Thesis (doctoral)--Technische Hochschule, Aachen, 2005.

Thesis (Ph.D) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis/Project (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-113). Also available via the Internet from the Humboldt Digital Scholar web site.

D.Litt. et Phil / This dissertation expands our understanding of South African social movements through a study of the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO), a body formed in 1992 as a national co-ordinating structure of regional and local civic associations. It contends that SANCO can only be understood as a ‘two- tiered social movement’. The study draws on a Human Sciences Research Council survey, to which I contributed as a team member, on participant and non-participant observation, semi-structured interviews and primary literature and a case study of one SANCO branch, Alexandra. The focus of this survey was on the experience of SANCO’s leadership both at national and local level. Social movement literature reviewed in this study ignored the issue of tiers or levels in social movements. The study demonstrates that it would be worth re-looking at the analyses of social movements with an eye to assess whether distinct levels exist elsewhere. Whilst tiers are likely to be absent from small movements, there is an inherent tension for organisations that have both local units focused on immediate day-to-day concerns and also national structures that represent broader issues within political circles. The findings of the study defy the dominant view of South African social movements, which emphasise a demobilisation in the post-apartheid period. In the case of SANCO, its demise was substantiated by examining the organisation at a national level, largely ignoring local realities. A two-tiered approach demonstrates that even though local civic organisations experienced difficulties, particularly in the period immediately after the end of apartheid, they continued to thrive.

M.A. (Social Sciences) / The engagement of local people in development projects has become a common phenomenon that development theorists and practitioners have emphasised for the past few decades. The debate was sparked by the realisation of the failure of the top-down approach to development which had serious consequences in project sustainability. Therefore, the bottom-up approach of community participation in development projects has been viewed as a panacea for sustainable projects at the grass roots level. The study is based on the understanding that community participation is central in community development, in order to ensure sustainability. It has been observed and acknowledged from the empirical evidence that, despite the acceptance of participation as workable alternative and useful approach to community development, there are many collapsed projects and blame has been shifted to lack of funding and other factors such as economic meltdown as the major setbacks. Today, concerns are raised on the ineffectiveness of community participation, which may lead to project failures. In many instances, local people have become recipients of pre-designed projects by outsiders and often the objects of administrative manipulation. This implies that development agents were determined to impose their own thinking and understanding of community participation on the community. As a result, development projects that local people were expected to take over in the implementation phase collapsed and such communities did not take responsibility for their failures. The question to be answered is whether community participation is the hallmark of project sustainability or just one of the processes that is necessary in development articulation. It is against this background that the study explored factors associated with participation in income generating community projects in Botlokwa community in Molemole Local Municipality, Limpopo province. The qualitative method was employed in this study.

The potential of community-based organisations (CBOs) to provide lasting solutions in the field of Human Immune Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has long been recognised. As interest in the role of CBOs has increased, so have attempts to build their capacity and increase their stability and sustainability. Capacity-building initiatives which aim to strengthen CBOs as if they were identical to formal, more established organisations have often proved ineffective, and even at times destructive, because they have ignored the very differences that make CBOs potentially the most effective agents of development change at community level. This study is a qualitative exploration of a new mentoring-based approach to CBO capacity-building, which is currently being used extensively with CBOs in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The research is inductive, beginning with an exploratory, descriptive and contextual study of the personal experiences and perceptions of CBO leadership team members from four sample CBOs which have graduated from the Barnabas Trust mentoring programme. Data was collected using a combination of face-to-face unstructured interviews and focus group discussion, with the objective of exploring the subjects’ experiences and their perceptions of the impact of the Barnabas Trust mentoring programme on the sustainability of their organisations. The insights and findings arising from the research process are then applied as the basis for a series of recommendations for the adaptation of the Barnabas trust mentoring approach and materials. The findings of this study appear to show that the mentoring-based approach has been an effective strategy for capacity-building towards sustainability for the CBOs in the sample, bringing positive change at the individual, organisational and community levels.

