Integrating community perceptions and cultural diversity in social impact assessment in Nigeria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nzeadibe, Thaddeus Chidi, E-mail: chidi.nzeadibe@unn.edu.ng; Ajaero, Chukwuedozie Kelechukwu; Okonkwo, Emeka Emmanuel

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act of 1992 aimed to make the environment a central theme in development in Nigeria. Nevertheless, the extent of engagement with local cultures in the Nigerian EIA process is not statutorily guaranteed. While most EIAs in Nigeria have been for oil and gas projects in the Niger Delta, and have focused strongly on the biophysical environment, socio-economic and cultural aspects have remained marginal. The palpable neglect of community perceptions and cultural diversity in social impact assessment (SIA) in this region prone to conflict has tended to alienate the people in the decision-making process. Thus, despitemore » claims to compliance with regulatory requirements for EIAs, and numerous purported sustainable development initiatives by international oil companies (IOCs), the region continues to face multiple sustainability challenges. This paper situates local perceptions and cultural diversity in participatory development and canvasses the integration of community perceptions and cultural diversity into SIA in the Niger Delta region. It is argued that doing this would be critical to ensuring acceptance and success of development actions within the context of local culture while also contributing to sustainable development policy in the region. - Highlights: • Nigeria EIA Act aimed to make the environment central to development in Nigeria. • Engagement with local communities in the process is not statutorily guaranteed. • SIAs in Nigeria neglect community perceptions and cultural diversity. • Article canvasses integrating community perceptions and cultural diversity in SIA. • Local acceptance in context of culture would yield sustainable development outcomes.« less

Applied Research at Canadian Colleges and Institutes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association of Canadian Community Colleges, 2006

2006-01-01

Canada has a national network of over 150 colleges and institutes in over 900 communities in all regions of the country. These institutions are mandated to support the socio-economic development of the communities and regions. Colleges and institutes develop education and training programs to meet employer needs with direct input from business,…

Addressing the Issue of Gender Equity in the Presidency of the University System in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guramatunhu-Mudiwa, Precious

2010-01-01

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a regional economic grouping of 15 countries whose common vision is to promote economic, social and political development and growth. Arguably, sustainable growth can be realized if there is equal access to all positions of power and influence in the area, but an investigation of 117…

South China Sea disputes: ASEAN’s Role in Addressing Disputes with China

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-13

Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. The main aims of the organization were to strengthen cooperation in the economic , social, cultural , technical...community is comprised of three pillars, namely the ASEAN Political-Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio- Cultural Community...Declaration, ASEAN would focus on accelerating the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region, and promoting regional peace

A Case Study of Rural Community Colleges' Transition to Entrepreneurship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Genandt, James D.

2017-01-01

The traditional role of workforce training by community colleges in support of regional economic development is insufficient to help rural areas survive in a global economy. Rural community colleges are uniquely positioned to provide enhanced economic development support through entrepreneurship and small business development programs. Using…

Community College Business Development and Entrepreneurship Education. UCLA Community College Bibliography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carducci, Rozana

2004-01-01

Faced with the challenge of responding to shifting tides in the American labor market through the development of innovative and relevant educational programs that directly facilitate regional economic growth, numerous community colleges have identified the implementation of small business development and entrepreneurship education initiatives as…

Application of a partnership model for transformative and sustainable international development.

PubMed

Powell, Dorothy L; Gilliss, Catherine L; Hewitt, Hermi H; Flint, Elizabeth P

2010-01-01

There are differences of intent and impact between short-term and long-term engagement of U.S. academic institutions with communities of need in developing nations. Global health programs that produce long-term transformative change rather than transient relief are more likely to be sustainable and in ethical harmony with expressed needs of a region or community. This article explores characteristics of successful ethical partnerships in global health and the challenges that threaten them, introducing a consensus community engagement model as a framework for building relationships, evolving an understanding of needs, and collaboratively developing solutions and responses to priority health needs in underserved regions of the world. The community engagement model is applied to a case study of an initiative by a U.S. school of nursing to establish long-term relationships with the nursing community in the Caribbean region with the goal of promoting transformative change through collaborative development of programs and services addressing health care needs of the region's growing elderly population and the increasing prevalence of noncommunicable chronic diseases. Progress of this ongoing long-term relationship is analyzed in the context of the organizational, philosophical, ethical, and resource commitments embodied in this approach to initiation of transformative and sustainable improvements in public health.

77 FR 64397 - Order of Succession for HUD Region III

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-19

..., Department of Housing and Urban Development, designates the Order of Succession for the Philadelphia Regional... Administrator; b. Regional Counsel; c. Director, Community Planning and Development. 2. Baltimore Field Office... Development. 5. Richmond Field Office Order of Succession a. Associate Regional Counsel, Housing Finance and...

77 FR 64399 - Order of Succession for HUD Region VI

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-19

... Housing and Urban Development, designates the Order of Succession for the Fort Worth Regional Office and... Planning and Development. 3. Houston Field Office Order of Succession a. Associate Regional Counsel..., Community Planning and Development. 4. Little Rock Field Office Order of Succession a. Associate Regional...

The Multi-Sector Sustainability Browser (MSSB): Planning and Developing Sustainability Initiatives Affecting Land Use

EPA Science Inventory

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) Research Program develops methodologies, resources, and tools to assist local and regional community planners, community members, and local decision makers in implementing sustainabl...

A Conceptual Model to be Used for Community-based Drinking-water Improvements

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Mushfique

2006-01-01

A conceptual model that can be applied to improve community-based drinking-water in crisis-type situations has been developed from the original general science and technology/development bridging concept and from a case study in Northwest Bangladesh. The main feature of this model is the strengthened role of communities in identifying and implementing appropriate drinking-water improvements with facilitation by multi-disciplinary collaborative regional agency networks. These combined representative community/regional agency networks make decisions and take actions that involve environmental and health data, related capacity factors, and appropriateness of drinking-water improvements. They also progressively link regional decisions and actions together, expanding them nationally and preferably within a sustainable national policy-umbrella. This use of the model reflects stronger community control and input with more appropriate solutions to such drinking-water crisis situations and minimization of risk from potentially-inappropriate ‘externally-imposed’ processes. The application here is not intended as a generic or complete poverty-alleviation strategy by itself but as a crisis-solving intervention, complementary to existing and developing sustainable national policies and to introduce how key principles and concepts can relate in the wider context. In terms of the Bangladesh arsenic crisis, this translates into community/regional networks in geographic regions making assessments on the appropriateness of their drinking-water configuration. Preferred improvement options are decided and acted upon in a technological framework. Options include: pond-sand filters, rainwater harvesting, dugwell, deep-protected tubewell, and shallow tubewell with treatment devices. Bedding in the regional drinking-water improvement configuration protocols then occurs. This involves establishing ongoing representative monitoring and screening, clear delineation of arsenic-contaminated wells with inter-regional linking, and national expansion within national drinking-water policy frameworks. PMID:17366766

A conceptual model to be used for community-based drinking-water improvements.

PubMed

Anstiss, Richard G; Ahmed, Mushfique

2006-09-01

A conceptual model that can be applied to improve community-based drinking-water in crisis-type situations has been developed from the original general science and technology/development bridging concept and from a case study in Northwest Bangladesh. The main feature of this model is the strengthened role of communities in identifying and implementing appropriate drinking-water improvements with facilitation by multi-disciplinary collaborative regional agency networks. These combined representative community/regional agency networks make decisions and take actions that involve environmental and health data, related capacity factors, and appropriateness of drinking-water improvements. They also progressively link regional decisions and actions together, expanding them nationally and preferably within a sustainable national policy-umbrella. This use of the model reflects stronger community control and input with more appropriate solutions to such drinking-water crisis situations and minimization of risk from potentially-inappropriate 'externally-imposed' processes. The application here is not intended as a generic or complete poverty-alleviation strategy by itself but as a crisis-solving intervention, complementary to existing and developing sustainable national policies and to introduce how key principles and concepts can relate in the wider context. In terms of the Bangladesh arsenic crisis, this translates into community/regional networks in geographic regions making assessments on the appropriateness of their drinking-water configuration. Preferred improvement options are decided and acted upon in a technological framework. Options include: pond-sand filters, rainwater harvesting, dugwell, deep-protected tubewell, and shallow tubewell with treatment devices. Bedding in the regional drinking-water improvement configuration protocols then occurs. This involves establishing ongoing representative monitoring and screening, clear delineation of arsenic-contaminated wells with inter-regional linking, and national expansion within national drinking-water policy frameworks.

Community-Led Initiatives in Curriculum Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, Kerry

Educational curricula have often been shaped more by worldwide standards and modern values than by national or regional influences and may, in some cases, be irrelevant to student and local community needs. This paper explores ways in which curricula can be adapted to a region's specific, social, political, and regional conditions. It begins with…

20 Years of Developing Capacity for Action-Oriented Collaborative Regional Research in the Asia-Pacific Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tupas, L. M.; Stevenson, L. A.

2015-12-01

During its 3rd strategic phase, which ran from 2010 to 2015, the APN provided support for 123 projects through its competitive collaborative regional research and capacity development programmes. With over 250 peer-reviewed papers and the underlying philosophy that the regional research it undertakes engages at least two developing countries, the 3rd strategic phase is not only improving the research capabilities of nations in the region, but is engaging the developing country community in underpinning policy-relevant research. The extent to which science is contributing to policy is further evident in that 69% of the activities conducted had some form of science-policy mechanism built in to the project activities. The period of the 3rd Strategic Phase has been witness to significant changes in the make-up of the "conventional" global change arena, with the transition of some global change programmes into the new "Future Earth" initiative. At the same time, major events such as the Rio+20 Summit, the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, the establishment of an IPCC-related platform for biodiversity, i.e. IPBES, and the evolving engagement of science and policy communities has kept the APN busy at what it does best - networking and partnering with the international community. The APN has embraced these changes through its dynamism, allowing the APN to meet not only the needs of the scientists and decision makers its serves in the region but those of the international science communities as well. The challenge for the APN in its next two decades will be to ensure alignment with the transforming global change arena. With key phrases such as "policy-relevant science" and "science-policy interactions" being adopted broadly by the community at large these days, the APN's niche in the global community has received considerable recognition, particularly as other institutions strive to adopt similar practices that the APN has built over the last 20 years.

An ethnographic action research study to investigate the experiences of Bindjareb women participating in the cooking and nutrition component of an Aboriginal health promotion programme in regional Western Australia.

PubMed

Nilson, Caroline; Kearing-Salmon, Karrie-Anne; Morrison, Paul; Fetherston, Catherine

2015-12-01

To investigate the experiences of women participating in a cooking and nutrition component of a health promotion research initiative in an Australian Aboriginal regional community. Weekly facilitated cooking and nutrition classes were conducted during school terms over 12 months. An ethnographic action research study was conducted for the programme duration with data gathered by participant and direct observation, four yarning groups and six individual yarning sessions. The aim was to determine the ways the cooking and nutrition component facilitated lifestyle change, enabled engagement, encouraged community ownership and influenced community action. Regional Bindjareb community in the Nyungar nation of Western Australia. A sample of seventeen Aboriginal women aged between 18 and 60 years from the two kinships in two towns in one shire took part in the study. The recruitment and consent process was managed by community Elders and leaders. Major themes emerged highlighting the development of participants and their recognition of the need for change: the impact of history on current nutritional health of Indigenous Australians; acknowledging shame; challenges of change around nutrition and healthy eating; the undermining effect of mistrust and limited resources; the importance of community control when developing health promotion programmes; finding life purpose through learning; and the need for planning and partnerships to achieve community determination. Suggested principles for developing cooking and nutrition interventions are: consideration of community needs; understanding the impact of historical factors on health; understanding family and community tensions; and the engagement of long-term partnerships to develop community determination.

A community-based intervention to build community harmony in an Indigenous Guatemalan Mining Town.

PubMed

Caxaj, Claudia Susana; Parroquia de San Miguel Ixtahuacan, Kolol Qnan Tx'otx'

2018-01-24

The presence of large-scale mining operations poses many threats to communities. In a rural community in Guatemala, community leaders were motivated to address divisiveness and local conflict that have been exacerbated since the arrival of a mining company in the region. Prior research by our team identified spiritual and cultural strengths as important sources of strength and resilience in the community. We piloted a community-based intervention centred on spiritual and cultural practices in the region, to address divisiveness and build community harmony. One hundred and seventeen participants from over 18 villages in the municipality participated in the workshops and follow-up focus groups. Community leaders facilitated the intervention and partnered with the academic researcher throughout the research process. Overall, community members and facilitators expressed satisfaction with the workshop. Further, our analysis revealed three important processes important to the development of community harmony in the region: (a) mutual recognition and collectivisation; (b) affirmation of ancestral roots and connections to Mother Earth and (c) inspiring action and momentum towards solutions. These mechanisms, and the socio-political contexts that undermine them, have important implications for how global health programmes are developed and how collective processes for well-being are understood within an inequitable, conflict-laden world.

