The intensifying nature and extent of disasters together with the associated devastation and astronomical costs required to manage the rippling effects of disasters, enunciates the national and international focus on disaster risk reduction. Further the ever evolving and complex dynamics of risk as the decisive contributor to disasters has heightened the urgency to pursue effective disaster risk assessment as a prerequisite to inform the disaster risk management planning and disaster risk reduction intervention processes. A structured and systematic approach to disaster risk assessment assists in maintaining rigour thus promoting the quality and validity of the process and its outcomes. Appropriate models serve as valuable tools in enabling this methodological perspective to undertake disaster risk assessment. The nonexistence of an appropriate disaster risk assessment model in South Africa has initiated the emphasis and purpose of this study thereby underscoring the critical need for the development of an effective, holistic and integrated disaster risk assessment model for local government in South Africa. In spear heading the process towards the development of an appropriate disaster risk assessment model, the research commenced with establishing and asserting the fundamental link between disaster risk assessment and disaster risk reduction as an avenue to contextualise and ground the key issues in effective disaster risk reduction. The exploratory analysis engaged in presenting a theoretical construct of disaster risk assessment examined the core components informing the disaster risk assessment process. This discussion led to the comparative review of three disaster risk assessment models viz the Community-Wide Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (CVCA) Model, the Community-Based Risk Reduction Model and the South African Disaster Risk Assessment Model interrogating the significant characteristics, structure and application of the models. The results of the comparison of the above three models provided the necessary insight for the development of the disaster risk assessment model for local government in South Africa. Further influenced by the outcomes of the applied research on the critical analysis of the current disaster risk assessment practice within the four selected municipalities representing local government in South Africa; viz eThekwini Metropolitan, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan, Bojanala District and Stellenbosch local Municipalities. Through the data coding, classification and interpretive process, constructive and correlated research findings were immanent guiding the final development of the integrated disaster risk assessment model for local government in South Africa. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Public Management and Administration))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

This dissertation seeks to investigate the nature and extent of community participation in health education decision making for Torres Strait Islander girls at one Queensland high school. As such, the study is concerned with identifying stakeholders in health education for girls, describing the ways in which stakeholders participate in health education decision-making, and identifying the factors that promote or inhibit community participation in health education decision-making. The question presupposes several standpoints: firstly, that Indigenous communities want to participate in education decision-making and, secondly, that community participation would be desirable in producing good outcomes for Indigenous students. Thus, the literature review is concerned with critiquing discourses of community participation in Indigenous education, the effects on educational outcomes of Indigenous students when community participation is enabled, and reviewing previous research on educational decision-making in health education in Australia. Given the necessity for emancipatory research methodology in Indigenous research contexts, a critical ethnographic case study approach was chosen to investigate the research questions at a high school in the Torres Strait; building a critical case record from field notes, interview data, and documents. Using Carspecken's (1996) stages of data analysis, primary records were reconstructed and dialogically negotiated with participants, to describe system relations. Such an approach allows for power and control relations between researchers and research participants to be explicated, giving voice to usually marginalised groups, such as Indigenous students. This approach was also congruent with specific Torres Strait Islander research protocols, informed by Ailan Kastom, which were necessary to sensitively and successfully undertake the research. Data analysis was informed by a framework of Indigenous community participation theory, derived from Soliman (1995), Heslop (1998 ), Ministerial Advisory Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education (1999) and Stewart (1999), together with curriculum theory, from Bernstein (1976; 1990; 2000). This approach constituted a unique adaptation of Bernstein's pedagogic discourse theory to a Torres Strait Islander educational setting. The findings indicated that there was strong desire by community members, including students, to participate in health education decision-making at Bluewater High. However, the ability of different stakeholder groups to participate in health education varied, with teachers exercising the most power, and students the least. An in-depth, contextual analysis, in which pedagogic decision-making occurred, enabled a number of immediate and long-term recommendations to be developed. It is envisaged that these recommendations will enable greater community participation in health education decision-making for girls at Bluewater High, and more generally in other Indigenous educational settings.

