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Ecotourism has evolved into a strategy for establishing sustainable livelihoods and plays a vital role in the management of local communities. It confronts numerous difficulties despite appearing to be the ideal tool for enhancing socio-economic development. This study examined how ecotourism helps local communities thrive through a case study of a tourist village in Wringinputih, Borobudur, Central Java, Indonesia. A series of observations and interviews were conducted to learn more about the ecotourism of rural development. The results showed two opposing views on the importance of the concept. It considerably improves perceptions of openness, ties-based local communities and resource preservation. On the other side, there are considerable obstacles to the tourist village's effective sustainability, including corruption, local disbelief in the government, and a lack of ecotourism in planning initiatives. Recommendations are made on how the development programme can offer a sharp analysis to comprehend the characteristics of local communities in the planning and management process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to contribute to the application of human resources systems and practices in a sport‐for‐development program for community development. Using a qualitative research approach, this study collected a series of data over a period of 24 months in a rural community setting in India. This article reveals that inputs such as soccer peer‐coaching knowledge and opportunities for training not only develop coaching and playing skills and abilities but also can create a socially cohesive space to foster individual, group and community capacity building for improved sport‐for‐development program outcomes. Using social movement theory, this article illustrates that soccer peer‐coaching knowledge can be an enabler in recruiting, training and incentivising participants and volunteer coaches for social action. This article provides a practical and theoretical understanding of using knowledge, skills and abilities to mobilise individuals and assist in the delivery of a sustainable sport‐for‐development program in a community setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses the Boardania community case to illustrate and discuss two issues that arise from mobility in online consumption communities: (i) the processes involved in the management of consumption community as it collectively shifts in space and (ii) the transformation of the community by the new spaces it inhabits. Inspired by nomadism, it explores the relationships among consumption community, the collective movement of people, and current and potential future spaces. Applying process data analysis to data from an extended netnography, the study reveals space as a recursive object that can both change and be changed by the community. We conclude that spatial capabilities, dysfunctions and reconfigurations are essential to community life, power relationships and the definition of the community’s shared desired destiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a capitalist point of view, pre-industrial communities are a rich source of cheap labour and resources, which could be put to profitable use if industrialised. This is normally presented politically as bringing the modern world's quality of life improvements to impoverished and struggling communities, or more crudely as modernising "backward" modes of societies. Certain regions of Mexico, such as El Bajío (Central North-West of Mexico) represent territories in transition from an agricultural to industrial economy; with an important growing automotive sector among others; one of the largest increases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and important effects on community relations. The Bajío represents a region characterized by a significant number of sources of employment in the industry, tax incentives from the State, low wages and the absence of strikes. The Castro del Río Tecnoindustrial Park (PTCR) was built more than a decade ago, during the boom of the automotive industry in the region, and, as indicated by its official website, it houses 72 companies from 6 different countries, has a "young and abundant workforce: more than 700 thousand inhabitants in a radius of 20 kilometres", and a "Public Training Institute for technicians through the CONALEP Castro del Río campus, located within the park". Most of the communities affected by this technological development have incipient urban development, with limited access to basic services such as drainage or drinking water, no or limited common spaces for social interaction, recreation and sports, and little or no health, education and cultural equipment. The inhabitants of these communities work in the fields, construction, or as labourers in the PTCR companies. The aim of this study was to examine the perception of youth about the labor, community and gender relational dynamics in the context of the agricultural-industrial transition of their localities, due to the insertion of the PTCR. A concurrent mixed study was carried out over three months by applying a questionnaire, discussion groups and semi-structured interviews. Among the main findings, the following stand out: 1) A paradigm shift was detected in terms of the perspective of work in young people, although the memory of previous community productive forms persists; Likewise, important perceptions about labor rights and agency are detected in relation to formal and salaried work and an awareness of the notorious forms of labor abuse in factories; 2) A relevance of the management holidays and common spaces was identified, which in some communities are scarce, as significant spaces for interaction, collaboration community and sense of place; 3) Tensions are perceived in gender relations due to the entry of women in to the industrial work environment and diverse expressions of their autonomy that are opposed to sexist beliefs and expectations on the part of older men. Young women's career, work, and recreational expectations are viewed as negative and undesirable. The reported study made it possible to visualise the perceptions of youth about the relationships affected by the agricultural-industrial transition of their communities. Some limitations identified are related to the short time available to the team to carry out the study, the unsafe conditions in the area derived from organised crime. It is relevant to continue this study and delve into the aspects analysed. It is viewed as a prospective investigation to return to the communities and carry out a new study to analyse the three types of relationships and the role played by ICTs, the increasingly widespread