There is seemingly no panacea to encourage Pro-Environmental Behaviour (PEB) however, a viable option consistently points to communities as drivers of change. The focus on individuals as targets of change has been a futile endeavour with negligible results, which has provided the impetus for research into community-led PEB. Various types of communities exist and this thesis is concerned with Communities of Practice (CoP). The CoP framework is used to analyse the success of three communities in Northern Ireland who actively promote PEB in various capacities. The research aimed to develop the CoP framework for this analysis through the use of sensitising concepts, which helped the framework to regain its analytic ability. Using place attachment, social capital and social learning as conceptual lenses to look at the communities provided specific themes relevant to PEB and community whilst encapsulating the dimensions of the CoP framework, giving them explanatory power. The research was conducted using qualitative methods to gain a deep understanding of individual biographies, the role the community plays in their life and vice versa, and finally to understand the reasons for the successful promotion of PEB in their community. The research identifies the need for bridging and linking social capital in addition to the strong bonding social capital demonstrable in the communities, but more importantly, the need for bridging capital to bring together heterogeneous communities as opposed to homogenous communities. Accessing bridging and linking social capital relies heavily on pro-active agents who have the support and capacity to do so, which should come from both the community and Government bodies. The embodiment of the practice, and social learning, helped members form an identity that affiliated them with the rest of the community, thus impacting positively on their participation. The impetus for participation was strongly affected by place attachment, which became heightened as members became more embedded in the community through practice. The place of attachment was seemingly a determinant of the level of PEB displayed in each community. Further research which takes a broader political economy of learning approach is needed to understand the roles of both voluntary, private and public sectors in helping to promote PEB via CoP's. Taking such an approach will better inform policy making to ensure communities are receiving adequate support to maintain their efforts and promote PEB on a wider scale.

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This thesis is a three part investigation into the methodological assumptions employed by professionals undertaking profiles of `community'. It is based on a case study of Newtown South Aston in Birmingham, an area awarded City Challenge funding in 1992. Part one addresses theoretical issues. It looks at the methodological framework of community theorising and argues that there is a paradigmatic crisis in the study and definition of community. Part two then summarises much of the documentary evidence collected and analysed in the course of this research.I t asks the key question-: "What assumptions are made in order to produce accounts of community?". These assumption are identified as is the type of evidence used to describe the area. It is suggested that the content of documents relating to Newtown South Aston were directly influenced the regeneration programme. The significant `source' document is identified and is subjected to a rhetorical analysis. It is concluded that the organisations working in Newtown South Aston are playing a rhetorical game, using core assumptions and ideas about `what community is' and `what community development' is in order to gain funding. The thesis then turns its attention to answering the question-: "What might the implications of these assumptions be? ". Using Winstanley's Stakeholder Power Matrix, the rhetoric of empowerment in the `source' document is put to the test. It is concluded that rhetoric is not matched in reality. It is proposed that in fact there is a `short-circuiting' of the theory and understanding of `community'. Part two concludes that the paradigmatic crisis in the theoretical literature is being matched in `real life'. The final part of this thesis presents a new paradigmatic framework for the understanding of community. Using the argument presented in Alan Macfarlane's "The Origins Of English Individualism" it is suggested that the concept of community has been misunderstood by many contemporary sociologists. It is concluded that the concept of community must be revisited in light of this argument. Finally attention is turned to identifying the relevance this thesis has for the information profession.

The aim of this thesis is to propose a ethnographically oriented form of critical discourse analysis that is capable of making supportable claims about the unique ways in which discourses operate in local settings. It proposes a methodology for the analysis of 'structured variation' in discourses in communities of practice.

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This thesis emerges from a dissatisfaction with the way that fear and (in)security are attributed to the urban landscape of New York City after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. I explore how three central sites in New York City - Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center and Central Park - are shaped much more centrally by discourses aimed at distracting people from feelings of (in)security. So while these sites are marked by security infrastructures, they are much more about leisure, pleasure and consumption than they are about fear or vulnerability. My central claim in this thesis is that emotions do not operate uniformly or placidly at these spaces, instead, to analyse the emotional register properly, a more extensive theorisation of the discursive is required. As such, I foreground the importance of incorporating the physical body into my analysis in order to explore the power of affect and emotion, and how these registers physically shape bodies and the spaces they move through. Instead of a singular reading of fear, I focus instead on the alternative and "distracting" discourses that take people away from fear, and call attention to the complex entanglements of affect, emotion, the corporeal and the spatial that enable these discourses to continually displace feelings of (in)security. What I find across these three sites is that the official discourses aimed at distracting people from feelings of (in)security encourage certain affects and emotions, and order bodies and spaces in particular ways. Neither the dominance of fear nor the alternative mobilisation of leisure go untroubled at these spaces. It is only by focusing on the (inter)actions of affect, emotion, the corporeal and the spatial that we are able to engage with these lively and plural registers of discourse, and show how bodies are constantly negotiating with the power structures they encounter.

The thesis begins by looking at the background to the development of seaside resorts and the historiography of such developments in the British Isles. The main research questions involve an examination of the causes of Bangor’s development as a resort in the nineteenth century and its impact on the town. The thesis looks in particular at the role of the landlords, the contribution of local government, the development of communications and the actions of entrepreneurs, both local and external. The local and regional setting of the town was also important. The key factors were proximity to Belfast, the development of transport and the attitude of the landlord. The second main aspect examined was the impact on the town. This involved the tone of the resort and the type of visitors, both their class and length of stay. Amenities and attractions for the visitor are also considered and how these evolved during the period of study. Local attitudes to visitors are also assessed. All these have been placed in the context of the growth of seaside resorts in the British Isles. Other research questions were also addressed such as the industrial revolution’s impact on transport, the growth of Belfast and the provision of amenities. The thesis also looks at other issues such as the impact of the rise of the resort on port functions, gender, temperance and disorder. The material is organised chronologically except in the latter part where the increased availability of resources enables a more thematic approach. The main conclusion is that the key factors resulted in Bangor’s development as an important seaside resort, indeed the leading resort in the north of Ireland, by 1899. Bangor, did not, however, match the chief English resorts in size, amenities or attractions.

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