This study explores how local community economic development actors in rural settings view prospects for bottom-up (i.e., endogenous) development through a case study of the Keremeos area in British Columbia. The study involved a basic descriptive analysis of the case study site drawing upon Statistics Canada data, historical records and local policy documents along with 11 semi-structured interviews of local development actors representing the varied geographic, jurisdictional and organizational interests comprising the Keremeos area development landscape. The findings indicate that not only do predominant institutional arrangements presuppose and eventuate rural inferiority and decline, they also tend to impose externalities for rural communities to contend with while failing to provide similar measures of in-kind support to mitigate such impacts. This stokes an erroneous sentiment that local government is responsible for precipitating endogenous development, limiting the extent to which community members work to actively operationalize it as a result. Such conditions ultimately lead rural communities to have no choice but to challenge predominant institutional arrangements in order to forge their own paths for realizing endogenous development. Indigenous communities offer hope for rural areas through increased guardianship programs and industry partnerships which help to challenge and rearticulate these arrangements to the advantage of their communities and interests. It is advisable that senior government work to provide rural communities with capacity to facilitate their own economic viability – reflecting local values, knowledge, identity and autonomy – thus working to counter the externalities and parameters which they and prevailing market forces have conceived for rural communities to persist within. / Graduate

Co-operatives are seen as one of the appropriate strategies for intervention in eradicating poverty in rural communities. During the financial year 2007-2008 the Department of Social Development and Special Programmes pronounced on the availability of funds in its budget for the establishment of women’s co-operatives and other livelihood community projects. The initiative of funding rural women’s cooperatives was one of the interventions to address high poverty and unemployment levels among rural women in the province. Rural women co-operatives were nonexistent in the Mbhashe area of the Eastern Cape, as a consequence, co-operatives were speedily formed in order to access funding for women co-operatives that was made available by the Department of Social Development and Special Programmes. The concern of the state initiated rural women’s co-operatives was their long-term sustainability as they were not embedded in the principles of a co-operative as autonomous association of persons who should voluntarily unite to meet their common economic, cultural and social needs and aspirations through a jointly democratically controlled enterprise. It was a top-down approach which negated inherent values of cooperation, namely self help, self responsibility, democracy, equity and solidarity. The aim of the study was to investigate the challenges faced by state-initiated rural women’s co-operatives in reducing poverty in the Mbhashe Area, Eastern Cape Province. Purposive sampling was used to select members of the co-operatives as participants. Study had an applied goal and intrinsic was the research design. Data was collected by means of focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews were used. The findings indicated that there is inadequate capacity in knowledge and skills to manage co-operatives and run a business and lack of co-operative values and principles among co-operatives. The study concludes that lack of knowledge about business, financial management and non adherence to co-operatives values and principles limit the ability of co-operatives to operate independently and succeed as businesses. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

This thesis addresses food insecurity from an Indigenous fisheries lens and presents a conceptual model by integrating three different but inter-related domains (ecological, cultural, and business) that impact Indigenous food security. Under the broader umbrella of fisheries and food security, the thesis addresses four objectives: (i) to investigate the co-existence of commercial and subsistence fisheries, (ii) to assess food security among commercial and subsistence fishing households, (iii) to explore the meaning of traditional food by engaging Indigenous youth with an objective to revitalize culture, and (iv) to examine the role of the fisherman’s co-operative as a social enterprise to address community economic development. The study was conducted over a period of 14 months (from September 2013 to December 2014) in Norway House Cree Nation, northern Manitoba, Canada. Community members are engaged in both subsistence and commercial fishing. The two kinds of fisheries co-exist, and potential problems of overlap are handled by temporal separation; spatial separation; formal mechanism of monitoring of net ownership; and informal communication for conflict resolution consistent with Cree values. The study found that extensive sharing of fish and other traditional foods by commercial fishers reached almost half of the total population in the community and contributed to improving food security. I used a participatory research approach to engage Indigenous youth to explore the meaning of traditional food. Participants produced a collaborative artwork on the theme of “what traditional food means to you?” This art work functioned as a boundary object, initiating discussion about food security planning in the community. Norway House Fisherman’s Co-op operates as a social enterprise mainly because of fish sharing and its role in business diversification for community economic development. The Chief and Band Council requested an exploration of ways to add value to their existing commercial fisheries. Based on the findings, further development can rely on: (i) better use of existing fish resources, such as the by-catch, (ii) fishing related economic development, such as value-added fish products, and (iii) use of options regarding regulatory bodies, such as eco-certification. / February 2017

