Search

The impact of community-based tourism (CBT) on residents' quality of life (QOL) has been realized in many aspects, concerning attitude, physical, environmental, and relationships in society. However, several positive and negative factors influence QOL, and few studies have explored these factors. Focusing on measuring the significant CBT factors that have not been previously explored and examined, this study explored factors that influence QOL in CBT using factor analysis. The results show that CBT factors measuring residents' QOL, such as economic, public administration, technology, external actors, and social inequalities in several community-based attributes, can measure the effect on residents' QOL. This study emphasizes that CBT factors are suitably performed and managed can dynamically reduce and alleviate the impacts on residents' QOL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older adults prefer ageing in place (AIP) rather than institutionalized facilities. Although its advantages, AIP can be challenging when communities are unable to meet residents' needs. This study aims to identify the relationship between the level of age-friendliness of community and AIP. We used AARP Age-friendly Community Survey data with 6670 older adults in the USA. We used responses from 63 items assessing various aspects of a community's age-friendliness to identify different types of age-friendly communities (AFCs) through latent profile analysis (LPA). We then ran multinomial logistic regression to examine whether the types of AFC were associated with AIP. LPA revealed three types of AFC: Underdeveloped, developing, and developed. Regression results showed older adults living in underdeveloped and developing communities are less likely to AIP compared to those in the developed community. These results show a positive impact of AFC on intention to AIP. Policymakers should consider expanding AFC initiatives for the growing number of older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the theoretical foundation for developing renewable geothermal resources locally. For this reason, we pay attention to the role of communities in geothermal development. We derive it from the integral characteristics of geothermal energy next to the shift in the energy transition policies to focus on managing green resources locally. This study presents arguments for a framework that approaches geothermal resources as an endogenous factor of community development. To analyse it, we create a model that explains the local economic characteristics of geothermal exploitation beyond its geological conditions. It aims to conceptualise a community-based geothermal development standard referring to the endogeneity principle. Geothermal energy is given attention since the characteristics of this resource determine its use locally. This induces the internalisation of labour and technology in the local economic system, a specific condition for local geothermal projects where a community remains a prime beneficiary. We argue that the role of communities in geothermal exploitation is pivotal in the process of green growth for further expansion of geothermal energy use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical reaction optimization (RO) is an iterative process that results in large, high-dimensional datasets. Current tools allow for only limited analysis and understanding of parameter spaces, making it hard for scientists to review or follow changes throughout the process. With the recent emergence of using artificial intelligence (AI) models to aid RO, another level of complexity has been added. Helping to assess the quality of a model's prediction and understand its decision is critical to supporting human-AI collaboration and trust calibration. To address this, we propose CIME4R—an open-source interactive web application for analyzing RO data and AI predictions. CIME4R supports users in (i) comprehending a reaction parameter space, (ii) investigating how an RO process developed over iterations, (iii) identifying critical factors of a reaction, and (iv) understanding model predictions. This facilitates making informed decisions during the RO process and helps users to review a completed RO process, especially in AI-guided RO. CIME4R aids decision-making through the interaction between humans and AI by combining the strengths of expert experience and high computational precision. We developed and tested CIME4R with domain experts and verified its usefulness in three case studies. Using CIME4R the experts were able to produce valuable insights from past RO campaigns and to make informed decisions on which experiments to perform next. We believe that CIME4R is the beginning of an open-source community project with the potential to improve the workflow of scientists working in the reaction optimization domain. Scientific contribution: To the best of our knowledge, CIME4R is the first open-source interactive web application tailored to the peculiar analysis requirements of reaction optimization (RO) campaigns. Due to the growing use of AI in RO, we developed CIME4R with a special focus on facilitating human-AI collaboration and understanding of AI models. We developed and evaluated CIME4R in collaboration with domain experts to verify its practical usefulness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms exist in large communities of diverse species, exhibiting various functionalities. The mammalian gut microbiome, for instance, has the functionality of digesting dietary fibre and producing different short-chain fatty acids. Not all microbes present in a community contribute to a given functionality; it is possible to find a minimal microbiome, which is a subset of the large microbiome, that is capable of performing the functionality while maintaining other community properties such as growth rate and metabolite production. Such a minimal microbiome will also contain keystone species for SCFA production in that community. In this work, we present a systematic constraint-based approach to identify a minimal microbiome from a large community for a user-proposed function. We employ a top-down approach with sequential deletion followed by solving a mixed-integer linear programming problem with the objective of minimising the L1-norm of the membership vector. Notably, we consider quantitative measures of community growth rate and metabolite production rates. We demonstrate the utility of our algorithm by identifying the minimal microbiomes corresponding to three model communities of the gut, and discuss their validity based on the presence of the keystone species in the community. Our approach is generic, flexible and finds application in studying a variety of microbial communities. The algorithm is available from https://github.com/RamanLab/minMicrobiome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Libraries in the UK have evolved from traditional book-lending institutions into dynamic community hubs, This study aims to explore the potential of libraries to act as community hubs to promote mental and physical health and wellbeing of community-dwelling adults, drawing on insights from both library users and library staff in England. Design: A mixed-method, cross-sectional study using online survey and interviews with community-dwelling adults and library staff. Methods: We collected data using a 14-item electronic survey and interviews with library users and staff to gauge perceptions. