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This is a Participatory Approach (PA) study done in Ghana, West Africa. We focus on two Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) in Ghana which uses a PA in their development work. Historically the development work in most African countries has been influenced by western countries, where development often was imposed from the top down, but nowadays, with PA, development seek to engage the local population in a community during the development process. Ghana has been struggling with poverty for several years, and the NGOs are of importance for the development in the country. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of development workers’ perception of Participatory Approach and to increase the knowledge about how development workers’ at NGOs in Ghana are working with Participatory Approach. This is a qualitative research and we have used three methods in this Bachelor’s thesis. We have done six semi - structured interviews, one focus group and one field research. We had the interviews and the focus group with development workers at two NGOs. At the field research we had the opportunity to observe the development workers in action. The research questions in this Bachelor’s thesis are: - At two NGOs in Ghana, in what ways can the development workers’ perception of Participatory Approach be understood? - At two NGOs in Ghana, in what ways can the practise of Participatory Approach be understood? The development workers perception of PA, is that PA is important to get sustainable projects and to ensure ownership for all stakeholders in the development process. PA is an empowering process with focus on capacity building. The acceptance of oneself being in need is as important as the participation. Their perception about PA also include some challenges. PA is time- and money consuming , the flexibility that PA need is limited by deadlines and budgets. There are challenges related to social- and cultural values, your own as a development worker and the community’s. The contextual knowledge must be highlighted and the limitations of the organizations must be considered. Another concern is when peoples opinions are influenced by their expectaitions from what the NGOs can provide. The practise of PA is understood as a process where all stakeholders are involved from the beginning, a process to engage the community and make them active participants in every step in a development project. The development workers main role is to build capacity of the people on the field. They uses different tools to ensure participation; Stakeholder analyses, Community conversations and Key informants interviews. The practise can be understood in terms of different levels of participation and different intensity within different cycles in a development project. Depending of the role of the actor and the stage the process are going through, some actors are more active than others.

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For the past few decades researchers, development agencies and government have focussed on the use of Information and Communication Technologies to improve the socio-economic status of people in underdeveloped rural communities. In recent years there has been remarkable recognition of the importance of developing systems that address the specific needs of rural communities. Education, health, commerce, government and agriculture are amongst the needs of rural communities that could well be addressed by these systems. System development is a complex process and studies have shown that if poorly conducted, the process could lead to the failure of the system being developed. Due to differences in context and application, the processes followed in the development of the rural community systems need to differ from those of commercial applications. One such difference is the choice of the Information System Development Methodology (SDM) used. Following a methodical approach to Information Systems development is important as it improves discipline, standardization and monitoring of a quality system. There are hundreds of SDM available for use during development and choosing the wrong SDM has been linked to problems such as systems being delivered late, being over budget or not meeting the needs of the users. Developing systems for disadvantaged communities is different from developing system for organisations or even affluent communities. Some of the challenges that developers encounter include lack of structure, poor computer literacy, and poor infrastructure. Lack of user involvement during system development has been linked to system failures. A Living Labs approach to socio-economic development is aimed at involving multiple stakeholders towards improving the living standards. Developing Community Information Systems aimed at solving varying community problems is one of the objectives of the Living Labs. There are only few CISs that are fully operational from South African Living Labs, and a number of systems developed are not in use. Poor user involvement and lack of use of system development are some of the reasons for system failures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use and effectiveness of System Development Methodologies when developing community information systems aimed at socio-economic development of disadvantaged communities. To achieve the objectives of this study, an interpretive, multiple case study research was conducted in three Living Labs around South Africa. To improve the chances for success during the development of Community Information Systems for use by disadvantage communities, this study proposes a framework for evaluating use and effectiveness of SDMs. The second output of the Study is an SDM framework that could be adopted specifically for Living Labs which adopts an agile approach and prototyping. These frameworks takes into account the social attributes of people in disadvantaged communities, the nature of the living lab, the nature of the systems being developed and the role of the users in the systems being developed. / PhD (Computer Science), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

