'Not a Local Win': Rural Australian perceptions of the sustainable impacts of forest plantations

Australian forestry plantations have doubled in the past 15 years, with rural communities harbouring a diverse range of positive and negative of economic, environmental and social impacts – the so-called triple bottom line (TBL). Utilising two Australian rural communities in Eden/Gippsland and Tasmania as qualitative case studies, this research explores how 23 non-forestry affiliated rural residents perceived and experienced the TBL economic, environmental and social impacts of plantation forestry. Residents criticised the economic plantation forestry benefits because of lengthy periods of inactivity and limited local employment, explaining that their community was reliant on the industry yet the promised economic benefits had never fully materialised. There was a sense the industry ‘plant and walk away.’ Residents were concerned about the environment impact on water quality, water tables and fire hazards, although they praised plantation forestry for carbon sequestering, eradicating erosion and water run-off. Negative social impacts were described, specifically how the land-use change from farming to forestry had significantly reduced the local population, employment and need for services. Natural resource management and communication strategies are offered, derived from non-forestry affiliated rural resident perspectives on how best to ensure sustainable forest development in their community.

The human impacts of flower farm development in the Ethiopian Rift Valley region

The flower industry has a reputation for heavy usage of toxic chemicals and polluting the environment, enormous consumption of water, and poor working condition and low wage level in various parts of the world. It is unfortunate that this industry is adamant to change and repeating the same mistakes in Ethiopia. Because of this, - there is a growing concern among the general public and the international community about sustainability of the Ethiopian flower industry. Consequently, working conditions in the flower industry, impacts of wage income on the livelihoods of employees, coping strategies of low wage flower farm workers, impacts of flower farms on the livelihoods of local people and environmental pollution and conflict, were analysed. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed. Four quantitative data sets: labour practice, employees’ income and expenditure, displaced household, and flower grower views survey were collected between 2010 and 2012. Robust regression to identify the determinants of wage levels, and Multinomial logit to identify the determinants of coping strategies of flower farm workers and displaced households were employed. The findings show the working conditions in flower farms are characterized by low wages, job insecurity and frequent violation of employees’ rights, and poor safety measures. To ensure survival of their family, land dispossessed households adopt a wide range of strategies including reduction in food consumption, sharing oxen, renting land, share cropping, and shifting staple food crops. Most experienced scarcity of water resources, lack of grazing areas, death of herds and reduced numbers of livestock due to water source pollution. Despite the Ethiopian government investment in attracting and creating conducive environment for investors, not much was accomplished when it comes to enforcing labour laws and environmental policies. Flower farm expansion in Ethiopia, as it is now, can be viewed as part of the global land and water grab and is not all inclusive and sustainable. Several recommendations are made to improve working conditions, maximize the benefits of flower industry to the society, and to the country at large.

Évaluer la téléréadaptation : la synthèse des effets et l’analyse des changements cliniques et organisationnels