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to identify key trends and emergent themes. Results: We included 605 respondents from the survey and interviewed 12 library users and staff. Libraries remain popular and are considered a 'safe place by members of the community, regardless of their frequency of service usage irrespective of whether they are frequent users of services. However, a lack of awareness among library users about community-facing services could act as a hurdle to improving community health and wellbeing. Targeted engagement with residents is needed to increase awareness of libraries' services, including community interventions to help tackle loneliness and inequalities in digital and health literacy. Library staff often did not feel involved in important decision-making. Various barriers, drivers and practical recommendations were identified to leverage libraries as hubs to promote community health and wellbeing. Conclusion: Libraries already offer a variety of resources that directly or indirectly support the health and wellbeing of community-dwelling adults and young people. However, public awareness of these services is limited. As we navigate post-pandemic recovery, libraries can serve as platforms for community engagement, fostering resilience, mental health support and reducing social isolation. Recognising libraries' untapped potential can lead to healthier communities and improved wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the dual pressures of climate change and human activities, the restrictions imposed by conservation policies, along with the increasing overlap between wildlife protected areas (PAs) and community living areas, have intensified the contradictions and conflicts between PAs and surrounding communities. Effective governance of such conflicts is particularly crucial to reconciling the contradictions between conservation and development. This study takes the Mikumi–Selous areas in Tanzania, Africa, as a case study. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, it explores the current state of conflicts between PAs and communities in the study area and summarizes conflict governance measures. Moreover, this research focuses on identifying various factors that influence the conservation willingness and action of community residents, further validating the relationships between residents' household characteristics, conservation costs and benefits, conservation cognition, willingness, and behaviors through empirical analysis methods. The results indicate that residents' conservation cognition significantly positively impacts their conservation willingness and behaviors, while conservation willingness also positively affects their conservation behaviors. Additionally, it was found that conservation costs inhibit residents' conservation willingness and behaviors. This study primarily explores, from a community governance perspective, the participation willingness and behaviors of core stakeholders in conflict governance, emphasizing the critical role of community involvement in achieving biodiversity conservation and coordinated community development and providing a new perspective for alleviating conservation and development issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the abundant marine mollusc, and fish remains at the Jingtoushan shell midden (8,300 to 7,800 cal a BP) in Zhejiang Province, China, to investigate the fishing economy, community development, the palaeoenvironment, and their interactions among the prehistoric populations in the lower Yangtze River Basin and southeastern coastal China. It also attempts to explore the prosperity and decline of coastal settlements in China during the Neolithic Age and the potential reasons for their rise and fall, respectively. Based on the ecological and biological principles of marine animals, standard zooarchaeological methods and radiocarbon dating analysis are used for sampling, identification, measurement, and quantification. Results show that at least 11 mollusc taxa and 14 fish taxa can be identified from the Jingtoushan faunal assemblage. The ancient Jingtoushan residents possibly lived in a settlement close to the coast and engaged in inshore and offshore fishing, hunting, and gathering as their primary subsistence strategies, with low-level rice cultivation as a supplementary means of sustenance. Eventually, the changes in the coastal environment could be one of the reasons why the Jingtoushan residents abandoned their settlement. The research contributes to Chinese Neolithic archaeology with new evidence of the exploitation of marine resources around 8000 a BP in the eastern coastal areas and the relationship between Neolithic community development and environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Similar to software systems, programming languages evolve substantially over time. Indeed, the community has more recently seen the release of new versions of mainstream languages in shorter and shorter time frames. For instance, the C++ working group has begun to release a new version of the language every 3 years, which now has a greater number of modern C++ features and improvements in modern standards (C++11, C++14, C++17, and C++ 20). Nonetheless, there is little empirical evidence on how developers are transitioning to use modern C++ constructs in legacy systems, and not understanding the trends and reasons for adopting these new modern C++ features might hinder software developers in conducting rejuvenation efforts. In this paper, we conduct an in‐depth study to understand the development practices of KDE contributors to evolve their projects toward the use of modern C++ features. Our results show a trend in the widespread adoption of some modern C++ features (lambda expressions, auto‐typed variables, and range‐based for) in KDE community projects. We also found that developers in the KDE community are making large efforts to modernize their programs using automated tools, and we present some modernization scenarios and the benefits of adopting modern C++ features of the C++ programming language. Our results might help C++ software developers, in general, to evolve C++ legacy systems and tools builders to implement more effective tools that could help in rejuvenation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisation-centric approaches in development communication and public relations that privilege the organisation can restrict communication to organisational mandates and goals. Organisation-centric approaches can reflect a modernist view of development or communication and have been critiqued for favouring technocratic development rather than serving marginalised groups. Currently, scholars in development communication and public relations place greater emphasis on publics or community participation and the processual nature of communication to overcome adverse organisational influence and propose better solutions. This article recognises theoretical advances in development communication and public relations and adopts the Collaborative Communication Approach, integrating current concepts from these two fields. The Collaborative Communication Approach facilitates an examination of communication in development in relation to five elements of power, context, participation, agency, and profession. This article shows how the five elements prove useful in addressing communication