This thesis aims to explore and analyse the experiences of participatory development projects in Sudan. The study focuses on participation in development, an issue that has attracted debate and discussion since the early 1970s. To contribute to this discussion and create more knowledge on this issue the White Nile Agricultural Services Project (WNASP) and North Kordofan Rural Development Project (NKRDP) were selected as case studies. Through various methods the nature and potential of participatory development approaches and interventions have been explored with the aim of identifying the factors that influenced people's participation, and suggesting ways to improve the practice of participatory development at grassroots level. The study found that although the projects encouraged and claimed to adopt participatory approaches, people were not engaged in a process through which participation could achieve empowerment or create real changes in their lives. The outcome of people's participation in the projects was influenced by development providers' policies, credibility and behaviour of staff, nature and amount of resources, socio-cultural norms, power relations, and communities' previous experiences, organisation and level of education. This suggests that primarily, designing participatory development programmes requires an in-depth understanding of prevailing social, economic, political and physical environments. Secondly, development providers should adopt approaches that accept negotiations with communities and challenge oppressive situations. Finally, if participatory development is to achieve its objectives, local communities must be provided with resources, information and skills. Based on evidence from powerful individuals in North Kordofan, this thesis suggests a moral-obligatory approach as one of the ways to improve the practice of participatory development in Sudan. This approach requires a fundamental change in development providers' policies, visions and credibility. If the essence of participatory development is adhered to, and if strategies and plans are designed collectively then there is an opportunity for making real change in the lives of those addressed by development interventions. This thesis concludes that more research is needed to explore the values, role, and impact of development providers and facilitators, as well as the nature and potential of local communities' participative values, organisations and practices.

[Truncated abstract] Native vegetation (bushland) in urban areas remains in small, isolated patches embedded within a matrix of human-dominated land uses. Bushlands in urban areas have high biodiversity conservation and social values, and there has been a local-level movement towards protecting and managing urban bushlands in Australia. This thesis aims to test principles, theories and concepts relating to the ecology and management of bushland fragments in Australian cities ... A commonly used qualitative scale was compared with an ecologically based, quantitative technique developed in the research. The qualitative scale was found to be a reliable proxy for assessing vegetation condition, while also being more user-friendly for community groups and other bushland managers. The human-caused disturbances and weed cover in urban bushlands indicate a need for management intervention. Local government has an important role in local biodiversity management, yet there has been little research on this topic ... Positive partnerships developed where local governments have taken a ‘contract model’ approach to volunteer coordination, have a number of expectations of volunteer groups, and provide the groups with relatively high level of assistance. Also important is a local government that supports, respects, trusts and communicates with the community group, and recognises volunteers’ skills, knowledge and contributions. With increased resources allocated to local government bushland management and conservation, and coordination with community groups, the full potential of local bushland management would be realised.

This study provides an account of the agendas, participation and influence of management, teachers, students and parents at a primary school in Tigray, Ethiopia. A literature review revealed gaps in the knowledge of these stakeholders’ involvement in school leadership structures in the current national policy context. A broader review of the major traditions of school research informed the design of this ethnographic case study. Fieldwork at ‘Ketema School’ took place over an eight-month period in 2014, and involved participant observation, informant-led interviews, and the collection of institutional documents. Data collection focused on the meetings of various bodies, and the activities of a single class in Grade 6 and 7. Inductive analysis of the case data was supported by Atlas.ti. The study reveals a convergence of understandings about the purposes and processes of the school consistent with the state-authorised model of schooling for national development. Structures and processes of surveillance and control incentivise and normalise compliance with government directives. These include positions of distributed leadership and mechanisms of mutual surveillance and internal accountability through which teachers and students share responsibility for supervising peers and colleagues. For example, the student leaders of the ‘one-to-five’ networks perform an academic support and behavioural control function in relation to their peers; and gim gima is a practice of public critique used for exposing misconduct. Meetings and other participative spaces enable members of the school community to share their views on conditions in school according to their interests and priorities; however, these forums are dominated by management agendas, and school-level decisions are restricted by a strong external policy context. This study extends knowledge of school leadership practices in Ethiopia and informs wider debates around community participation, accountability and school autonomy in developing countries. Recommendations are made for sharing and strengthening democratic practices and for future research.