La téléréadaptation, tout comme d’autres champs en télésanté, est de plus en plus interpelée pour la prestation de services. Le but de ce projet de thèse est d’enrichir l’évaluation de la téléréadaptation afin que les connaissances qui en découlent puissent venir soutenir la prise de décision d’acteurs impliqués à différents niveaux en téléréadaptation. Le premier article présente une revue systématique dont l’objectif était de faire synthèse critique des études en téléréadaptation. La revue rassemble 28 études en téléréadaptation, qui confirment l’efficacité de la téléréadaptation pour diverses clientèles dans différents milieux. Certaines des études suggèrent également des bénéfices en termes de coûts, mais ces résultats demeurent préliminaires. Cette synthèse critique est utile pour soutenir la décision d’introduire la téléréadaptation pour combler un besoin. Par contre, les décideurs bénéficieraient aussi de connaissances par rapport aux changements cliniques et organisationnels qui sont associés à la téléréadaptation lorsqu’elle est introduite en milieu clinique. Les deux autres articles traitent d’une étude de cas unique qui a examiné un projet clinique de téléréadaptation dans l’est de la province de Québec, au Canada. Le cadre conceptuel qui sous-tend l’étude de cas découle de la théorie de structuration de Giddens et des modèles de structuration de la technologie, en particulier de l’interaction entre la structure, l’agent et la technologie. Les données ont été recueillies à partir de plusieurs sources (groupes de discussion, entrevues individuelles, documents officiels et observation d’enregistrements) suivi d’une analyse qualitative. Le deuxième article de la thèse porte sur le lien entre la structure, l’agent et la culture organisationnelle dans l’utilisation de la téléréadaptation. Les résultats indiquent que les différences de culture organisationnelle entre les milieux sont plus évidentes avec l’utilisation de la téléréadaptation, entraînant des situations de conflits ainsi que des occasions de changement. De plus, la culture organisationnelle joue un rôle au niveau des croyances liées à la technologie. Les résultats indiquent aussi que la téléréadaptation pourrait contribuer à changer les cultures organisationnelles. Le troisième article examine l’intégration de la téléréadaptation dans les pratiques cliniques existantes, ainsi que les nouvelles routines cliniques qu’elle permet de soutenir et la pérennisation de la téléréadaptation. Les résultats indiquent qu’il y a effectivement certaines activités de téléréadaptation qui se sont intégrées aux routines des intervenants, principalement pour les plans d’intervention interdisciplinaire, tandis que pour les consultations et le suivi des patients, l’utilisation de la téléréadaptation n’a pas été intégrée aux routines. Plusieurs facteurs en lien avec la structure et l’agent ont contraint et facilité l’intégration aux routines cliniques, dont les croyances partagées, la visibilité de la téléréadaptation, le leadership clinique et organisationnel, la disponibilité des ressources, et l’existence de liens de collaboration. La pérennité de la téléréadaptation a aussi pu être observée à partir de la généralisation des activités et le développement de nouvelles applications et collaborations en téléréadaptation, et ce, uniquement pour les activités qui s’étaient intégrées aux routines des intervenants. Les résultats démontrent donc que lorsque la téléréadaptation n’est pas intégrée aux routines cliniques, elle n’est pas utilisée. Par contre, la téléréadaptation peut démontrée certains signes de pérennité lorsque les activités, qui sont reproduites, deviennent intégrées aux routines quotidiennes des utilisateurs. Ensemble, ces études font ressortir des résultats utiles pour la mise en place de la téléréadaptation et permettent de dégager des pistes pour enrichir le champ de l’évaluation de la téléréadaptation, afin que celui-ci devienne plus pertinent et complet, et puisse mieux soutenir les prises de décision d’acteurs impliqués à différents niveaux en téléréadaptation.

Influencia de la comunidad de clústers en las relaciones estratégicas comunitarias y el marketing compartido

Un clúster es entendido por la gran mayoría como un gran conglomerado de empresas que giran en torno a un objetivo, en su gran mayoría económico. Su intención es competir con otros conglomerados en cuanto a precios y cantidades, ya que de manera individual no podrían. En consecuencia, esta unión se utiliza en un principio para crear ventajas tanto competitivas como comparativas en contra de la competencia, lo cual genera un valor a esta unión, con el fin de producir fidelidad en el cliente y recordación de todos los productos que tal unión brinde. Según estudios realizados por diversos autores, en muchas ocasiones, los clúster no se crean con una finalidad económica, sino como desarrollo de un perfil comunitario que ayude a la sociedad y las organizaciones que la componen. La base de las relaciones se centra en la comunicación y en las diversas técnicas que existen en ese ámbito para asegurar la sostenibilidad de la organización. Dentro de estas relaciones, se le da un reconocimiento a la educación y la cultura en donde se encuentra ubicado el clúster, ya que las estrategias que se implementen se relacionan directamente con las necesidades de los clientes, generando en el pensamiento de la comunidad la perdurabilidad y sostenibilidad como efecto del desarrollo social.

‘Cursed’ communities? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), company towns and the mining industry in Namibia

This article examines Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and mining community development, sustainability and viability. These issues are considered focussing on current and former company-owned mining towns in Namibia. Historically company towns have been a feature of mining activity in Namibia. However, the fate of such towns upon mine closure has been and remains controversial. Declining former mining communities and even ghost mining towns can be found across the country. This article draws upon research undertaken in Namibia and considers these issues with reference to three case study communities. This article examines the complexities which surround decision-making about these communities, and the challenges faced in efforts to encourage their sustainability after mining. In this article, mine company engagements through CSR with the development, sustainability and viability of such communities are also critically discussed. The role, responsibilities, and actions of the state in relation to these communities are furthermore reflected upon. Finally, ways forward for these communities are considered.

Towards local cultures of sustainability : facilitating community created environment education centres through design

