic area. This paper aims to highlight how U.S. community foundations are building a generous society with the engagement of multiple stakeholders. Our study analyses the marketing strategies of a sample of 100 of the largest U.S. community foundations in 2010 and 2013. A cluster analysis examines financial performance, average number of recipients, and related organizations to discover the level of philanthropic activities and relationships, revenue diversification, and the level of competition on the fundraising side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two Greek Orthodox communities in Vienna, St George and Holy Trinity, administered several foundations and endowments from the 18th century onwards. This paper aims to reconstruct the communities' role as administrators for those foundations whose capital was invested in immovable property. The focus lies on three Stiftungshäuser and on nine mortgage-backed buildings located in today's first and second district of Vienna. The history of these buildings -- from the purchase to the benefactors' death, and from the establishment of the foundations to the buildings' sale -- will be reconstructed by taking into account Vienna's urban development and housing situation in the 19th-century. Furthermore, the benefactors' identities as homeowners and their relationship to the buildings and their residents will be examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants intimately coexist with diverse taxonomically structured microbial communities that influence host health and productivity. The coexistence of plant microbes in the phyllosphere benefits biodiversity maintenance, ecosystem function, and community stability. However, differences in community composition and network structures of phyllosphere epiphytic and endophytic fungi are widely unknown. Using Illumina Miseq sequencing of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 28S rRNA gene amplicons, we characterised the epiphytic and endophytic fungal communities associated with cashew phyllosphere (leaf, flower and fruit) from Kwale, Kilifi and Lamu counties in Kenya. The ITS and 28S rRNA gene sequences were clustered into 267 and 108 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at 97% sequence similarity for both the epiphytes and endophytes. Phylum Ascomycota was abundant followed by Basidiomycota, while class Saccharomycetes was most dominant followed by Dothideomycetes. The major non-ascomycete fungi were associated only with class Tremellales. The fungal communities detected had notable ecological functions as saprotrophs and pathotrophs in class Saccharomyectes and Dothideomycetes. The community composition of epiphytic and endophytic fungi significantly differed between the phyllosphere organs which was statistically confirmed by the Analysis of Similarity test (ANOSIM Statistic R: 0.3273, for 28S rRNA gene and ANOSIM Statistic R: 0.3034 for ITS). The network analysis revealed that epiphytic and endophytic structures were more specialized, modular and had less connectance. Our results comprehensively describe the phyllosphere cashew-associated fungal community and serve as a foundation for understanding the host-specific microbial community structures among cashew trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the impact of community foundations on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives within the Romanian business environment, focusing on the Community Foundation of Oradea as a case study. Using semi-structured interviews and statistical analysis of responses from 32 local firm managers, the study assesses the foundations' role in promoting CSR. While there is a general awareness of CSR, actual understanding and implementation by firms remain superficial. The case study illustrates how community foundations serve as crucial intermediaries between financial donors and project implementers, significantly contributing to community development and CSR engagement. These findings not only highlight the potential for extendin g such partnerships beyond Oradea but also suggest their relevance in shaping public policies that encourage sustainable development and corporate accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aim of study: Marine climatic transition zones are boundary areas of major climate zones, here the boundary between the subtropical and temperate zones. They present areas containing high abundance of organisms living at the limit of their physiological tolerance. These marginal populations are particularly sensitive to changes in their environment. As such, marine climatic transition zones are excellent natural playgrounds for climate change-related hypothesis testing, especially with respect to marine habitat response to ocean warming. The marginal biogenic habitats around Jeju Island, South Korea, which lies within the temperate transition zone, have gradually changed from macroalgal-dominated to hard coral-dominated habitats. Understanding the specific abiotic environmental factors that influence the distribution of the marginal populations in temperate transition zones (i.e., species at their occurrence limit) is crucial to predicting and managing temperate zone habitat changes caused by climate change. This study aims to identify the specific abiotic environmental factors that contribute to explaining the current spatial distribution of the declining temperate and expanding subtropical foundation species in Jeju waters. Methods: Coverage and composition of sessile benthic communities were determined by photo-quadrat analysis at two depths (10 m and 15 m) at three sites along the island's south, east, and north coasts in May and November 2022. Divergences in community composition between sites were characterized in light of ten quantitative environmental parameters. Results: Our results show that sessile foundation communities vary significantly at different sites around the island. While the south is defined by high-latitude hard corals, predominately Alveopora japonica, the east is defined by the temperate canopy-forming macroalga Ecklonia cava, and the north is characterized by coralline algae. Winter sea surface temperature, water transparency, nutrient concentration, and water movement were statistically the most impactful environmental factors determining which foundation species constitute each distinct benthic community. Conclusion: This study provides valuable baseline information on the impacts of abiotic environmental factors on marine sessile communities in a temperate transition zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]