Education in South Africa is a key concern because the South African education system is underperforming compared to many other developing countries despite the large capital investment made by the South African government and its private sector. South African children are routinely underachieving and rate not only among the worst in the world, but often among the worst in the Southern African region and in Africa as a whole. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore whether Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is a suitable model for improving the quality of education in South African rural communities.The objective of the study was answered in a two-phase approach. The first phase developed an understanding of the challenges that prevents the delivery of quality education in South African rural communities with experts in education. The second phase determined the suitability of PPP to improve the quality of education in South African rural communities and the critical success factors for implementing PPP in education from interviews with PPP practitioners.The findings of the study revealed that PPP is a suitable model to improve the quality of education in South African communities and a PPP framework was proposed by the researcher that indicates the benefits of implementing PPP, the critical success factors of PPP and the barriers of PPP in education. The study also highlighted conditions that must be met to achieve quality education in South African rural communities through PPPs.The research concludes by making recommendations to both the government and the public sector in light of the findings of this research. Limitations for the study were highlighted and other variables to be researched that are important to further understanding of PPP as a model to improve the quality of education in South African rural communities were suggested. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Increased use of renewable energy sources in the generation of electricity isa crucial component of transitioning to a less polluting energy system in the United States. Technologies like solar photovoltaic cells and wind turbines are being deployed at a rapid rate around the country, which means that an increasing portion of the public is becoming aware of renewable energy systems. The construction of these new industrial facilities has resulted in a variety of public reactions, positive and negative. Citizen opposition has been widely observed toward a variety of renewable energy facilities, and citizen groups can influence policy-making at the national, state,and local levels. Further research is needed to understand under what circumstances the public may take oppositional stances. To examine this topic, I analyze public perceptions of renewable energy using three different datasets. First, I used data from a survey conducted in 2014 in five communities in Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho experiencing renewable energy development(n=906). This dataset allowed me to untangle what factors help explain both individual as well as community-level variation in support for renewable energy. Second, I employed nationally representative survey data (n=13, 322)collected from 2008 to 2015 to examine the influence of a number of factors hypothesized to shape individuals’ level of support for renewable energy policies including socio-demographic characteristics, political beliefs, belief in anthropogenic climate change, and nearby extractive industry activities. Last, I analyzed discourse about renewable energy in sixty-one semi-structured interviews with individuals representing various community sectors in three energy-producing rural communities in Utah. My research findings, on a whole, suggest that several place-based factors are significant in shaping public opinion about renewable energy, including community experience with renewable energy and local economic reliance on extractive industries. I also find pervasive climate skepticism across study sites. These findings indicate the need for broad-based and non-partisan discursive frames for renewable energy. Last, these findings speak to the importance of the ‘just transitions’ concepts, and the need to incorporate those communities most marginalized by the current system of fossil fuels extraction and production as society moves forward toward a cleaner energy economy.

Many barriers have been proposed to explain why rural residents do not receive adequate behavioral health services even though the need for such services is great. One solution proposed to address the need in rural settings is to offer these services within primary care. This study was designed to examine child attendance rates at integrated behavioral health clinics (BHCs) in rural primary care offices. Referral forms for all children recommended to attend three BHCs were reviewed by research assistants. Attendance at appointment, length of time on waiting list, severity of the problem, referral reasons, and parent stress were coded. Across the three BHCs, nearly 88% of children referred were scheduled for an initial appointment, and 81% of children referred for behavioral health services attended the initial appointment. Follow through for children referred by their primary care physician to a colocated behavioral health specialist in rural settings was much higher than found in other studies. These data suggest that in rural settings integrated care may increase access to and continuity of care for a population that is often neglected.