The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of the school community with regard to the outcomes of a school improvement program (SIP) on the effectiveness of Sidama Zone schools. It was primarily a qualitative study, which explored the experiences of the school community with regard to the outcomes of the SIP. Four schools were purposefully selected. The data were collected by means of interviews, focus-group discussions, observations and relevant documents, and analyzed focusing on thematic categories. The findings indicated that in schools where there existed a strong collaboration of the school community in the planning, decision-making, monitoring and evaluation processes, the improvement initiatives were owned by all in the school and the performance of the schools was enhanced. On the other hand, the lack of collaboration in the school community negatively affected the performance of those schools. Besides, in all the schools the CPD was challenged by the resistance of the teachers, the lack of resources and poor implementation strategies. It also became apparent that the teachers' commitment to support each other and their students, to implement active learning methods and continuous assessment contributed to the effectiveness of the better-performing schools. Findings further revealed that to the contrary, these actions were loosely implemented in the poorly-performing schools. Though the peer learning approach was implemented, it became evident that there were mixed views regarding its benefits. The availability of the necessary facilities created an environment conducive to learning in schools one and three. Although there were attempts to implement extra-curricular activities for the social and emotional development of the students, its implementation was negatively affected by a lack of coordination and resources in the schools. In the poorly-performing schools, the school environment was found not to be conducive to teaching and learning. In the better-performing schools, the feedback from the school community was used as an input to make adjustments to the improvement process, and this created a feeling of ownership that led to the effectiveness of the schools. The outcomes of the study indicated that the promotion-rate of the students to the following grade was considered as a measure of the effectiveness of the schools. Conversely, the lack of proper participation of the school community in the school’s affairs, the lack of proper leadership support, the teachers’ resistance to participate in CPD, the non-existence of training opportunities and workshops for the teachers, and the shortage of resources were reported as challenges. From the findings it has been concluded that the SIP has contributed to school effectiveness in the schools that have properly managed the change process as opposed to those schools which remained poorly performing due to low level of SIP implementation. Finally, monitoring the SIP cycles, building trust between the principals and the teachers, creating a link between the schools and other institutions, introducing recognition mechanisms, and providing support to the poorly-performing schools were indicated as strategies to enhance the effectiveness of the school. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

The aim of this case study is to draw a picture about the present situation and highlight constraints and challenges to the implementation of National Environment Policy (NEP) in Rwanda by identifying limits and prospects for improving the ongoing implementation process. we found that environmental management at the local level is subject to the compounded effects of the obstacles faced by the local administration, the complex nature of environmental management, and the lack of assimilation of environmental issues at the national level. Environmental conditions suffer as a result, and there is a need for substantial modifications to improve the situation. Improved functions should lead to the enhancement of the local environment through: Higher investments from the regulated community subjected to more targeted enforcement, Private investments in infrastructure through the privatization of functions traditionally borne by the District, Pollution prevention through forward-looking planning, Greater efficiency in using available resources and justified requests to the central budget / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:52:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ClaudiusMS.pdf: 403260 bytes, checksum: 89c30da821659b658d26d82277c66ea7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-05-19 / The aim of this work is to investigate the factors which influence people s participation in the enviromental decision, in Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte, from the vision of the residents of that area, approaching the Plan of Control/Eradication of the African s Huge Snail (Achatina Fulica),with the jointly work of IBAMA and Municipal Town Hall of Parnamirim .The applied methodology consists of a research (Survey kind) including 395 interviews by people who live in that county, with minimum age of 18, within an universe of 124.690 residents. The choice of the county was due to a detection (made by IBAMA technicians and reported in a Technical Report) -which showed that the dangerous Snail is already spreading in 14 of 17 districts of the county-, as well as the support given by Parnamirim s Town Hall, with the implementation of the Plan Control/Eradication of the