The aim of this study was to assess the potential of ecotourism in Kibale National Park, the environmental impact of visitor activities, the characteristics of visitors and visits, the perception and attitudes of local communities towards conservation and development of ecotourism, and the status of environmental interpretation in Uganda. The environmental evaluation was attempted using a combination of methods developed in the USA. Selfcompletion questionnaires were used to obtain information on visitors and the characteristics of visits, and direct household interviews were used for the survey of local communities' perception and attitudes. Information on the status of environmental interpretation was sought using the postal-survey method. It was found that Kibale National Park has the potential for development of ecotourism. The number of visitors has been rising annually since ecotourism was introduced in 1992 and was estimated to reach 5 000 in 1995. As a result of the continuing increase in visitor numbers, the camping sites and the nature trails are already being degraded. More than 90 per cent of the visitors come from overseas and only a small proportion are Ugandans. The visitors come on pre-planned tour packages mainly to view the chimpanzees. The common feeling among the visitors is that the facilities and services currently offered in Kibale are of low standard. Several proposals have been put forward for improvement of services and provision of additional facilities. The need to control visitor numbers and to maintain a sound environment in the Park has been discussed and immediate management measures required to reduce further deterioration of the camping sites and the nature trails have been recommended. The study has also revealed that local communities in Kibale still obtain most of their forest products from the Park. Although the majority (about 80%) support conservation and development of ecotourism, they have a poor perception of the Park's existence and value. Eviction of some families from the Park a few years ago and the gradual loss of traditional rights of access and use of resources following the establishment of Kibale as a National Park, has resulted in negative attitudes among some sections of the local communities. It is recommended that local communities should be educated about the value of the Park and the importance of conserving its resources. Moreover, there is a need to involve them directly in all the stages of future planning and management of conservation programmes and ecotourism development in Uganda's protected areas. It has also become clear that the concept of environmental interpretation is little understood in Uganda and the practice is generally poor. It was found that Kibale and other national parks lack facilities for proper interpretation. The Park ranger-guides are often employed and assigned to interpretive work without prior training on interpretation. It is recommended that all national parks and other protected areas where ecotourism is being promoted alongside conservation should set up proper environmental interpretation systems. In addition, there is a need for establishing a national programme of environmental interpretation to facilitate environmental education and development of ecotourism in Uganda.

Thesis (Sc.D.)--Boston University / Community participation has been regarded as a goal for people with rehabilitation needs, but there is a lack of consensus about the definition and measurement of community participation. In addition, there is limited knowledge about the community participation of individuals who are homeless. This dissertation contains three studies aimed at furthering our understanding about community participation among individuals who are, or were previously, homeless. Study 1 systematically reviewed instruments that measure community participation in people with disabilities and compared these instruments by analyzing the content based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Perspective (ICF) classification. Seventeen instruments were identified as containing community participation items. None of these instruments covered the full breadth of community participation domains, but each addressed community participation to some extent. Furthermore, most of the instruments lose precision by treating diverse activities as a single concept. [TRUNCATED] / 2018-09-01

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This study is set out to investigate municipal service delivery in the Vhembe district with specific reference to the following areas:- The nature and level of community participation, councillors’ understanding of their functions, roles and responsibilities and capacity required of local municipalities to deliver quality services based on their constitutional and legislative competencies. For the past eight years, municipal service delivery protests have become prevalent in South Africa. Even after the 2008 National and Provincial elections, more cases of service delivery protests were reported. All indications are that service delivery is a phenomenon that needs to be explored to provide understanding of the deep rooted problem areas affecting municipalities. A qualitative study was undertaken to enable the researcher to provide answers to questions related to whether communities are participating in the activities of the municipalities, whether or not councillors have the necessary understanding, of their roles and responsibilities for example, communicating information to their constituency regarding service delivery progress, and whether municipalities have the required capacity to deliver quality services. The key findings of this study are that there is a need to come up with a model which ensures that municipal councils are no longer situated in towns but in the villages, that there is a need to rethink political deployment as it is believed to impact 10 negatively to the capacity of municipalities to deliver services, and that the lack of monitoring and evaluation of councilors’ performance is increasingly causing challenges, and undermining the purposes and intentions of developmental local government.

