Microcredit has been considered one of the most significant innovations in the field of development in the last thirty years. It provides collateral free financial resources to the poor worldwide. It plays an important role in poverty eradication, socio-economic development, livelihood diversification and women empowerment especially in the developing and under-developed nations. It has contributed positively to the natural resources management by forming social capital, creating alternate income and diversifying livelihoods of the resource dependent rural people. Natural resource management, in general, and fisheries resources management in particular, are currently undergoing a major paradigm shift. In recent years, the notion of government as the only decision-making authority has been replaced by multi-scale, polycentric governance, which recognizes that a large number of stakeholders in different institutional settings contribute to overall management of resources. Improving the management of natural or common pool resources and empowering local communities, community-based management has become a common strategy in the last two decades. Community-Based Organizations are grassroots institutions that involve rural communities in co-management. Several factors influence the functioning and sustainability of these CBOs which contribute to the management of common-pool resources in Bangladesh. To address the complexities of socio-cultural systems and sustainable natural resource management, managers, practitioners, and theoreticians widely rely on social learning. The evidence of social learning is apparent in collaborative participation and group actions where individuals meet, interact, share ideas, learn collectively and take collective decisions. They adjust the management approaches and change their perceptions according to their social learning in natural resources management. The purpose of the research was to assess the role of microcredit in improving rural livelihoods (mainly fishing households), identify the challenges faced by microcredit institutions, and to explore the process of organizations and obstacles involved in the sustainability of Community-Based Organizations developed by CBFM-2 project in Hakaluki haor area. It was intended to explore the evidence of social learning and capacity building efforts related to microcredit and CBFM-2 project intervention in the study area. The main objective of this research was: to assess the roles of microcredit in improving rural livelihoods with a focus on fishing households and institutional capacity-building. The secondary objectives were: (i) to understand the processes of organization and the challenges that Community Based Organizations (CBOs) face, and (ii) to explore the evidence of social learning pertaining to microcredit and involving CBOs under CBFM-2 project, other local institutions, and fisher households. A qualitative research approach was followed in this case which was supplemented by quantitative data. Several Participatory Rural Appraisal tools, such as interviews (households) by administering semi-structured questionnaires, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, in-depth case studies, and mini-workshops were used at different stages of the research to attain the objective of the study. Together with local communities and other relevant stakeholders the research purposively selected three CBOs and three microcredit women groups in three different villages of Hakaluki haor. The research findings revealed that microcredit played a significant role in socio-economic development of Hakaluki haor, especially household income increment, livelihood diversification, creation of self-employment, poverty reduction and women empowerment though it entrapped few households in vicious cycle of poverty. The research established that CBOs are instrumental and essential for community-based natural resources management through empowering the local communities, and NGOs are important for mobilizing local people, capacity building and providing legal services to the community. It was evident that CBOs faced challenges towards its sustainability due to limited resources and wetland policy changes by the government. The study also revealed the evidence of social learning through microcredit operation and project intervention which changed their perceptions and fisheries management practices. Reforming operational mechanism of microcredit, national wetland leasing policy and legitimating CBOs can remove the challenges of microcredit and help the CBOs to be sustainable. Future research is encouraged to reveal the other issues of microcredit and community-based organizations sustainability.

Microcredit has been considered one of the most significant innovations in the field of development in the last thirty years. It provides collateral free financial resources to the poor worldwide. It plays an important role in poverty eradication, socio-economic development, livelihood diversification and women empowerment especially in the developing and under-developed nations. It has contributed positively to the natural resources management by forming social capital, creating alternate income and diversifying livelihoods of the resource dependent rural people. Natural resource management, in general, and fisheries resources management in particular, are currently undergoing a major paradigm shift. In recent years, the notion of government as the only decision-making authority has been replaced by multi-scale, polycentric governance, which recognizes that a large number of stakeholders in different institutional settings contribute to overall management of resources. Improving the management of natural or common pool resources and empowering local communities, community-based management has become a common strategy in the last two decades. Community-Based Organizations are grassroots institutions that involve rural communities in co-management. Several factors influence the functioning and sustainability of these CBOs which contribute to the management of common-pool resources in Bangladesh. To address the complexities of socio-cultural systems and sustainable natural resource management, managers, practitioners, and theoreticians widely rely on social learning. The evidence of social learning is apparent in collaborative participation and group actions where individuals meet, interact, share ideas, learn collectively and take collective decisions. They adjust the management approaches and change their perceptions according to their social learning in natural resources management. The purpose of the research was to assess the role of microcredit in improving rural livelihoods (mainly fishing households), identify the challenges faced by microcredit institutions, and to explore the process of organizations and obstacles involved in the sustainability of Community-Based Organizations developed by CBFM-2 project in Hakaluki haor area. It was intended to explore the evidence of social learning and capacity building efforts related to microcredit and CBFM-2 project intervention in the study area. The main objective of this research was: to assess the roles of microcredit in improving rural livelihoods with a focus on fishing households and institutional capacity-building. The secondary objectives were: (i) to understand the processes of organization and the challenges that Community Based Organizations (CBOs) face, and (ii) to explore the evidence of social learning pertaining to microcredit and involving CBOs under CBFM-2 project, other local institutions, and fisher households. A qualitative research approach was followed in this case which was supplemented by quantitative data. Several Participatory Rural Appraisal tools, such as interviews (households) by administering semi-structured questionnaires, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, in-depth case studies, and mini-workshops were used at different stages of the research to attain the objective of the study. Together with local communities and other relevant stakeholders the research purposively selected three CBOs and three microcredit women groups in three different villages of Hakaluki haor. The research findings revealed that microcredit played a significant role in socio-economic development of Hakaluki haor, especially household income increment, livelihood diversification, creation of self-employment, poverty reduction and women empowerment though it entrapped few households in vicious cycle of poverty. The research established that CBOs are instrumental and essential for community-based natural resources management through empowering the local communities, and NGOs are important for mobilizing local people, capacity building and providing legal services to the community. It was evident that CBOs faced challenges towards its sustainability due to limited resources and wetland policy changes by the government. The study also revealed the evidence of social learning through microcredit operation and project intervention which changed their perceptions and fisheries management practices. Reforming operational mechanism of microcredit, national wetland leasing policy and legitimating CBOs can remove the challenges of microcredit and help the CBOs to be sustainable. Future research is encouraged to reveal the other issues of microcredit and community-based organizations sustainability.

