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Thesis (Master of Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013. The aim of the research was to understand the experiences and challenges of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Thabazimbi and the implications and consequences for communities in terms of dependency and empowerment, as seen from the perspective of the mining representatives. As corporate citizens, mining companies generate profits through the exploitation of mineral resources. There is an expectation that some of the benefits of this mining endeavours should be passed on to communities surrounding the company. This is generally considered the best sustainability practice and companies are expected to act as responsible corporate citizens. Most of the previous research on CSR has focused on the perceptions of community members. This research is unique in that it focuses on the effects of CSR on the experiences and perceptions of key personnel from the mining companies who are responsible for the designing and implementing CSR strategies. Mining company representatives did acknowledge that the past approach to CSR has created some dependency issues. However, more recently the company has moved to a strategy that focuses more on empowerment. They also acknowledge that, going forward, a new challenge emerges for mining companies, communities and local government. This challenge is to work towards ensuring sustainable development and empowerment with the focus on actual community needs. The conclusion was that for empowerment to be realised all relevant stakeholders need to play a role in the development process. Masters

Access to ICTD projects has increased over the years; however, it has not significantly changed the lives of the communities they are involved in. The cause of this discrepancy is the gap that exists between the reality of the community and its needs, and the ICTD strategy of the project. Through understanding and relaying the needs and reality of the community, projects can effectively develop their strategy to suit the needs of the community. However, the solutions that are provided are often commonly developed without the needs of these communities being sufficiently investigated beforehand. Some of the reasons why ICTD centres or projects have failed include: an inappropriate technological approach that is not developed in accordance with the available resources, mismatches of Information Systems (IS) and local realities, incomplete/abandoned projects; projects failing to meet objectives or which fail to satisfy key stakeholders; and projects which cannot be sustained. As a result, the ICTD strategy of the project is not aligned well with the needs and development objectives of the community. Consequently, when an impact assessment is conducted it is often found that the intended effects are not directly linked to the needs of the community or what the community had hoped to gain from the ICTD initiative. This research paper proposes a framework to support the alignment of ICTD strategy, with needs of rural communities, hence providing a foundation that supports the identification and formulation of relevant impact assessment indicators. The Needs-ICTD Strategy Alignment framework is composed of eight main components that describe the alignment process. These components include: collaboration between internal and external stakeholders, understanding the development of the community, conducting baseline studies, the needs assessment, the ICTD strategy, linking of the needs-ICTD strategy, and lastly the identification of impact indicators.

En el presente artículo se afirma que la humanidad enfrenta dos grandes desafíos: reconciliar nuestro ser material con el ser espiritual y reconciliar las necesidades individuales con las necesidades colectivas. Al no haber reconciliado estas dos dimensiones de la vida humana, nos encontramos en guerra, exclusión social, sufrimiento, desilusión, ira, incapacidad de avanzar, y muchos otros males. Tras aportar un marco de referencia de la sociedad globalizada, el autor el autor plantea algunos aspectos del desafío, tales como el contraste entre una sociedad materialmente rica y espiritualmente pobre y la necesidad de la integración de valores humanistas y espirituales en la economía que derivarían en una “economía espiritual”. Cet article défend l’idée que l’humanité affronte deux grands défis: réconcilier notre être matériel avec l’être spirituel et réconcilier les besoins individuels avec les besoins collectifs. Sans la réconciliation de ces deux dimensions de la vie humaine, nous nous trouvons en état de guerre, d’exclusion sociale, de souffrance, de désillusion, de rage, d’incapacité d’avancer et souffrons de nombreux autres maux. Après avoir établi un cadre de référence de la société mondialisée, l’auteur analyse certains aspects d’un tel défi, comme le contraste entre une société matériellement et spirituellement pauvre et la nécessité de l’intégration de valeurs humanistes et spirituelles dans l’économie qui dériveraient en une « économie spirituelle ». This article asserts that humanity faces two major challenges: reconciling our material with the spiritual and reconcile individual needs with community needs. By not having reconciled these two dimensions of human life, we are at war, social exclusion, suffering, disappointment, anger, inability to move, and many other ills. After providing a framework of a globalized society, the author, the author presents some aspects of the challenge, such as the contrast between a society materially rich and spiritually poor and the need for the integration of humanistic and spiritual values in the economy that would lead a "spiritual economy".

