Digital Commons Network^™

Participatory Decision-Making In Contested Societies: Examples From The Field Of Community Philanthropy, Avila Kilmurray

The Foundation Review

This article examines participatory, placebased philanthropy in two locations, Northern Ireland and Palestine, drawing on the work of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland’s Fair Share Programme and the Dalia Association’s Village Decides initiative.

The article considers the rationale for a participatory grantmaking approach as well as the manner in which local communities and residents experienced the methodology, and describes and evaluates the role com-munity philanthropy org-anizations played in providing an important added-value dimension to traditional grantmaking.

The fact that both Northern Ireland and Palestine are politically contested societies is factored into the analysis presented by the author, who conducted …

Preparing Future Faculty As Service-Learning Instructors: A Proposal To Integrate Instruction In Service-Learning Pedagogy Into The Vcu Preparing Future Faculty Program, Amanda Hall, Lynn E. Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

This proposal provides a detailed plan for incorporating service-learning pedagogy into the VCU Preparing Future Faculty Program (http://graduate.vcu.edu/development/faculty.html). The VCU Preparing Future Faculty Program (PFF Program) is an optional training program offered by the VCU Graduate School to all graduate students enrolled at the university. The PFF Program involves a series of courses and professional development opportunities aimed at preparing doctoral students for the professoriate.

Community-Based Experiential Learning, Greg Thompson

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Interests: Educational Anthropology, Community-Based Experiential Learning

Volunteered Geographical Information: An Alternative Solution For Overcoming The Chasm Between Stormwater Management And Community Participation, Yanfu Zhou

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

It is a dramatic challenge to promote public engagement in stormwater management and green infrastructure initiatives. When traditional outreach approaches made important influence on public engagement, their limitations are also obvious. With the development of Web 2.0 technology, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has been emerging as one of the most important user-generated geographic contents. The crowdsourcing data that generated by volunteers through geo-web, smartphones, and other geo-devices provides invaluable mass data for decision-making. VGI can provide a better understanding of planning issues and other challenges. The research aims to develop a mobile information platform to allow citizens to report the …

Fish And Fruit For Food Justice Success, Nickelle A. Raschick

Pomona Senior Theses

Given the critical role of food justice organizations in providing for the 49 million Americans who live in food insecure households, one of the most important questions that can be answered today is what determines the success of such an organization. This paper analyzes case studies from Sitka, AK and Portland, OR, aiming to communicate a better understanding of which factors result in an organization’s success and which factors lead it to failure. That information is used to establish guidelines that other organizations seeking to be relevant contributors to the food justice movement can follow. Ultimately, my research discovers that …

Frayser Transformation Center: Compassionate Architecture Designed To Foster Community And Family By Strengthening Relationships Between Each, Victor Mature Robinson Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This project explored the use of Compassionate Architecture and its ability to inspire social change within a community. A Transformation Center, which would teach the skills needed to become a sucessful adult, was designed to respond to the lack of transitional and social space for young adults. The Center is a public facility that contains multiple spaces for learning the necessary life skills needed to transition into adulthood. These included many of the skills that are not taught in high school: household skills, family techniques, and community involvement, which are all taught and learned in a communal, hands-on manner. The …

A Case Study Of Regional Sport Organization Development In Triathlon, Andrew J. Martin, Andrea N. Eagleman, Petr Pancoska

Journal of Applied Sport Management

The current qualitative case study examined how a Regional Sport Organization (RSO) in New Zealand dealt with macro and micro environmental pressures in the development and evolution of increasing participation in the sport of triathlon over a 15-year period. Organizers managed a total participation increase from 300 adult participants in 1999 to close to 1,200 in 2012–13. An increase in child participants from 300 in 2004 to 3,400 in 2012–13 also took place. Archives of the results of the respective adult and children’s series of triathlon events from 1998–2013 were analyzed along with the environmental pressures. The findings indicated that …