African s Huge Snail, widely known as Day C . The research tools used in that research consists of questionnaires with all sorts of questions. The results show us that most of the residents were feeling threatened by the presence of the animal as well as having had a little participation in the fight against the animal. It also shows us that residents believe that organizations (Town Hall, IBAMA and Local Community) involved are able to solve the problem and believe that the amounts which organization are supposed to take 89,4 %, 87,6% and 80,8%, in that order. As we check the results, we notice in 95%, the variety of threaten and frequency reunion and participation level / O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar os fatores influenciadores da participa??o da popula??o na tomada de decis?o ambiental, no munic?pio de Parnamirim, no Rio Grande do Norte, a partir da vis?o dos seus moradores, tendo como enfoque o Programa de Controle/Erradica??o do Caramujo Gigante Africano (Achatina fulica), implantado de forma conjunta IBAMA x Prefeitura Municipal. A metodologia aplicada constou de uma pesquisa amostral, tipo Survey, com 395 entrevistas de pessoas do munic?pio, com idade m?nima de 18 anos, de um universo de 124.690 habitantes. A escolha do munic?pio deveu-se a detec??o, feita por t?cnicos do IBAMA, atrav?s de um Relat?rio T?cnico, mostrando que o caramujo j? se encontrava disseminado em 14 dos 17 bairros existentes no munic?pio e, tamb?m, pelo apoio dado pela Prefeitura Municipal de Parnamirim, com a instala??o do Programa de controle/erradica??o do caramujo, mais comumente conhecido como o dia C . O instrumento de pesquisa utilizado foi um question?rio com perguntas abertas e fechadas. Em termos de associa??o entre vari?veis foi poss?vel se verificar signific?ncia, em n?vel de 95%, das vari?veis independentes AMEA?A (opini?o do entrevistado quanto ao n?vel de amea?a causada pela presen?a do caramujo) e FRREU (freq??ncia de participa??o dos entrevistados nas reuni?es ocorridas entre o IBAMA x Prefeitura) com a vari?vel dependente NIPAR (opini?o do entrevistado quanto ao seu n?vel de participa??o do programa de combate ao caramujo). Pressup?e-se, portanto, que as a??es de fiscaliza??o e monitoramento (comando-controle) devem ser integradas a um processo consistente de conscientiza??o ambiental da popula??o buscando se estabelecer aspectos atitudinais no cidad?o, de forma que as pessoas, atrav?s de um mecanismo de educa??o ambiental (formal ou informal), bem como, de um constante monitoramento, passem a dar maior import?ncia ao programa de combate ao caramujo, buscando um comportamento ambiental adequado, uma vez que os entrevistados somente aumentaram o seu n?vel de participa??o a partir do momento em que se sentiram amea?ados e participaram das reuni?es desenvolvidas pelo IBAMA e Prefeitura Municipal de Parnamirim

A Gestão Energética Descentralizada é uma forma de gestão dos recursos energéticos cujas primeiras publicações referentes ao tema datam dos anos 1980, no entanto, foi verificado um crescimento do desenvolvimento de estudos e aplicações do conceito na prática de forma substancial somente em tempos recentes (anos 2000). A Gestão Energética Descentralizada é tratada sob uma infinidade de termos e conceitos, e também pode ser aplicada com graus diferentes de descentralização como em vilas, quarteirões, bairros, distritos e estados. Tal conceito está fortemente atrelado ao combate das emissões de Gases de Efeito Estufa, busca pela inserção das fontes de energia renováveis nas matrizes, conservação de energia e eficiência energética, e pela associação entre planejamento urbano, ou das cidades, ao dos sistemas energéticos. Ainda, cabe destacar que nesse modelo de gestão descentralizado- a participação popular e o engajamento dos cidadãos nos processos decisórios e na busca por cidades sustentáveis veem sendo colocado, por muitos pesquisadores do tema, como requisitos indispensáveis ao seu adequado funcionamento. Esta dissertação tem como foco de pesquisa a Gestão Energética Descentralizada em âmbito municipal e seu desenvolvimento nas cidades do Brasil. Dessa forma, foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o estado da arte do desenvolvimento da Gestão Energética Descentralizada Municipal no Brasil e no mundo, abarcando principalmente questões do planejamento e de políticas públicas como transparência e participação popular no desenvolvimento dos Planejamentos Energéticos Locais. O resultado da pesquisa mostra que existe Gestão de Energia Descentralizada Municipal no Brasil com desenvolvimento de Planejamentos Energéticos Municipais, os quais têm como principal instrumento incentivador o subprograma PROCEL-GEM, foco de estudo de caso também desenvolvido nessa pesquisa, que demonstrou que os planejamentos realizados dentro do subprograma estão restritos as unidades consumidoras de energia elétrica dos órgãos e serviços públicos, além disso, foram observados indícios de falta de transparência e participação popular nos processos de planejamento, assim como falta de recursos para a implementação dos projetos formulados em tais documentos. / Early publications on Decentralized Energy Management, which is a form of energy resources management, date back to the 1980s, however, a substantial increase in the development of such studies and applications of the concept was verified only in recent times (2000s). The Decentralized Energy Management is treated under a multitude of terms and concepts, and can also be applied with varying degrees of