To Strengthen Policy Guiding Regionalization of Occupational Programs in New Jersey County Community Colleges. A Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martorana, S. V.; And Others

In 1985 a project was developed to strengthen policy guiding regionalization of occupational programs in New Jersey county community colleges. The project had three major goals: to establish a policy for the regionalization of selected occupational programs offered by the colleges; to describe ways that programs could be identified for regional…

Regional Seminar on Community Support for Education and Participation in Educational Management (Bali, Indonesia, October 30-November 4, 1989). Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Bangkok (Thailand). Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

In recent years issues concerning community support for education and participation in educational management have come to the fore in developing Asian and Pacific countries. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCO/PROAP) has organized regional training…

Building Local Economic Development Capacity: A Case Study of Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bredfeldt, Erik A.

2009-01-01

This dissertation examines the role of the community college in building institutional capacity within the context of a community's local and regional economy and provides recommendations on the manner in which the role of the community college can be enhanced with respect to interaction with other urban and regional partners. It seeks to at least…

Community Colleges and Economic Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gallego, Augustine

This document argues that regions that sustain economic growth or recover rapidly from economic slumps are often the same communities that have aggressively developed and continue to strengthen collaborations with business and industry, universities, community colleges, high schools, and other key public and private sector entities. In San Diego…

Back to the future: sweatshop conditions on the Mexico-U.S. border. I. Community health impact of maquiladora industrial activity.

PubMed

Moure-Eraso, R; Wilcox, M; Punnett, L; Copeland, L; Levenstein, C

1994-03-01

Present working conditions in one of the most active areas of the maquiladora system along the Mexico-U.S. border are reminiscent of nineteenth-century U.S. sweatshops. This conclusion was reached after evaluating two separate but interrelated surveys among Mexican nationals living near the Mexico-U.S. border, one of community leaders (Paper I), and one of workers in maquiladora enterprises in the towns of Matamoros and Reynosa, Mexico (Paper II). Paper I evaluates the results of the community leaders' survey. Criteria for selection of the leaders were: level of responsibility in the community; knowledge of the industry in the region, and length of residence in the area (more than 3 years). Representatives from government, maquiladora industry management, labor union leadership, labor union activists, and community improvement activists were interviewed. Structured questionnaires with opportunities for open-ended answers were used by trained Spanish speaking interviewers. The questions covered community demographics, health care structures, governance of the region, knowledge of working conditions, and knowledge of environmental impact on the region and the community. Community leaders were ambivalent on the purported benefits of the development of these types of industries in their communities. A substantial majority (21 of 25) thought that the maquiladoras brought few positive developments, other than creating jobs. Serious concerns about overextending weak social infrastructures and about environmental deterioration were voiced. Immediate (preventive) measures appear necessary to develop community infrastructures and to protect environmental health.

Challenges for developing RHIOs in rural America: a study in Appalachian Ohio.

PubMed

Phillips, Brian O; Welch, Elissa E

2007-01-01

A healthy population is essential for the socioeconomic success of the Appalachian region and other rural, underserved areas in the United States. However, rural communities are only beginning to deploy the advanced health information technologies being used by larger urban institutions. Regional health information organizations have the potential to be the building blocks that will harmonize HIT exchange on a national scale. But there are many challenges to developing RHIOs in rural communities. In 2004, the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine convened the Appalachian Regional Informatics Consortium, a community-based cross-section of healthcare providers in southeastern Ohio. The consortium was awarded an Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems planning grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate rural RHIO development, the first such rural project. This article examines the consortium and the challenges facing rural RHIO development in Appalachian Ohio.

[Integration of district psychiatric hospitals into the development of regional community psychiatry networks--the actual state. Results of a survey among medical directors of Bavarian district hospitals].

PubMed

Welschehold, Michael; Kraus, Eva

2004-11-01

In this study, the medical directors of all Bavarian district psychiatric hospitals evaluated certain aspects of the integration of their hospitals into the development of regional community psychiatry networks ("Gemeindepsychiatrische Verbunde" - GPVs). They were asked to rate the actual quantity of cooperation between their hospitals and diverse community based services and to express their requests concerning the quality of cooperation. An estimation of possible advantages of the hospitals' integration in GPVs and expectations to future perspectives of GPV development were also investigated. The data were collected by a written questionnaire. The results of the survey indicate that a high relevance is attached to GPV: inspite of current heterogenous developments and inspite of existing skepticism concerning the feasibility of a complete GPV structure, medical directors strongly approve of seeing their hospitals actively engaged in the further development of community psychiatry networks.

Transformational Learning and Community Development: Early Reflections on Professional and Community Engagement at Macquarie University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rawlings-Sanaei, Felicity; Sachs, Judyth

2014-01-01

Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) at Macquarie University offers undergraduate students experiential learning opportunities with local, regional, and international partners. In PACE projects, students work toward meeting the partner's organizational goals while they develop their capabilities, learn through the process of engagement,…

[Succession pattern of artificial vegetation community and its ecological mechanism in an arid desert region].

PubMed

Xu, Cailin; Li, Zizhen

2003-09-01

Focusing on the artificial vegetation protection system of the Shapotou section of Baotou-Lanzhou railway in the arid desert region of China, this paper examined the dynamics of dominant plant species and the succession pattern of artificial plant community in the process of establishing and developing regional artificial vegetation. It also studied the driving force and the ecologically intrinsic mechanism of the community succession. The results demonstrated that the species composition of the artificial vegetation dramatically changed after 40 years of succession, from original artificial plant community of shrub and semi-shrub to artificial-natural desert plant community with annual herb dominated. During the process of succession, the importance values of artificial shrubs, such as Caragana korshinskii and Hedysarum scoparius, decreased and gradually retreated from the artificial plant community, while the naturally multiplied annual herb, such as Eragrostis poaeoides, Bassia dasyphylla, Salsola ruthenica, Chloris virgata and etc., were presented one after another and gradually became dominant. Besides, Artemisia ordosica always played a key role in the community due to its ability of naturally sowing and self-replacement. This type of succession pattern was closely related to the shortage of precipitation resource in this region and the formation of soil crust which inhibited the reproduction of shrub and perennial herb with deep root systems. This study provided a theoretical ground for realizing persistent development of artificial plant community.

Appalachia's Colleges and the Region's Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Jack

1999-01-01

Discusses how Appalachian institutions of higher education can assist the Appalachian Regional Commission in developing local community leaders, assisting entrepreneurs, and training people affected by welfare reform. Calls for institutions of higher education to collaborate with community, government, and business to meet the rising demand for…

Support for recreational trail development and community attachment: a case of the Soucook River Watershed

Treesearch

Jodi L. Michaud; Robert A. Robertson

2001-01-01

This study was conducted as part of a larger multi-community needs assessment. Data from this study allows for the determination of support for a multiple-use trail system linking communities within the Soucook River Watershed Region in New Hampshire. This study also examines the relationship between support for trail development and community attachment. The results...

Community Concerns and Extension Youth Programs. Proceedings Regional Conference (February 18-20, 1981). Publication 28.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Leigh Cree, Ed.

The 4-H/Community Resource Development workshop was designed to help people conducting Extension 4-H programs on sensitive and complex community issues improve their ability to create a better climate for discussion of alternatives and development of community projects. Topics of the presentations included the role of the 4-H administrator,…

Place-Conscious Capacity-Building: A Systemic Model for the Revitalisation and Renewal of Rural Schools and Communities through University-Based Regional Stewardship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Jerry; Thompson, Aaron; Naugle, Kim

2009-01-01

This paper sets forth a model of regional stewardship developed and implemented at a post-compulsory institution serving rural communities in central Appalachia, a region that is among the most impoverished in the United States. The model, termed place-conscious capacity-building, emphasises culturally-responsive methodologies and the strategic…

77 FR 64398 - Order of Succession for HUD Region IV

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-19

... Housing and Urban Development, designates the Order of Succession for the Atlanta Regional Office and its..., Community Planning and Development. 5. Jackson Field Office Order of Succession a. Associate Regional... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5550-D-07] Order of Succession for HUD...

Collocation in Regional Development--The Peel Education and TAFE Response.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goff, Malcolm H.; Nevard, Jennifer

The collocation of services in regional Western Australia (WA) is an important strand of WA's regional development policy. The initiative is intended to foster working relationships among stakeholder groups with a view toward ensuring that regional WA communities have access to quality services. Clustering compatible services in smaller…

Rethinking Vocational Education and Training in South Pacific Island Nations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pillay, Hitendra

1998-01-01

Development of vocational education in South Pacific island nations has been haphazard. Concerns include the need for a sense of regional community, flexibility, quality, program duplication, and participation. Improvements might include a regional coordination center, higher-quality teaching, standardization, cross-credit, and community training…

FUNCTIONAL NETWORK ARCHITECTURE OF READING-RELATED REGIONS ACROSS DEVELOPMENT

PubMed Central

Vogel, Alecia C.; Church, Jessica A.; Power, Jonathan D.; Miezin, Fran M.; Petersen, Steven E.; Schlaggar, Bradley L.

2013-01-01

Reading requires coordinated neural processing across a large number of brain regions. Studying relationships between reading-related regions informs the specificity of information processing performed in each region. Here, regions of interest were defined from a meta-analysis of reading studies, including a developmental study. Relationships between regions were defined as temporal correlations in spontaneous fMRI signal; i.e., resting state functional connectivity MRI (RSFC). Graph theory based network analysis defined the community structure of the “reading-related” regions. Regions sorted into previously defined communities, such as the fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular control networks, and the default mode network. This structure was similar in children, and no apparent “reading” community was defined in any age group. These results argue against regions, or sets of regions, being specific or preferential for reading, instead indicating that regions used in reading are also used in a number of other tasks. PMID:23506969

Higher Education and Community Service: Developing the National University of Lesotho's Third Mission

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Preece, Julia

2011-01-01

Universities have traditionally embraced three missions: teaching, research and community service. The latter usually receives lower status than the other two missions. There has, however, been a revival of interest in community service as a policy oriented exercise for universities and regional development, partly stimulated by international…

The "Boom" and "Bust" Patterns of Communities within the Energy Rich Region of West Virginia: A Case Study of Moundsville

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiger, Brandon S.

The increasing worldwide demand for energy will provide Energy Rich Regions (ERRs) the opportunity to increase their wealth and quality of living. However, a reoccurring pattern of boom and bust cycles in ERRs suggests the need for more sustainable development strategies. A mixed methods approach (case study) is employed to explore the "wicked human problems" occurring in one community, Moundsville, WV and to discover development patterns that might inform sustainable development strategies for the future. This study explores briefly the distant past development patterns, and in greater detail the pre-boom and most current boom in natural gas. First, data will be derived from a conceptual "Energy Rich Region Template" that explores the sustainability of development from the inclusive wealth forms of natural, human, and physical capital. The qualitative data analysis software (MAXQDA) is used to systematically collect and organize data and information into a community-wide knowledge base (specifically the seven years of city council minutes). This framework can assist future research dedicated to similar cases. Furthermore, this case may support communities and or policymakers in the development of a programming guide for converting the natural capital into other reproducible capital forms, thus avoiding the development cycle of boom and bust.

Developing tourist attraction simulation in Jayengan Kampoeng Permata for stimulating economic friendly city

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Astuti, Winny; Qomarun; Febela, Alfa; Putri, Rufia A.; Mukaromah, H.

2018-03-01

Concept of friendly city mentions about better employment options and more opportunities of the local communities. Tourism development and creative industry effectively enhance regional economic development and community welfare. Kampoeng Jayengan is located in Serengan District, Surakarta, which the local community was originally come from Banjar in 1746; with the main economic activity was Jewels Trader. Jayengan Jewels Kampoeng (JKP) will support development of Surakarta as a creative city integrated with other creative tourism Kampoengs. In fact, JKP has been launched by the Secretary of Surakarta Government in 2015 indicated the Government’s attention and support to development of the area. This research aims for Developing Attraction Simulation based on the local economic activities of the communities in order to stimulate Economic friendly city. The methods used mixed methods combining quantitative through field observation and qualitative approach through interview and FGD. The results developed two directions of Tourism Attraction destination, the West and the East Direction. The sequence process of the jewels craft making is challenging for creating the path of tourism attraction in JKP. This implies for increasing tourist visits, enhancing regional economic development and community welfare.

Examining Extension's Capacity in Community Resource and Economic Development: Viewpoints of Extension Administrators on the Role of Community Resource and Economic Development in the Extension Portfolio

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Urbanowitz, Seth C.; Wilcox, Michael D., Jr.