Ecological sustainability has been proposed to address the problem of human impacts increasingly degrading planetary resources and ecosystems, threatening biodiversity, eco-services and human survival. Ecological sustainability is an imperative, with Australia having one of the highest eco-footprints per person worldwide. While significant progress has been made via implementation of ecologically sustainable design in urban communities, relatively little has been undertaken in small, disparate regional communities in Australia. Regional communities are disadvantaged by rural economic decline associated with structural change and inequities of resource transfer. The ecologically sustainable solution is holistic, so all settlements need to be globally wise, richly biodiverse yet locally specific. As a regional solution to this global problem, this research offers the practical means by which a small regional community can contribute. It focuses on the design and implementation of a community centre and the fostering of transformative community learning through an integrated ‘learning community’ awareness of ecologically sustainable best practice. Lessons learned are documented by the participant researcher who as a designer, facilitator, local resident and social narrator has been deeply connected with the Tweed-Caldera region over a period since 1980. The collective action of the local community of Chillingham has been diligently recorded over a decade of design and development. Over this period, several positive elements emerged in terms of improvements to the natural and built environment, greater social cohesion and co-operative learning along with a shift towards a greener local economy. Behavioural changes in the community were noted as residents strived to embrace ecological ideals and reduce fossil fuel dependency. They found attractive local solutions to sourcing of food and using local employment opportunities to up skill their residents via transformative learning as a community in transition. Finally, the catalytic impact of external partnering has also been documented. How well the region as a whole has achieved its ecologically sustainable objectives is measured in terms of the delivered success of private and public partnering with the community, the creation of a community centre cum environment education centre, the restoration of local heritage buildings, the repair of riparian forests and improved water conditions in local river systems, better roads and road safety, local skills and knowledge transfer, support of local food and local/regional growers markets to attract tourists via the integrated trails network. In aggregate, each and every element contributes to a measure of eco-positive development for the built environment, its social organisation and its economy that has guided the local community to find its own pathway to sustainability. Within the Tweed-Caldera bioregion in northern New South Wales, there has been a lack of strategic planning, ecologically sustainable knowledge and facilities in isolated communities that could support the development of a local sustained green economy, provide a hub for socio-cultural activities and ecology based education. The first challenge in this research was to model a whole systems approach to eco-positive development in Chillingham, NSW, a small community where Nature and humanity know no specific boundary. The net result was the creation of a community environment education centre featuring best-affordable ecological practice and regionally distinctive, educational building form from a disused heritage building (cow bale). This development, implemented over a decade, resonated with the later regional wide programs that were linked in the Caldera region by the common purpose of extending the reach of local and state government assistance to regional NSW in economic transition coupled with sustainability. The lessons learned from these linked projects reveal that subsequent programs have been significantly easier to initiate, manage, develop and deliver results. In particular, pursuing collaborative networks with all levels of government and external private partners has been economically effective. Each community’s uniqueness has been celebrated and through drawing out these distinctions, has highlighted local vision, strategic planning, sense of belonging and connection of people with place. This step has significantly reduced the level of friction between communities that comes from natural competition for the finite pool of funds. Following the pilot Tweed-Caldera study, several other NSW regional communities are now undertaking a Community Economic Transition Program based on the processes, trials and positive experiences witnessed in the Tweed-Caldera region where it has been demonstrated that regional community transition programs can provide an opportunity to plan and implement effective long term strategies for sustainability, empowering communities to participate in eco-governance. This thesis includes the design and development of a framework for community created environment education centres to provide an equal access place for community to participate to meet their essential needs locally. An environment centre that facilitates community transition based on easily accessible environmental education, skills and infrastructure is necessary to develop local cultures of sustainability. This research draws upon the literatures of ecologically sustainable development, environmental education and community development in the context of regional community transition towards ‘strong sustainability’. The research approach adapted is best described as a four stage collaborative action research cycle where the participant researcher (me) has a significant involvement in the process to foster local cultures of sustainability by empowering its citizens to act locally and in doing so, become more self reliant and socially resilient. This research also draws upon the many fine working exemplars, such as the resilience of the Cuban people, the transition town initiative in Totnes, U.K. and the models of Australian Community Gardens, such as CERES (Melbourne) and Northey Street (Brisbane). The objectives of this study are to research and evaluate exemplars of ecologically sustainable environment education centres, to facilitate the design and development of an environment education centre created by a small regional community as an ecologically sustainable learning environment; to facilitate a framework for community transition based on environmental education, skills and infrastructure necessary to develop local cultures of sustainability. The research was undertaken as action research in the Tweed Caldera in Northern NSW. This involved the author as participant researcher, designer and volunteer in two interconnected initiatives: the Chillingham Community Centre development and the Caldera Economic Transition Program (CETP). Both initiatives involved a series of design-led participatory community workshops that were externally facilitated with the support of government agency partnerships, steering committees and local volunteers. Together the Caldera research programs involved communities participating in developing their own strategic planning process and outcomes. The Chillingham Community Centre was developed as a sustainable community centre/hub using a participatory design process. The Caldera Economic Transition Program (CETP) prioritised Caldera region projects: the Caldera farmer’s market; community gardens and community kitchens; community renewable energy systems and an integrated trails network. The significant findings were: the CETP projects were capable of moving towards an eco-positive design benchmark through transformative learning. Community transition to sustainability programs need to be underpinned by sustainability and environmental education based frameworks and practical on ground experience in local needs based projects through transformative learning. The actioned projects were successfully undertaken through community participation and teamwork. Ecological footprint surveys were undertaken to guide and assess the ongoing community transition process, however the paucity of responses needs to be revisited. The concept of ecologically sustainable development has been adopted internationally, however existing design and planning strategies do not assure future generations continued access to healthy natural life support systems. Sustainable design research has usually been urban focussed, with little attention paid to regional communities. This study seeks to redress this paucity through the design of ecologically sustainable (deep green) learning environments for small regional communities. Through a design-led process of environmental education, this study investigates how regional communities can be facilitated to model the principles of eco-positive development to support transition to local cultures of sustainability. This research shows how community transition processes and projects can incorporate sustainable community development as transformative learning through design. Regional community transition programs can provide an opportunity to plan long term strategies for sustainability, empowering people to participate in eco-governance. A framework is developed for a community created environment education centre to provide an equal access place for the local community to participate in implementing ways to meet their essential needs locally. A community environment education centre that facilitates community transition based on holistic environmental education, skills and infrastructure is necessary to develop local cultures of sustainability.