challenges in development through primary research and offers eight distinct categories to advance practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local governments must balance their growth ambitions against needs arising from social inequities. The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program aims to redress these disparities by directing funds toward disinvested tracts. We ask whether a city's institutional design, public and private actor composition, and resource availability influence the decision to invest in communities with greater levels of social need. Utilizing a social equity framework, we connect place-level procedural fairness mechanisms with neighborhood-level access equity consequences. Combining U.S. local government survey data over two decades with census tract-level CDBG expenditures, we find that in neighborhood where 51 percent or more of the families are low-to-moderate income (LMI), its likelihood of receiving funds increases with its share of LMI population relative to the city's, but at a diminished rate compared to non-LMI tracts. Further, city-level factors moderate this relationship (e.g., including community development corporations in planning processes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, there has been a rise in international (care) movements that prioritise community-centred initiatives such as age-friendly communities, compassionate communities or integrated community care. Although these movements have different focal points, they share common features: seeking to address systemic failures in (care) services, value the participation of end-users, focus on unmet (care) needs, through a local, neighbourhood-oriented approach. In the Flemish and Brussels regions notably the concept of Caring Neighbourhoods is experiencing rapid growth. Objectives: The objective of the present study is to examine the development and implementation of 35 Caring Neighbourhood initiatives in Flanders and Brussels (Belgium) to explore the added value of such projects, as well as the crucial elements for creating Caring Neighbourhoods. Design: Thirty-five caring neighbourhood projects were examined by means of five focus group interviews with project coordinators (n = 34) and five focus group interviews with neighbourhood residents (n = 27), using participant-generated photo elicitation. Methods: The focus group sessions were recorded, transcribed and data were labelled using an inductive analytical framework, following the steps of reflexive thematic analysis. Results: The analysis of the 35 Caring Neighbourhoods showed that fostering connections was key in building Caring Neighbourhoods: connections among residents, connections between residents and care and support services and among care services themselves. The three primary ways to connect people were through activities, places and people. Also, the role of the Caring Neighbourhood coordinator is highlighted as key, which should focus on weaving existing resources, facilitating and coaching instead of organising. Altogether, the projects brought meaning and value to participants' lives, enhancing overall life satisfaction and well-being, with an emphasis on physical and psychosocial care and support. Conclusion: Through critically reflecting on our results and other research, we call on researchers to pay increased attention in research on community-centred care initiatives to death, dying and grief, equity and social justice and the need for both warm and cold solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social capital is an important asset for the development of communities, including communities linked to specific types of libraries. Despite numerous studies, no models dedicated to measuring this specific area have been developed yet. The paper proposes a model predicting the level of social capital among library workers with the use of machine learning methods. Its purpose is to identify the attributes that determine the level of social capital in a given community in order to enable the development of key areas. The model may be adapted for use in other groups, e.g. among library users or library non-users, in order to analyse social capital in the entire local community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does war enhance or impede the long-term community-level development of social capital? While wartime mobilization and collective-action efforts might strengthen social ties, extreme destruction can potentially erase these effects. We use historical aerial photographs taken after the indiscriminate firebombing of Tokyo during World War II to measure conditionally independent microvariation in neighborhood-level damage and investigate the relationship between the amount of damage sustained and the present-day strength of neighborhood associations, a key indicator of geographically rooted social capital. Even after decades of population recovery, economic growth, and transformations of the urban space, the most heavily damaged neighborhoods continue to have less organized neighborhood associations and also exhibit lower socioeconomic well-being in terms of education, occupation, and residential stability. These findings are consistent with the idea that the social capital of survivors is a crucial ingredient for postwar recovery: when fewer survivors remain, communities can potentially be set on a path of persistent disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It can be debated whether a Lutheran identity is still relevant in the midst of ecumenical development in (South) Africa, with special reference to theological education and Christian education. The Lutheran Church is a unique body within the ecumenical family as it contributes to work on the mission of God. Theological education and Christian education are educational centres which aim to promote social justice towards community development. These two educational centres are branches of the Lutheran Church. Taking into account the fact that theological education and Christian education were introduced by European and American missionaries with various church traditions in (South) Africa as part of community development, the purpose of this article is to discuss the impact of Lutheran theological education and Christian education, to demonstrate their contribution in the church, and call for their decolonisation and contextualisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore the contribution of Enactus sustainability initiatives to youth empowerment and community development, thus analysing how South African higher education institutions can increase student involvement in Enactus projects across all faculties. Design/methodology/approach: Using a systematic literature review approach, the authors searched the Web of Science database for 47 relevant studies, which were found and filtered using the search parameters, and then 33 articles that are strictly relevant to the main topic were chosen as the final corpus. Findings: The authors found that Enactus facilitates community progress through transformative innovations and students gain valuable skills that increase their employability regardless of their field of study. Research limitations/implications: The focus of this study is confined to scholarly evidence acquired from peer-reviewed journals, hence empirical studies could be conducted by using literature from books, theses, bulletins, government