pro-gender equality discourse, as well as the changes that appear in perspectives 3 years after the first study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disasters negatively impact mental health and well-being. Studying how people adapt and recover after adversity is crucial for disaster preparedness and response. Objective: This study examined how differentially affected communities harness their resources to adapt to the aftermath of a flood. We predicted that stronger individual, interpersonal, and community resources protect against psychosocial resource loss and, through that, are related to fewer symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression and higher life satisfaction. We also predicted that these effects would be stronger in a flooded community, compared to a threatened, but non-flooded community. Method: Participants were randomly sampled community members from two neighbouring municipalities. One municipality was severely flooded during the 2014 floods in South East Europe (affected community, na = 223), the other was threatened but not flooded (comparison community, nc = 224). Interviews were conducted one and a half years after the disaster using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10-item version, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Community Resources Scale, the Psychosocial Resource Loss Scale, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale Revised and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Results: Stronger individual, interpersonal, and community resources were found to be related to better post-disaster outcomes directly and indirectly through psychosocial resource loss. In the affected community, interpersonal resources and community social capital and engagement were stronger predictors of positive adaptation. In the comparison community, community economic development and trust in community leadership were more important. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that people affected by disasters can harness their individual, interpersonal, and community resources to recover and adapt. Post-disaster interventions should aim to strengthen family and community ties, thus increasing available social support and community connectedness. • Psychosocial resource loss after disasters can be reduced by harnessing individual, interpersonal and community resources. • This is then related to better mental health and wellbeing. • Post-disaster interventions should aim to strengthen social support and community connectedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on local community economic development organizations rely on both public and private sources of funding to support their work. Topics include the reductions in grant funding at the federal, state, and local levels of government, including programs like the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program make it even more difficult for locally-based organizations to heavily rely on government support.

Psychosocial responses to disasters at individual and community levels have been widely explored in the psychological and psychiatric literature. However, less attention has been drawn to the fields of positive, developmental, and community psychology. This paper focuses on conceptions of disaster, considering the extent of the impact based on disaster characteristics and consequences for the individuals and their communities. Research from positive, developmental, and community psychology is discussed, highlighting the role of personal and community resources. So far, existing literature has explored individual dimensions of trauma and outlined key mental health issues involved in exposure to disaster. Despite a variety of action-focused research, there is still need for increased awareness and acknowledgment of the interplay between community and individual resources in the outcomes of disaster response. As such, a conceptual model to understand factors related to disaster exposure and recovery is suggested, together with key recommendations for research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines community-driven adult environmental learning in a volunteer watershed stewards program. We look for evidence of elements that portray steps toward "concientización"—the process of individuals and communities directing their own learning in nonhierarchical ways. Leveraging two theories from the learning sciences and community development research, affinity spaces and the Asset-Based Community Development model, we trace participants' development toward concientización. Data collected through interviews with watershed stewards speaks to parts of these theories that in turn signal elements of concientización. Our findings point to the importance of providing communities with support that is flexible and easy to use for identifying and leveraging the resources in their community. We call for a new framework to understand how to help learners access community-driven environmental learning experiences and supporting resources at opportune times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based off of standard program planning models, the Inside-Out Model takes a Logic, Interactive, and Asset-Based Community Development Model and fuses them to form the Inside-Out Model. The model is based on the premise that one must start from the inside to plan an effective program. Theoretically, a community will only make changes in their community by focusing on the resources inside their community. Furthermore, this article takes the Inside-Out Model and applies it to a community reentry program for female inmates upon release from jail. From the practical side, the model focuses on each woman (the inside) and develops outward to the community resources. The Inside-Out Model for this community reentry program is explained for practitioners to know precisely how to go about each stage in the program planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract: Local organizations can serve as landmarks that orient residents’ understanding of space and foster social ties through regular and repeated interaction. Depending on their location, schools can serve as local social anchors or pull families who live in the same neighborhood in different directions. This study examines the extent to which the geographic location of schools shapes how residents view their social and spatial connection to their own residential neighborhood. Specifically, I use GIS, descriptive statistics, and regressions with neighborhood fixed‐effects to analyze the Making Connections Survey of 28 low‐income neighborhoods in 10 different cities. The results show that residents who have a child attending a school inside their neighborhood