Text in German / This thesis takes as a starting point the societal change in Germany with its concomitant economic risks for substantial parts of the population. Evangelical churches in Germany have yet to react to this change. While the relationship between social work and mission has been a point of widespread discussion within the evangelical movement internationally, it fails to have any impact on local churches. The question is thus: how can a mission-oriented church benefit from Christian social reform movements? Transformative as well as holistic understandings of mission have already yielded an enlarged vision of mission as encompassing social justice. But how about a missiological paradigm which is practically translatable into cultural and social relevance as far as the local church’s vision for becoming an agent of societal change/reform is concerned? When interpreted missiologically, mediation can be such a useful paradigm, as its essence is conflict as a constant anthropological signifier of human/divine distance on the one side and God’s purpose of redemption as reflected in the church’s mission on the other. Thus mediation could be called a category of the missio dei. This practical implementation into the church’s work as being relevant for its community is reached by reverting to the sciences of social work, namely the concept of community development. As mediative community work, this approach will add to the profile of a mission-oriented church as determined to serve a holistic vision of the gospel. At the focus is thus the immediate social environment of a local church, in which it can trigger spiritual, personal, social, cultural and economic processes of transformation. In the social context of Germany this way of expressing the missiological drive of a local church seems to be a hopeful avenue, since the social and economic risks are likely to remain and are threatening a large percentage of the population with social marginalisation. It is here that the economy of community work will be furnishing useful aspects to help a mission-oriented church develop its mediative-communal thrust into its immediate social context in order to proclaim God’s redemptive purpose. / Ausgangspunkt dieser Arbeit ist die Beobachtung des gesellschaftlichen Wandels in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland samt seiner sozialen und ökonomischen Risiken für weite Teile der Bevölkerung. Eine Antwort auf diesen Transformationsprozess ist seitens der evangelikalen Kirchen in Deutschland ausgeblieben. Die Frage nach der Verhältnisbestimmung zwischen sozialer Arbeit und Mission ist in der evangelikalen Bewegung zwar international breit diskutiert worden, doch hat sie kaum Wirkung auf die Praxis der örtlichen Gemeinden in Deutschland gezeigt. Bearbeitet wird daher die Fragestellung, wie eine missionarisch orientierte Gemeinde in ihrem Sendungsauftrag Initiativen christlicher Sozialreformen umsetzen kann. Transformative und ganzheitliche Missionskonzepte haben bereits ein erweitertes Missionsverständnis hervorgebracht, welches die soziale Gerechtigkeit als missionarischen Auftrag mit einschließt. Die Frage stellt sich nun nach einem missionstheologischen Paradigma, welches praktisch in eine kultur- und gesellschaftsrelevante Tätigkeit einer missionalen Gemeinde umgesetzt werden kann, durch die sie zu einem Träger einer christlich geprägten Sozialreform wird. Das Paradigma, das hierfür erarbeitet und missionstheologisch gedeutet wird, ist das der Mediation. Sie offenbart in ihrem Wesen zum einen den Konflikt als anthropologische Konstante und somit die Distanz zu Gott und zum anderen die Heilsabsicht Gottes, die sich im Missionsauftrag an die Gemeinde widerspiegelt. So stellt sich die Mediation als Kategorie der missio dei dar. Die konkrete Umsetzung dieses Paradigmas in eine die Gesellschaft gestaltende Arbeit gelingt durch die Hinzuziehung des Arbeitsprinzips der Gemeinwesenarbeit aus der Sozialarbeitswissenschaft. In Form einer mediativ-gemeinwesenorientierten Arbeit gibt sie einer missional ausgerichteten Gemeinde die Möglichkeit ihren Sendungsauftrag mit einem umfassenden Heilsverständnis umzusetzen. Dabei steht der unmittelbare Sozialraum der lokalen Kirchengemeinde im Fokus des Interesses, in dem geistliche, persönliche, soziale kulturelle und ökonomische transformative Prozesse eingeleitet werden können. Bezugnehmend auf den Kontext der Bundesrepublik Deutschland erweist sich diese Art den Sendungsauftrag umzusetzen als hoffnungsträchtig, da die sozialen und ökonomischen Risiken in Zukunft weiter bestehen werden und ein nicht unerheblicher Teil der Bevölkerung bereits als sozial ausgegrenzt ist. Hier gibt insbesondere die Gemeinwesenökonomie Anhaltspunkte, wie eine mediativ-gemeinwesenorientierte missionale Gemeinde in ihrem Sozialraum den Heilswillen Gottes verkündigen kann. / Christian Spirituality,Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