Local Health Departments (LHDs) are administrative unit of a local or state government, concerned with the health of a community or county. There are approximately 2,800 agencies or units that meet the profile definition of LHD. These LHDs vary in size and composition depending on the population they serve. However, all these communitybased agencies share a common mission of “protecting and improving community wellbeing by preventing disease, illness, and injury while impacting social, economic, and environmental factors fundamental to excellent health”. One of the ongoing challenge of a focus on community-level, population-based prevention is the manner in which local public health agencies have been funded. Most LHDs funding comes from federal funds, supplemented by state and local funds. Many of these funds come to LHDs through competitive grants programs. This study was therefore undertaken to investigate the sources of funding for the Local Public Health Agencies, according to geography specifically rurality. We utilized the data already compiled by the National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO) in 2013. The population served by these health agencies were compared to the funding sources, and one –way ANOVA to estimate the significance between these variables. Our dependent variables were assigned to be the funding sources, while the independent variables were the two population categories –rural and urban. A categorical variable reflecting three levels of rurality was constructed using RUCA codes. “Urban” included census tracts with towns with populations >50,000. “Large rural” included census tracts with towns of between 10,000 and 49,999 population and census tracts tied to these towns through commuting. “Small rural” included census tracts with small towns of fewer than 10,000 population, tracts tied to small towns, and isolated census tracts. Furthermore, we also determined the proportion of revenue from these funding sources received by these three population groups. All analyses were completed using SPSS. There were no differences in the amount of revenues received by both the large and small rural and urban agencies from the State & Federal sources (p value = 0.182). However, urban agencies receive more funding from Medicare and Medicaid services (19.9%) compared to small rural with 6.9% (p<0.001). Comparatively, the amount of revenue generated by rural agencies is just a fraction of what the urban agencies generate. Residents of rural areas in the United States tend to be older and poorer, report more risky health behaviors, have more barriers to accessing health care, and have worse health status and health outcomes than do their urban counterparts. These rural LHDs have fewer resources and face strenuous challenges in carrying out their activities of keeping the community safe due to limited revenues. Until public health agencies are firmly connected to payment and funding mechanisms across the health system, communities, the overall health system and accountable care organizations will not see the true benefits of population-focused, community-based, prevention services.

Rural communities require means for obtaining access to affordable broadband infrastructure and services to meet their economic development, education, and quality of life objectives. Due to the comparatively low potential for return on investment in serving isolated rural communities, the private sector telecommunications providers have proved unwilling or unable to provide beyond the very basic services for rural communities. Private sector providers must maximize their return on investment as it is their responsibility to shareholders. Return on investment is maximized in urban areas as opposed to rural areas because the high capital cost per connection is higher in rural areas; the operating cost per connection is higher; and the revenues per connection tend to be lower. This thesis explores the feasibility of municipal and private sector provider strategic alliances as an approach to provisioning rural areas with improved telecommunications infrastructure and services. As a means of determining whether the possibility exists of a "meeting of the minds" between municipalities and private sector telecommunications providers, a series of interviews was conducted. Common themes from the interviews were analyzed for areas of mutual interest and of polarized perspectives. In pursuing an alliance model, communities may need to consider less than the optimal technological solution in exchange for the opportunity to exemplify the ability to collaborate with a willing private sector partner. The results suggest that, while the prospects for strategic alliances as an emerging business model appear dim, opportunities do exist for rural communities and small private sector companies to find mutual interest on an exceptional basis in developing strategies for access to telecommunications infrastructure and services. / Master of Science