2013-01-01

The survey-based research reported here offers insights on community, resource, and economic development (CRED) Extension programming at the national and regional level. The results present a national picture of CRED programming, research, and potential future programming opportunities that Extension could capitalize on. The research shows that…

[Health vulnerability mapping in the Community of Madrid (Spain)].

PubMed

Ramasco-Gutiérrez, Milagros; Heras-Mosteiro, Julio; Garabato-González, Sonsoles; Aránguez-Ruiz, Emiliano; Aguirre Martín-Gil, Ramón

The Public Health General Directorate of Madrid has developed a health vulnerability mapping methodology to assist regional social health teams in health planning, prioritisation and intervention based on a model of social determinants of health and an equity approach. This process began with the selection of areas with the worst social indicators in health vulnerability. Then, key stakeholders of the region jointly identified priority areas of intervention and developed a consensual plan of action. We present the outcomes of this experience and its connection with theoretical models of asset-based community development, health-integrated georeferencing systems and community health interventions. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The contributions of community learning centres (CLCs) to personal and community development in Myanmar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le, Ai Tam Pham

2018-05-01

Community learning centres (CLCs) have been widely established in the Asia-Pacific region as locally managed institutions that offer non-formal educational opportunities and community development activities. Myanmar officially has more than 3,000 centres, which is one of the highest numbers in the region. This article examines the operation of CLCs and their contributions to personal and community development in Padaung, Myanmar. The author's research is based on six weeks of fieldwork in Myanmar for data collection including semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and informal conversations. Her findings suggest that CLCs can contribute to the improvement of both individuals' quality of life and communities' social capital, which facilitates mutually beneficial collective action. The findings also support the conclusion that CLCs can provide additional educational opportunities beyond the formal system, especially for adults and members of rural communities, e.g. farmers. However, due to constraints in terms of budget, implementing capacity and socio-economic factors, the outreach of CLC activities is still somewhat limited and has yet to reach its full potential.

The Limits of the ASEAN Regional Forum

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

to “impair the development of more solid regional networks required of a security community .”34 In the same vein, Victor Cha argued that instead of...of Regional Community ,” Pacific Review 15, no. 1 (2002): 89. 43 Ibid. 44 Haacke and Morada, “ASEAN Regional Forum,” 2. 45 Ibid. 10...versus China’s Strategic Interests in the SCS The United States had consistently stated in official communications that it does not take sides in

Detecting the changes in rural communities in Taiwan by applying multiphase segmentation on FORMOSA-2 satellite imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Yishuo

2015-09-01

Agricultural activities mainly occur in rural areas; recently, ecological conservation and biological diversity are being emphasized in rural communities to promote sustainable development for rural communities, especially for rural communities in Taiwan. Therefore, since 2005, many rural communities in Taiwan have compiled their own development strategies in order to create their own unique characteristics to attract people to visit and stay in rural communities. By implementing these strategies, young people can stay in their own rural communities and the rural communities are rejuvenated. However, some rural communities introduce artificial construction into the community such that the ecological and biological environments are significantly degraded. The strategies need to be efficiently monitored because up to 67 rural communities have proposed rejuvenation projects. In 2015, up to 440 rural communities were estimated to be involved in rural community rejuvenations. How to monitor the changes occurring in those rural communities participating in rural community rejuvenation such that ecological conservation and ecological diversity can be satisfied is an important issue in rural community management. Remote sensing provides an efficient and rapid method to achieve this issue. Segmentation plays a fundamental role in human perception. In this respect, segmentation can be used as the process of transforming the collection of pixels of an image into a group of regions or objects with meaning. This paper proposed an algorithm based on the multiphase approach to segment the normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI, of the rural communities into several sub-regions, and to have the NDVI distribution in each sub-region be homogeneous. Those regions whose values of NDVI are close will be merged into the same class. In doing so, a complex NDVI map can be simplified into two groups: the high and low values of NDVI. The class with low NDVI values corresponds to those regions containing roads, buildings, and other manmade construction works and the class with high values of NDVI indicates that those regions contain vegetation in good health. In order to verify the processed results, the regional boundaries were extracted and laid down on the given images to check whether the extracted boundaries were laid down on buildings, roads, or other artificial constructions. In addition to the proposed approach, another approach called statistical region merging was employed by grouping sets of pixels with homogeneous properties such that those sets are iteratively grown by combining smaller regions or pixels. In doing so, the segmented NDVI map can be generated. By comparing the areas of the merged classes in different years, the changes occurring in the rural communities of Taiwan can be detected. The satellite imagery of FORMOSA-2 with 2-m ground resolution is employed to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The satellite imagery of two rural communities (Jhumen and Taomi communities) is chosen to evaluate environmental changes between 2005 and 2010. The change maps of 2005-2010 show that a high density of green on a patch of land is increased by 19.62 ha in Jhumen community and conversely a similar patch of land is significantly decreased by 236.59 ha in Taomi community. Furthermore, the change maps created by another image segmentation method called statistical region merging generate similar processed results to multiphase segmentation.

Expanded School Mental Health Services: Development of the Southeastern School Behavioral Health Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weist, Mark D.; Stevens, Robert; Headley-Greenlaw, June; Miller, Elaine; Fletcher, Lee; Collier, Tristan; Arnau, Penny; Urbanski, Jan; Jenkins, June; Diana, David

2018-01-01

This article reviews the development of the Southeastern School Behavioral Health Community (SSBHC), which began in 2013 to bring coherence to the school behavioral health (SBH) agenda in South Carolina and has since expanded to become a regional effort in the southeastern United States. The term SBH is used to convey community mental health…

Nature and Status of Community College Leadership Development Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hull, James R.; Keim, Marybelle C.

2007-01-01

This study was conducted because of the paucity of research on community college leadership development programs. A mailed survey was used to gather data from a national sample of incumbent community college presidents with 286 out of 389 responding for a return rate of 74%. Of national and regional programs, the Chair Academy, the Executive…

Identifying Common Patterns in Diverse Systems: Effects of Exurban Development on Birds of the Adirondack Park and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glennon, Michale J.; Kretser, Heidi E.; Hilty, Jodi A.

2015-02-01

We examined the impacts of exurban development on bird communities in Essex County, New York and Madison County, Montana by comparing differences in abundance of songbirds between subdivisions and control sites in both regions. We hypothesized that impacts to bird communities would be greater in the relatively homogeneous, closed canopy Adirondack forest of northern New York State than they would be in the more naturally heterogeneous grasslands interspersed with trees and shrubs of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We examined birds in five functional groups expected to be responsive to exurban development, and determined relative abundance within subdivisions and control sites across these two distinct regions. We found little support for our hypothesis. For birds in the area-sensitive, low nesting, and Neotropical migrant functional groups, relative abundance was lower in subdivisions in the Adirondacks and in Madison County, while relative abundance of edge specialists was greater in subdivisions in both regions. The direction and magnitude of change in the avian communities between subdivisions and controls was similar in both regions for all guilds except microhabitat specialists. These similarities across diverse ecosystems suggest that the ecological context of the encompassing region may be less important than other elements in shaping avian communities in exurban systems. This finding suggests that humans and their specific behaviors and activities in exurban areas may be underappreciated but potentially important drivers of change in these regions.

A survey of potential users of the High Altitude Powered Platform (HAPP) in the ocean/coastal zone community

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Escoe, D.; Rigternik, P.

1979-01-01

The results of a survey of the ocean/coastal zone community to determine potential applications of a High Altitude Powered Platform (HAPP) are reported. Such a platform, capable of stationkeeping for periods up to a year over a given location, could make frequent and repeated high resolution observations over a given region or serve as a high-altitude regional communications link. Users were surveyed in person and via a questionnaire to determine the desirability of the HAPP within the ocean/coastal zone community. The results of the survey indicated that there is strong interest in all areas of the user community (research and development, operational agencies, and private industry) in having NASA develop the HAPP.

Community Support for Basic Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Region Human Development Working Paper Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watt, Patrick

Currently, Africa stands out as the world's poorest and most educationally deprived region. Where communities are empowered to identify their own needs and priorities, participate in decisions about resource allocation, and hold education providers accountable for ensuring that children receive a minimum acceptable standard of education, schooling…

Outlook: The Growing Latino Presence in the Tri-State Region.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Latino Commission of Tri-State, New York, NY.

This study uses 1980 Census information and post-Census trends to develop an information base for the Latino community in the tri-state region of Southern New York, Northern New Jersey, and Western Connecticut. This reference base provides a demographic and socioeconomic profile of the Latino community in the following categories: (1) the…

Agriculture and Community Development Interface. Joint Meeting of the Southern Region State Leaders for Agriculture and Natural Resources and Community Resource Development Proceedings (October 8-11, 1989, Williamsburg, Virginia).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warner, Paul D., Ed.; Campbell, Raymond, Ed.

This document is a summary of remarks presented at a joint meeting of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Community Resource Development state leaders in 1989. The focus of the meeting was economic viability, rural extension and education, water quality, waste management, biotechnology, low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA), and rural…

78 FR 54233 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-03

... degree of involvement by the indigenous community members, including contact information. This collection...: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Title: Western Pacific Community Development... Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Pacific Island Region to provide eligible western Pacific communities...

[What are we doing in neighborhoods? Description of health-promoting community activities in primary care: the FrAC Project].

PubMed

March, Sebastià; Jordán Martín, Matilde; Montaner Gomis, Isabel; Benedé Azagra, Carmen Belén; Elizalde Soto, Lázaro; Ramos, María

2014-01-01

To describe the health-promoting community activities developed in primary health care and compare types of activities and how they are performed among autonomous regions. A descriptive multicenter study was carried out in primary care in 5 Spanish regions. We included community activities consisting of non-sporadic activities, carried out in the previous year, with the participation of the primary care team, and the active participation of the community or as a cross-sector activity. The persons responsible for each of the 194 teams were asked if the team participated in community activities and, if so, a questionnaire was completed by the person responsible for each activity. The variables consisted of the topic addressed, the target population, the professionals involved, the time and scope of implementation, evaluation, theoretical perspectives, network registration, the involvement of the community and other agents, and evaluation of this involvement. A descriptive analysis was performed, stratified by region. We identified 183 community activities in 104 teams. Although there was wide variability among regions, most activities were related to general health, nutrition and emotional-sexual health and targeted the general population, children or parents and were carried out in educational or health centers. Participating professionals had a median of 4 years of experience and a median of 2.8 professionals were involved in each activity. A total of 72.5% of the activities were performed during working hours, 75% were evaluated, and 70% were supported by theoretical and methodological perspectives. Non-health sectors were involved in 65%, local government in 60%, and nongovernmental organizations in 58.5%. Nurses were involved in 85.8% of the activities, physicians in 38.5%, and social workers in 35%. Substantial variability was detected among regions. Wide variability was found in the types of activities and their application among the community activities developed by primary care, as well as in institutional recognition and community involvement in the development and evaluation of these activities. Copyright © 2013 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

From Ripples to Waves: The Rural Community College Initiative to Build New Partnerships in Support of America's Rural Communities. RRD 190

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emery, Mary

2008-01-01

In 1994 the Ford Foundation launched the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) as a "national demonstration project to help community colleges in distressed regions move their people and communities toward prosperity. It challenged community colleges to become catalysts for economic development and supported aggressive efforts to increase…

Development of a strategic plan for food security and safety in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Canada.

PubMed

Fillion, Myriam; Laird, Brian; Douglas, Vasiliki; Van Pelt, Linda; Archie, Diane; Chan, Hing Man

2014-01-01

Current social and environmental changes in the Arctic challenge the health and well-being of its residents. Developing evidence-informed adaptive measures in response to these changes is a priority for communities, governments and researchers. To develop strategic planning to promote food security and food safety in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. A qualitative study using group discussions during a workshop. A regional workshop gathered Inuit organizations and community representatives, university-based researchers from the Inuit Health Survey (IHS) and NWT governmental organizations. Discussions were structured around the findings from the IHS. For each key area, programs and activities were identified and prioritized by group discussion and voting. The working group developed a vision for future research and intervention, which is to empower communities to promote health, well-being and environmental sustainability in the ISR. The group elaborated missions for the region that address the following issues: (a) capacity building within communities; (b) promotion of the use of traditional foods to address food security; (c) research to better understand the linkages between diseases and contaminants in traditional foods, market foods and lifestyle choices; (d) and promotion of affordable housing. Five programs to address each key area were developed as follows: harvest support and traditional food sharing; education and promotion; governance and policy; research; and housing. Concrete activities were identified to guide future research and intervention projects. The results of the planning workshop provide a blueprint for future research and intervention projects.

