The application of Sustainability Assessment (SA) within Canadian municipalities is a recent notion, but is quickly becoming widespread. The Government of Saskatchewan alone has already released two SA checklists. However, such tools are normally aimed at communities of all sizes, ranging from rural municipalities to big cities, without considering differences in the capacity base, needs, and conditions among those types of communities. Additionally, practical implementation of SA often does not reflect the scope of scientifically established criteria for SA tools. This paper will present the analysis of the 2009 Saskatchewan Sustainability Checklist for Municipalities (comparing it to one of the most prominent frameworks for SA and other similar checklists developed in Canada and internationally) in order to identify possible areas for improvement so that the Checklist reflects established SA principles and is sensitive to a small town context. Based on the results of interviews with 16 small town administrators in Saskatchewan, this thesis demonstrates that, from a theoretical perspective, both of the existing SA tools are deficient in a number of important ways. The tools mainly focus on evaluating the municipal and service provision, rather than evaluating the sustainability of a community as a whole, including such areas as environmental conditions; social equity; livelihood sufficiency; resource maintenance; and intragenerational and intergenerational equity. However, the research reveals even if all of the above-mentioned criteria are integrated within the existing tools, it will be challenging for municipalities to perform a full sustainability assessment, since small towns’ administrations often have limited financial and human capacity to perform such exercises. Additionally, there is a lack of understanding on how to integrate the results of an assessment into decision-making, and a perceived inability to change some of the existing economic or social conditions in a town, due to the limited scope of influence that local municipalities have. There is a need for an alternative approach to sustainability assessment in the case of small towns; one that is sensitive to their unique pressures, circumstances, and capacities to enact change.

INTRODUCTION Chronic non-communicable diseases (CND) become the reason of 50 percent of deaths in the welfare societies. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has indicated that in the 2025 CND, especially cardiovascular diseases will remain the most important health problem in Europe and in the world [The World health Report, 1998]. The mortality rates from IHD, as well as overall mortality in Lithuania, increased since 1995, a tendency for decrease during the last decade has been observed. According to the Lithuanian Statistics, the mortality rate from IHD in 2001 was 628.2/100000 inhabitants per year [Lithuanian Ministry of Health, 2004]. It decreased almost by quarter as compared to 1995; nevertheless, the mortality rates from IHD in Lithuania exceed the average (mean) of the European Union countries nearly by two fold [WHO Data Base, 2003]. The investigations in the world, as well as in Lithuania have shown that the risk factors (RF) of the CND are common for all the CND [V.Grabauskas, 1995, IU.Haq, 1999]. In Lithuania the epidemiological research on CND has been performed in the context of the international integrated preventive program on non-communicable diseases (CINDI) [J.Petkevičienė, 1994, J.Klumbienė, 1999]. Therefore, the role of the family doctor in the primary prevention of CND, especially the ischemic heart disease (IHD), becomes very important in a certain community. The investigation in Lithuanian have shown that every second 35-64 year old man or woman... [to full text]

SUMMARY THE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES OF TOURISM BUSINESS IN THE RURAL COMMUNITY MA thesis Key words: rural tourism, rural community, rural development Developing tourism in Lithuania’s rural is one of the underlying ways of developing the tourism sector of Lithuania. The state gives a lot of international publicity of the countryside in order to create a competitive sector of the rural tourism in Lithuania, and thus improve the economic condition of the country’s localities. The development of tourism in the countryside involves active work of the rural community within the tourism sector; however Lithuania unfortunately faces an exodus of rural community members. It is essential to involve the rural community members into the country’s tourism business to research possible promotion ideas. Therefore, there is a need to inquire how strongly the rural’s communities are involved in the development of the rural tourism in Lithuania. The subject of research. The developmet opportunities of the rural tourism in the rural community. The object of research. To explore the opportunities of developing the tourism business in the rural. The goals of research: 1. To define the rural tourism and its position in the tourism sector. 2. To analyze the concepts of community and the rural community. 3. To determine the impact of tourism in the rural country’s overall tourism industry. 4. To explore the impact of the country’s tourism industry on the development of the rural and its... [to full text]