This briefing paper examines relationships between armed violence affecting rural communities and efforts to maintain, restore and promote already fragile livelihoods. It is one of a series of briefings addressing issues surrounding the interaction between armed violence and poverty-reducing development. This paper seeks to provide an introduction for the staff of the UK government¿s Department for International Development (DFID) and other donor agencies to some of the issues raised in trying to make this connection and to stimulate thinking on these questions in analysis and policy. Some of the key questions to be addressed are: ¿ How can DFID¿s current sustainable rural livelihoods framework be applied to contexts of armed violence? ¿ What are the implications of these relationships for planning and programming rural development? ¿ Conversely, how might development interventions tackle the prevalence and spread of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and other factors fostering violence that affect livelihoods

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary C. Kingery-Page / Rural Kansas communities are almost entirely dependent on large energy corporations. These corporations, in turn, are almost completely dependent on fossil fuels for energy production. Three major implications exist within these dependencies: 1) the dependence of rural communities on large corporations reduces the potential of a local economy to support itself; 2) the dependence on fossil fuels has severe environmental impacts; and 3) fossil fuels are non-renewable resources and will inevitably be exhausted. A rural Kansas community has resources necessary to achieve and maintain energy independence in a renewable manner. The design of these systems in regard to economy, society, aesthetics, technology, and ecology will play a key role in sustaining these resources into the future. The intent of the project is to create a tool for rural communities to evaluate localized renewable energy potential using Washington, Kansas as an example. Several questions were addressed to determine the capacity and feasibility of each local energy resource: What renewable energy resources are available to a rural Kansas community and are they sufficient for the community to achieve energy independence? How can the resource or its production be designed and maintained in regard to its environmental impact and long-term viability? What are the implications of energy independence for the community’s identity? Because each question is dependent upon the answer to a previous question, a decision tree was the most viable method for the project’s analysis and development. Research into the technology and science associated with each resource provided a general knowledge of the definitions associated with and processes necessary to determine the feasibility of the resource. For resources receiving a positive feasibility rating, analysis continued with a basic cost/benefit analysis that compares potential costs involving implementation and maintenance with the payback, offsets, and incentives involved in utilizing each resource. Analysis of each feasible resource continued with site suitability analysis. The analysis of each resource resulted in resource maps showing potential implementation locations for three renewable resources studied: hydro, wind, and solar. The maps and accompanying graphics communicate the integration of renewable energy technologies into the existing community’s identity.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Water flows required for fire protection (fire flows) from water distribution systems (WDS) in rural towns in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, were evaluated as part of this research project. The fire flow requirements specified in different South African guidelines, as well as a number of international standards, were compared. Various guidelines and codes used in South Africa, including the South African National Standards, specify fire flow requirements according to the risk category of the area concerned. Alternative methods of firefighting and new firefighting technologies that can reduce the reliance on potable water resources for firefighting were evaluated. The traditional method of designing a WDS to provide potable water for firefighting, commonly employed in South African municipal areas formed the focus of the study. The potential fire risk costs (potential costs of damages if a fire was to occur) should also be considered, in addition to the network construction costs, when designing a WDS, in order to determine the most economically feasible option. Data obtained from the fire departments of three municipalities in rural towns of the Western Cape, was analysed to determine the actual flow rates that were required to extinguish fires in these towns. The records considered covered approximately one year in each case and included a total of 564 fire incident reports suitable for this study. According to the data, a small fraction (11%) of the fires was extinguished using water from the WDS by connecting firefighting equipment directly to a fire hydrant. The majority of the fires were extinguished by means of water ejected from a firefighting vehicle. This