Water, as a resource, is integral to human activities of all kinds. The water sector, as a society's means of ensuring individuals have sufficient water is fundamental to recovery and development. While designing and implementing water supply operations in any societal context is a complicated endeavor, doing so in contexts affected by conflict, fragility and violence is inherently associated with compounded challenges. The objective of this study is to summarize operational lessons from task teams to inform effective water supply and access operations in conflict-affected and fragile situations. This paper defines common operational challenges and describes actions that task teams have taken in Bank projects in order to address those challenges. Further, the paper explores ways to ensure that water supply projects in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) contexts, in addition to achieving technical objectives, can also address perpetual causes of conflict and fragility. The risks of escalating violence and decreasing stability are exacerbated in situations where access to water resources and services is poor, constrained, inequitable, and unsustainable. This knowledge product summarizes lessons from World Bank task teams that have prepared and implemented water supply projects in locations affected by conflict, fragility and violence. The findings intend to support operational problem-solving during water operations that are conducted in these situations. The study engaged task team members and surveyed project documentation, consolidating data on contextual and operational challenges and responsive methods that staff recommend. The findings of this study show that clear priorities in process and organizational capacity, with a focus on access, are needed to ensure that water supply operations in FCS contexts are conflict-sensitive.

Temos aktualumas. 2000 m. Europos viršūnių susitikime Lisabonoje buvo priimta Strategija, kurios tikslas – pasiekti, kad ES per dešimtmetį taptų konkurencingiausia ir dinamiškiausia ekonomika pasaulyje, pajėgi darniai augti. Viena iš sąlygų – stiprinant socialinę sanglaudą. Todėl ir Lietuvoje dėmesys turėtų būti sutelktas į vieną iš svarbiausių sričių – žmoniškųjų išteklių ugdymą, investicijas į žmogų. Bendruomenė – viena svarbiausių socialinio gyvenimo savivaldos, bendradarbiavimo, socialinių subjektų bendradarbiavimo, kūrybiškumo, iniciatyvumo, vertybinio mąstymo ugdymo terpė. Kultūrinė (dvasinė) struktūra užtikrina kultūrinių – estetinių, dvasinių, aukštesnių vertybių patenkinimą. Todėl šioje studijoje bandėme diagnozuoti ir nurodyti galimybes kaip regioniniame mieste galima tenkinti bendruomenės sociokultūrinius poreikius. Prasminga bendruomenės sociokultūrinė veikla gali padėti kurti vieningą, tikslingą veiklą įprasminančią aukštesnėmis vertybėmis pagrįstą bendradarbiavimo, partnerystės sistemą. Bendruomenėje, kitose visuomenės sferose reikšmingus darbus gali nuveikti vadybos pagrindus gavęs kvalifikuotas socialinis darbuotojas, gebantis kritiškai, analitiškai mąstyti, bendradarbiauti ir mokyti kitus dirbti komandoje, būti pokyčių skatintoju. Vertindami Lietuvos regioninę politiką turime konstatuoti, kad periferijoje esančių bendruomenei įtaką darančių kultūros židinių (sociokultūrinių institucijų) veiklos, tenkinant ir ugdant bendruomenės poreikius, problema yra labai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] Relevance of the theme: European leaders approved the Strategy at Lisabon meeting in 2000. The goal of the strategy is to achieve that EU becomes the most competitive and dynamic economic of the world which is capable to grow harmoniously. One of the conditions is to strengthen the social cohesion. Therefore, the attention should be focused on one of the most significant sectors, i.e. on the development of human resources and on the investments into human, in Lithuania too. Purpose of the research is to provide study of the possibilities to meet the social-cultural needs of the community in the regional town Tasks of the research: 1. To reveal the intensity of the community’s cultural life; 2. To reveal the involvement of the youths in the activity of the social-cultural institutions. 3. To present the role of the social-cultural institutions and their activity possibilities in the regional towns. 4. To reveal the strategy of common activity of the social-cultural authorities. Hypothesis: The developmental interaction with the community would be much more effective if the common strategy of the activity of social-cultural institutions would be established in regional town. Methodical provisions and methods of the research: Culture is a system of values which can be acquired, formed, received and transferred. Person operates in particular environment as subject and object, therefore he/she has influence and create himself/herself. Therefore the relations of the... [to full text]