Using Social Network Analysis to Evaluate Community Capacity Building of a Regional Community Cancer Network

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luque, John; Tyson, Dinorah Martinez; Lee, Ji-Hyun; Gwede, Clement; Vadaparampil, Susan; Noel-Thomas, Shalewa; Meade, Cathy

2010-01-01

The Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network (TBCCN) is one of 25 Community Network Programs funded by the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities with the objectives to create a collaborative infrastructure of academic and community based organizations and to develop effective and sustainable interventions to…

Partnerships with Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bunker Hill Community Coll., Boston, MA.

In keeping with Bunker Hill (Massachusetts) Community College's (BHCC's) commitment to developing and maintaining effective working relationships with the many communities in its service region, important elements of the college's outreach efforts continue to be programs and services developed in cooperation with the public schools. Examples of…

Trails and Greenways: Alternatives to "Carmageddon."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, David T.

1995-01-01

Discusses personal and societal effects of automobile-centered landscapes and development. Recommends fundamental reexamination of community development and beliefs regarding desirable human settlement. Suggests greenways and trails as a multifunctional means for revitalizing communities in a more ecological fashion. Presents the Niagara region of…

A Collaborative Effort to Assess Environmental Health in ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Region 3 “Making a Visible Difference in Communities” (MVD) initiative for Southeast Newport News, VA has taken a community-centric, place-based approach to identifying and delivering service to the area’s residents and the city as a whole. Beginning with a CARE (Community Action for a Renewed Environment) Level 1 cooperative agreement (a grant with substantial government involvement and required outputs) in 2011, Region 3 funding helped to establish the Southeast CARE Coalition (“the Coalition”), and quickly formed a bond with the organization. Two years later, Region 3, the US EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the Coalition embarked on a scientific, socio-demographic Regional Sustainable Environmental Science (RESES) research project to assess local pollutant sources and their potential impacts to the community. These efforts helped EPA select Newport News as an MVD community, resulting in an expanded partnership that now includes the City of Newport News. Through this association and the MVD designation, the partners have identified and prioritized environmental and other concerns (e.g., improving air and water quality, adapting to extreme weather, promoting equitable development, improving transportation). Newport News has recently held workshops and training on topics such as environmental health, asthma, weather events, and equitable development, and continues to improve the community’s health, its knowledge of the relevant e

Lessons from Mount Kilimanjaro: Schooling, Community, and Gender in East Africa.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stambach, Amy

This book presents an ethnographic study of a school and community in East Africa. It focuses on the role school plays in the development of the children's identity and relationships to their parents and community, and in the development of the region. At issue here are the competing influences of Western modernity and the cultural traditions of…

76 FR 64362 - Consolidated Delegation of Authority for the Office of Community Planning and Development

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-18

... grants pursuant to section 214 of the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, Public Law 89-4, 79... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5556-D-01] Consolidated Delegation of Authority for the Office of Community Planning and Development AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD. ACTION...

77 FR 31971 - Consolidated Delegation of Authority for the Office of Community Planning and Development

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-30

... section 214 of the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, Public Law 89-4, 79 Stat. 5 (codified as... Vol. 77 Wednesday, No. 104 May 30, 2012 Part III Department of Housing and Urban Development Consolidated Delegation of Authority for the Office of Community Planning and Development; Order of Succession...

Evaluating program integration and the rise in collaboration: case study of a palliative care network.

PubMed

Bainbridge, Daryl; Brazil, Kevin; Krueger, Paul; Ploeg, Jenny; Taniguchi, Alan; Darnay, Julie

2011-01-01

There is increasing global interest in using regional palliative care networks (PCNs) to integrate care and create systems that are more cost-effective and responsive. We examined a PCN that used a community development approach to build capacity for palliative care in each distinct community in a region of southern Ontario, Canada, with the goal of achieving a competent integrated system. Using a case study methodology, we examined a PCN at the structural level through a document review, a survey of 20 organizational administrators, and an interview with the network director. The PCN identified 14 distinct communities at different stages of development within the region. Despite the lack of some key features that would facilitate efficient palliative care delivery across these communities, administrators largely viewed the network partnership as beneficial and collaborative. The PCN has attempted to recognize specific needs in each local area. Change is gradual but participatory. There remain structural issues that may negatively affect the functioning of the PCN.

Citizen Science for Post-disaster Sustainable Community Development in Ecologically Fragiel Regions - A Case from China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wei; Ming, Meng; Lu, Ye; Jin, Wei

2016-04-01

The world's mountains host some of the most complex, dynamic, and diverse ecosystems and are also hotspots for natural disasters, such as earthquake, landslide and flood. One factor that limits the mountain communities to recover from disasters and pursue sustainable development is the lack of locally relevant scientific knowledge, which is hard to gain from global and regional scale observations and models. The rapid advances in ICT, computing, communication technologies and the emergence of citizen science is changing the situation. Here we report a case from Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuary World Natural Heritage in China on the application of citizen science in a community reconstruction project. Dahe, a mountainous community (ca. 8000 ha in size) is located covering part of the World Heritage's core and buffer zones, with an elevation range of 1000-3000 meters. The community suffered from two major earthquakes of 7.9 and 6.9 Mw in 2008 and 2013 respectively. Landslides and flooding threat the community and significantly limit their livelihood options. We integrated participatory disaster risk mapping (e.g., community vulnerability and capacity assessment) and mobile assisted natural hazards and natural resources mapping (e.g., using free APP GeoODK) into more conventional community reconstruction and livelihood building activities. We showed that better decisions are made based on results from these activities and local residents have a high level of buy-in in these new knowledge. We suggest that initiatives like this, if successfully scale-up, can also help generate much needed data and knowledge in similar less-developed and data deficient regions of the world.

A Citizen Science and Government Collaboration: Developing ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is actively involved in supporting citizen science projects and providing communities with information and assistance for conducting their own air pollution monitoring. As part of a Regional Applied Research Effort (RARE) project, EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) worked collaboratively with EPA Region 2 and the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) in Newark, New Jersey, to develop and test the “Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists.” In this collaboration, citizen scientists measured local gaseous and particulate air pollution levels by using a customized low-cost sensor pod designed and fabricated by EPA. This citizen science air quality measurement project provided an excellent opportunity for EPA to evaluate and improve the Toolbox resources available to communities. The Air Sensor Toolbox, developed in coordination with the ICC, can serve as a template for communities across the country to use in developing their own air pollution monitoring programs in areas where air pollution is a concern. This pilot project provided an opportunity for a highly motivated citizen science organization and the EPA to work together directly to address environmental concerns within the community. Useful lessons were learned about how to improve coordination between the government and communities and the types of tools and technologies needed for conducting an effective citizen science project that can be app

Workforce Development Institute: 1995 Summary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Ansleigh, Ed.

This report provides a summary of the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC's) second Workforce Development Institute (WDI), held January 18 to 21, 1995 to provide community college workforce service providers with resources and training. Introductory materials describe the WDI, its regional forums, the AACC's related National…

76 FR 40686 - Public Input for the Launch of the Strong Cities, Strong Communities Visioning Challenge

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-11

... growth; creative cities; healthy cities; sustainable economic development; regional innovation clusters... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Economic Development Administration [Docket No.: 110705370-1370-01] Public Input for the Launch of the Strong Cities, Strong Communities Visioning Challenge AGENCY: Economic...

Methodological issues in medical workforce analysis: implications for regional Australia.

PubMed

Hays, R B; Veitch, P C; Franklin, L; Crossland, L

1998-02-01

Medical workforce data have a profound impact on health policy formulation, but derived doctor population ratios (DPR) are often more relevant to plotting national trends than providing a detailed regional or local workforce perspective. Regional workforce data may be more useful if national approaches are augmented by local information. In developing a detailed workforce analysis for one region of Australia, the authors encountered several challenging methodological issues, including the accuracy of medical workforce databases, clarity of definition of community boundaries, interpretation of workforce definitions and the difficulty accounting for local community needs. This paper discusses the implications for regional workforce research.

RISA progress in the development of drought indicators to support decision making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Close, S.; Simpson, C.

2015-12-01

Communities around the country are increasingly recognizing the need to plan for water shortages and long-term drought. To build preparedness and help communities manage risk, researchers funded by NOAA's National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Coping with Drought initiative through the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program are working to better understand these impacts across the country and work with communities and resource managers to develop adaptation strategies that meet their needs. The Coping with Drought initiative supports research involving the use of climate predictions and forecast information in decision-making across a range of sectors including agriculture, natural and water resources management, and public health. As a component of this initiative, the RISA program supported research and engagement to develop indicators of drought designed to be of most use to managers and planners grappling with severe and in some cases ongoing drought in their regions. Indicators are being developed for coastal ecosystems in the Carolinas, water management in California, and native communities in Arizona. For instance, the California Nevada Applications Program (CNAP) RISA developed a percentile-based indicator system for analyzing historic droughts and characterizing the ongoing California drought. And in the Southwest, the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) RISA has been working with the Hopi community on drought monitoring and planning to develop the first-ever Hopi Quarterly Drought Status Report which integrates scientific and local knowledge about drought. This presentation will discuss RISA's role in developing drought indicators based on engagement with decision makers and how this work fits into the larger role that RISAs are playing in the development of the NIDIS Regional Drought Early Warning Systems across the U.S.

Struggling Communities Turn to Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischer, Karin

2008-01-01

In economically struggling communities, small private colleges are helping generate development projects in large part as a matter of survival. Unlike research universities and land-grant institutions, which have long viewed regional economic development as central to their missions, most liberal-arts colleges are relative newcomers to this work,…

Putting food on the public health table: Making food security relevant to regional health authorities.

PubMed

Rideout, Karen; Seed, Barbara; Ostry, Aleck

2006-01-01

Food security is emerging as an increasingly important public health issue. The purpose of this paper is to describe a conceptual model and five classes of food security indicators for regional health authorities (RHAs): direct, indirect, consequence, process, and supra-regional. The model was developed after a review of the food security literature and interviews with British Columbia community nutritionists and public health officials. We offer this conceptual model as a practical tool to help RHAs develop a comprehensive framework and use specific indicators, in conjunction with public health nutritionists and other community stakeholders. We recommend using all five classes of indicator together to ensure a complete assessment of the full breadth of food security. This model will be useful for Canadian health authorities wishing to take a holistic community-based approach to public health nutrition to develop more effective policies and programs to maximize food security. The model and indicators offer a rational process that could be useful for collaborative multi-stakeholder initiatives to improve food security.

Mapping, monitoring, and modeling Western Gateway Community landscape dynamics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hester, David J.

2013-01-01

Federal public lands in the western United States are becoming increasingly surrounded by Gateway Communities. These communities are undergoing landscape change due to population growth, economic growth, and the resulting land-use development. Socioeconomic, demographic, and land-use changes in Gateway Communities are often perceived as threats to Federal land resources, natural amenities, cultural resources, and recreational opportunities. However, land-surface disturbances on Federal public lands, such as conventional and alternative energy development (which impact surrounding Gateway Communities), are also environmental and societal issues that Federal land and adjacent regional community planners need to consider in their long-range land-use planning.

How the Pacific Islands Climate Education Partnership (PCEP) Has Collaboratively Increased Regional Collective Impacts on Climate Literacy Via Networks of Diverse Stakeholders Engaging in Multiple Reinforcing Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sussman, A.

2016-12-01

The Pacific Islands Climate Education Partnership (PCEP) serves the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Island (USAPI) Region. The international entities served by PCEP are the state of Hawai`i (USA); three Freely Associated States (the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau), and three Territories (Guam, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa). Funded by NSF, the PCEP aims to educate the region's students and citizens in ways that exemplify modern science and indigenous environmental knowledge, address the urgency of climate change impacts, and focus on adaptation strategies that can increase resiliency with respect to climate change impacts. PCEP partners include universities, education nonprofits, state or country offices/ministries of education, local ecological nonprofits, and a variety of community organizations. Partners contribute and share expertise in climate science, local ecological knowledge, K-12 education in the Pacific island region, science and environmental education, community college education, learning science, indigenous navigation, and oceanography. Over the past six years, PCEP has engaged with regional school systems and communities in a wide variety of ways that complement and reinforce each other. Highlighted activities include improving country and state climate science education standards; focusing on place-based local ecological knowledge and skills in working with schools and communities; developing and disseminating formal education resources such as books and web resources that focus on local contexts and skills rather than contextually inappropriate mainland the textbooks; developing and implementing professional development for teachers; and supporting local ways of knowing by gathering and sharing local stories of climate change; and promoting an emphasis on climate adaptation strategies that increase resilience of natural environments and community systems.

Engaging Youth in Community Change: Outcomes and Lessons Learned from Sierra Health Foundation's REACH Youth Program. Final Evaluation Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, David; Erbstein, Nancy; Fabionar, James; Wilcox, Whitney; Carrasco, Lisceth Cruz

2010-01-01

From 2006 to 2010, Sierra Health Foundation's REACH program committed $8 million to support the healthy development of youth in the Greater Sacramento, California, region. As a centerpiece of the larger grantmaking strategy, seven grantees in the region were selected to create community coalitions that involved both youth and adults in their…

The Revised Institution: The Community College Mission at the End of the 20th Century.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, John S.