For the past few decades researchers, development agencies and government have focussed on the use of Information and Communication Technologies to improve the socio-economic status of people in underdeveloped rural communities. In recent years there has been remarkable recognition of the importance of developing systems that address the specific needs of rural communities. Education, health, commerce, government and agriculture are amongst the needs of rural communities that could well be addressed by these systems. System development is a complex process and studies have shown that if poorly conducted, the process could lead to the failure of the system being developed. Due to differences in context and application, the processes followed in the development of the rural community systems need to differ from those of commercial applications. One such difference is the choice of the Information System Development Methodology (SDM) used. Following a methodical approach to Information Systems development is important as it improves discipline, standardization and monitoring of a quality system. There are hundreds of SDM available for use during development and choosing the wrong SDM has been linked to problems such as systems being delivered late, being over budget or not meeting the needs of the users. Developing systems for disadvantaged communities is different from developing system for organisations or even affluent communities. Some of the challenges that developers encounter include lack of structure, poor computer literacy, and poor infrastructure. Lack of user involvement during system development has been linked to system failures. A Living Labs approach to socio-economic development is aimed at involving multiple stakeholders towards improving the living standards. Developing Community Information Systems aimed at solving varying community problems is one of the objectives of the Living Labs. There are only few CISs that are fully operational from South African Living Labs, and a number of systems developed are not in use. Poor user involvement and lack of use of system development are some of the reasons for system failures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use and effectiveness of System Development Methodologies when developing community information systems aimed at socio-economic development of disadvantaged communities. To achieve the objectives of this study, an interpretive, multiple case study research was conducted in three Living Labs around South Africa. To improve the chances for success during the development of Community Information Systems for use by disadvantage communities, this study proposes a framework for evaluating use and effectiveness of SDMs. The second output of the Study is an SDM framework that could be adopted specifically for Living Labs which adopts an agile approach and prototyping. These frameworks takes into account the social attributes of people in disadvantaged communities, the nature of the living lab, the nature of the systems being developed and the role of the users in the systems being developed. / PhD (Computer Science), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

South Africa shifted from the residual approach to adopt a developmental approach to social service delivery through adopting the White Paper for Social Welfare (RSA, Ministry for Social Welfare and Population Development, 1997). This mandated the shift from social welfare services to developmental welfare services. Included in these services is the foster care service; this is a child protection service which addresses section 28 (1b) of the South African constitutional endorsement, which states that “children have the right to family, parental or alternative care” (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). In April 2010, the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 was initiated and implemented as legislative policy on the matter, with guidelines concerning the delivery of foster care services within the developmental approach. The goal of the study was to identify and describe barriers in the implementation of the foster care services within a developmental approach in Nkangala District, Mpumalanga. The research followed a qualitative approach whereby data was collected through focus group discussions. The participants were 13 social workers from seven child protection organisations in Nkangala District, Mpumalanga. From the key findings it was gathered that the majority of foster care social workers have no conceptual or contextual understanding of the delivery of foster care services within the developmental approach. The researcher recommends the formation of training manuals for Nkangala District foster care social workers, which clearly define developmental foster care services and the role of social workers. The researcher also recommends that social workers in Nkangala District take up the responsibility of being up to date with new developments that arise in social service delivery. The researcher further recommends that the Department of Social Development should consider reviewing the amount of money allocated to Non-profit Organisations for developmental statutory services, so as to ensure effective service delivery. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Social Work and Criminology / MA / Unrestricted

Smart cities utilize IoT cameras in a rushing pace. However, these high technological connected devices are back doors to safe systems. Implementation of high technological solutions without concerning other important aspects as information security and the factor of trust violates not only the quality aspect of the solutions, but also breaches the privacy of individuals. Secure solutions that reserve the trust of individuals with the help of high technological solutions is therefore significant. This study is aimed to investigate and find answer to how IoT camera solutions for smart cities can include all three of the important factors, which contributes for a deeper understanding of the whole product development process` possible improvements. Through a qualitative approach the research questions are investigated which resulted in a contribution that support the academic world of information security in presenting the importance of correct communication, collaboration and the including of the three factors during the development process of IoT camera solutions for smart cities. The results are open for further investigation as observed during research, but also key findings and recommendations are offered to the stakeholders of the IoT camera solution development industry.

