Magister Legum - LLM

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Quality of life is a phrase that most people are familiar with, regardless of whether or not they can define it. Much research has been conducted across disciplines in an effort to explain the construct. As human service programs become more focused on outcomes, there is greater interest in measuring quality of life as an indicator of service quality and success. This study was designed to test whether or not quality of life differences exist between adults with developmental disabilities and the general population at an item, scale, and composite level. The quality of life dimensions that were tested included items related to well-being, community participation, access to services and human rights, and choice and decision-making. Differences were found in well-being and decision-making. Differences were also present in certain access items. The two groups also differed in overall quality of life with those with developmental disabilities having lower quality of life. A logistic regression model that was comprised of the life dimensions differentiated between the two groups with over 90% accuracy. Overall results indicate that adults with developmental disabilities are at a significant disadvantage with regard to quality of life in comparison with the general population.

The heritage of Java is the product of a complex mix of cultures that historically influenced the island: Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Javanese, Chinese, and Dutch. Indonesian cultural heritage is represented through many aspects of the nation; the history, the way of life, the identity which should be preserved not only for the present, but for the future. Unfortunately, Indonesian heritage faces many problems; many historic buildings have been demolished, neglected and not well maintained. Due to these facts, the effort should be done in order to save the heritage in Indonesia, and this can be achieved by maximizing the role of the community. The aim of this research is to describe the role of community participation in the religious heritage conservation management in Indonesia, and specifically looks at the case of Chinese temples and mosques in the urban coastal area of Java. The research is the result of extensive fieldwork that was carried out between 2009-2011 and both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed; survey questionnaires, observation and in-depth interviews. The final finding of the research is the model of the religious heritage management which is developed from the Chinese temples and mosques conservation strategy. The Focus Group Discussion was undertaken in the final step to get input from the stakeholders of the heritage conservation. This stage is needed to validate and verify the model before applying the model to other religious buildings. The findings of this research show the extent to which local communities are involved in temple and mosque activities and how their role is essential to the sustainability of their religious buildings. Because local community involvement still needs to be improved in Indonesia, this approach could be employed as an effective model for the conservation of other religious heritage buildings especially in Java, and hopefully later in the wider area of Indonesia.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / The study sought to evaluate the challenges and opportunities for effective community participation in rural development projects in Zimbabwe through one case-study, and in turn to test the credibility of the popularized supposition that almost all contemporary development efforts characteristically embrace local participation. This matters as public participation is widely assumed to be an essential ingredient for the fruition of rural development efforts. The case examined was to achieve this aim. The research made use of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in which various data gathering instruments were used. Among them were unstructured interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires. The discussion and analysis of data was enabled by the use of People-Centered Development (PCD) as a conceptual framework. Among other findings, a key insight of the research was that the level of community participation in this case is not only minimal, but it is also top down. This has much to do with the negative perceptions by facilitating agents of local people as passive recipients of externally crafted models of development and other factors such as the power dynamics within and between the community and other stakeholders. The research also found out other obstacles that militate against effective participation such as preferential treatment of other tribal groups by the facilitating agent, intra group conflicts and bureaucratic and political influence. Based on these findings, and consistent with the wider literature, a key recommendation of the research is that the nature of community engagement should be based on the principle of equal partnership among all stakeholders as this would encourage full cooperation and thus effective participation.

The research presented in this PhD dissertation provides a socio-educational perspective on the participatory representation of identity in Greek Laographic Museums. Museums are seen as an extension of formal educational spaces through their educational activities and school partnerships or outreach programmes (Hooper-Greenhill, 2007). However, they are also mainly engaging in the process of interpreting the cultures and communities represented in their collection, thus, assigning them an identity, which they then present to the public (McLean, 2005, 2008). The public, in turn, interprets it through the lens of their own identities. A result of this process is the creation and sharing of new knowledge about identity through exhibition design (Jones, Sandweiss, Mouliou, & Orloff, 2012; McLean, 2006; Newman & McLean, 2006; O’Neill, 2006). This study adopts the stance that exhibition design is the primary way museums are fulfilling their educational role. It puts forward the idea that the involvement of community members in the founding of a museum about their local identity can result in a rich, polyphonous narrative and positively affect the bond and sense of ownership the community develops in relation to the museum and their locale. This is in line with literature predicting that in the context of multicultural societies and increased mobility, bringing people together through shared cultural elements of the location they have in common, can aid social cohesion and inclusion (Graham & Howard, 2008; Hague & Jenkins, 2005; Howard, 2003). As a theoretical starting point, this research was guided by the views of Hall (1997a,1992) on changing identities and the links between identity, culture, interpretation and narrative for being potentially more reflective of current museological practice that is starting to operate within a participatory paradigm. Designed as a case study around the founding of a new museum on a small Greek island, Astypalaia, it used participatory methods in a variety of ways to engage local residents in the process of collaboratively designing the exhibition narrative of this new space that would share the story of life on the island. To frame the main case study, this research also mapped the practices of laographic museums across Greece, in order to point out what a typical museum of that type looks like in this context and assess in what ways Astypalaia is in line or deviates from this. The results of this process were compared to the findings of the case study and linked to literature on participation, education, and identity construction in museums and communities. The following discussion argues that, while collaborative projects require structure, effort and skills in their facilitation, they have the potential to make a museum narrative more representative and inclusive and benefit their participants in multiple ways. By having access to the project from its conception until its final stages, this work aims to provide a holistic view of the challenges and possibilities of implementing a participatory approach in the founding of a new museum and to discuss the knowledge such a process generates.