This study examines the changed and changing mission of community colleges in the 1990s in the United States and Canada. By narrowing the focus to the geographical area of the Pacific/ Western region, the study seeks to identify the development of international cultural connections consistent with the region and to explain how the globalization…

77 FR 38853 - Redelegation of Authority to the Deputy Assistant Secretaries in the Office of Community Planning...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-29

... section 214 of the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, Public Law 89-4, 79 Stat. 5 (codified as... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5642-D-03] Redelegation of Authority to the Deputy Assistant Secretaries in the Office of Community Planning and Development AGENCY: Office of...

Bridging Immigrants and Refugees with Early Childhood Development Services: Partnership Research in the Development of an Effective Service Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poureslami, Iraj; Nimmon, Laura; Ng, Kelly; Cho, Sarah; Foster, Susan; Hertzman, Clyde

2013-01-01

We assessed the availability and accessibility of early childhood development (ECD) services to ethno-cultural communities in the Tri-Cities region of British Columbia. Primary participants were recent immigrant and refugee parents from three ethnic communities: Chinese (both Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking) and Korean-, and Farsi-speaking groups…

Development of a strategic plan for food security and safety in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Canada

PubMed Central

Fillion, Myriam; Laird, Brian; Douglas, Vasiliki; Van Pelt, Linda; Archie, Diane; Chan, Hing Man

2014-01-01

Background Current social and environmental changes in the Arctic challenge the health and well-being of its residents. Developing evidence-informed adaptive measures in response to these changes is a priority for communities, governments and researchers. Objectives To develop strategic planning to promote food security and food safety in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. Design A qualitative study using group discussions during a workshop. Methods A regional workshop gathered Inuit organizations and community representatives, university-based researchers from the Inuit Health Survey (IHS) and NWT governmental organizations. Discussions were structured around the findings from the IHS. For each key area, programs and activities were identified and prioritized by group discussion and voting. Results The working group developed a vision for future research and intervention, which is to empower communities to promote health, well-being and environmental sustainability in the ISR. The group elaborated missions for the region that address the following issues: (a) capacity building within communities; (b) promotion of the use of traditional foods to address food security; (c) research to better understand the linkages between diseases and contaminants in traditional foods, market foods and lifestyle choices; (d) and promotion of affordable housing. Five programs to address each key area were developed as follows: harvest support and traditional food sharing; education and promotion; governance and policy; research; and housing. Concrete activities were identified to guide future research and intervention projects. Conclusions The results of the planning workshop provide a blueprint for future research and intervention projects. PMID:25147772

Language Policy and Practice in the Multilingual Southern African Development Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mooko, Theophilus

2009-01-01

This study explores the language policy and practice of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), an African regional economic organisation made up of 14 member states (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia…

Changing Lives, Building a Workforce: Preparing Community College Students for Jobs and Careers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ACT, Inc., 2013

2013-01-01

The importance of community colleges has never been as recognized by the country's state and national elected officials as it is today. Community colleges are viewed as an essential, if not the most essential, resource in addressing the economic and workforce development needs of many regions and communities across the country. This paper examines…

Ecotourism and community development: case studies from Hainan, China.

PubMed

Stone, Mike; Wall, Geoffrey

2004-01-01

The connections between people, parks, and tourism have received significant attention in recent years, recognizing the potential for mutually beneficial relationships. Ecotourism has been promoted and widely adopted as a strategy for funding conservation initiatives, while at the same time contributing to the socioeconomic development of host communities and providing for quality tourism experiences. Parks are among the most common ecotourism destinations. Employing interviews, observations and secondary sources, this study assesses the current status of ecotourism at two protected areas in Hainan, China, where it is being promoted as a strategy for balancing regional economic growth and conservation objectives. Through an evaluation of the existing tourism-park-community relationships, opportunities and constraints are identified. Ecotourism development was found to be at an early stage at both study sites. Socioeconomic benefits for the local communities have been limited and tourism activity has not contributed revenues towards conservation to date. Community residents, nevertheless, generally support conservation and are optimistic that tourism growth will yield benefits. In light of the study findings and the salient literature, planning direction is offered with the intention of enhancing the capacity of ecotourism to generate benefits for both communities and the parks, and thus contribute to the sustainable development of the region more generally. Lessons derived have broad applicability for ecotourism destinations elsewhere.

Building Regional Networking Capacity through Leadership Development: The Case of Leadership Northwest Missouri

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maltsberger, Beverly; Majee, Wilson

2012-01-01

Through a case study analysis of a regional leadership development program, this article describes the impact on individual and group leadership skills and how the skills are employed to benefit individual communities and the region as a whole. Data were obtained through surveys. Through cooperation and collaboration between and among leadership…

Early Childhood Community School Linkages: Advancing a Theory of Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geiser, Kristin E.; Rollins, S. Kwesi; Gerstein, Amy; Blank, Martin J.

2013-01-01

In 2009, the Coalition for Community Schools at the Institute for Educational Leadership (CCS-IEL) embarked on an ambitious action research and development project, leveraging the community school system infrastructure present in three geographic regions (Tulsa, Oklahoma; Multnomah County, Oregon; Albuquerque, New Mexico) to advance research and…

The Marin City Early Intervention Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Far West Lab. for Educational Research and Development, Berkeley, CA.

This report briefly describes the Marin City, California community and summarizes progress made by the Far West Laboratory's Western Regional Laboratory in the development of a long-range community intervention program. Marin City is a predominantly low-income, black community in which 30 percent of households, mainly those headed by single women,…

A Research Agenda for Community Colleges: A Regional Example.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Killacky, Jim; Gillett-Karam, Rosemary

1994-01-01

Outlines findings of a survey asking community college presidents in four states to list the questions and issues that should be given priority in college research agendas. Indicates that questions relating to student characteristics and success, curriculum, organizational and community development, articulation, faculty, and leadership were the…

ITS all right mama: investigating the formation of chimeric sequences in the ITS2 region by DNA metabarcoding analyses of fungal mock communities of different complexities.

PubMed

Bjørnsgaard Aas, Anders; Davey, Marie Louise; Kauserud, Håvard

2017-07-01

The formation of chimeric sequences can create significant methodological bias in PCR-based DNA metabarcoding analyses. During mixed-template amplification of barcoding regions, chimera formation is frequent and well documented. However, profiling of fungal communities typically uses the more variable rDNA region ITS. Due to a larger research community, tools for chimera detection have been developed mainly for the 16S/18S markers. However, these tools are widely applied to the ITS region without verification of their performance. We examined the rate of chimera formation during amplification and 454 sequencing of the ITS2 region from fungal mock communities of different complexities. We evaluated the chimera detecting ability of two common chimera-checking algorithms: perseus and uchime. Large proportions of the chimeras reported were false positives. No false negatives were found in the data set. Verified chimeras accounted for only 0.2% of the total ITS2 reads, which is considerably less than what is typically reported in 16S and 18S metabarcoding analyses. Verified chimeric 'parent sequences' had significantly higher per cent identity to one another than to random members of the mock communities. Community complexity increased the rate of chimera formation. GC content was higher around the verified chimeric break points, potentially facilitating chimera formation through base pair mismatching in the neighbouring regions of high similarity in the chimeric region. We conclude that the hypervariable nature of the ITS region seems to buffer the rate of chimera formation in comparison with other, less variable barcoding regions, due to shorter regions of high sequence similarity. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Community Mental Health Services in Latin America for People with Severe Mental Disorders

PubMed Central

Minoletti, Alberto; Galea, Sandro; Susser, Ezra

2013-01-01

Mental disorders are highly prevalent in Latin American countries and exact a serious emotional toll, yet investment in public mental health remains insufficient. Most countries of the region have developed national and local initiatives to improve delivery of mental health services over the last 22 years, following the technical leadership of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). It is especially notable that PAHO/WHO facilitated the development of national policies and plans, as well as local programs, to deliver specialized community care for persons with severe mental disorders. Nevertheless, at present, the majority of Latin American countries maintain a model of services for severe mental disorders based primarily on psychiatric hospitals that consume most of the national mental health budget. To accelerate the pace of change, this article emphasizes the need to develop cross-country regional initiatives that promote mental health service development, focusing on severe mental disorders. As one specific example, the authors describe work with RedeAmericas, which has brought together an interdisciplinary group of international investigators to research regional approaches and train a new generation of leaders in public mental health. More generally, four regional strategies are proposed to complement the work of PAHO/ WHO in Latin America: 1) to develop multi-country studies on community services, 2) to study new strategies and interventions in countries with more advanced mental health services, 3) to strengthen advocacy groups by cross-country interchange, and 4) to develop a network of well-trained leaders to catalyze progress across the region. PMID:25339792

Applying a basic development needs approach for sustainable and integrated community development in less-developed areas: report of ongoing Iranian experience.

PubMed

Asadi-Lari, M; Farshad, A A; Assaei, S E; Vaez Mahdavi, M R; Akbari, M E; Ameri, A; Salimi, Z; Gray, D

2005-06-01

Despite considerable achievements in the provision of basic developmental facilities in terms of drinking water, access to primary healthcare services, high-quality and nutritious food, social services, and proper housing facilities, there are many rural and slum communities in Iran where these essential needs remain unfulfilled. Lack of equity is prominent, as large differences exist in underprivileged provinces. New policies developed in the past two decades have resulted in substantial achievements in meeting population needs and reducing the socio-economic gap; nevertheless, poverty levels, unemployment due to a large increase in the birth rate in the early 1980s, and lack of community participation are matters yet to be addressed. To overcome these deficiencies, a basic development needs approach was adopted to promote the concept of community self-help and self-reliance through intersectoral collaboration, creating an environment where people could take an active part in the development process, with the Iranian government providing the necessary support to achieve the desired level of development. Following firm commitment from the Iranian government and technical support from the World Health Organization Regional Office, basic development needs was assigned a high priority in health and health-related sectors, reflected in the third National Masterplan (2001-2005). A comprehensive intersectoral plan was designed, and pilot projects were commenced in three villages. Each village elected a representative, and committee clusters were formed to run and monitor projects identified by a process of local needs assessment and priority assignment. In each region, a variety of needs were elicited from these assessments, which were actively supported by local authorities. A basic development needs approach was found to be a reliable discipline to improve community participation, needs-led resource allocation and intersectoral co-operation in community development, particularly in underprivileged areas. Iran's initial experience of basic development needs has gained widespread public support but will require periodical evaluation as it is introduced into other rural and urban regions across the country.

Working Together to Make a Difference in Rural America: North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, 2010 Annual Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, 2011

2011-01-01

The North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) is one of four regional centers in the United States that have worked to improve the quality of life in rural communities for nearly 40 years. With funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the land-grant universities in our 12-state region, the NCRCRD…

Improving Water Resources Management on Global and Region Scales - Evaluating Strategies for Water Futures with the IIASA's Community Water Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burek, P.; Kahil, T.; Satoh, Y.; Greve, P.; Byers, E.; Langan, S.; Wada, Y.

2017-12-01

Half of the planet's population is severely impacted by severe water issues including absent or unreliable water supply, sanitation, poor water quality, unmitigated floods and droughts, and degraded water environments. In recent years, global water security has been highlighted not only by the science community but also by business leaders as one of the greatest threats to sustainable human development for different generations. How can we ensure the well-being of people and ecosystems with limited water, technology and financial resources? To evaluate this, IIASA's Water Futures and Solutions Initiative (WFaS) is identifying a portfolios of robust and cost-effective options across different economic sectors including agriculture, energy, manufacturing, households, and environment and ecosystems. Options to increase water supply and accessibility are evaluated together with water demand management and water governance options. To test these solution-portfolios in order to obtain a clear picture of the opportunities but also of the risks and the trade-offs we have developed the Community Water Model (CWATM) which joins IIASA's integrated assessment modeling framework, coupling hydrology with hydro-economics (ECHO model), energy (MESSAGE model) and land use (GLOBIOM model). CWATM has been developed to work flexibly with varying spatial resolutions from global to regional levels. The model is open source and community-driven to promote our work amongst the wider water and other science community worldwide, with flexibility to link to other models and integrate newly developed modules such as water quality. In order to identify the solution portfolios, we present a global hotspots assessment of water-related risks with the ability to zoom in at regional scale using the example of the Lake Victoria basin in E. Africa. We show how socio-economic and climate change will alter spatial patterns of the hydrological cycle and have regional impacts on water availability. At the same time, we assess water needs for humans and environment to identify the population and regions that are vulnerable to changes linked to extremes such as water scarcity, droughts and floods. Different solution-portfolios to facilitate regional water management planning will be further discussed.