This study represents a quest to find answers to the complex problem of rural land degradation in Australia. Despite significant investment in environmental improvement programs and community based natural resource management interventions, the problem of land and water degradation continues. A key intervention in Australia has been the Landcare program, which has experienced much success in engaging a large sector of the rural population in addressing the problem. Additionally, the Australian Government has and continues to make significant investment in the Landcare program as well as directly to rural land managers through a range of extension and incentive mechanisms and increasingly through market-based instruments. Whilst financial, human and knowledge capital investment in such interventions appear to have an influence on their success, it is the social and cultural factors that seem to be a downfall. This study investigated this problem through a case study conducted in Gippsland, in the state of Victoria. Through a multi-methods approach guided by foundations of critical realism and influenced by grounded theory, this primarily qualitative study yielded rich insights into the inner workings of Landcare and the values, drivers and motivators of rural landholders and the institutional staff who work with them. Through five research cycles the study explored the health and function of 16 Landcare Groups; three examples of community-based projects which sought to improve Landcare group capacity and the views of 46 landholders and 31 institutional staff on values, drivers and intervention design. A sixth research cycle provided a synthesis of the findings of the first five cycles to develop a conceptual model of community intervention and change which was tested with a sample of the study’s informants. Emerging as key insights was the role that ownership, social capital and empowerment play in the success of group based community projects. On an individual level, values of landholders, including strong land ownership values and motivations are a key to practice change. This is also mediated by an individual’s access to various forms of capital to undertake farm management activities including altering practices towards environmental sustainability. The outcome of the study, the model of community intervention and change provide a series of critical ‘states’, ‘stages’ and ‘transitions’ to the process of individual and/or group change and empowerment. The study conclusions point out the complexities of the problem of land degradation when it is realised that the role of people is critical to its solution. The study provides insight into the essential components of interventions which are required to attain success.

This study represents a quest to find answers to the complex problem of rural land degradation in Australia. Despite significant investment in environmental improvement programs and community based natural resource management interventions, the problem of land and water degradation continues. A key intervention in Australia has been the Landcare program, which has experienced much success in engaging a large sector of the rural population in addressing the problem. Additionally, the Australian Government has and continues to make significant investment in the Landcare program as well as directly to rural land managers through a range of extension and incentive mechanisms and increasingly through market-based instruments. Whilst financial, human and knowledge capital investment in such interventions appear to have an influence on their success, it is the social and cultural factors that seem to be a downfall. This study investigated this problem through a case study conducted in Gippsland, in the state of Victoria. Through a multi-methods approach guided by foundations of critical realism and influenced by grounded theory, this primarily qualitative study yielded rich insights into the inner workings of Landcare and the values, drivers and motivators of rural landholders and the institutional staff who work with them. Through five research cycles the study explored the health and function of 16 Landcare Groups; three examples of community-based projects which sought to improve Landcare group capacity and the views of 46 landholders and 31 institutional staff on values, drivers and intervention design. A sixth research cycle provided a synthesis of the findings of the first five cycles to develop a conceptual model of community intervention and change which was tested with a sample of the study’s informants. Emerging as key insights was the role that ownership, social capital and empowerment play in the success of group based community projects. On an individual level, values of landholders, including strong land ownership values and motivations are a key to practice change. This is also mediated by an individual’s access to various forms of capital to undertake farm management activities including altering practices towards environmental sustainability. The outcome of the study, the model of community intervention and change provide a series of critical ‘states’, ‘stages’ and ‘transitions’ to the process of individual and/or group change and empowerment. The study conclusions point out the complexities of the problem of land degradation when it is realised that the role of people is critical to its solution. The study provides insight into the essential components of interventions which are required to attain success.

This thesis is a study of a Victorian country newspaper, the Chiltern Standard during the period 1859-60. Using the Indigo-Chiltern goldfield (discovered in 1858) as a case study, it investigates how the life of the community was expressed through the pages of its local paper.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Marshall University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 183 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-178).

Magister Artium - MA (Psychology) / Historically, families living in disenfranchised communities were viewed as being dysfunctional. This view led to the perpetuation of the challenges and adverse situations faced by these families. It is important to view the family holistically rather than just to focus on the risk factors and/or the dysfunctional nature of the family. This study endeavoured to explore how the family functions and copes with the challenges they face. The aim of the study was to qualitatively explore the dimensions of family resilience as perceived by families in a rural community on the West Coast, South Africa. Family resilience theory was used as the theoretical framework for the research study. Three family resilience dimensions were explored. These dimensions are family belief systems, family organisation and resources, and family communication patterns. Participants were selected by means of nonprobability sampling. The local NGO in collaboration with the researcher identified the participants. The participants were homogenous in terms of being parents who participated in a parent support programme and were from the same community. Six semi-structured, oneon- one interviews were conducted as the data collection method. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Three main themes emerged, in congruence with the theoretical framework. These themes were the family's belief system, their organisational patterns when faced with adversity, as well as the communication patterns of the family. The participants all reported that their strong sense of faith was used as coping mechanisms through their adversities. They had varying reports on how their family organised themselves and how they communicated. Some participants reported that living in a small community could at times be challenging, especially when sharing adversities as they feared community gossip, which then acted as a barrier to seeking help. The researcher adhered to the ethics requirements of the study in terms of confidentiality, provided the participants with informed consent forms and informed them of their rights as participants. Participants were free to discontinue the research process at any point without prejudice.