Community Resilience In The Face Of Community Violence, Mary Kate Schmermund

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study was created to learn more about communities that are labeled as dangerous by external sources. This research explores how organizations and community groups in cities nationally ranked as violent cultivate resilience within the community. People who work in these cities completed an online survey answering qualitative and demographic questions. The study found that respondents portrayed their communities of work and resilience within those communities in complex ways offering increased insight into resilience at the mezzo level. Themes of community cohesion, organizational collaboration, and community violence were present in several responses. The research concludes that while violence is …

Putting "Community" In Community Schools: Organizational And Cultural Contention In A Public-Private Partnership, Kathleen D. Pacyna

Dissertations

Public-private partnerships as a new organizational form for delivering health and human services to those who require them remains an under-studied but important topic of research in an era significantly influenced by the weakening of the traditional civic welfare infrastructure. Based on two years of ethnographic research including in-depth interviews and participant observation, this research aimed to understand better how the concept of community held by members of the public-private partnership influenced their collective attempts to create a full-service community school program in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago. Research revealed that members of the partnership negotiated and contested the …

Making A Community Ready For Oral Health, Paul Casamassimo, Catherine M. Flaitz

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

The challenges of resolving the oral health disparities among children and other vulnerable populations requires a well-organized community safety net, along with a sincere commitment to prioritize the elimination of this common, but preventable, dental disease. Adequate funding for basic health needs, while incorporating oral health care into a comprehensive primary care model in our neighborhoods provides the best chance for a successful outcome. In order to build better communities for our children, improvement in the access and delivery of dental care must be part of the equation.

Claiming Citizenship: Las Vegas' Conventional Women's Organizations Establishing Citizenship Through Civic Engagement, Cynthia Cicero

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many historians of American women portray women's organized civic engagement and work to attain social, economic, and legal equality as feminism. American feminism has been expanded and applied in scholarship. The American feminists of the 1960s wanted to alter the male power structure and redefine conventional notions of womanhood. However, many middle-class women who participated in community and civic organizations valued their roles as wives, mothers, and homemakers, expressing their citizenship and community work as an extension of these roles. Their motivation in pursuing equality was to gain full citizenship status.

In this thesis, I argue that viewing women's civic …

An Investigation Of The Perceptions Of Community Residents And Volunteer Researchers For The Community Health Of The Clarke Square Neighborhood, Meghan Jones, Kelly Dione

Professional Projects

The study explored the similarities and differences in community residents’ perceptions and volunteer researchers’ perceptions of community health indicators in the Clarke Square Neighborhood. The study sought to identify noteworthy differences between community residents’ perceptions and volunteer researchers’ perceptions, indicating the importance of including community members in community health research. In the study, community residents in the Clarke Square Neighborhood conducted a survey that had previously been done by volunteer researchers from the Urban Ecology Center and the Medical College of Wisconsin regarding community health indicators in the Clarke Square Neighborhood. The study also included a focus group, which discussed …

Community Engagement Living-Learning Programs: Build It Well And They Will Come, Lynn Pelco, Mary Slade

Division of Community Engagement Resources

Objectives for this presentation were: (1) overview the literature on benefits and models of living-learning programs; (2) describe the components of VCU's new community-engagement living-learning program, VCU ASPiRE; (3) introduce a theoretical model for building high-quality community-engagement living-learning programs; (4) facilitate discussion amongst participants to exchange ideas and to begin strategic problem-solving that will create high-quality community engagement, living-learning programs; and (5) provide living-learning program online resources.

Tracking Onslow: A Community In Transition. Edition 3, Late 2013, Jess Allia, Karma Barndon, Kayt Davies, Brad Davis, Katherine Powell, Tasha Tania, Shannon Wood

Tracking Onslow: a community in transition

When change is happening, communities talk and some tales get taller in the telling. Opinions are often based on shared stories and collectively these opinions are the community sentiment that affects the way people live and act.