Re-Framing Pacific Regional Service Delivery: Opportunity Spaces for "Together" and "Apart"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanga, Kabini

2011-01-01

Regionalism is a common development strategy in the Pacific region. Through it, numerous services are delivered to countries, communities and organisations. While some see regionalism as an effective and efficient strategy for the Pacific region, others point to its dismal performance. Using the experience of the Rethinking Pacific Education…

Women's Participation in a Postconflict Community in Peru.

PubMed

Espinoza, Elba Custodio; Rivera-Holguín, Miryam; Pacheco, Manuel Seminario; Sotelo, Eric Arenas; Béjar, Paola Urruchi

2015-01-01

The impact of the internal armed conflict in Peru (1980-2000) was felt in many regions in this South American country, and especially in rural regions such as the Southern Andean province of Cotabambas in the Apurímac department. This article describes and analyzes the actions and results of a community mental health project in this area that aimed to address the conflict's aftermath. The intervention used participatory strategies to identify the communities' prioritized problems, established actions appropriate to the cultural characteristics of the population, and implemented creative and recreational initiatives that responded to communities' needs. Based on democratic dialogue, horizontal relations, and reciprocity, the targeted communities became protagonists in the process of psychosocial transformation that fostered individual and collective exercise of rights, individual human development, and democratic community building.

Fishery-independent data reveal negative effect of human population density on Caribbean predatory fish communities.

PubMed

Stallings, Christopher D

2009-01-01

Understanding the current status of predatory fish communities, and the effects fishing has on them, is vitally important information for management. However, data are often insufficient at region-wide scales to assess the effects of extraction in coral reef ecosystems of developing nations. Here, I overcome this difficulty by using a publicly accessible, fisheries-independent database to provide a broad scale, comprehensive analysis of human impacts on predatory reef fish communities across the greater Caribbean region. Specifically, this study analyzed presence and diversity of predatory reef fishes over a gradient of human population density. Across the region, as human population density increases, presence of large-bodied fishes declines, and fish communities become dominated by a few smaller-bodied species. Complete disappearance of several large-bodied fishes indicates ecological and local extinctions have occurred in some densely populated areas. These findings fill a fundamentally important gap in our knowledge of the ecosystem effects of artisanal fisheries in developing nations, and provide support for multiple approaches to data collection where they are commonly unavailable.

Fishery-Independent Data Reveal Negative Effect of Human Population Density on Caribbean Predatory Fish Communities

PubMed Central

Stallings, Christopher D.

2009-01-01

Background Understanding the current status of predatory fish communities, and the effects fishing has on them, is vitally important information for management. However, data are often insufficient at region-wide scales to assess the effects of extraction in coral reef ecosystems of developing nations. Methodology/Principal Findings Here, I overcome this difficulty by using a publicly accessible, fisheries-independent database to provide a broad scale, comprehensive analysis of human impacts on predatory reef fish communities across the greater Caribbean region. Specifically, this study analyzed presence and diversity of predatory reef fishes over a gradient of human population density. Across the region, as human population density increases, presence of large-bodied fishes declines, and fish communities become dominated by a few smaller-bodied species. Conclusions/Significance Complete disappearance of several large-bodied fishes indicates ecological and local extinctions have occurred in some densely populated areas. These findings fill a fundamentally important gap in our knowledge of the ecosystem effects of artisanal fisheries in developing nations, and provide support for multiple approaches to data collection where they are commonly unavailable. PMID:19421312

A role for communities in primary prevention of chronic illness? Case studies in regional Australia.

PubMed

Taylor, Judy; Braunack-Mayer, Annette; Cargo, Margaret; Larkins, Sarah; Preston, Robyn

2013-08-01

In regional Australia "communities of place," defined as bounded geographic locations with a local society, undertake community-wide primary prevention programs. In helping to prevent chronic illness, communities provide valuable resources to the health system. To understand the role of community-health sector partnerships for primary prevention and the community contextual factors that affect them, we studied eight partnerships. We used an embedded multiple case study design and collected data through interviews, nonparticipant observation, and document analysis. These data were analyzed using a typology of community-health sector partnerships and community interaction theory to frame the key community contextual factors that affected partnerships. The dominant factor affecting all partnerships was the presence of a collective commitment that communities brought to making the community a better place through developing health. We call this a communitarian approach. Additional research to investigate factors influencing a communitarian approach and the role it plays in partnerships is required.

Communities' readiness for health information exchange: the National Landscape in 2004.

PubMed

Overhage, J Marc; Evans, Lori; Marchibroda, Janet

2005-01-01

The Secretary of Health and Human Services recently released a report calling for the nation to create a national health information network (NHIN) that would interconnect Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs). These RHIOs, which others have called Local or Regional Health Information Infrastructures (LHII), would in turn interconnect local as well as national health information resources. Little data exist about the activities taking place in communities to create LHIIs. The authors analyzed data that communities submitted in response to a request for capabilities issued by the Foundation for eHealth as part of their Connecting Communities for Better Health program using descriptive statistics and subjective evaluation. The authors analyzed data from 134 responses from communities in 42 states and the District of Columbia. Communities are enthusiastic about moving forward with health information exchange to create LHIIs to improve the efficiency, quality, and safety of care. They have identified significant local sources of investment and plan to use some clinical data standards but not as broadly as was expected. The communities have not yet developed the specific technical approaches or the sustainable business models that will be required. Many communities are interested in creating an LHII and are developing the leadership commitment needed to translate that interest into an operational reality. Clinical information standards can be incorporated into a community's plans as often as they need to be. Communities have to overcome funding issues, develop deeper understanding of the technical and organizational issues, and aggressively share their learning to succeed within their community and to help other communities succeed.

Sustainable Community Case Study: An Assessment of EPA’s Sustainable Development Plan for Stella, Missouri

EPA Science Inventory

In 2006, citizens of Stella, Missouri asked the EPA for technical assistance in demolition and site remediation of an abandoned hospital; and how to redevelop the site to help the community be more sustainable. EPA Region 7 teamed with EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD...

The Building Blocks of Community Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MDC, Inc., Chapel Hill, NC.

The traditional economic development strategy of the South--concentrating on low-skill, low-wage labor--no longer works; the region cannot compete with other areas of the world that offer low-cost, high-skill labor. The challenges facing rural and central-city communities in the South are immense, and only a comprehensive approach to economic…

Emerging Workforce Trends and Issues Impacting the Virginia Community College System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Landon, Mary Greer

2009-01-01

The mission of the Virginia Community College workforce development leaders is to expand their training and development services to new and emerging high growth occupational areas in support of Virginia's economic growth and changing workforce needs in each of their regions. This research was designed to identify: high demand occupational skill…

Contextualizing Next Generation Science Standards to Guide Climate Education in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sussman, A.; Fletcher, C. H.; Sachs, J. P.

2012-12-01

The USAPI has a population of about 1,800,000 people spread across 4.9 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Islands are characterized by a multitude of indigenous cultures and languages. Many USAPI students live considerably below the poverty line. The Pacific Island region is projected to experience some of the most profound negative impacts of climate change considerably sooner than other regions. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Pacific Islands Climate Education Partnership (PCEP) has developed a detailed strategic plan to collaboratively improve climate knowledge among the region's students and citizens in ways that exemplify modern science and indigenous environmental knowledge, address the urgency of climate change impacts, and honor indigenous cultures. Students and citizens within the region will have the knowledge and skills to advance understanding of climate change, and to adapt to its impacts. Core PCEP partners contribute expertise in climate science, the science of learning, the region's education infrastructure, and the region's cultures and indigenous knowledge and practices. PCEP's strategic education plan is guided by a general, multidisciplinary K-14 Climate Education Framework (CEF) that organizes fundamental science concepts and practices within appropriate grade-span progressions. This CEF is based largely upon the National Research Council's "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas" and the emerging Next Generation Science Standards. While the CEF is based upon these national Next Generation documents, it is also informed and strongly influenced by the region's geographic, climatic, cultural and socioeconomic contexts, notably indigenous knowledge and practices. Guided by the CEF, the PCEP in its initial development/planning phase has prototyped regional approaches to professional development, contextualizing curricula, and supporting community/school partnerships. With new, multiyear NSF implementation funding, the PCEP is building upon these prototypes and the strategic education plan to transform climate education across the region. Examples include a program of climate education certification being developed among the region's community colleges; research-based professional development focused on improving teachers' pedagogical content knowledge that has demonstrated striking success with both teacher and student outcomes; regional curricula based on local ecosystems and in local languages as well as English; and local school/community partnerships that combine the climate education work with local community climate adaptation projects. PCEP's interactive web-based environment (http://pcep.dsp.wested.org) interlinks the region's locations, organizations and people with information about climate science and climate impacts. This system enables the region's diverse stakeholders to access and contribute to the same information pool. This web-based environment both supports the development of PCEP resources such as the CEF and their continuing evolution and dissemination.

Technologies and Collaborative Education Strengthen Conviviality in Rural Communities in the Alps and in Senegal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muller, Udo; Ahamer, Gilbert; Peters, Holger; Weinke, Elisabeth; Sapper, Norbert; Salcher, Elvira

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this publication is to present a didactic concept with the targeted impact of a positive future vision. This paper reflects the effect of local educational action on the development of regionally optimised visions in rural regions of a European industrial state, compared with a rural region in the developing country of…

A Year of Transition: North Central Regional Center for Rural Development Annual Report 2009

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, 2009

2009-01-01

The North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) is one of four centers in the United States that work to improve opportunities and quality of life in rural communities. With funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the land-grant universities in its 12-state region, the NCRCRD engages Extension…

Using Education to Bring Climate Change Adaptation to Pacific Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vize, Sue

2012-01-01

Traditional communities remain a dominant feature in the Pacific and are key players in land and sea management. Fostering improved climate literacy is therefore essential to equip communities to respond to the current and future challenges posed by climate change in the region. Increased understanding and development of skills to respond to the…

Exploring community gardens in a health disparate population: findings from a mixed methods pilot study.

PubMed

Zoellner, Jamie; Zanko, Ashley; Price, Bryan; Bonner, Jennifer; Hill, Jennie L

2012-01-01

Despite recommendations, there have been few efforts to apply the community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach in the development, implementation, and evaluation of community gardens. As guided by the CBPR approach and grounded in a social-ecological model and behavioral theory, the purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand opinions and interests in developing and implementing a community garden and to understand factors impacting fruit, vegetable, and gardening behaviors. Community and academic members collaborated to develop and execute this study. The qualitative phase- targeting regional key informants-was designed to elicit perceived benefits and challenges of community gardens at the environmental, community, and individual levels. The quantitative phase targeted low resourced youth and parents and included a variety of validated theory-based questionnaires to understand factors impacting fruit, vegetable, and gardening behaviors. Major benefits of community gardens that emerged from the 10 qualitative interviews included increasing community cohesion and improving nutrition and physical activity factors. The quantitative phase included 87 youth and 67 parents. Across 16 items for fruits and vegetables, the average willingness to try was 1.32 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.40) on a 2-point scale. The majority of youth indicated they would work in a garden (n = 59; 68%) and eat food grown in their garden (n = 71; 82%). Among parents, gardening attitude, belief, and self-efficacy scores were all above average; however, gardening intentions were neutral. This research illustrates the successful partnering a community-academic team and has provided the partnership with a clearer lens to conceptualize and launch future regional community garden efforts.

Development and Implementation of the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium CO 2-Technology Transfer Center

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenberg, Sallie E.

2015-06-30

In 2009, the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS), in collaboration with the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC), created a regional technology training center to disseminate carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology gained through leadership and participation in regional carbon sequestration projects. This technology training center was titled and branded as the Sequestration Training and Education Program (STEP). Over the last six years STEP has provided local, regional, national, and international education and training opportunities for engineers, geologists, service providers, regulators, executives, K-12 students, K-12 educators, undergraduate students, graduate students, university and community college faculty members, and participants of community programsmore » and functions, community organizations, and others. The goal for STEP educational programs has been on knowledge sharing and capacity building to stimulate economic recovery and development by training personnel for commercial CCS projects. STEP has worked with local, national and international professional organizations and regional experts to leverage existing training opportunities and provide stand-alone training. This report gives detailed information on STEP activities during the grant period (2009-2015).« less

Increasing access to care for Brazos Valley, Texas: a rural community of solution.

