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

In the past few years, natural disasters have been taking more lives and, especially more in the lesser-developed countries. There have been debates in the scientific world on what could be the best ways to mitigate disasters and reduce their impacts. In addition, there is a growing concern about finding the best way of restoring normal lives in the disaster affected communities. Traditional top-down approaches practiced by local governments, aid-agencies, and NGOs have now been replaced by community-based disaster management approaches. International aid-agencies such as the World Bank, UNDP, CIDA, USAID etc., emphasize on the involvement of the community for development purposes and long term sustainability. However, experiences from catastrophic disasters such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 or the Hurricane Katrina of 2005 revealed post-disaster scenario to be chaotic and at times insensitive to local cultures and needs of victims. Literature review of past theories indicated the widening gap in disaster management approaches for establishing effective models to deal with recurrent mega-disasters. To address some of the gaps and issues related to disaster management strategies and approaches, an ongoing reconstruction process of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 was evaluated in the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu, India. Four underlying objectives were set. The first was to review the evolving disaster paradigm and related theories and concepts in literature and to build connections with planning models and community based planning. Gaps in the literature were identified and a ‘common framework’ to study both the domains of environmental planning and disaster management was designed. The ‘framework’ was designed using other interdisciplinary planning frameworks, and suffices the second objective of this dissertation. The third objective was to assess an ongoing reconstruction process using an appropriate methodology and suitable indicators. Environmental issues and disaster related problems have risen over the last decade with its effects worsening in the developing countries. Despite technological advancements, it seems almost impossible to make disaster related losses negligible. However, losses can be minimised with proper interventions and community preparedness. Case studies were carried out within disaster affected fishing communities in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, India.

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

There is a marked absence in the Canadian literature about what types of programs and programming characteristics are available to women in conflict with the law when they return to the community after a period of incarceration. There is a need to document the programming options available as well as the characteristics of these programs and their perceived ability to help assist women in conflict with the law find a place in the community. This research is based on a case study conducted with Elizabeth Fry Toronto. The results of this study are based on eight semi-structured interviews that were conducted with the staff and volunteers at this agency. Drawing on the sociological perspectives of multiple marginalities, pathways to crime, stigma and impression management, this study explores the following: (1) the key program elements that are perceived to assist with women’s reintegration back into the community; (2) the ways in which the program elements represent characteristics of successful programs as identified in the literature; and, (3) the challenges Elizabeth Fry Toronto faces in delivering or implementing key program strategies. Findings provide support for the categories and themes of the three sociological perspectives. Also, the results of this research are consistent with what the existing literature identifies as innovative and effective program responses for female offenders in the community. Finally, this study finds that Elizabeth Fry Toronto faces four challenges in assisting women offenders find a place in the community after a period of incarceration: issues surrounding housing arrangements, fiscal restraints, potential clients are unaware of the services available to them, and the perceptions of society regarding women offenders. The results from this study can be used to improve policy and practice as well as add a much needed Canadian perspective to the characteristics and programming options available to women in conflict in the law in the community. This study can possibly inform policy makers with the knowledge, perspectives and theories needed to improve the social conditions for women offenders both in prison and in the community. The findings from this case study illustrate successful program elements, from the perspective of those who work with these women, and the challenges faced by clients and the organization for one community-based agency.

District energy systems are a key component to addressing reductions in green house gases, encouraging compact settlement form and ensuring reliable community energy delivery. System development can also generate local economic benefits like aggregated energy pricing and employment creation. This research focuses on an exploration of Ontario’s planning framework with respect to energy generation and thermal energy distribution, providing broad recommendations to municipalities intended to help facilitate the development of district energy systems. In summary, this research was designed to accomplish the following objectives: 1. To craft a set of transferrable recommendations that will help Ontario municipalities facilitate the development of district energy systems where appropriate. 2. To add to the literature available on district energy system development from a municipal planning perspective. 3. To examine the tools available to planning practitioners to help engage communities and municipalities in planning for local energy generation and delivery. The methodological approach employed for this research is qualitative in nature, relying on an inductive style building from particulars to general themes. The characteristics of a qualitative study are best suited to address the research questions and objectives because community energy planning and land use planning are largely unexplored in conjunction, and this methodology provides a framework to explore where the fields have integrated in practice as well as reveal some of the challenges and potential solutions. Case studies were used to examine the development of two different Ontario district energy systems. Additionally, key informant interviews provide insights from planners, system operators, customers and industry experts to provide a practice based foundation of information to development transferable recommendations. The findings suggest that the development of a district energy system is a very complex process, requiring the expertise of many specialists, and the support from local stakeholders. There are planning implications for the implementation of district energy systems, which require forethought at the beginning of the planning process and opportunities to support community based energy solutions through policy. The adoption of a planning regulatory framework will ensure adequate consideration is given to community energy management in conjunction with land use and urban form. Going forward, accounting for the conservation of energy in land use will be imperative for achieving local, regional and provincial goals associated with infrastructure, the environment, and energy resource management.