In order to eradicate the legacy of the past, the South African democratic government adopted a developmental approach to local government. The White Paper on Local Government (WPLG)(1998:17) defines developmental local government as government committed to working with citizens and groups within the community to find sustainable ways of meeting their social, economic and material needs and of improving their quality of life. A developmental approach aims to enhance the skills and capacity of community members by promoting their participation in their own development process (Theron, 2005a:120). TheIntegrated Development Plan (IDP) awards an opportunity to both the municipality and the community to work together on issues of local development. The aim of this study was to determine the role of community participation in the IDP process of Govan Mbeki Municipality. A qualitative research approach was followed in which data was gathered through document analysis and focus group interviews. The respondents in the study comprised eight community members and six municipal representatives. The key findings of the study indicated contrasting views between the community and the municipality’s perspectives in particular with regard to the role of the community during the prioritisation of needs and the decision-making processes. Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the researcher made recommendations and provided guidelines for the implementation of community participation in the IDP. The researcher concluded that in order for community participation to have maximum impact, local government is obliged to create an enabling environment for participation which includes amongst others addressing the institutional obstacles and the capacity gaps within the community. The researcher finally recommended that these roles be implemented, evaluated and integrated in the current IDP process as undertaken by Govan Mbeki Municipality. / Dissertation (MSD (Social Development and Policy ))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Syftet med den här fallstudien är att undersöka i hur hög utsträckning verksamma engelsklärare använder sig av estetiska lärprocesser som metod för att underlätta elevers språkutveckling samt finna en förståelse för vad den mängden beror på för att således kunna analysera hur estetiska lärprocesser kan implementeras på ett effektivt sätt i engelskundervisningen. Källdata samlades in genom en kvalitativ enkätundersökning som metod. Enkäten skickades ut via sociala medier i grupper för den utvalda målgruppen. Källdatan analyserades sedan utifrån en fenomenografisk ansats. Totalt femton lärare besvarade enkäten varav åtta valdes ut genom stratifierat urval för en djupare analys. Resultatet visade att lärare använder estetiska lärprocesser i en väldigt varierad mängd. Förekomsten eller avsaknaden av estetiska lärprocesser i undervisningen berodde främst på lärares personliga intresse och inställning till specifika estetiska uttrycksformer men även kunskap och erfarenhet var stora påverkande faktorer. Oavsett hur stor mängd estetiska lärprocesser som förekom i lärarnas engelskundervisning var samtliga positivt inställda till estetiska lärprocesser som språkutvecklande arbetssätt. För att öka mängden estetiska lärprocesser i språkutvecklande engelskundervisning skulle det behövas större sådana utbildningsinsatser på lärarutbildningen samt möjlighet till samarbete och kompetensutveckling på skolorna för redan verksamma lärare. / The aim of this study is to look into to what extent English teachers use aesthetic learning processes as an approach for pupils’ language development and understand what causes the teachers’ chosen amount to be able to analyse how teachers can implement aesthetic learning processes more effectively. The source data was collected through a qualitative online survey sent through selected Facebook groups and analysed based on the phenomenographic approach. A total of fifteen teachers answered the survey and eight of them were chosen through a stratified selection for a deeper analysis. The results showed that the amount of aesthetic learning processes used varies a lot from teacher to teacher. The teachers’ personal attitudes towards different aesthetic forms of expression were the main reason for its use, but factors like knowledge and experience in the different expressions were also a significant influence. All respondents had a positive attitude towards aesthetic learning processes as a language development approach in their English teaching regardless of their own used amount. To increase aesthetic learning processes as a language learning approach in English teaching, it has to be included and taught within the teacher education and as competence development within schools for already working teachers.

The focus of this dissertation is on exploring the needs of and services provided to orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal. This research is based on the findings from in-depth face-to-face interviews, and the focus group discussion conducted with key informants and primary caregivers of OVCs, respectively. The findings underline that although the needs of OVCs are similar to those of all other children, OVCs face unique challenges. It further shows that the government of South Africa has been responsive in developing relevant legislation, policies, and programmes that attempt to address the needs of OVCs. The findings also revealed that the services provided are coordinated, to a limited extent, through the Flagship Project led by the office of the Premier and. that coordination and integration of activities rendered by various stakeholders is crucial to a positive impact, and in increasing the accessibility of these services. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)