The past two decades have witnessed significant growth in home-based work (HBW), particularly home-based business (HBB) activity and self-employment. These phenomena are attributed to factors such as flexible organization of production. While some empirical accounts on HBW and HBB activity in Canada do exist, they have mostly been conducted at the national or urban level rather than in rural areas. This thesis, therefore, places greater emphasis on rural HBBs in Saskatchewan where out-migration of people is threatening the viability and sustainability of rural and small communities. It is argued that rural sustainability largely depends on economic viability. The study area for the research includes the City of Saskatoon and the countryside surrounding this city. <p>The overall goal of this research is to contribute to the discussion of rural sustainability by considering HBBs as a potential strategy to achieve sustainability in rural areas and small communities. Therefore, the primary objectives of the dissertation are to examine the nature and degree of relationships of home business activity between rural, rural-urban fringe and urban areas, and the implications on links for sustainability of rural households and communities; to examine the relationship of HBB activity to the concept of rural entrepreneurship and business development; and to assess the contributions of rural and small town HBBs to the sustainability of households and communities in Saskatchewan. <p>A combination of the concept of sustainable community development, the von Thunen model and the competitive strategy model (i.e., cost-leadership, differentiation, focus) provide the theoretical framework of the thesis. Through snowball sampling and mail questionnaire surveys, primary data on HBBs were obtained from Saskatoon and its surrounding regions in Saskatchewan for micro-level analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed to analyze the data. <p>Major findings of the thesis include the linkages that HBBs create among places and the impact of links on community sustainability; and the apparent spatial variations in HBBs, motivations, competitive strategies, and benefits of home businesses from the urban core to the limits of the rural hinterland. It was also found that home businesses contribute positively to the sustainability of households and communities in rural Saskatchewan. Specifically, they generate significant revenue and employment opportunities for people, while supporting local economies through their networks, purchasing and selling of goods and services locally as well as keeping managers and members of their households in rural areas and small communities for considerable number of years. Indeed home-based occupation is a vital component of the mechanisms for rural sustainability. Also, this thesis proposed a rural-urban HBB model for future social science research. <p>Major conceptual underpinnings of the research include rural-urban relations; regional and community economic development, sustainable community development; rural entrepreneurship, home-based work, home business, self-employment, competitive strategy, and the von Thunen Isolated State model.