New towns is the form of settlement replacing camps and company towns in the resource areas of Canada. Resource companies, still requiring Skilled workers living near the site of its development, are planning and building towns which are incorporated soon after completion. This feature distinguishing new towns from company towns and camps is intended to alleviate the resource company of direct responsibility to the town and its residents. The economic mainstay of the town, though, is still the resource company's operation. Very broadiy, this thesis seeks to discover who is responsible for the development of new towns in resource areas and what programmes they are undertaking. It is important that the large social and financial investments in these new towns not be left to the vagaries of the single resource market, the economic base of the town. Specifically, this thesis examines Gold River, a forest-based new town in British Columbia. Rather than generalizing the findings of this study, this thesis is indicating a method by which such communities can be studied and compared in order to make general statements concerning the growth and development of new towns. By examining the role and relative impact of organizations on the development of the town and by examining the values of the residents through their objectives for their town, it is possible to relate societal values to the direction of development. The British Columbia government has two objectives in the development of its forest resource. One ensures the perpetual yield of the resource through strictly enforced management policies. And the second seeks the perpetuation of prosperous communities for which no policies have been made to ensure its fulfillment. Even though the town is incorporated, the Council tends to be inexperienced. Therefore, with no counterbalancing force, it is hypothesized that, the policy of the resource company will continue to actively determine the future development of the town. To test the hypothesis, the author gleaned the policies of the resource company by examining its activity in the town. Finding little to substantiate the hypothesis the author examined the role and impact of other organizations. The residents are adamant that the responsibility for the future development of the town rest on themselves. The Council, and to a lesser extent, the Chamber of Commerce, are active in promoting new activity in their town. The residents see the development of their town into a more viable and varied community, in terms of the development and growth of the region. Even though there exists a social fabric receptive to further development, the power and the control over the use of the region rests principally with the forest company and the initiative for further development of the region rests with the Provincial Government. If a general statement could be made from this study it would be that, the further development and growth of single enterprise resource-based new towns is an integral part of regional planning and resource development. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Water and sanitation services play an important role in protecting public health and facilitating community growth. However, the choice of technology has significant implications for the social, economic and political development and autonomy of the community. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the objectives, process and content of planning water and sanitation services in communities in the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.). Relationships, issues and the decision making process are examined at the regional, local and infrastructure levels. Objectives for water and sanitation services are investigated to evaluate the link between knowledge and actions. Technical, economic and planning considerations are examined in the evaluation of policies and systems. Examination of objectives reveals that knowledge of relationships is insufficient to objectively establish a level of service policy or to select technology. Examination of water and sanitation planning in Native communities indicates that the N.W.T. Government establishes the objectives and criteria, conducts the planning studies, and is ultimately responsible for selecting, installing and operating the systems. Infrastructure planning is narrowly focused on the technical and economic considerations in the selection of technology. The values and perceptions of the Native people which the systems are meant to serve are neglected or downgraded. Examination of water and sanitation alternatives indicates that major factors in the evaluation of technology are water consumption, housing type, population, local employment opportunities, and self-reliance. Trucked water delivery and sewage pump out systems are an intermediate technology between rudimentary self-haul and sophisticated piped systems. Trucked systems provide high levels of service, flexibility and local employment and they facilitate local administrative, financial, political and physical control over community infrastructure. This thesis recommends that the N.W.T. Government devolve the resources, responsibility and authority for planning and managing water and sanitation services to the community level. The community should be the controller and the client in a planning process which emphasizes social learning and community development. The primary role of the N.W.T. Government should be to assist the people in assessing the conditions of their lives and community so that they can plan and alter these conditions for the better. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Social capital refers to material and symbolic resources that are accessed through social relationships and used for purposive actions. Conceptualising social capital as having four archetypal forms provides planners with an analytic and heuristic tool for considering the different resources that community and government actors bring to various projects and social endeavours. These forms of social capital are called bonding social capital (based on intra-community relationships), bridging social capital (based on extra-community relationships), institutional social capital (based on relationships established by the formal and informal institutions of society) and synergistic social capital (based on relationships between state and civil society actors). This quadripartite model of social capital was found to be useful in analysing the different socially embedded resources which were applied to housing initiatives for two distinct communities of people in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One case looked at a seniors care home established for elderly Chinese people by a community-based organisation (CBO) known as the United Chinese Community Enrichment Services Society (S.U.C.C.E.S.S.). The second case examined community housing for adults with developmental disabilities that was supported directly by family members and a CBO called Mainstream Association for Proactive Community Living (MAPCL) and indirectly by an informal group known as the Parents Support Group for Families of Mentally Handicapped Adults. In both cases, the housing initiative relied on resources that were accessed through the intra-community ties of people united by a common ethnicity or interest in supporting adults with developmental disabilities. Necessary inputs for developing and sustaining the housing initiatives were also found in extra-community ties with the wider community and internationally-based professional associations; relationships with government actors at the municipal, provincial and federal levels; and predictable societal relationships established by legislation and norms of behaviour. A four-part model of social capital additionally serves as a planning tool to identify a broader range of resources and possibilities for policy intervention and to remind planners they work with multiple publics, must adopt a critical approach to community involvement and coproduction and should encourage governments to be active in shaping the institutional environment and engaging with individuals and community groups. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

M.A. (Public Management and Governance) / Please refer to full text to view abstract