method implies the use of water drawn from the potable network at a certain location; the water is shuttled by firefighting vehicles, from either the fire station or from a central abstraction point in the WDS. The location of the said abstraction point was found to have a notable impact on the WDS and this received attention in this study. The data showed that 99.8% of the flows required in rural towns were lower than the flows recommended for moderate risk areas in typical South African guidelines. Hydraulic modelling of a hypothetical WDS model was conducted to illustrate that the provision of fire flows according to commonly used South African fire flow standards leads to higher costs. The latter hypothetical case study illustrates that designing a network to provide fire flows according to the referred standards resulted in 15% higher costs, compared to designing a network that would have provided for the actual recorded fire flows according to the data set obtained from the selected rural towns compiled for this study. The hypothetical case study also showed that the cost for a WDS, where sufficient pressure is required at all hydrants during peak fire flows, is 2.4% higher than the cost for a distribution system where water is supplied via predetermined hydrants for refilling firefighting vehicles. A WDS with central, predetermined abstraction points for refilling firefighting vehicles offers a solution to providing fire flows in areas where the distribution systems may be inadequate. The revision of the current fire flow standards of South Africa would, therefore, be a logical next step along with the reassessment of methods used for supplying fire flows. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Water vloei vir brandbestryding (brandvloei) uit waterverspreidingstelsels (WVS) in plattelandse dorpe in die Wes-Kaap, Suid Afrika, is as deel van hierdie navorsingsprojek geëvalueer. Die brandvloei soos gespesifiseer in verskillende Suid-Afrikaanse riglyne, asook ʼn aantal internasionale standaarde is vergelyk. Verskeie riglyne en kodes wat in Suid-Afrika gebruik word, insluitende die Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Standaarde, spesifiseer brandvloei-vereistes op grond van die risiko-kategorie van ʼn spesifieke gebied. ʼn Verskeidenheid alternatiewe metodes vir brandbestryding en nuwe brandbestrydings-tegnologieë is ondersoek, om sodoende die afhanklikheid van ons beperkte drinkbare waterbronne vir brandbestryding te verminder. Die tradisionele metode om water aan munisipale areas te voorsien, die gebruik van ʼn WVS, is ook geassesseer. Hierdie metodes dui daarop dat die potensiële brandgevaar-kostes (potensiële koste van skade indien ʼn brand sou plaas vind) ook in ag geneem moet word, tesame met die konstruksie kostes van ʼn WVS, om sodoende die mees ekonomies haalbare netwerk te bepaal. Data wat verkry is vanaf die brandweer departement van drie plattelandse munisipaliteite in die Wes-Kaap is ontleed om die werklike vloei-tempos vas te stel wat nodig was om brande te blus in hierdie dorpe. Die data is verkry vir ʼn tydperk van een jaar en 564 brandverslae was bruikbaar vir die doeleindes van hierdie studie. Volgens die data was ʼn lae aantal (11%) van die brande geblus vanuit die WVS deur die koppeling van brandbestrydingstoerusting direk aan ʼn brandkraan. Die meeste van die brande is geblus met behulp van water wat voorsien is deur ʼn brandbestrydingsvoertuig. Met hierdie metode word water deur die brandbestrydings-voertuie aangery vanaf die brandweerstasie of onttrek vanuit ʼn sentrale ontrekkingspunt in die WVS. Daar is gevind dat die ligging van laasgenoemde ontrekkingspunt ʼn beduidende impak op die WVS het – hierdie aspek is daarom verder ondersoek. Die data het getoon dat 99.8% van die vloei-tempo’s wat nodig is om brande te blus in plattelandse dorpe, laer is as die brandvloei riglyne vir matige risiko-areas volgens tipes Suid-Afrikaanse standaarde. Hidrouliese modellering van ʼn hipotetiese WVS is uitgevoer om te illustreer dat die verskaffing van brandvloei volgens die standaarde wat algemeen gebruik word, hoër kostes tot gevolg het. Die laasgenoemde hipotetiese gevallestudie illustreer dat ʼn netwerk ontwerp om brandvloei te verskaf volgens die huidige standaarde 15% duurder is as vir netwerke wat ontwerp is om die werklike aangetekende brandvloei te voorsien soos getoon deur die veld-data wat vir hierdie studie verkry is. Die hipotetiese gevallestudie het ook getoon dat die koste vir ʼn WVS, waar voldoende drukke gehandhaaf moet word by alle brandkrane terwyl piek brand vloeie voorsien word, 2.4% duurder is as vir ʼn WVS waar die brandvloei verskaf word by voorafbepaalde brandkrane vir die hervulling van brandbestrydingsvoertuie. ʼn WVS met sentrale onttrekkingspunte vir die hervulling van brandbestrydingsvoertuie, bied ʼn metode om brandvloei te voorsien in gebiede waar die WVS onvoldoende is, bv. informele nedersettings. Die hersiening van die huidige brandvloei standaarde van Suid Afrika sou dus ʼn logiese volgende stap wees, tesame met die herevaluering van die metodes wat gebruik word vir die verskaffing van brandvloei.