The past two decades have witnessed significant growth in home-based work (HBW), particularly home-based business (HBB) activity and self-employment. These phenomena are attributed to factors such as flexible organization of production. While some empirical accounts on HBW and HBB activity in Canada do exist, they have mostly been conducted at the national or urban level rather than in rural areas. This thesis, therefore, places greater emphasis on rural HBBs in Saskatchewan where out-migration of people is threatening the viability and sustainability of rural and small communities. It is argued that rural sustainability largely depends on economic viability. The study area for the research includes the City of Saskatoon and the countryside surrounding this city. <p>The overall goal of this research is to contribute to the discussion of rural sustainability by considering HBBs as a potential strategy to achieve sustainability in rural areas and small communities. Therefore, the primary objectives of the dissertation are to examine the nature and degree of relationships of home business activity between rural, rural-urban fringe and urban areas, and the implications on links for sustainability of rural households and communities; to examine the relationship of HBB activity to the concept of rural entrepreneurship and business development; and to assess the contributions of rural and small town HBBs to the sustainability of households and communities in Saskatchewan. <p>A combination of the concept of sustainable community development, the von Thunen model and the competitive strategy model (i.e., cost-leadership, differentiation, focus) provide the theoretical framework of the thesis. Through snowball sampling and mail questionnaire surveys, primary data on HBBs were obtained from Saskatoon and its surrounding regions in Saskatchewan for micro-level analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed to analyze the data. <p>Major findings of the thesis include the linkages that HBBs create among places and the impact of links on community sustainability; and the apparent spatial variations in HBBs, motivations, competitive strategies, and benefits of home businesses from the urban core to the limits of the rural hinterland. It was also found that home businesses contribute positively to the sustainability of households and communities in rural Saskatchewan. Specifically, they generate significant revenue and employment opportunities for people, while supporting local economies through their networks, purchasing and selling of goods and services locally as well as keeping managers and members of their households in rural areas and small communities for considerable number of years. Indeed home-based occupation is a vital component of the mechanisms for rural sustainability. Also, this thesis proposed a rural-urban HBB model for future social science research. <p>Major conceptual underpinnings of the research include rural-urban relations; regional and community economic development, sustainable community development; rural entrepreneurship, home-based work, home business, self-employment, competitive strategy, and the von Thunen Isolated State model.