white papers and gazettes. Practical implications: These findings highlight several merits of Enactus skill-based training such as learning-by-doing, learning from failures and learning from entrepreneurs. Social implications: The study findings offer compelling evidence that student transformational innovations could facilitate sustainable development within communities. Originality/value: Despite the crucial contribution of Enactus projects to nation-building worldwide, literature on this phenomenon in the context of South Africa is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food access persists as a public policy concern in the United States. In the past 20 years, a variety of public and private organizations and activists have taken different approaches to address it, with varying levels of success. In the meantime, a newer actor—the dollar store—has come on the scene, proliferating widely in both urban and rural areas, alarming advocates for improved healthy food access and others. We used the business literature to describe these stores and their business models, and we reviewed scholarly literature from the public health and community development fields that is critical of them, as well as literature that views these stores as an opportunity for communities. We reviewed the efforts of localities to date to control and limit dollar stores, as well as efforts to work with them via partnerships. We offer recommendations for how planners can navigate the challenges of dollar stores to improve food access and maintain community vitality. The growth of dollar stores has added complexity to the task of improving food access in low-income communities, especially in rural and small-town settings. By staying grounded in their core competency of land use planning and regulation, and using both traditional and new tools, planners can navigate the challenges of dollar stores to achieve vibrant places with healthy, fresh food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empowerment, as it represents community members' sense of control and ability to cope with a changing environment, plays a crucial role in sustainable tourism. This study explored the (dis)empowerment processes in the context of rural tourism development. The power typology was presented as a process of change that transformed the lives of rural community members through tourism development. Through a multi-method approach that combined community workshops and interviews with tourism stakeholders from four rural communities, this study expanded the theorization of tourism-related empowerment processes by integrating Rowlands's model of empowerment and McClelland's classification of power experiences. Findings highlighted that tourism development could lead to both empowerment and disempowerment in all four expressions of power, through processes of "power over" (access and control over resources), "power within" (individual autonomy and belief), "power with" (opportunities for collective action), and "power to" (individual capability for taking action). Moreover, the four expressions of power were found to be interrelated and interwoven. Specifically, our findings revealed that 1) "power with" and "power to" build upon each other; 2) "power over" interacted with "power with"; 3) "power with", "power to" and "power over" influenced "power within". Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The effect of social capital on job performance is not a secret. So far, especially in the decade of 2010-2020, many articles have been done in this field, And it has had different results. For this reason, the primary purpose of the research is to explain the relationship between social capital and job performance in Iran: researches from 2010 to 2020 with a meta-analysis approach. Method: The current research method is meta-analysis and its tool is reverse questionnaire. Its statistical population is 11 studies, which were selected by purposive sampling of 27 survey documents from 2010-2020. The validity and reliability of the research were controlled, and their effect size was estimated using the Cohen and Fisher formula. Findings: The findings showed that the size of the overall effect of social capital on job performance is moderately large, i.e., 0.467, and due to the heterogeneity of the studies, the qualitative variable "type of statistical population" was included as moderating variable in the calculations. Based on the findings, the university community's career performance is more affected by social capital than the non-university community. Conclusion: ToTo enhance job performance in different organizations, a double effort should be made to promote social capital. This is achieved by practical communication training, improving communication, increasing interactions between employees and managers inside and outside the organization, and creating a culture and atmosphere entire of cooperation, mutual trust, teamwork, and partnership between organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investments in historically oppressed neighborhoods through food retail, housing, and commercial development are hypothesized to improve residents' health, nutrition, and perceptions of their neighborhood as a place to live. Although place-based development (e.g., housing, retail, business assistance) is happening in many communities, there is little evidence of the long-term correlates of multiple investments such as health and nutrition among residents. A quasi-experimental longitudinal study was conducted using a cohort of randomly sampled households in two low-income, predominantly African American neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, PA, with surveys assessing residents' food insecurity, perception of their neighborhood as a place to live, perception of access to healthy foods, and dietary outcomes in 2011 and seven years later (2018), with an interim assessment in 2014. Analyses conducted in 2022 compared changes among residents of one neighborhood which had 2.6 times the investments over a 7-year period with changes among residents of a socio-demographically similar neighborhood that received fewer investments. It was found that residents in the neighborhood receiving substantial investments demonstrated statistically significant improvements in neighborhood satisfaction (12.6% improvement compared with a 2.2% decrease) and perceived access to healthy food (52% improvement compared with 18.2% improvement), and marginally significant change in food security (14% compared with 4.8% improvement) compared with residents in the neighborhood receiving fewer investments. Multiple place-based investments in neighborhoods can potentially induce positive change for residents in health and nutrition outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I longitudinally analyze grantmaking for Community Revitalization and Economic Development (CED) by large place-oriented foundations, offering insights into the longitudinal trajectories of CED grantmaking by these foundations and factors affecting foundation decision-making with regard to CED. By integrating quantitative and qualitative analysis, I answer the following questions: (1) To what extent have large place-oriented foundations pursued and intensified CED grantmaking? (2) What explains variation in CED grantmaking among the foundations? Through a more nuanced analysis of motivations of and constraints on