Implantado em 1994, o Programa Saúde da Família (PSF), hoje Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF), vem buscando garantir o acesso equânime à saúde a partir de um modelo que tem como princípios básicos: a integralidade, hierarquização, territorialização, equipe multiprofissional e o caráter substitutivo do modelo de assistência à saúde. A tradução destes princípios na prática, nem sempre efetiva, tem sido discutida, principalmente no que diz respeito ao seu caráter substitutivo. Nesse sentido, o presente estudo, enquadrado no campo da saúde coletiva, foi realizado junto aos usuários de famílias adscritas a uma equipe rural do PSF de Sacramento/MG. O objetivo foi identificar elementos para sistematizar determinantes do processo de apropriação pela comunidade, sobre o trabalho conjunto de profissionais de saúde, no contexto do atendimento junto ao PSF. Os dados foram obtidos em grupos focais compostos por representantes das famílias de três comunidades rurais microáreas da área de abrangência do PSF Rural. A análise das entrevistas grupais foi processada via identificação de conteúdos ex post facto, agrupados em categorias temáticas, relacionadas ao processo de apropriação do trabalho oferecido pelo PSF. Tais resultados foram analisados à luz do referencial teórico da saúde na comunidade. Quatro categorias temáticas agruparam alguns determinantes ligados ao objetivo do trabalho: A) Disponibilidade, em que foram reunidos os conteúdos sobre a quebra de barreiras para o atendimento e acesso aos serviços prestados, tendo o Rapport como facilitador do vínculo com o usuário. B) Acesso a Recursos, crenças e representações voltadas à avaliação dos elementos necessários à atenção primária à saúde e com a garantia de serviços secundários e terciários. C) Condições Materiais, relacionadas à vulnerabilidade social e processos de anomia frente à manutenção das conquistas, dada à falta de organização e depreciação dos espaços coletivos para promoção da saúde. D) Movimento Social, relacionado à politização/apropriação do trabalho coletivo e à legitimidade do convívio entre a equipe e a comunidade. Considerando as crenças e representações identificadas, observamos que a compreensão da práxis é balizada pela vinculação do trabalho com os componentes históricos, políticos, ideológicos e culturais que a determinam. O enfrentamento do processo saúde-doença pela comunidade aliada à Equipe de Saúde da Família envolve outros elementos além do conhecimento técnico, o que determina uma simetria no vínculo profissional-paciente, viabilizando a construção conjunta das condições do trabalho em saúde. Assim, a sistematização da aprendizagem informal decorrente da atuação conjunta representa uma alternativa à superação do modelo hegemônico em saúde e de reorientação do ensino em saúde no sentido de favorecer a atuação profissional voltada para os aspectos psicossociais do cuidado em saúde. / Established in 1994, the Family Health Program (PSF), today called Familys Health Strategy (ESF), is trying to guarantee an equal access to health through a model that has as basic principles: the integrability, hierarchization, territorialization, multiprofessional group and the substitutive character of health assistance. The translation of these principles in practice, not always effective, has been discussed, especially in what concerns to its substitutive character. In this sense, the present study, comprehended at the field of collective health, was accomplished close to the users of families inscribed on a rural group of the PSF from the city of Sacramento, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The aim was to identify elements to systematize causal factors of the appropriation process by the community, over the joined work of the health area professionals, attending at the Family Health Program (PSF). The data were got in focused groups composed by family representatives from three rural communities microareas from the Rural Family Health Program scope. The analysis of the grouped interviews was processed by ex post facto contents identification, gathered in thematic categories, related to the work appropriation process offered by the Family Health Program. These results were analyzed according to the theoretical reference of health at community. Four thematic categories gathered some determinants joined these work aims: A) Availability, in which were gathered contents about the breaking barriers of attendance and access to health services, having the Rapport as a facilitator of the bond with the user. B) Resource Access, beliefs and representations toward to evaluation of necessary elements to primary health care and with guarantee of secondary and tertiary services. C) Material Conditions, related to social vulnerability and anomie before the maintenance of the conquests, due the absent organization and depreciation of the public spaces of health promotion. D) Social Movement, related to politicization/collective work appropriation and the legitimacy of the relationship between the