This magazine was produced by a collaboration between the ECU Journalism Program and the Shire of Ashburton that set out to track the shifts in the community sentiment in Onslow over the construction phase of the Wheatstone and Macedon gas hubs. The project aims to capture the stories being told in Onslow as the town changes, regardless of their factual accuracy. Where possible …

Cohousing And The Greater Community: Re-Establishing Identity In Taunton’S Weir Village, Andrew Kremzier

Architecture Theses and Projects

This proposal seeks to bring new life to the former industrial district of the post-industrial city. Existing in a society based on services and technologies, these villages must either adapt to meet the needs of business or serve another purpose within the community. The project for the Weir Village falls into the latter category, as its aim will be to create a cohousing community within Taunton. The new development will strengthen the character of the village and be able to affect the community beyond the site’s physical boundaries. It will create affordable alternatives to housing for those who do not …

Community On The Menu: Seven-Courses To Cultivate Familial Bonds, Exchange Social Capital, And Nourish Community, David Franklin Purnell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an auto/ethnographic account, which examines food, close personal friendships, and community. The research combines autoethnography with ethnographic observations and personal/group interviews conducted within the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, Florida. The observations are of a weekly dinner event referred to by most attendees as Family Dinner. I am one of the founders of this event; the participants of this study are neighbors (or were at some point in time) as well as past and present attendees of the weekly dinner.

The purpose of this research is to illustrate how food can be a tool to build …

The Leadership Of Sustainable Cities: A Multiple-Case Study Of Two Oregon Cities, Kenneth L. Weaver

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In order for cities to become more sustainable it is necessary for the leaders of the efforts to change the organizations and governments so that they understand and embrace what it means to be more sustainable. This study examined the change processes of two Oregon Cities, Corvallis and Eugene, that had made the choice to become more sustainable as a community. The approaches that the participant leaders used demonstrated the use of different ways of thinking about the leadership of change. The ways of thinking of the community leaders were formed by their unique personal backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and abilities. …

Sustainability As A Small Business Competitive Strategy, Abbas Nadim, Robert N. Lussier

Management Faculty Publications

In our global village, sustainability has been an important topic for all countries, and small businesses can create a competitive advantage through developing sustainability strategies. This conceptual article extends the current literature by presenting the case for small businesses to become integrated in the surrounding community and to make sustainability a strategic long-term competitive advantage and a critical co-producer of its long-term success. Implications and the need for further research are discussed.

Lessons In Building A Better Community, One Voice At A Time, Erica Wood

The Foundation Review

· By 2035 there will be an estimated 1.2 million new jobs and 900,000 new households in the San Francisco Bay Area (Association of Bay Area Governments, n.d.); without planning and management, this population increase will result in rising air pollution levels, climate change, escalating cost of living, increasing traffic, and less green space.

· Silicon Valley Community Foundation partnered with area nonprofits and government agencies on a two-year initiative, Envision Bay Area, to engage residents and community leaders in conversations about growth.

· At a series of 10 public forums more than 800 participants came together, including those who …

2010-2011 Hccp Year-End Summary, Kristen S. Cloutier

Year-end Summaries

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Proposed Community Action Plan For The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Alicia Milla, Alexis Rodriguez

Community Engagement and Collaboration

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is a national organization that was started back in 1970 by two mothers of sons with type 1 diabetes. Since its founding, JDRF has awarded more than $1.5 billion to diabetes research around the world, including $9.9 million of research in San Diego. JDRF is a volunteer-driven organization with thousands of volunteers in locations worldwide. While JDRF is working hard to find a cure and improve the lives of those living with type 1 diabetes, it also has a goal of providing volunteer-led support programs to people with type 1 diabetes and their families. …

Resilience And Community In The Age Of World-System Collapse, Glen David Kuecker, Thomas D. Hall

History Faculty publications

In this essay we explore how humans might face systemic collapse and/or entry into a dark age through forms of community resilience. We also note that nature, types of communities, and degrees of resilience differ in core, peripheral, and semiperipheral areas of the contemporary world-system. Core or global north or first world communities have all but disintegrated due to neoliberal policies. However, communities in peripheral and semiperipheral areas are more emergent, and more resilient. These areas are most likely to have or to creatively develop strategies to overcome global collapse. We further argue that social scientists need to develop new …