foundation grantmaking for CED, this study demonstrates that multiple factors, including institutional mission, funding structure, leadership preferences, and local contexts, shape CED grantmaking decisions. Additionally, this study finds that local private foundations are more likely to devote large resources to CED than other types of foundations. Within many place-oriented foundations, the broad discretion wielded by foundation leaders, coupled with a relatively expansive interpretation of CED and community well-being, carries implications for enhancing foundation involvement in CED, promoting effective partnerships between foundations and grant-seeking organizations, and ensuring accountability and transparency in foundation-led CED. In-depth case studies will further enhance our understanding of why and how place-oriented foundations advance particular CED grantmaking strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asset-based approaches (ABAs) tackle health inequalities by empowering people in more disadvantaged communities, or targeted populations, to better utilise pre-existing local community-based resources. Using existing resources supports individuals to better manage their own health and its determinants, potentially at low cost. Targeting individuals disengaged with traditional service delivery methods offers further potential for meaningful cost-savings, since these people often require costly care. Thus, improving prevention, and management, of ill-health in these groups may have considerable cost implications. Aim: To systematically review the extent of current cost and economic evidence on ABAs, and methods used to develop it. Methods: Search strategy terms encompassed: i) costing; ii) intervention detail; and iii) locality. Databases searched: Medline, CENTRAL and Wed of Science. Researchers screened 9,116 articles. Risk of bias was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tool. Narrative synthesis summarised findings. Results: Twelve papers met inclusion criteria, representing eleven different ABAs. Within studies, methods varied widely, not only in design and comparators, but also in terms of included costs and outcome measures. Studies suggested economic efficiency, but lack of suitable comparators made more definitive conclusions difficult. Conclusion: Economic evidence around ABAs is limited. ABAs may be a promising way to engage underserved or minority groups, that may have lower net costs compared to alternative health and wellbeing improvement approaches. ABAs, an example of embedded services, suffer in the context of economic evaluation, which typically consider services as mutually exclusive alternatives. Economics of the surrounding services, mechanisms of information sharing, and collaboration underpin the success of assets and ABAs. The economic evidence, and evaluations in general, would benefit from increased context and detail to help ensure more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the economics of ABAs. Further evidence is needed to reach conclusions about cost-effectiveness of ABAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heritage is a cultural process that is constantly exposed to contestation and therefore to reconstruction, resignification and repositioning. This paper goes beyond anthropocentric interpretations and recognises that heritage often involves other species in human-defined heritage practices. Based on an ethnographic approach, this study examines how contemporary practitioners of Charrería – a Mexican equestrian sport – embrace their intangible cultural heritage and problematise some of the interactions between the species involved. It evidences how Charrería participants navigate tensions between national identity and pride in their cultural heritage, on the one hand, and the ethics of involving other animals in sport and human heritage, on the other. The animal ethics issues involved threaten not only the social licence to operate of Charrería as a sport, but also the status and preservation of Charrería as heritage. This paper concludes that international and national organisations that institutionalise heritage play important roles in guiding efforts to protect and maintain intangible cultural heritage while addressing the changing ethical demands of interspecies relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Justice Reinvestment aims to prevent young people coming into contact with the criminal justice system through place‐based, data‐driven and evidence‐based community solutions developed through community‐based leadership and partnerships. The initiative also advocates for strategic changes to the justice system, with any savings reinvested into successful community programs. This paper will discuss the historical, international and local perspectives of Justice Reinvestment, recent Commonwealth funding opportunities, and how well these initiatives work for young people in New South Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging is conventionally viewed as a process of decline, which marginalizes a fast-growing part of the world’s population and is detrimental to elders’ mental health. In contrast, the Ibasho model, led by eight core principles, empowers elders to co-create a community space where they lead in social and economic activities that benefit their neighbors and build social capital. There is a growing societal need for elder-led community initiatives like Ibasho, particularly as communities recover from harmful social and economic impacts of COVID-19 and look to develop community models that foster mental and emotional well-being and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in science and technology is essential to determining community development because it provides creative ideas, encourages sustainable practices, and improves general well-being. The main purpose of this study was to bridge the knowledge-sharing gap between those in academia and the community within which the university finds itself by seeking the opinions of the community stakeholders on the topic that was tabled for discussion. The study was underpinned by the "social ecological systems (SES) theory". Using the interpretive paradigm approach, an exploratory design with unstructured interview guide was used to seek the views of 61 participants on the relevance of science and technology research in community development. The participants in the study were stakeholders within the Navrongo community in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Based on the analysis of the data, the themes that emerged consisted of agriculture, health, innovation and problem solving, education and knowledge transfer, and capacity building. The findings of the study revealed that integrating a novel approach with an emphasis on sustainability and inclusion would not only boost agricultural output but also make a substantial contribution to the overall well-being of communities. It was discovered by the study that if the university uses its research to improve the health conditions of the people within the community through the Schools of Public Health and Medical Sciences it will help advance the working relationship with neighbourhood clinics and by so doing will lead to a collaborative provision of health screenings, immunisations and consultations on-site. Additionally, the study also revealed that the foundation of community development is the collaboration