BACKGROUND:The Affordable Care Act of 2010 proposed maximum penalty equal to 1% of regular Medicare reimbursements which prompted change in how hospitals regard 30-day readmissions. While several hospital to home transitional care models demonstrated a reduction in readmissions and cost savings, programs adapted to population needs and existing resources was essential.METHODS:Focusing on process and outcomes evaluation, a retrospective analysis of a modified community based care transitions program was conducted.RESULTS:In addition to high levels of patient satisfaction with the care transitions program, participants' confidence with self care was significantly improved. Further, the program evaluation demonstrated a 73% reduction in readmissions and an actual Medicare cost savings during the 9-month study period of $214,192, excluding the cost to administer the program.CONCLUSIONS:While there are several transitional care programs in existence, a customized approach is desirable and often required as the most cost effective way to manage care transitions and employ evidence based policy making. This study established some of the pitfalls when implementing a community-based transitional care program and demonstrated encouraging outcomes.

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Ontario is a culturally diversified society. Its population composition has changed drastically in the past few decades to include large numbers of individuals with cultural norms differing from that of the majority. This poses challenges to public health, such as HIV prevention. Identifying practices that promote social inclusion in these communities is an important step toward the maintenance of cultural diversity and elimination of social exclusion. Culturally competent health promotion is one example of socially inclusive practices. Cultural competence refers to practices that take into consideration the cultural and linguistic nuances of a specific community or group. This thesis will be guided by the research questions: (1) What are the main health promotion practices of Community-based AIDS Service Organizations (CBAOs)? (2) How do the activities of these organizations promote social inclusion? This thesis uses qualitative methodology to study the CBAO as the unit of analysis. Data were collected from operators at three ethno-cultural CBAOs in Ontario: South Asian; Black, African, and Caribbean; and Portuguese. CBAOs are organizations within the community that provide HIV prevention resources, as well as support for persons living with HIV/AIDS in the community. The practices demonstrated at CBAOS in these communities illustrate three related mechanisms present that promote social inclusion: (a) community networking, (b) community knowledge and involvement, and (c) community-specific resources. These mechanisms can be used to inform practices at other community-based organizations in Ontario.

Ontario is a culturally diversified society. Its population composition has changed drastically in the past few decades to include large numbers of individuals with cultural norms differing from that of the majority. This poses challenges to public health, such as HIV prevention. Identifying practices that promote social inclusion in these communities is an important step toward the maintenance of cultural diversity and elimination of social exclusion. Culturally competent health promotion is one example of socially inclusive practices. Cultural competence refers to practices that take into consideration the cultural and linguistic nuances of a specific community or group. This thesis will be guided by the research questions: (1) What are the main health promotion practices of Community-based AIDS Service Organizations (CBAOs)? (2) How do the activities of these organizations promote social inclusion? This thesis uses qualitative methodology to study the CBAO as the unit of analysis. Data were collected from operators at three ethno-cultural CBAOs in Ontario: South Asian; Black, African, and Caribbean; and Portuguese. CBAOs are organizations within the community that provide HIV prevention resources, as well as support for persons living with HIV/AIDS in the community. The practices demonstrated at CBAOS in these communities illustrate three related mechanisms present that promote social inclusion: (a) community networking, (b) community knowledge and involvement, and (c) community-specific resources. These mechanisms can be used to inform practices at other community-based organizations in Ontario.