Este estudo aborda os conflitos decorrentes de injustiças ambientais ligadas à mineração e à implantação de um lixão/aterro sanitário na área rural de Santa Tecla, Gravataí/RS. O objetivo é compreender como a comunidade lida com os impactos ecológicos e ambientais gerados por esses empreendimentos e quais estratégias são utilizadas pelos moradores, poder público e interesses privados quando da conformação dos conflitos. Da mesma forma, a partir da descrição da dinâmica por trás dos embates envolvendo a mineração e o aterro/lixão nessa localidade, se busca descrever e analisar as relações de poder que conformam as disputas por fixar e priorizar um conjunto de significados sobre um dado território (no caso, Santa Tecla), bem como pelo controle e uso (material, simbólico e afetivo) do que nele pode ser encontrado, representado ou sentido. A metodologia baseia-se num estudo de caso realizado através de pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e pesquisa de campo. O estudo demonstra que Santa Tecla está inserida em um contexto de “zona de sacrifício” onde a atividade de mineração e o aterro/lixão são centrais na sua constituição enquanto tal, sendo as mineradoras que lá atuam (legal e ilegalmente) e o consórcio que administra o aterro/lixão os principais agenciadores das injustiças ambientais. Em síntese, o trabalho mostra como se deu a geração e apropriação diferenciada do discurso ambiental por representantes do Estado (em suas diferentes instâncias, mas sobretudo representado pela prefeitura de Gravataí), por representantes do setor privado que lá atuam e pela população que vive em Santa Tecla. / The study englobes the conflicts that concerns environmental injustices connected to the developmental project, with the rock mining activities and landfill implementation on Santa Tecla rural area, Gravataí RS. This work main objective is to understand how the local community deals with the environmental burden generated by such enterprises, and which strategies are used by the inhabitants, governments and private companies, and the community reactions through these conflicts. In the same way, through the description of the dynamic behind the conflicts involving mining and landfills in this community it is appropriate to describe and analyze the power relations that support the disputes towards fixation and giving priority to a group of meanings about a certain territory (in this case, Santa Tecla), as well as the control and use (material, symbolic and affective) of what can be found in it, represented or felt. The methodology used, a case based study, with bibliographical and documental research, and field research. This study shows that Santa Tecla is inserted in a “sacrifice zone” context, which are mining activities and landfills main characters in this process, the mining companies that work there (legal and illegally) and the consortium that manages the landfill are the main components of the environmental injustices. In sum, the project has the objective of understanding how works generation and differentiated appropriation of the environmental speech from Government (in the most vary instances, but most important by Gravataí City Hall), by private sector agents that work there, and by the inhabitants who live in Santa Tecla.

Le département de la Meuse est essentiellement rural et agricole. Les communautés rurales de 1880 à 1914 ne sont pas figées. Elles se transforment par la synthèse d'éléments issus de la tradition et de facteurs liés au contexte général. Elles ne sont ni réfractaires au progrès ni passéistes. Le département devient une terre de guerre. Les paysages et les patrimoines sont bouleversés et métamorphosés. Les rapports sociaux sont modifiés. À l'armistice, la situation rend le système d'avant-guerre obsolète. La loi de réparation des dommages de guerre offre un espoir de relèvement. Les bilans des destructions sont conséquents. La reconstruction est une période charnière. L'argent apparaît être le nerf de la reconstruction. Elle devient un moyen de moderniser et de rationaliser les communes rurales. Le territoire se mémorialise et de nouveaux éléments d'identification et de reconnaissance modifient la tradition / The department of the Meuse is mainly rural and agricultural. The rural communities from 1880 to 1914 are not fixed. They are transformed by the synthesis of elements from tradition and factors related to the general context. They are neither refractory to progress nor past. The department became a land of war. Landscapes and heritages are overturned and transformed. Social relations are modified. At the armistice, the situation made the pre-war system obsolete. The war damage compensation law offers hope of recovery. The results of the destruction are substantial. Reconstruction is a pivotal period. Money appears to be the nerve of reconstruction. It becomes a means of modernizing and rationalizing rural communes. The territory is memorized and new elements of identification and recognition change the tradition