In New Zealand the development and promotion of sporting events is becoming increasingly popular, due in part to the role of sport in building the nation's identity, the economic benefits, and a growing awareness of the importance of health and fitness within the community. Given this increased popularity it is important that the impacts of these events upon the local 'host' communities be understood. Social impacts have been given more and more attention in recent years by event researchers, due to the recognition that the long term sustainability of such events can only be achieved with the approval and participation of residents. This research addresses these issues in the context of Taupo, New Zealand using the case of Ironman New Zealand.This thesis adopts a mixed method approach using interviews (n=7), participant observation, and a web-survey (n=111). The findings confirm that it is vital to investigate and understand impacts of events on host communities. The findings are also consistent with theories identified in the literature in terms of the nature of social impacts on host communities. The overall results indicate that residents are aware of both the positive and negative impacts of Ironman New Zealand. Respondents highlight positive impacts such as economic benefits, exposure of Taupo, community togetherness, and the encouragement of sports, yet they also recognize negative impacts such as inconvenience from traffic congestion, and road closures. Accordingly, the community was grouped into three distinct clusters with positive, negative and ambivalent perceptions, and were labelled 'Lovers', 'Pessimists' and 'Realists'. The findings further suggest that the use of web-surveying for community research is still in its infancy and needs further development enabling it to be used as an effective tool. Finally it is proposed that small to medium scale sporting event hosted in regional communities may contribute to a sense of community and to the creation of social capital. Further research is needed to confirm this proposition.

Every attempt by the NSW State Government to site waste treatment and disposal facilities has been met by opposition from local communities. Increasing interest is being shown in community consultation and public participation in the decision-making processes concerning the siting of waste management technologies. This thesis examines the rationale behind, and potential of, community consultation through an examination of two case studies. The thesis concludes that the reasons and remedies for local opposition typically given by experts and regulatory authorities are flawed. The engineering concerns which have dominated approaches to choosing and siting waste management technologies are of little consequence to the way in which communities judge whether the facilities pose an acceptable societal risk. The issues of concern to communities include the legitimacy of the decision-making process, the relative fairness of the decision to site, and whether the institutions responsible for managing and operating the technologies are trustworthy. If waste management technologies rely on local acceptability for their siting, the approach taken to resolve the waste problem must include societal as well as engineering concerns in the design of courses of action to manage the risk. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis reports the results of a comparison of the experiences of community participation between two groups of people - people with intellectual disability and non-disabled people. An interview schedule was developed, based on the social integration literature, government policy and a small empirical study. The common factors from these three bases were represented in the interview schedule which covered the areas of degree of social contact with family, friends and neighbours; involvement in the local community; and degree of satisfaction with the local community. Thirty people with intellectual disability and sixty non-disabled people were interviewed using the schedule. The non-disabled people lived in the same street (if possible) or within very close vicinity of the people with intellectual disability. The findings of community participation for people with intellectual disability reflected other research, indicating that this group had limited social contact, and reported few friendships in the community, but participated to a large extent in community activities and made use of community facilities. This group were also inclined to report satisfaction with living in, and feeling like part of the community. For non disabled people, the findings reflect a group that does not particularly feel like part of the community and makes limited use of community facilities. However, this group reported regular contact with family, friends and neighbours. The above findings are discussed with relevance to policy, theory, research and practice.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Community management of the rural water supply and sanitation services is considered as one of the options for achieving sustainability of the water services. International communities and donors are steering this concept. National water policy in Tanzania puts more emphasis on community participation and management of water and sanitation (WATSAN) schemes. This study on the sustainability of the rural water supply and sanitation services focused on community management and participation as one strategy, which could contribute to the sustainability of WATSAN provision. A study was conducted in six water schemes in six villages in Tanzania, four of the villages had water schemes in operation and two schemes were under construction. Data was collected from water users, water management committees and water providers. A structured questionnaire was administered to 92 water users in four water schemes in operation, focus group discussion was conducted to water management committees in six water schemes and three water providers responded to the questionnaire.</p><p>Given changes and increasing diversity in the management of rural WATSAN schemes (village water committees, board of directors and public private partnership), it is apparent that community management of rural water schemes without support is not an ideal solution for achieving sustainability. It was also affirmed that to achieve a real community participation in the project is difficult. Village government leaders and water management committees were mainly involved during the planning phase and local communities during implementation. Interference by the politicians, village government leaders and inability of the water schemes to recover costs were the main problems facing water schemes. The consequence was poor performance and failure of some schemes to deliver the services. Generally, the findings lead to a subjective inference that community management of rural water schemes alone is not an ideal solution for attaining sustainability. Community management of rural WATSAN schemes is a good idea if implemented where there is demand-driven community involvement right from the beginning of the projects. Nevertheless, with the right capacity building and continuous support, community management of the rural WATSAN schemes can deliver reliable and sustainable water and sanitation services.</p>