of scientific and technological research through knowledge sharing and capacity building. The study at the end recommended that there should be a conscious effort in the area of knowledge and skill transfer with the intention of improving indigenous technology. It was also recommended that the university should use its platform to emphasise on how technology can be used to solve local problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper unpacks our efforts as external evaluators to work toward decolonizing our evaluation practice. Undertaking this writing exercise as a form of reflective practice demonstrated that decolonization is much more complex than simply translating materials, organizing locals to collect data, and building participants' capacity around Western modalities. While this complexity is clear in the decolonization literature, practice-based examples that depict barriers and thought processes are rarely presented. Through this paper, we deconstruct our deeply held beliefs around what constitutes good evaluation to assess the effectiveness of our decolonizing approach. Through sharing our critical consciousness-raising dialoguing, this paper reports our progress thus far and provides information and provocations to support others attempting to decolonize their practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explore the role of women's entrepreneurship in revitalizing the historic market district of Nazareth (Israel). This is a special context to examine the intersection of women's entrepreneurship, tourism, and historic revitalization because of the complex geo-political, cross cultural, and community development setting. We examine the role of women through their practice of cultural tourism-oriented entrepreneurship and seek to understand factors motivating women to engage in such entrepreneurship, along with their unique contributions. We utilize a qualitative research approach and conducted semi-structured interviews, augmented by numerous site visits and participant observation. Findings reveal that respondents, along with their individual-level motivations, have a strong desire to act on behalf of all women as well as to contribute to the community at large. This study sheds light on the role that women play as bearers of specific craft traditions as well as their ability to provide a unique calming and stabilizing effect on the socio-economic environment through their venturing. Beyond Nazareth, this study offers insight into the relationship between tourism and the SDGs on gender equality (5), decent work and economic growth (8) and on building peace, justice and strong institutions (16). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Negative attitudes remain a major barrier to the equality of people with disability, especially when coupled with the lack of autonomy imposed on many people. This paper analyses how disability self‐advocacy groups seek to change community attitudes and work towards systemic change by mobilising knowledge from their lived experience. Methods: The paper applies a cycle of praxis community development approach (a cycle of experience, learning and reflection, synthesis and planning, and implementation and review) to conceptualise and analyse their activities. The methods were a desktop document search, focus groups and reflective analysis with members of two self‐advocacy groups. Findings: A synthesised data analysis found that applying the four‐part community development framework was useful to understand the practice and the purpose of work by self‐advocacy groups to change attitudes. The analysis also demonstrates the benefits for advocates and codesigned activities to intentionally apply the cycle of praxis model to guide their future efforts to change attitudes. Conclusions: The research provides evidence that self‐advocacy groups achieve sustained impacts on attitudes in the community, beyond the direct benefit to their members. Government investment in self‐advocacy has potential to leverage wider system change in attitudes to achieve policy goals for the rights of people with disability. Methodologically, the research also has implications for the benefit of inclusive roles in reflective analysis to understand the lived experience of how practices contribute to system change. The design is an opportunity for inclusive researchers to intentionally incorporate reflective analysis into research processes. Accessible summary: Bad attitudes towards people with disability are a hard problem to fix.People with disability are more involved in changing community attitudes than they used to be.This paper talks about how the work of self‐advocacy groups changes attitudes.By working with self‐advocates, we learned that they used their own experiences in an organised way to change community attitudes.It would be good to share this success more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The translator of the articles originally written in Spanish for this special issue reflects on her work adapting these contributions into English, deliberately countering the invisibility to which the translation process and translators are often relegated. By disentangling not just the task of the translator, but also the path of the translator, the piece illuminates the junction between theory and practice through lived experiences. Points of inflection serve to throw light upon the ties that "root" community formations, or a multitude of dynamic local worlds. The author calls attention to her role and presence, suggesting the need to question outdated notions of translation as a transparent lexicographical exchange. Translation is approached as a situated practice, highlighting the translator's role as a creator and producer of text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context and background A global land rush -driven by a variety of factors-is driving transformative change in African rural communities that depend on land for their livelihoods. This increased demand has resulted in the acquisition of large areas of land on the continent. While the pace and scale of land acquisition may be levelling off,1 in many cases, some or all of the land acquired by investors stands idle.2 Land return- in which a private company legally transfers all or part of its land holdings back to a community or government-is an emerging phenomenon that may be on the rise as companies seek to limit their exposure to risk, governments redesignate lands and communities push for the return of their land. Land return holds promise as a way to correct for overzealous and misguided land acquisition and historical injustices amidst a growing understanding of the value of land to communities. Goal and Objective Yet land return presents challenges, many of which may be unexpected. Though existing frameworks and guidelines regarding responsible investments require effective community consultation, there is less clarity and limited guidance on what risks, mitigation strategies, and tools are needed to safeguard the rights of communities in the context of land return. Methodology This paper brings forward experience from a recent land return process in Tanzania in which Landesa and its partners worked to identify and put into practice standards and approaches that protect community rights while supporting a company's efforts to comply with best practices, national and international requirements and expectations