professional group and the community. Considering the beliefs and representations identified, its observed that the practice comprehension is oriented by the work entailment with historical, political, ideological and cultural components which determine them. The community facing of the health-disease process combined to the Family Health Group involves other elements besides the technical knowledge, what determines an entailed symmetry between the professional and the patient, making feasible the conjunct construction of the work in health conditions. Thus, the informal learning systematization resulting from the conjunct labor represents an alternative to the overcome of the health hegemonic model and reorientation of the health teaching in the sense of facilitate the professional actuation faces to psychosocial aspects of the health care.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T18:15:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leandro Lemos de Jesus.pdf: 3494773 bytes, checksum: 341aec889c691f43662523519eeaf01e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present study addresses the phenomenon of patron saint festivals with tropeadas in countryside communities of Imbituva-PR. It has as main focus of investigation events carried out in four rural communities of the municipality. The context of these localities is marked by the neighborhood groupings formed from the occupation of family groups. The relations of kinship, neighborhood and activities around the chapels of the Roman Catholic Church contribute in a significant way in the spatial delimitation of these rural communities. The objective of this work is to clarify the linkages between the composition of these festivals and the countryside regionality, which is understood as symbolic elements related to a geographic space of reference, stated by the subjects of the research as ―the countryside‖. The methodology is grounded mainly in field studies in rural communities, thus, investigations and the interpretations are built from observation and active observation in festivals with tropeadas combined with a semi-structured interview with people from the different categories of festival participants. Patron saint festivals with tropeadas are taken as a composition constituted by multiple moments and circumstances, in just one day, the celebration assembles the expression of faith in the saints, fund raising for church maintenance, the gathering, entertainment and expenditure, the tradition and the ritual. It was also found that the celebration is an important moment of social entanglement of rural communities and that some of the elements which constitutes them also comprehends symbolic markers that express and reproduce countryside regionality. The presence of horses, the highlight of the community, the agricultural products and the symbol of the horse riders enhance the purposes of a countryside festival, recreating symbolically elements that represents a spatial differentiation anchored to the concept of a communitarian countryside space. / Este estudo aborda fenômenos de festas de padroeiros com tropeadas em comunidades rurais de Imbituva - PR. Tem-se como principal foco de investigação eventos realizados em quatro comunidades rurais do município. O contexto destas localidades é marcado pelos agrupamentos de vizinhança formados a partir da ocupação de grupos familiares. As relações de parentesco, vizinhança e as atividades em torno das capelas da Igreja Católica Apostólica Romana contribuem de maneira significativa na delimitação espacial destas comunidades rurais. O objetivo deste trabalho é explicitar os entrelaçamentos entre a composição das festas de padroeiro e uma regionalidade interiorana, a qual é compreendida como elementos simbólicos relativos a um espaço geográfico de referência, mencionado pelos sujeitos da pesquisa como ―o interior‖. A metodologia fundamenta-se principalmente em trabalhos de campos nas comunidades rurais, desta forma, as investigações e as interpretações são construídas a partir da observação e observação participante em festas com tropeadas, aliadas as entrevistas semiestruturadas com pessoas representantes de diferentes categorias de festeiros. A festa de padroeiro com tropeadas é compreendida como uma composição constituída por múltiplos momentos e situações, em apenas um dia a festa congrega a expressão da crença aos santos, arrecadação financeira para a manutenção das capelas, o encontro, a diversão e dispêndio, a tradição e o ritual. Constatou-se ainda que a festa é um importante momento de enredamento social das comunidades rurais e que alguns dos elementos que a constituem conformam também marcadores simbólicos que expressam e reproduzem uma regionalidade interiorana. A presença dos cavalos, os enunciados de comunidade, os produtos da agricultura e a figura dos cavaleiros reforçam sentidos de uma festa no/do interior, reproduzindo simbolicamente elementos que representam uma diferenciação espacial ancorada na noção de um espaço comunitário interiorano.