report living in a closer‐knit community and knowing more of their kids’ friends. Residents also shift their perception of their neighborhoods’ geographic boundaries in the direction of the school their child attends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon previous research, this study reexamines the associations among community attachment, community-directed behaviors, and individual-level constraints to involvement in community-oriented actions. Using data collected in a general population survey from a random sample of individuals living in 22 rural places in Texas, the following two hypotheses were tested: (1) that community attachment is positively associated with community-oriented actions, and (2) that community attachment is associated with individual-level constraints to involvement in community-oriented actions. The first hypothesis received substantial support; the second hypothesis received moderate support. Possible implications of the findings for researchers, public leaders, Cooperative Extension personnel, and community development practitioners working in local communities in/around rural places containing population settlements are advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to fill the gap in literature concerning community gardens in post-communist countries by focusing on the situation in Prague, Czechia. It introduces Prague′s newly emerged community gardens and presents the results of a first representative survey of these gardens. Information was gathered about eleven of the sixteen larger community gardens and the data were collected by semi-structured interviews with the managers of the particular gardens. The paper compares the Czech community gardens as representatives of civic agriculture forms in post-communist countries with their counterparts (mainly those in the North America) and stresses their similarities and differences. The results show that the new community gardens reflect much of what can be seen elsewhere in terms of spatial and organizational design, as well as reasons for starting them, motivations for participation and some of the challenges experienced. However, in contrast to many community gardens in the USA, Canada and UK that focus on food and nutrition provision, in Prague the community is more of a priority than food and the other mentioned benefits. The paper shows that different activities, events and functions make gardens important hubs of their communities and potential tools of further community involvement and social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies investigate the relationship between self-construal (SC), community identity, and community participation among Chinese urban residents. Study 1 (n = 261) measured SC, community identity, and community participation behavior. Using cluster analysis, 4 distinct subgroups emerged: those with (a) independent SC, (b) interdependent SC, (c) dual SC, and (d) marginal SC. Results indicated that individuals in the interdependent SC subgroup reported higher community identity, particularly emotional identity, and more participation behavior than those in the independent and dual SC subgroups. Study 2 (n = 53) experimentally activated SC before measuring community identity and community participation intention. Results indicated that individuals primed with interdependent SC reported greater community identity, particularly emotional identity, and higher participation intention than those primed with independent SC. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Singapore embarked on its high-rise public housing scheme post World War II, citizens often bemoaned the loss of the 'kampong spirit', a colloquial term describing the sense of community felt while living in villages. More than 50 years on, the kampong spirit continues to inform Singapore's nation-building plans. This article considers a community theatre project in Singapore aimed at reigniting the kampong spirit among residents from low-income neighbourhoods. The theatre project, which relied primarily on Boal's (1974) Theatre of the Oppressed, sought to initiate conversations within the community in order to foster greater agency among residents. Examining the work through relevant frameworks on belonging revealed how the project enabled the community to build and maintain connections beyond the immediate space of the theatre performances, thereby deepening the emotional and affective dimensions of belonging. Belonging becomes a force of agency when cultural citizenship is activated, and the community participants become agents for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the resurgence of community organizing in Great Britain. The high profile of Citizens UK have attracted the attention of politicians, trades unions and faith organizations. The government that came to power in 2010 made a commitment to train 5000 community organizers through a four-year Community Organizers Program.

Community organizing refers to a particular way of working in public life that aims to enhance the capacity of community leaders to act for the common good in collaboration across civil society. In the last two decades, this practice, founded in the United States, has spread to Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. This article develops a definition of community organizing, then explores the history of the practice. The article focuses on the translation of community organizing to Australia and the development of the Sydney Alliance. The article identifies a series of 'key factors' that helped create a successful adaptation of community organizing 'universals' to another country. In doing so the article applies several frameworks developed in Power in Coalition to help understand the successes and challenges that the Sydney Alliance has endured (Tattersall (2010) Power in Coalition: Strategies for Strong Unions and Social Change, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY). The author has a distinctive perspective, as she was the founder of the Sydney Alliance as well as the author of Power in Coalition. The article does not pretend to provide 'objective', disinterested observation, but is presented from the vantage point of active participant observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an edited transcript of an interview with Gustavo Esteva, a Mexican activist, "deprofessionalized intellectual" and founder of the Universidad de la Tierra in the Mexican city of Oaxaca, that took place during a Thinkery on the Commons held in Dublin, Ireland, in June 2014. Esteva advocates an understanding of the commons as first and foremost an activity and says that certain kinds of contemporary "commoning" are the beginnings of a new post-capitalist society.