PubMed

Garney, Whitney R; Drake, Kelly; Wendel, Monica L; McLeroy, Kenneth; Clark, Heather R; Ryder, Byron

2013-01-01

Compared with their urban counterparts, rural populations face substantial disparities in terms of health care and health outcomes, particularly with regard to access to health services. To address ongoing inequities, community perspectives are increasingly important in identifying health issues and developing local solutions that are effective and sustainable. This article has been developed by both academic and community representatives and presents a brief case study of the evolution of a regional community of solution (COS) servicing a 7-county region called the Brazos Valley, Texas. The regional COS gave rise to multiple, more localized COSs that implemented similar strategies designed to address access to care within rural communities. The regional COS, known as the Brazos Valley Health Partnership, was a result of a 2002 health status assessment that revealed that rural residents face poorer access to health services and their care is often fragmented. Their localized strategy, called a health resource center, was created as a "one-stop shop" where multiple health and social service providers could be housed to deliver services to rural residents. Initially piloted in Madison County, the resource center model was expanded into Burleson, Grimes, and Leon Counties because of community buy-in at each of these sites. The resource center concept allowed service providers, who previously were able to offer services only in more populous areas, to expand into the rural communities because of reduced overhead costs. The services provided at the health resource centers include transportation, information and referral, and case management along with others, depending on the location. To ensure successful ongoing operations and future planning of the resource centers, local oversight bodies known as health resource commissions were organized within each of the rural communities to represent local COSs. Through collaboration with local entities, these partnerships have been successful in continuing to expand services and initiating health improvements within their rural communities.

Prediction of Low Community Sanitation Coverage Using Environmental and Sociodemographic Factors in Amhara Region, Ethiopia

PubMed Central

Oswald, William E.; Stewart, Aisha E. P.; Flanders, W. Dana; Kramer, Michael R.; Endeshaw, Tekola; Zerihun, Mulat; Melaku, Birhanu; Sata, Eshetu; Gessesse, Demelash; Teferi, Tesfaye; Tadesse, Zerihun; Guadie, Birhan; King, Jonathan D.; Emerson, Paul M.; Callahan, Elizabeth K.; Moe, Christine L.; Clasen, Thomas F.

2016-01-01

This study developed and validated a model for predicting the probability that communities in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, have low sanitation coverage, based on environmental and sociodemographic conditions. Community sanitation coverage was measured between 2011 and 2014 through trachoma control program evaluation surveys. Information on environmental and sociodemographic conditions was obtained from available data sources and linked with community data using a geographic information system. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of low community sanitation coverage (< 20% versus ≥ 20%). The selected model was geographically and temporally validated. Model-predicted probabilities of low community sanitation coverage were mapped. Among 1,502 communities, 344 (22.90%) had coverage below 20%. The selected model included measures for high topsoil gravel content, an indicator for low-lying land, population density, altitude, and rainfall and had reasonable predictive discrimination (area under the curve = 0.75, 95% confidence interval = 0.72, 0.78). Measures of soil stability were strongly associated with low community sanitation coverage, controlling for community wealth, and other factors. A model using available environmental and sociodemographic data predicted low community sanitation coverage for areas across Amhara Region with fair discrimination. This approach could assist sanitation programs and trachoma control programs, scaling up or in hyperendemic areas, to target vulnerable areas with additional activities or alternate technologies. PMID:27430547

Community development--improving patient safety by enhancing the use of health services.

PubMed

Baum, Fran; Freeman, Toby; Lawless, Angela; Jolley, Gwyneth

2012-06-01

Community development plays an important role in increasing the access of disadvantaged groups to resources and services. We examined how community development in primary healthcare services may improve patient safety by involving people in activities that lead to their enhanced use of services. Audits of service activity and 68 in-depth interviews at six primary healthcare services in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Managers, practitioners and administration staff, plus regional health service executives and departmental funders participated in the interviews. Each of the services undertook some community development. Reported benefits included engaging people in health promoting activity, providing people with social contacts and, crucially, encouraging people to use health services. Community development is a means of engaging people who, for a range of reasons, are reluctant to use services and therefore can increase patient safety.

Development of a community-based participatory colorectal cancer screening intervention to address disparities, Arkansas, 2008-2009.

PubMed

Yeary, Karen; Flowers, Eric; Ford, Gemessia; Burroughs, Desiree; Burton, Jackie; Woods, Delores; Stewart, Chara; Mehta, Paulette; Greene, Paul; Henry-Tillman, Ronda

2011-03-01

The death rate from colorectal cancer is high and affects poor and medically underserved populations disproportionately. In the United States, health disparities are particularly acute in the Lower Mississippi River Delta region. Because many in the region have limited access to basic health care resources, they are not screened for cancer, even though screening is one of the most effective strategies to prevent colorectal cancer. Community-based participatory research is a promising approach to prevent colorectal cancer in this population. The Empowering Communities for Life program was implemented in 2 underserved counties in the Arkansas Lower Mississippi River Delta. The program arose from a 9-year partnership between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and 9 cancer councils across Arkansas. Empowering Communities for Life is a community-based participatory intervention designed to increase colorectal cancer screening in rural, underserved communities through fecal occult blood testing. Community and academic partners collaborated to develop research infrastructure, intervention materials and methods, and the assessment instrument. Project outcomes were strengthened community-academic partnerships, certification of community partners in conducting human subjects research, development of a randomized controlled design to test the intervention's efficacy, an interactive PowerPoint presentation, an informational pamphlet, the certification of 6 lay health advisors and 22 role models to provide the intervention, and an assessment tool using an audience response system. Lessons learned in working collaboratively with diverse groups include the importance of meeting face to face and listening.

76 FR 53933 - Delegation Authority for the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-30

..., reinforce local and regional development strategies to support economic growth, and reduce bureaucratic... DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT [Docket No. FR-5519-D-01] Delegation Authority for the... regional planning efforts that integrate housing and transportation decisions, and increase the capacity to...

Regional Foods and Rural Development: The Role of Product Qualification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tregear, Angela; Arfini, Filippo; Belletti, Giovanni; Marescotti, Andrea

2007-01-01

Qualification schemes have become popular tools for supporting regional foods, yet little is understood about the impacts they have on the rural development contribution of such foods. Qualification processes may stimulate new networks and community actions, but they may also be incompatible with strategies of extended territorial development…

76 FR 5501 - Request for Comments: Review and Improvement of EDA's Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-01

... development and growth of RICs as proven economic development tools through which American regions can create... drivers of regional economic growth, such as local universities, government research centers, and/or other... higher education (including community colleges), and other public and private agencies and institutions...

Lessons learned in developing community mental health care in Latin American and Caribbean countries

PubMed Central

RAZZOUK, DENISE; GREGÓRIO, GUILHERME; ANTUNES, RENATO; MARI, JAIR DE JESUS

2012-01-01

This paper summarizes the findings for the Latin American and Caribbean countries of the WPA Task Force on Steps, Obstacles and Mistakes to Avoid in the Implementation of Community Mental Health Care. It presents an overview of the provision of mental health services in the region; describes key experiences in Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico; and discusses the lessons learned in developing community mental health care. PMID:23024680

Human factors for capacity building: lessons learned from the OpenMRS implementers network.

PubMed

Seebregts, C J; Mamlin, B W; Biondich, P G; Fraser, H S F; Wolfe, B A; Jazayeri, D; Miranda, J; Blaya, J; Sinha, C; Bailey, C T; Kanter, A S

2010-01-01

The overall objective of this project was to investigate ways to strengthen the OpenMRS community by (i) developing capacity and implementing a network focusing specifically on the needs of OpenMRS implementers, (ii) strengthening community-driven aspects of OpenMRS and providing a dedicated forum for implementation-specific issues, and; (iii) providing regional support for OpenMRS implementations as well as mentorship and training. The methods used included (i) face-to-face networking using meetings and workshops; (ii) online collaboration tools, peer support and mentorship programmes; (iii) capacity and community development programmes, and; (iv) community outreach programmes. The community-driven approach, combined with a few simple interventions, has been a key factor in the growth and success of the OpenMRS Implementers Network. It has contributed to implementations in at least twenty-three different countries using basic online tools; and provided mentorship and peer support through an annual meeting, workshops and an internship program. The OpenMRS Implementers Network has formed collaborations with several other open source networks and is evolving regional OpenMRS Centres of Excellence to provide localized support for OpenMRS development and implementation. These initiatives are increasing the range of functionality and sustainability of open source software in the health domain, resulting in improved adoption and enterprise-readiness. Social organization and capacity development activities are important in growing a successful community-driven open source software model.

Fostering reflective trust between mothers and community health nurses to improve the effectiveness of health and nutrition efforts: An ethnographic study in Ghana, West Africa.

PubMed

Ackatia-Armah, Nana M; Addy, Nii Antiaye; Ghosh, Shibani; Dubé, Laurette

2016-06-01

As the global health agenda shifts from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the need for effective preventive health efforts has gained prominence, particularly in low-income regions with poor health and nutrition outcomes. To address needs in communities with limited access to health services and personnel, it is important to develop strategies that can improve the effectiveness of nurses as they interact with the populations they serve. We contribute to informing such strategies by explaining how mothers' "reflective trust" in community health nurses develops as a key influencer in their health-related decision-making and behavior. Between December 2012 and June 2013, our ethnographic study gathered data in three adjacent rural and semi-rural communities in Ghana's Eastern Region, using interviews with 39 nursing mothers, three focus groups - with mothers, health-workers, and community leaders - as well as 941 h of participant observation. We focused on interactions between mothers and nurses, highlighting tensions between communities' traditions and messages that nurses bring, which are often based on modern science. We also investigated how mothers come to exhibit reflective trust in the nurses to make sense of traditional and scientific knowledge on infant feeding, and integrate them into their own feeding decisions. Our findings have global implications for effectively sustaining and scaling health and nutrition efforts through community approaches. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

77 FR 16519 - Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting Applications for the Rural Community Development...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-21

... total of $8,611,000 for the two fiscal years. The RCDI grant program includes an initiative called the... community or a federally recognized Tribe. Regional collaboration--Multi-jurisdictional areas typically...

Development of Training Materials for Community Based Rehabilitation Workers in Guyana.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Toole, Brian; McConkey, Roy

1995-01-01

This paper describes video training packages that have been developed in Guyana as part of Hopeful Steps, a program which uses the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) model of service delivery for training rehabilitation workers and volunteers and now serves children with disabilities and their families in five rural regions of the country. (DB)

Re-Configuring Inclusion, Decolonising Practice: Digital Participation and Learning in Black Women's Community-Led Heritage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarke, Rachel; Lewis, Rosie M.

2016-01-01

This article explores an innovative model of adult education within museums developed from a Black feminist approach. BAM! Sistahood! is a community-led project with regional heritage organisations, universities and women's centres in the UK, that offers a holistic approach to heritage development. The ethos is to challenge the perpetuation of…

Developing management options for longleaf communities of the gulf coastal plain

Treesearch

Kenneth W. Outcalt

2003-01-01

Choosing treatments to reduce fuel loads and readjust structure and composition in longleaf communities of the Gulf Coastal Plains region is difficult because benefits and costs of possible treatment combinations are not fully known. The objective of this research project is to develop management options to reduce fuels and restore the ecosystem that are economically...

EXAMINING REGIONAL LAND USE CHANGE: THE COMMUNITY GROWTH MODEL (CGM)

EPA Science Inventory

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's Regional Vulnerability Assessment
Program (ReV A) is designed to develop and demonstrate approaches to identify the ecosystems at the greatest risk from regional population growth and economic activity.
As part of this program, ...

Indian Education - Post School Highlights: Regional Continuing Education Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Toronto (Ontario). Education Div.

Summarizing Canada's Regional Continuing Education Programs for the 1972-74 fiscal years, this document indicates support for solid education programs for the development of Indians in their communities. Brief summations are presented for the following regions: Maritime Region (1972-73 was a peak year for on-the-job training placements with…

Community partnerships in preventing childhood lead poisoning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dugbatey, K.; Evans, R.G.; Lienhop, M.T.

1995-11-01

Childhood lead poisoning is an environmental health problem that has no socio-economic, racial/ethnic, or regional boundaries. Because the key element in the exposure pathway is lead-based paint, it is more likely to impact inner city urban populations than those living in suburban areas. Suburban development primarily occurred after lead was removed from lead-based paint. It is maximally effective to adopt strategies that promote grassroots community development in designing preventive interventions. This paper reviews such a strategy for building community partnerships that have been instrumental in the development and implementation of an innovative lead education program. Saint Louis University School ofmore » Public Health reaches out to private and public nonprofit community organizations in this community-based lead education program.« less

Relation of macroinvertebrate community impairment to catchment characteristics in New Jersey streams

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kennen, J.G.