for responsible corporate practice. The tools and processes tested and shared through this project align with efforts to support implementation of the Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Areas (AfCFTA) and achieve the aspiration of the Africa We Want (Agenda 2063). Results: This paper highlights the importance of inclusive and transparent land governance practices by presenting a case study of Landesa's experience working with a forestry company to engage with communities and local land administration to understand needs and expectations around the companys intention to return approximately 14,000 hectares of land. The case study will highlight land return-related risks, present a model for community benefit sharing arrangements, and will share lessons learned, highlighting potential best practices that companies holding idle land might consider and employ to reallocate to landscarce communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines issues of local community development in Rwanda, building on the triple helix model proposed by Henry Etzkowitz and Loet Leydesdorff in the 1990s to draw insights from international perspectives. The authors favour an expanded quadruple helix model which includes the local community as a unit of analysis, alongside higher education institutions (HEIs), the private sector and government. In this fourfold model, the local community is identified as an additional helix based on the idea that HEIs can serve as engines for boosting economic development. The results of the authors' analysis show that innovations in higher education which are directed towards community development can, in turn, lead to changes in existing practices and teaching to better reflect the needs of the local community as well as the broader community beyond the immediate context of HEIs. Graduates' employable skills can be strengthened through outreach initiatives by HEIs, along with the collaborative support of all elements in the fourfold model. The authors' review of relevant literature and policy documents goes further to illustrate how each element can play an optimal role in forming a strong and sustainable partnership at the local level. The robust cooperation among helices in this model may lead to higher rates of graduates' employment in a knowledge-based society. These innovations can further lead to full alleviation of poverty, starting from the sphere of local community development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yolanda Permanent Housing Program (YPHP) in the Philippines was designed to resettle the poor families affected by typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan in 2013. There were 1,992 units granted to the component city but as of July of 2022, only 1,067 units were awarded. Hence, this study determined the satisfaction of the beneficiaries of YPHP and identified the challenges they encountered when they resettled at the site. Likewise, it investigated the difference in their satisfaction relative to length of stay and family size. Using the descriptive-comparative approach, this study was responded by 283 beneficiaries determined using simple random sampling. It utilized a validated and reliability-tested researcher-made questionnaire and checklist. Generally, their satisfaction was rated high. However, the areas that need continuous improvement are community development and relocation process which were rated low. Meanwhile, there were challenges identified in terms of application and documentation processing, relocation and transfer, occupancy, and livability. Also, there was no difference in their satisfaction as to length of stay and family size. However, in terms of length of stay, there was a difference in safety and suitability of location. Given the findings, continuous improvement by the implementers is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-authors Lee and Peters collaborated across 2019-2021 on a community-engaged project with Carclew's ExpressWay Arts. They ask, when your creative practice is premised on relationship building, belonging and care, how do you step away from projects responsibly, meaningfully and carefully? This article explores how establishing rituals of closure in every workshop, explicitly naming the ending, acknowledging how the creative relationship may change after the projects conclusion, and celebrating the work, are four approaches that can support facilitators to finish projects with care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning struggles with the tension between professional expertise and public voice. The approaching 75th anniversary of Philip Selznick's classic, TVA and the Grass Roots, is an apt time to revisit that tension. In Selznick's analysis, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was a modernist institution aligning with local agricultural elites at the expense of vulnerable Black and poor farmers. He coined the term 'informal co-optation' to characterize TVA's affiliation with the powerful. We bring renewed attention to informal co-optation and the institutional aspects of engagement by examining how Selznick's analysis was received contemporaneously, and then considering recent scholarship and the current implications of Selznick's work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluations of Model Cities have focused on whether federal officials and local planners lived up to the programme's rhetoric of citizen empowerment. However, as this case study of St. Louis will demonstrate, more attention is needed to the ways that the local real estate sector influenced and frustrated government officials and community activists alike. Policies of disinvestment in mid-twentieth century cities produced a small but powerful group of landlords and real estate brokers in St. Louis, whose near-monopoly control of the housing market hindered grassroots rehabilitation efforts. In 1967, a Black-led community group known as Jeff-Vander-Lou, Inc. (JVL), found that the 'slumlords' who dominated their neighbourhood were too powerful to be compelled by municipal tools such as code enforcement. Realizing they could not defeat the landlords, they reluctantly joined them, and crafted a Model Cities demonstration programme that they hoped could improve housing conditions and attenuate the strangle-hold of landlords on their neighbourhood. As this article will detail, this momentary alliance allowed landlords to influence the St. Louis housing policy for Model Cities and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the American Choral Directors Association's new Constitution and Bylaws. It highlight the organization's objectives of fostering choral singing, diverse music, and community development. It emphasizes the objectives including choral music research, peace through singing, inclusivity, and membership categories.