Sustainability of a successful health and nutrition program in a remote Aboriginal community

OBJECTIVE: To assess the long term effect of a nutrition program in a remote Aboriginal community (Minjilang). DESIGN: Evaluation of nutritional outcomes over the three years before and the three years after a health and nutrition program that ran from June 1989 to June 1990. Turnover of food items at the community store was used as a measure of dietary intake at Minjilang and a comparison community. SETTING: A community of about 150 Aboriginal people live at Minjilang on Croker Island, 240 km north-east of Darwin. A similar community of about 300 people on another island was used as the comparison. RESULTS: The program produced lasting improvements in dietary intake of most target foods (including fruit, vegetables and wholegrain bread) and nutrients (including folate, ascorbic acid and thiamine). Sugar intake fell in both communities before the program, but the additional decrease in sugar consumption during the program at Minjilang "rebounded" in the next year. Dietary improvements in the comparison community were delayed and smaller than at Minjilang. CONCLUSIONS: The success of the program at Minjilang was linked to an ongoing process of social change, which in turn provided a stimulus for dietary improvement in the comparison community. When Aboriginal people themselves control and maintain ownership of community-based intervention programs, nutritional improvements can be initiated and sustained.

Community arts and appropriate internet technology : participation, materiality, and the ethics of sustainability in the digitally networked era

This thesis delivers new knowledge about how Australian community arts practices of appropriate technology are shifting due to the internet. It reconfigures the sector's incumbent ethics of sustainability in response to emerging concerns about how the internet's material politics are affecting cultural participation.

Sustainability of public health interventions to reduce the risk of dioxin exposure at severe dioxin hot spots in Vietnam

Severe dioxin contamination at Bien Hoa and Da Nang airbases, Vietnam is of international concern. Public Health risk reduction programs were implemented in Bien Hoa in 2007-2009 and in Da Nang in 2009-2011. In 2009 and 2011 we reported the encouraging results of these interventions in improving the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of local residents in reducing the dioxin exposure risk through foods. In 2013 we revisited these dioxin hot spots, aimed to evaluate whether the results of the intervention were maintained and to identify factors affecting the sustainability of the programs. To assess this, 16 in-depth interviews, six focus group discussions, and pre and post intervention KAP surveys were undertaken. 800 respondents from six intervention wards and 200 respondents from Buu Long Ward (the control site) were randomly selected to participate in the surveys. The results showed that as of 2013, the programs were rated as "moderately sustained" with a score of 3.3 out of 5.0 (cut off points 2.5 to <3.5) for Bien Hoa, and "well sustained" with a score of 3.8 out of 5.0 (cut off points 3.5 to <4.5) for Da Nang. Most formal intervention program activities had ceased and dioxin risk communication activities were no longer integrated into local routine health education programs. However, the main outcomes were maintained and were better than that in the control ward. Migration, lack of official guidance from City People's Committees and local authorities as well as the politically sensitive nature of dioxin issues were the main challenges for the sustainability of the programs.

Community Resilience: Fostering Recovery, Sustainability, and Growth

In this chapter, the authors define community resilience and identify the components that predict it will occur. Three dimensions are highlighted: recovery, sustainability, and growth. Their discussion focuses on communities like those of Sudanese refugees who have experienced forced migration, emphasizing the importance that community plays to future adaptation. They show through their report on their research that community collaboration, shared identity, and empowerment increase bonding and bridging capital that promote the well-being of people under stress. They argue that an emphasis on community resilience places value on the social connections, policies, programs, and community context necessary for resilience in different cultures and contexts.