Reducing health disparities requires intervention on the social determinants of health, as well as a means to monitor and evaluate these actions. Indicators are powerful evaluation tools that can support these efforts, but they are often developed without the input of those being measured and invariably reflect the value judgments of those who create them. This is particularly evident in the measurement of subjective social constructs such as gender equity, and the participation and collaboration of the intended beneficiaries are critical to the creation of relevant and useful indicators. These issues are examined in the context of a study to develop indicators to measure gender equity in the Nicaraguan Fair Trade coffee cooperative PROCOCER. Recent studies report that Fair Trade cooperatives are not adequately addressing the needs of its women members. Indicators can provide cooperatives with a consistent means to plan, implement, and sustain actions to improve gender equity. This study used participatory and feminist research methods to develop indicators based on focus groups and interviews with women members of PROCOCER, the cooperative staff, and external experts. The findings suggest that the cooperative has a role in promoting gender equity not only at the organizational level, but in the member families as well. Moreover, gender equity requires the empowerment of women in four broad dimensions of measurement: economic, political, sociocultural, and wellbeing. The indicator set proposes 22 objective and subjective indicators for immediate use by the cooperative and 7 indicators for future integration, mirroring its evolving gender strategy. The results also highlight salient lessons from the participatory process of indicator development, where the selected indicators were inherently shaped by the organizational context, the emerging research partnership, and the unique study constraints. These findings speak to the need for continued efforts to develop a critical awareness and organizational response to gender inequities, as well as the importance of providing spaces for women to define their own tools of evaluation.

Microfinance has spread rapidly since the 1970s and gained a lot of international attention. Advocates mean it is a good way to reduce poverty, but still there is no consensus within the research about the impacts of microfinance and its contribution to poverty reduction.The aim of this study is to assess the members’ perceptions about the impacts of the rural member-based microfinance institutions (MFIs), Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) and Village Community Bank (VICOBA), on members’ socio-economic situation as well as their perceptions about the contribution to poverty reduction and to identify potential obstacles. The study is mainly based on individual semi-structured interviews with members of SACCOS and VICOBA conducted between February and April 2012 in Babati district Tanzania and earlier research and studies within the area of microfinance and poverty reduction make up the theoretical framework. There is a general agreement among the members interviewed that these MFIs have positive impacts on their socio-economic situation. The results show that it helps to meet consumption needs, pay school fees, run small businesses, increase and diversify the income and the majority also believes that it can be a useful tool for poverty reduction. However, it doesn’t lead to poverty reduction automatically, it depends on how the loans are used and this study identifies several obstacles for SACCOS and VICOBA to be more effective and contribute more to poverty reduction. The main obstacles found are low repayment status, lack of capital and lack of education in both entrepreneurship and how these MFIs operate.

This study evaluated how three conservation approaches implemented by the Brazilian Sea Turtle Conservation Program (the TAMAR Project) are related to local support for sea turtle conservation in Praia do Forte, Brazil. Four species of sea turtles nest in Praia do Forte. In Praia do Forte, locals harvested sea turtles for their meat and eggs on a regular basis to support subsistence needs. The three conservation strategies analyzed are employment opportunities and alternative sources of income from sea turtle ecotourism; enforcement of federal sea turtle protection laws; and implementation of environmental education programs via sea turtle ecotourism. These conservation strategies, which are implemented since 1982, represent both top-down and bottom-up conservation paradigms. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered through nine months of fieldbased research (between May 2006 and September 2008), using tools of participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and key informant interviews. Results indicate that conservation strategies implemented by TAMAR seem to influence local support for sea turtle conservation. Income and environmental education programs to the local children are cited as the main benefits sea turtle conservation brings to the community. Enforcement caused resentment when first implemented, but is now perceived as a necessary strategy to protect sea turtles. The relative lack of community participation in sea turtle conservation seems not to have hampered local support for sea turtle conservation. In fact, the majority of respondents perceive TAMAR as the most appropriate entity to manage sea turtles, and only a minority believes the community should co-manage sea turtle conservation with TAMAR. Though these three conservation strategies seem to help maintain traditional ecological knowledge, the future of this knowledge across generations is uncertain. Though community-based sea turtle conservation is working at the community scale, external factors associated with tourism development at the larger scale seem to influence both livelihoods and sea turtle survival. On a negative side, larger scale tourism development is associated with an increase in the cost of living, the introduction of drugs, violence and greater sense of insecurity, changes in the local fishing culture, and with ongoing threats to sea turtle survival. Tourism development is associated with benefits as well, including improvements in the local infrastructure, employment opportunities, and alternative sources of income. Since tourism development, at both local and regional scales, is unlikely to decrease any time soon, sea turtle survival no longer solely depends in getting local support for sea turtle conservation, but also in addressing the external factors that drive conservation and consumption of sea turtles. Overall, sea turtle ecotourism is one part of a larger strategy for meeting local socioeconomic needs while also protecting sea turtles in Praia do Forte.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2009. / Principal faculty advisor: John Byrne, School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, School of Nursing and Social Work, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 316-328)