Constructing Alternative Christian Identity: An Ethnography Of Jesus People Usa's Cornerstone Festival, Brian Johnston

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines processes through which alternative Christian identities are constructed, maintained, and performed at the annual Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Illinois. Organized and managed by Jesus People USA (JPUSA), an urban commune in Chicago, Illinois, the festival includes non-traditional methods of religious expression including rock music, making camp, play, and community-building. Cornerstone Festival attracts and includes members of the Christian faith who would not otherwise be included in traditionally organized Christian groups and fosters interaction between these less enfranchised members and more traditionally minded and socialized Christian practitioners. JPUSA appropriates the festival format as a method of religious expression …

Sustainability: Focusing On Quality Of Life, Suzan Dibella

UNLV Innovation

UNLV introduces initiatives supporting research and outreach designed to help the community, state, and region address issues most critical to sustaining and enhancing quality of life.

Sustainable Portland: Implementation Series 3, New England Environmental Finance Center

Climate Change

This report is the third in a series of efforts by students at the Muskie School of Public Service, Community Planning and Development Master’s program, in a core class called “Sustainable Communities.” In this course students seek to understand principles of sustainability and how efforts to implement Sustainability programs can become more successful. The report assembles term papers students completed on particular efforts by municipalities, universities, and other groups to achieve sustainability goals. Students worked on each project in a service learning format with real world clients. They were asked to fashion their papers around lessons learned by other organizations …

Consumption And The Construction Of Community In Jacques Tati’S Mon Oncle, Jennifer Spohrer

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

"Just A Girl": The Community-Centered Cult Television Heroine, 1995–2007, Tamy Burnett

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Found in the most recent group of cult heroines on television, community-centered cult heroines share two key characteristics. The first is their youth and the related coming-of-age narratives that result. The second is their emphasis on communal heroic action that challenges traditional understandings of the hero and previous constructions of the cult heroine on television. Through close readings of Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dark Angel, and Veronica Mars, this project engages feminist theories of community and heroism alongside critical approaches to genre and narrative technique, identity performance theory, and visual media …

Creating A Culture Of Community Involvement In The Adventist Church In Gugulethu Township, South Africa, Jongimpi Papu

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Most Adventist churches in South Africa live in isolation from their communities. Christianity in general and Adventism in particular are becoming irrelevant to the needs of the church, with serious implications for church growth.

Methodology

Tembalethu Adventist church in Gugulethu Township in South Africa was used to pilot a community services program by adopting a school nearby. A mixed approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods was used. This consisted of structured interviews, both personal and by telephone, and questionnaires. An analysis of a government census was also done.

Results

Tembalethu started an after-care program which was attended by …

Aquatecture: Architectural Adaptation To Rising Sea Levels, Erica Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our world is drastically changing. Temperatures are rising, skies over cities are blanketed with smoke, and melting glaciers are raising sea levels at alarming rates. Although the destruction we face is already threatening the quality of life for billions around the world, it could just be the beginning. What is projected to come in the future could be catastrophic.

It is crucial to realize that climate change is already happening. One of the main concerns relating to climate change is that as the polar ice caps continue to melt, rising water will invade our coastal cities around the world. In …

Sustainable Portland: Implementation Series 2, New England Environmental Finance Center

Climate Change

The Portland Municipal Climate Change Working Group prepared a report in March 2008 that outlined several recommendations as a commitment by the City to address greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) produced during daily municipal operations. The Municipal Climate Action Plan was written in partnership with Clean Air – Cool Planet and Portland officials, and acknowledges under Recommendation #2 that an employee energy efficiency program would provide significant positive impact on the City’s reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Best practices from three cities show that focus on the greening of City Hall is critical in developing a program that promotes partnerships, community …