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SUMMARY This study is to focus on the ¡§Community Health Management Center ¡§ on the selected four administrative districts in Kaohsiung City in the year 2000.The main study is to discuss with the public that involved in these four CHMC Administrations, to obtain their evaluation and assessments, community consciousness, the understanding with the community participants and the interaction of health ordinance behavior. The method of the study is to adopt quantitative research and interview survey. The report and statistic information submitted by the four administrative districts of CHMC in Kaohsiung have great difference with the original plans as outlined by the administrative health department. Thus, the interview survey is organized to enable further negotiation with the key person of four administrative of CHMC. The questionnaire survey with the public health nurse have to be again conduct. The findings of the study and survey are: 1¡BWhen issuing the health management plans by the department of the Executive Yuan, it has clearly states its objective, contents of work and operation procedure. The health department of Kaohsiung City council has also stipulated its community health terms and conditions. However, the rules and regulations have not been strictly performed. 2¡BIn terms of Non-profit organization: a. The difference nature of administrative district, the community consciousness and the community participation will have some differences in understandings, satisfaction, health consciousness with CHMC. b. There are different strategic and management results on different modes of non-profit organization in CHMC. c. The satisfaction of community participants involve in the CHMC and the community residents consciousness is inter-related with CHMC¡¦s understanding and health ordinance. d. As a whole, the participants of public in the CHMC with self-consciousness in physical body is in inverse proportion to the health ordinance and health consciousness. The behavior of the two is in direct proportion. The four administrative districts of CHMC, due to the fact of the method of sampling and the mode of non-profit organization, the style of management is different which will result in different reaction. In conclusion, in accordance with the research and study of the writer would thereby propose to the Government, Non-Profit Organization and Community resident as follows: A. The Government: 1. To perform the evaluation and assessment in detail and complete. 2. To assist the non-profit organization and health department and relevant parties in the coordination of medical resources. B. The operation and management of non-profit organization: 1. To promote and organize various kinds of activities to public. To upgrade the health condition community resident. 2. To integrate and the use of community resources . 3. The management strategy on the Non-Profit Organization. C. Community resident ¡G 1. To develop the self-independent of individual and actively involve in the improvement-upgrade of the community . 2. For the sake of community development in the long term¡Aall community residents should develop the concept of ¡§user pay¡¨basis.

This thesis examines women’s participation in community-managed water systems in peri-urban Cochabamba, Bolivia based on fieldwork conducted from June-August 2013. Informed by a Feminist political ecology framework, this thesis demonstrates that there are key gendered differences in experiences with water because women are the primary managers of water in the home, and their labour, time and livelihoods are significantly impacted by the lack of safe water. By unearthing women’s experiences and opinions from a number of water committees, networked systems of water should be considered part of a ‘feminist agenda’ as having access to networked water systems decreases women’s physical workloads and the costs of household water. However, while networked water systems are not perfect from a gendered perspective as male community members hold most of the decision-making positions, alliances with progressive NGOs play an important role within Cochabamba’s waterscape as they promote a politics of equity and encourage women to see themselves as vocal subjects, able to define and defend their gender interests.

Indonesia has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in Southeast Asia. Community participation has been known to reduce maternal mortality in some areas in Indonesia. However, in Aceh Province, the prevalence remains higher than the general Indonesian maternal mortality rate. The aim of this research was to gain an understanding of pregnancy and childbirth experiences from multiple perspectives, in relation to the use of maternal health services in Aceh, Indonesia. The conceptual framework was based on the importance of community engagement in improving maternal health. A qualitative study design with a grounded theory approach was utilised. This approach was chosen in order to gain an understanding of the social processes and ways in which experiences of pregnancy and childbirth are related to maternal death incidents. The process inherent in the method enabled the emergence of important theoretical concepts. A theoretical sampling strategy was employed. The data collection used multiple methods that involved a series of in-depth interviews, observations and focus group discussions with women, family members, a village leader and health professionals. The sample size was determined by data saturation (19 women, 15 family members, 7 health professionals, 3 kaders, 4 student midwives and 1 village leader participated). Ethical approval was gained and the research setting was in the two villages of Aceh Besar District, Aceh Province, Indonesia. Data were coded and analysed by following a constant comparison process. The emergent core category, entitled “maternal death: the elephant in the room” explains the views of the community about maternal death incidents in the research setting. The research findings highlighted that despite the maternal mortality rate still being high in the region, maternal death was not focused upon, as a problem within the community. The research findings revealed that maternal mortality was a hidden problem within the community, and was related to inadequate maternity practices in the village. The core category “maternal death: the elephant in the room” was found to consist of four interrelated categories. The categories of the value of midwifery in the community, desicion-making of maternity care, social control of the childbearing and distancing of maternal deaths; explain maternity practices in the community. Understanding of social processes related to maternal health can assist in informing strategies to improve the quality of maternal healthcare in Aceh Indonesia.