The link prediction problem is a time-evolving model in network science that has simultaneously abetted myriad applications and experienced extensive methodological improvement. Inferring the possibility of emerging links in dynamic social networks, also known as the dynamic link prediction task, is complex and challenging. In contrast to the link prediction in cross-sectional networks, dynamic link prediction methods need to cater to the actor-level temporal changes and associated evolutionary information regarding their micro- (i.e., link formation/deletion) and mesoscale (i.e., community formation) network structure. With the advent of abundant community detection algorithms, the research community has examined community-aware link prediction strategies in static networks. However, the same task in dynamic networks where, apart from the actors and links among them, their community pattern is also dynamic, is yet to be explored. Evolutionary community-aware information, including the associated link structure and temporal neighborhood changes, can effectively be mined to build dynamic similarity metrics for dynamic link prediction. This study aims to develop and integrate such dynamic features with machine learning algorithms for link prediction tasks in dynamic social networks. It also compares the performances of these features against well-known similarity metrics (i.e., ResourceAllocation) for static networks and a time series-based link prediction strategy in dynamic networks. These proposed features achieved high-performance scores, representing them as prospective candidates for both dynamic link prediction tasks and modeling the network growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Telok Melano, Sarawak (Malaysia), and Temajuk, West Kalimantan (Indonesia) border communities existed in the early 1980’s has created a unique communication pattern in West Borneo. In the early stages, both speakers in Telok Melano-Temajuk had spoken a similar language variation called Malay Sambas dialect. After four decades of the border community formation (1980-2020), the communication pattern in both areas has experienced a significant change. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyse the cross-border communication pattern of Telok Melano-Temajuk based on Gilles’ Communication Accommodation Theory. Research data were obtained using qualitative approach through recordings, interviews, and participant observations. There are five dialogue samples obtained from the speakers from Telok Melano-Temajuk for analysis. Every interaction in the dialogue was analysed using convergence and divergence strategy to identify the border community communication pattern in West Borneo. The study found the border community communication pattern in West Borneo had contributed to the integration phenomenon and language variation choice in daily interaction of two community groups living in proximity but separated by international border. From the communication accommodation perspective, the communication pattern at Telok Melano-Temajuk is different according to the informant’s age. The older generation at Telok Melano was found to use the convergence strategy when interacting with speakers from Temajuk by switching from Telok Melano Malay dialect to Desa Temajuk Malay dialect. On the other hand, the younger generation at Telok Melano was found to begin its transition to the Sarawak Malay dialect, specifically the Kuching variation which is Sarawak’s lingua franca. The finding in this study is important to record the border community’s communication pattern transition after the opening of the Telok Melano-Sematan alignment of the Pan-Borneo Highway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colombia is considered a biodiverse country. However, climate variation, climate change and the absence of public policies mean that many ecosystems are under threat. In response to this situation, a participatory action research was developed in a rural community in the municipality of Victoria, department of Caldas. The objective of this research was to consolidate strategies aimed at the conservation of the water resources that supply the local aqueduct, from which 152 families depend. The community's problems include increased deforestation on the banks of the aqueduct, pollution from wastewater, septic tank spills, and livestock entering water intakes. The qualitative research conducted in this community allowed identifying the stakeholders who live in the micro-basin, their perception and use of the resources, as well as their allies and the difficulties they have faced in achieving water governance. The results of the research show that the members of the community are aware of the environmental problems they face. For them, a series of strategies were developed through workshops, which were aimed to conserve the water source in the near future. The proposed strategies include environmental education actions, awareness about the importance of water resources and community participation in water management. The results of the research suggest that communities have an interest in conserving their natural resources. However, to achieve this objective it is necessary to involve the participation of public and private entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of the asset-based community development (ABCD) approach, thus, local resources, asset mobilization, and citizens' participation on rural poverty alleviation in the northern part of Ghana by employing the moderating role of government policies. A total of five hundred fifty (550) questionnaires were administered in three (3) regions of the northern part of Ghana (Upper West, Upper East, and Northern); however, five hundred twenty-two (522) accurately filled responses were retrieved and used for the analysis. More robust structural equation modeling techniques are used to uncover accurate and reliable results. The results prove that local resources, asset mobilization, and citizen participation boost rural poverty alleviation. Also, the moderation role of government policies between asset mobilization and rural poverty alleviation is positive and significant. However, the moderation role of government policies on local resources and rural poverty alleviation nexus, and citizens' participation and rural poverty alleviation nexus are statistically insignificant. Based on the study's findings, policy recommendations applicable in Ghana and other developing regions have been proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ageing European population is driving the demand for age-friendly communities that support older individuals' health and well-being. As communities navigate this transition, Transition Design emerges as a promising approach for addressing complex social and environmental challenges. This study explores the potential of Transition Design to create age-friendly communities in Europe. Drawing on examples from several European countries, this paper describes the key principles of Transition Design and how they can be applied to the development of age-friendly communities. This article highlights the importance of participatory processes in involving older people and other stakeholders in the design process, and discusses the role of technology in creating more accessible and inclusive environments. It also considers some of the challenges of implementing a transition design approach in a European context. In conclusion, this study asserts that Transition Design offers a promising approach for creating sustainable, inclusive, and responsive age-friendly communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article details the revitalization of West Mesa's blighted segment through a strategic branding initiative, leading to the birth of the Asian District Mesa AZ. Topics discussed include the organic growth of local Asian businesses, the city's economic redevelopment plan, and the successful implementation of community engagement and branding efforts .