This thesis explores the relationship between funding practices and the non-profit sector through a case study of one community-based organization, called Ma Mawi wi Chi Itata Centre, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The thesis traces implications of the shift to project funding models and outcomes-based management for the communitybased organizations (CBOs). The research draws on Foucault’s governmentality analytic to illuminate how funding practices relate to neoliberal discourses and traces the tensions and resistances that are created by funding policy interventions at the point of practice. I argue tensions arise between: competition and collaboration; textual accountability and community need; reporting, learning, and teaching; different problem solving approaches; and individualism and community building practices. CBOs are intimately wrapped up in the project of governing. They are not either, a symbol of citizen engagement or a symptom of a decimated state; rather they are both, part and parcel of a system in which we are both governed and govern. / Graduate

Community-based organizations increasingly face the need to systematically gather and provide data, information, and insights on the quality of their services and performances to governments, donors, and funding agencies. To meet these demands, community-based organizations have identified the need to build their own evaluation capacity. Increasing the evaluation capacity of an organization requires evaluation capacity building at an individual level, which might be affected by other factors like employee work motivation. This quantitative study uncovers the relationship between employee work motivation and individual evaluation capacity using the Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale and the Evaluation Capacity Assessment Instrument. I found that employees with higher intrinsic motivation have higher evaluation capacity, whereas, those with higher amotivation have lower evaluation capacity. Apart from that, this study also investigates the relationships motivation - evaluative thinking, and evaluation capacity - evaluative thinking, finding that individual evaluation capacity and evaluative thinking are closely related. This study elucidates the link between employee motivation, evaluation capacity, and evaluative thinking, which will not only benefit the organizations to better their practice of evaluation, but also help the employees to make progress in their career paths. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

Community participation takes place when community members act together as subjects. It is argued here that community participation empowers when community members take decisions, or negotiate an equitable share in making the decisions that affect them. However, since participation takes place within a network of power relations it is not necessarily empowering but can take a range of forms from enforcement to empowerment, whereby empowerment may involve not only willing cooperation, but also resistance to outsider project objectives. This thesis explores these issues through a study of how people in three Philippine upland communities participated in soil conservation and livelihood restoration projects initiated by three different NGOs. The principal aim of the study was to identify and examine the changing discourses of development and participation held by the NGOs and by the members of the subject communities. The development discourses revolved around socio-ecology, described as the relationship between the culture and society of Filipino subsistence smallholders and the ecological units of their local environment. The failure of this existing socio-ecology under the pressure of increasing population density on a limited upland resource base was the stimulus for change in the study communities. The thesis compares the NGOs’ practice of engaging with the communities with their discourses of participation, and examines the importance of the relationships between the NGOs, government agencies and the communities for the success of the projects. The study identified several key factors in the empowerment of subject groups. Firstly, the need for a discourse that enables them to embark on socio-ecological change. For the Filipino communities examined here, the discourse of sustainability was validated by enabling the restoration of their livelihoods. Secondly, outside agencies, either NGO or government, may be needed to catalyse community change processes. Thirdly, the subjects need leaders who have the vision and skills to work for the desired livelihood and social development outcomes. Training activities of livelihood restoration proved highly significant in expanding women’s political space that led to opportunities for them to take up leadership, as well as giving capacity-building training for existing and future leaders which helped to equalize gender relations between men and women. Fourthly, the policy and program initiatives of host government agencies can synergize with community and partner agency activities at several levels, including resourcing and building the capacities of leadership.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Community participation and awareness in disaster risk management is widely recognized as a cornerstone for disaster risk reduction and effective response and recovery strategies. This goes parallel with the world paradigm shift form relief and response to prevention and mitigation. There is gradually increase of fire and floods in informal settlements and Khayelitsha TR- Section in particular. “From 1995-2005 more than 8554 informal dwelling fire incidents occurred in Cape Town alone, affecting 40 558 households and around 160 000 peoples" (DiMP, 2008). And in 2007 alone floods affected 8,000 households and 38 residents in the Cape Town informal settlement of Khayelitsha; Bongani TR-Section and Phillippi; Phola park (Bouchard et al, 2007). This study analyzed community participation and awareness mechanisms in disaster risk management, its implementation, practice and effectiveness, following the promulgation of the Disaster Management Act No 57 of 2002, taking Khayelitsha TR- Section as a case study. In order to achieve the stated objectives, the researcher employed a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research paradigms. In qualitative context semi-structured interviews were conducted with the key informants disaster management officials and Khayelitsha TR-Section ward structure officials. Quantitative method, 100 structured questionnaires were distributed to Khayelitsha TR-Section residents. Using Khayelitsha TR- Section as a case study the thesis argues that despite the enabling policy and resource allocation for community participation and awareness its implementation proved to be a failure. Most of the mechanisms directed by the act are not implemented and those implemented its practice is not effective to achieve its stated objectives of risk reduction and effective response and recovery to disaster incidents. The study reviewed literature and theories of community participation and awareness in disaster risk management. It reviewed and outlined a policy framework and institutional arrangement for community participation and awareness in disaster risk management in accordance with the Disaster Management Act (No 57 of 2002). It further determined the level of community participation and awareness mechanism implementation. Records the level of community awareness and understanding, it determines the effectiveness of community participation and awareness mechanisms and finally based on the empirical results, literature reviews and theories, the study provides a number of recommendations to enhance and improved of community participation and awareness to disaster risk management officials and policy makers.