Text in German / This thesis takes as a starting point the societal change in Germany with its concomitant economic risks for substantial parts of the population. Evangelical churches in Germany have yet to react to this change. While the relationship between social work and mission has been a point of widespread discussion within the evangelical movement internationally, it fails to have any impact on local churches. The question is thus: how can a mission-oriented church benefit from Christian social reform movements? Transformative as well as holistic understandings of mission have already yielded an enlarged vision of mission as encompassing social justice. But how about a missiological paradigm which is practically translatable into cultural and social relevance as far as the local church’s vision for becoming an agent of societal change/reform is concerned? When interpreted missiologically, mediation can be such a useful paradigm, as its essence is conflict as a constant anthropological signifier of human/divine distance on the one side and God’s purpose of redemption as reflected in the church’s mission on the other. Thus mediation could be called a category of the missio dei. This practical implementation into the church’s work as being relevant for its community is reached by reverting to the sciences of social work, namely the concept of community development. As mediative community work, this approach will add to the profile of a mission-oriented church as determined to serve a holistic vision of the gospel. At the focus is thus the immediate social environment of a local church, in which it can trigger spiritual, personal, social, cultural and economic processes of transformation. In the social context of Germany this way of expressing the missiological drive of a local church seems to be a hopeful avenue, since the social and economic risks are likely to remain and are threatening a large percentage of the population with social marginalisation. It is here that the economy of community work will be furnishing useful aspects to help a mission-oriented church develop its mediative-communal thrust into its immediate social context in order to proclaim God’s redemptive purpose. / Ausgangspunkt dieser Arbeit ist die Beobachtung des gesellschaftlichen Wandels in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland samt seiner sozialen und ökonomischen Risiken für weite Teile der Bevölkerung. Eine Antwort auf diesen Transformationsprozess ist seitens der evangelikalen Kirchen in Deutschland ausgeblieben. Die Frage nach der Verhältnisbestimmung zwischen sozialer Arbeit und Mission ist in der evangelikalen Bewegung zwar international breit diskutiert worden, doch hat sie kaum Wirkung auf die Praxis der örtlichen Gemeinden in Deutschland gezeigt. Bearbeitet wird daher die Fragestellung, wie eine missionarisch orientierte Gemeinde in ihrem Sendungsauftrag Initiativen christlicher Sozialreformen umsetzen kann. Transformative und ganzheitliche Missionskonzepte haben bereits ein erweitertes Missionsverständnis hervorgebracht, welches die soziale Gerechtigkeit als missionarischen Auftrag mit einschließt. Die Frage stellt sich nun nach einem missionstheologischen Paradigma, welches praktisch in eine kultur- und gesellschaftsrelevante Tätigkeit einer missionalen Gemeinde umgesetzt werden kann, durch die sie zu einem Träger einer christlich geprägten Sozialreform wird. Das Paradigma, das hierfür erarbeitet und missionstheologisch gedeutet wird, ist das der Mediation. Sie offenbart in ihrem Wesen zum einen den Konflikt als anthropologische Konstante und somit die Distanz zu Gott und zum anderen die Heilsabsicht Gottes, die sich im Missionsauftrag an die Gemeinde widerspiegelt. So stellt sich die Mediation als Kategorie der missio dei dar. Die konkrete Umsetzung dieses Paradigmas in eine die Gesellschaft gestaltende Arbeit gelingt durch die Hinzuziehung des Arbeitsprinzips der Gemeinwesenarbeit aus der Sozialarbeitswissenschaft. In Form einer mediativ-gemeinwesenorientierten Arbeit gibt sie einer missional ausgerichteten Gemeinde die Möglichkeit ihren Sendungsauftrag mit einem umfassenden Heilsverständnis umzusetzen. Dabei steht der unmittelbare Sozialraum der lokalen Kirchengemeinde im Fokus des Interesses, in dem geistliche, persönliche, soziale kulturelle und ökonomische transformative Prozesse eingeleitet werden können. Bezugnehmend auf den Kontext der Bundesrepublik Deutschland erweist sich diese Art den Sendungsauftrag umzusetzen als hoffnungsträchtig, da die sozialen und ökonomischen Risiken in Zukunft weiter bestehen werden und ein nicht unerheblicher Teil der Bevölkerung bereits als sozial ausgegrenzt ist. Hier gibt insbesondere die Gemeinwesenökonomie Anhaltspunkte, wie eine mediativ-gemeinwesenorientierte missionale Gemeinde in ihrem Sozialraum den Heilswillen Gottes verkündigen kann. / Christian Spirituality,Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

No description available.

The North End is one of the most colourful areas in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Plagued by urban decay, the North End is a melting pot of cultures and catch basin for many marginalized people. In the face of adversity, people unite under similar ideals and principles to work towards common goals. This unity is exemplified in co-operatives, which has been in the North End for decades. Co-ops exhibited outstanding camaraderie with the goal of alleviating adverse social conditions. Today, the co-op sector, exemplified by Pollock’s Hardware and Urban Eatin’ Landscapes, continue to operate in the area like conventional business, while practicing social and environmental responsibility under a common set of principles. Due to their ideologies and principles, their impact on neighbourhood and community revitalization is more profound than expected. Through case studies, this research found that co-ops offer urban planners and government officials a complimentary method to conventional urban revitalization methods. Co-operative Urban Revitalization starts by uniting marginalized people and empowering them to devise solutions to social and economic problems. / February 2017

Social economy community development organizations (SECDOs) are social service organizations that provide poverty relief but do not necessarily inspire a counter-hegemonic antipoverty strategy against a neoliberal welfare state. Tension between providing human social services and engaging in advocacy is at the core of how SECDOs may be both complicit to as well as working against the neoliberalization of the welfare state. This study explores how SECDOs can nurture a new paradigm for community economic development organizations. Through a case study of a Canadian settlement house, the research demonstrates how transforming work may encourage a culture of organic intellectualism or, a culture of emancipatory consciousness-raising. By re-organizing workplace practices, such as working collaboratively, providing a hub for services and engaging in popular education, transformative SECDOs help provide the conditions for citizens to affect governance. The research theorizes how SECDOs may foster a culture of organic intellectualism to promote the transformative social economy.