decentralization such as in villages, blocks, neighborhoods, districts and states. This concept is close linked to themes like Greenhouse Gases mitigation, integration of renewable energy sources in the energy matrix, energy conservation, energy efficiency and the relationship between urban planning and the energy system. It is noteworthy that in this management model decentralized the communitys participation and engagement in the decision making in the development of sustainable cities is being pointed out, by many researchers, as an indispensable requirement for the proper functioning of this kind of model. This dissertation focuses on Decentralized Energy Management at the municipal level and its development in the cities of Brazil. Thus, this work performs a state of art review on Decentralized Municipal Energy Management in Brazil as well as in the world, covering mainly planning and public policy issues such as transparency and community participation in the development of local Energy Planning. The results shows that there are Decentralized Municipal Energy Management projects in Brazil which develop Municipal Energy Planning, mostly supported by the PROCEL GEM-subprogram, that is also the case study of this research. Additionally, the results demonstrated that the planning made within this subprogram is restricted to the electricity consumption of public agencies or services. Moreover, were observed indications of a lack of transparency and community participation in the planning process as well as the lack of resources for the implementation of such projects.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Klaus Frey / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Planejamento e Gestão do Território, Santo André, 2018. / A presente tese de doutorado em Planejamento e Gestão do Território está baseada em uma pesquisa de tipo dedutivo, que partiu do contexto geral da gestão de riscos de desastres e dos processos de geração de resiliência, os quais são analisados como um fenômeno social a partir da concepção teórica da governança recorrendo à metodologia de Análise de Redes Sociais (ARS). Este contexto geral é analisado por meio do estudo de caso sobre o programa "Iniciativas com Participação Comunitária" na gestão de riscos de desastres na Bacia Hidrográfica Chiguaza, San Cristóbal, Bogotá. A pesquisa buscou desenvolver uma reflexão teórica sobre a governança na gestão de riscos e a resiliência, indagando sobre o papel do Estado e as organizações sociais e comunitárias. A pesquisa se aprofundou sobre os processos sociais que permitem a construção da resiliência e como as organizações sociais estão organizadas e participam das redes de governança, contribuindo a alcançar a sua finalidade. Como resultado final a pesquisa encontrou quatro fatores que interferem na construção social da resiliência. O primeiro é a gestão de riscos na perspectiva da governança envolvendo relações sociais caracterizadas por complexidade, diversidade e dinamismo. O segundo fator se refere aos arranjos institucionais e sua relação com a formação de estruturas sociais em um contexto de descentralização e coordenação multiescalar. O terceiro consiste na vontade política dos diferentes governos em potencializar as estruturas sociais. O quarto se refere à percepção social do risco na qual se identifica a necessidade de relação entre a produção social da ameaça, vulnerabilidade e exposição. Esses fatores influenciam a resiliência em cidades onde o objetivo é reduzir riscos, aumentar a participação dos cidadãos na gestão ambiental e adaptar-se às condições de variabilidade climática resultantes das mudanças climáticas. / The present doctoral thesis of the Territory Planning and Management Program was based on a deductive type of research, where the general context of disaster risk management and resilience generation processes were studied, which are analyzed as a social phenomenon from the theoretical conception of governance and the methodology of social network analysis (SNA). This general context is studied through the case study "The Initiatives Program with Community Participation in Disaster Risk Management in The Chiguaza Brook, Locality of San Cristobal Bogota." The research sought to develop a theoretical reflection on governance around risk management and resilience, investigating the role of the State and social and community organizations in the promotion of resilient communities. The investigation deepened on the social processes that allow the construction of resilience and how social and community organizations are organized and participate contributing to reach this purpose. As a final conclusion four factors could be identified that intervene in the social construction of resilience. The first is risk management as a governance practice being influenced by the complexity, diversity and dynamism of social relations. The second referes to the institutional arrangements that intervene in the creation of social structures based on the context of decentralization and multi-scale coordination. The third is the political will of the different governments to strengthen social structures. The fourth concerns the social perception of risks in which the need to identify the relationship between the social production of the threat, vulnerability and exposure arises. These factors influence resilience in cities where the aim is to reduce risks, increase citizen participation in environmental management and adapt to the conditions of climatic variability resulting from climate change.