1999-01-01

The level of macroinvertebrate community impairment was statistically related to selected basin and water-quality characteristics in New Jersey streams. More than 700 ambient biomonitoring stations were chosen to evaluate potential and known anthropogenic effects. Macroinvertebrate communities were assessed with a modified rapid-bioassessment approach using three impairment ratings (nonimpaired, moderately impaired, and severely impaired). Maximum-likelihood multiple logistic-regression analysis was used to develop equations defining the probability of community impairment above predetermined impairment levels. Seven of the original 140 explanatory variables were highly related to the level of community impairment. Explanatory variables found to be most useful for predicting severe macroinvertebrate community impairment were the amount of urban land and total flow of municipal effluent. Area underlain by the Reading Prong physiographic region and amount of forested land were inversely related to severe impairment. Nonparametric analysis of variance on rank-transformed bioassessment scores was used to evaluate differences in level of impairment among physiographic regions and major drainage areas simultaneously. Rejection of the null hypothesis indicated that the levels of impairment among all six physiographic regions and five major drainage areas were not equal. Physiographic regions located in the less urbanized northwest portion of New Jersey were not significantly different from each other and had the lowest occurrence of severely impaired macroinvertebrate communities. Physiographic regions containing urban centers had a higher probability of exhibiting a severely impaired macroinvertebrate community. Analysis of major drainage areas indicates that levels of impairment in the Atlantic Coastal Rivers drainage area differed significantly from those in the Lower Delaware River drainage area.

Developing a Community-Wide Initiative to Address Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress: A Case Study of The Philadelphia ACE Task Force.

PubMed

Pachter, Lee M; Lieberman, Leslie; Bloom, Sandra L; Fein, Joel A

The Philadelphia ACE Task Force is a community based collaborative of health care providers, researchers, community-based organizations, funders, and public sector representatives. The mission of the task force is to provide a venue to address childhood adversity and its consequences in the Philadelphia metropolitan region. In this article we describe the origins and metamorphosis of the Philadelphia ACE Task Force, which initially was narrowly focused on screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in health care settings but expanded its focus to better represent a true community-based approach to sharing experiences with addressing childhood adversity in multiple sectors of the city and region. The task force has been successful in developing a research agenda and conducting research on ACEs in the urban context, and has identified foci of local activity in the areas of professional training and workforce development, community education, and local practical interventions around adversity, trauma, and resiliency. In this article we also address the lessons learned over the first 5 years of the task force's existence and offers recommendations for future efforts to build a local community-based ACEs collaborative. Copyright © 2017 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citizen Science Air Monitoring in the Ironbound Community ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) mission is to protect human health and the environment. To move toward achieving this goal, EPA is facilitating identification of potential environmental concerns, particularly in vulnerable communities. This includes actively supporting citizen science projects and providing communities with the information and assistance they need to conduct their own air pollution monitoring efforts. The Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists1 was developed as a resource to meet stakeholder needs. Examples of materials developed for the Toolbox and ultimately pilot tested in the Ironbound Community in Newark, New Jersey are reported here. The Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists is designed as an online resource that provides information and guidance on new, low-cost compact technologies used for measuring air quality. The Toolbox features resources developed by EPA researchers that can be used by citizens to effectively collect, analyze, interpret, and communicate air quality data. The resources include information about sampling methods, how to calibrate and validate monitors, options for measuring air quality, data interpretation guidelines, and low-cost sensor performance information. This Regional Applied Research Effort (RARE) project provided an opportunity for the Office of Research and Development (ORD) to work collaboratively with EPA Region 2 to provide the Ironbound Community with a “Toolbox” specific for c

Recovering from the ShakeOut earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wein, Anne; Johnson, Laurie; Bernknopf, Richard

2011-01-01

Recovery from an earthquake like the M7.8 ShakeOut Scenario will be a major endeavor taking many years to complete. Hundreds of Southern California municipalities will be affected; most lack recovery plans or previous disaster experience. To support recovery planning this paper 1) extends the regional ShakeOut Scenario analysis into the recovery period using a recovery model, 2) localizes analyses to identify longer-term impacts and issues in two communities, and 3) considers the regional context of local recovery.Key community insights about preparing for post-disaster recovery include the need to: geographically diversify city procurement; set earthquake mitigation priorities for critical infrastructure (e.g., airport), plan to replace mobile homes with earthquake safety measures, consider post-earthquake redevelopment opportunities ahead of time, and develop post-disaster recovery management and governance structures. This work also showed that communities with minor damages are still sensitive to regional infrastructure damages and their potential long-term impacts on community recovery. This highlights the importance of community and infrastructure resilience strategies as well.

Community as classroom: teaching and learning public health in rural Appalachia.

PubMed

Florence, James; Behringer, Bruce

2011-01-01

Traditional models for public health professional education tend to be didactic, with brief, discrete practica appended. National reports of both practitioners and academicians have called for more competency-driven, interdisciplinary-focused, community-based, service-oriented, and experientially-guided learning for students across the curriculum. East Tennessee State University began its own curricular revisioning in health professions education nearly 2 decades ago with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, emphasizing competencies development through community-based learning in community-academic partnerships. This article describes 3 examples that grew from that initiative. In the first example, students in multiple classes delivered a longitudinal community-based employee wellness intervention for a rural county school district. BS public health students conducted needs assessments and prepared health education materials; MPH students conducted health assessments and worked with school wellness councils to deliver client-centered interventions; DrPH students supervised the project and provided feedback to the schools using participatory methods. In the second example, MPH students in a social-behavioral foundations course used experiential learning to investigate the region's elevated cancer mortality ranking. Following meetings with multiple community groups, students employed theoretical constructs to frame regional beliefs about cancer and presented findings to community leaders. One outcome was a 5-year community-based participatory research study of cancer in rural Appalachia. In the third example, MPH students in a health-consulting course assessed local African Americans' awareness of the university's health and education programs and perceptions of their community health issues. Students learned consultation methods by assisting at multiple regional African American community meetings to discover issues and interest that resulted in the organization of a regional African American health coalition, multiple community health interventions, and the region's first health disparities summit. Lessons learned are presented which identify key elements of success and factors that influence adoption of community-based teaching and learning in public health.

Energy Justice and the Stakeholders Involved: A Case Study of Solar Power in Rural Haiti

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romulus, Elijah Rey Asse

This paper explores and analyzes energy justice and the stakeholders involved. Energy insecurity, specifically the lack of access to electricity effects over 1.3 billion people worldwide and energy justice is a way to address it. This paper is supported by a case study with data collected in the southern rural regions of Haiti regarding energy justice communities. Three cities were studied: Les Cayes, Anse-a-Veau, and Les Anglais. It examines how solar businesses can aid energy justice communities seeking access to electricity. Stakeholders such as the communities themselves, solar businesses, and nonprofits in the region are studied and analyzed. The paper concludes solar businesses are helping said communities but needs participation from other stakeholders to be successful. Finally, there are five recommendations to build capacity, develop infrastructure in the region, explore the possibility of solar cooperatives, strengthen the solar economy in Haiti, and demand reparations.

Reconsidering Compulsory English in Developing Countries in Asia: English in a Community of Northeast Thailand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Draper, John

2012-01-01

This article reviews the issue of compulsory English in the Asia-Pacific region and examines the English component of a single-site exploratory study of multilingualism in a disadvantaged ethnic minority (DEM) community of Northeast Thailand. The concept of ethnolinguistic vitality was used as a framework for an analysis of community language…

Long Range Master Plan for Maricopa County Community College District, 1978-2000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tadlock Associates, Los Altos, CA.

This technical report analyzes community characteristics, projects growth, and suggests the development of educational delivery systems to meet Maricopa County Community College District's needs up to the year 2000. Assumptions in this planning effort include: (1) that the base components of the system will be regional campuses planned for 5,000…

Smart Growth Tools

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This page describes a variety of tools useful to federal, state, tribal, regional, and local government staff and elected officials; community leaders; developers; and others interested in smart growth development.

SUSTAINABLE BIOFUEL SYSTEMS FOR UNDEVELOPED REGIONS

EPA Science Inventory

We evaluated our findings based on the level of integration of sustainable methods, feasibility of implementation within the target community, and the quantity of energy produced in relation to community needs. Particular emphasis was placed on development of a production meth...

Leadership Development Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Karen A.

2003-01-01

Provides a brief sample of degree and non-degree programs currently offered to administrators, staff and faculty in community college leadership. Includes listings on: (1) programs sponsored by national organizations and associations; (2) regional workshops and seminars; (3) community college programs; (4) continuing education programs by…

The EarthConnections San Bernardino Alliance: Addressing Diversity in the Geosciences Using a Collective Impact Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGill, S. F.; Benthien, M. L.; Castillo, B. A.; Fitzsimmons, J.; Foutz, A.; Keck, D.; Manduca, C. A.; Noriega, G. R.; Pandya, R. E.; Taber, J. J.; Vargas, B.

2017-12-01

The EarthConnections San Bernardino Alliance is one of three regional alliances supported by the national EarthConnections Collective Impact Alliance, funded by a pilot grant from the National Science Foundation INCLUDES program. All three of the regional alliances share a common vision, focused on developing a diverse geoscience workforce through connecting existing programs and institutions into regional pathways that support and guide students from engagement at an early age with Earth science linked to issues facing the local community, through the many steps and transitions to geoscience-related careers. The San Bernardino Alliance began with collaboration between one university, one community college and one high school and also includes the Southern California Earthquake Center as well as professional geologists in the region. Based on discussions at an opening round table event, the Alliance has chosen to capitalize on existing geology student clubs and deeply engaged faculty and alumni at the founding high school, community college and university members of the Alliance to plan joint field trips, service learning projects, guest speakers, and visits to dinner meetings of the local professional societies for students at participating institutions at various stages along the pathway. The underlying motivation is to connect students to their peers and to mentors at institutions that represent the next step on the pathway, as well as to expose them to careers in geology and to geoscience issues that impact the local community. A second type of intervention we are planning is to promote high quality teaching in introductory Earth science courses at the university, community college and high school levels, including the development of high school honors courses in Earth science. To this end we are hosting an NAGT traveling workshop focused on using active learning and societally relevant issues to develop engaging introductory geoscience courses. This teaching workshop will also serve as an opportunity to expand our alliance to include additional educational institutions in the region. We are also planning interviews with local community leaders to identify geoscience issues of local importance that could become a focus for joint service learning projects for students at various stages along the pathway.

Wound care guidelines and formulary for community nurses.

PubMed

Baeyens, T A

2000-03-01

Community nursing is experiencing significant change as a result of developments such as improved technology, care in the community and earlier discharge of patients from hospital. Because of this, increasingly complex clinical care is required in the community, and it has been noted that community nurses are 'under considerable pressure' and show 'evidence of high stress and low morale'. Wound care is one area in which community nurses constantly battle to keep abreast of continual change. Growing product availability and diversity of use, changes in dressing techniques and the ever-increasing costs associated with wound care mean decision-making in wound care is often a complex task. In the Grampian region, a handbook of evidence-based practice guidelines with a product formulary was developed and distributed to all community nurses. The handbook was designed to ease the decision-making process by evaluating evidence-based practice and local preferences to recommend and guide nurses towards effective clinical practice and cost efficiency. All grades of district nurse in the region have been issued with their own copy of the handbook. It is presented in an A5 ring-binder format to make it easy to carry and to facilitate updating using loose-leaf inserts. The use of logos, extra information boxes and colour coding makes it easy for users to find specific areas of interest in the handbook. The success of the handbook has led to debate on the potential for development of a similar resource for use by practice nurses and in local community hospitals.

The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development: 1999 Annual Report. NERCRD Publication #75.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, University Park, PA.

The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and private foundations, and invests in research and education to help rural communities meet the challenges of today's global society through a multidisciplinary network of university research and extension faculty, policy makers, and rural…

Handbook of Research on Science Education and University Outreach as a Tool for Regional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Narasimharao, B. Pandu, Ed.; Wright, Elizabeth, Ed.; Prasad, Shashidhara, Ed.; Joshi, Meghana, Ed.

2017-01-01

Higher education institutions play a vital role in their surrounding communities. Besides providing a space for enhanced learning opportunities, universities can utilize their resources for social and economic interests. The "Handbook of Research on Science Education and University Outreach as a Tool for Regional Development" is a…

Geo-spatial Informatics in International Public Health Nursing Education.

PubMed

Kerr, Madeleine J; Honey, Michelle L L; Krzyzanowski, Brittany

2016-01-01

This poster describes results of an undergraduate nursing informatics experience. Students applied geo-spatial methods to community assessments in two urban regions of New Zealand and the United States. Students used the Omaha System standardized language to code their observations during a brief community assessment activity and entered their data into a mapping program developed in Esri ArcGIS Online, a geographic information system. Results will be displayed in tables and maps to allow comparison among the communities. The next generation of nurses can employ geo-spatial informatics methods to contribute to innovative community assessment, planning and policy development.

Monitoring Seasons Through Global Learning Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sparrow, E. B.; Robin, J. H.; Jeffries, M. O.; Gordon, L. S.; Verbyla, D. L.; Levine, E. R.

2006-12-01

Monitoring Seasons through Global Learning Communities (MSTGLC) is an inquiry- and project-based project that monitors seasons, specifically their interannual variability, in order to increase K-12 students' understanding of the Earth system by providing teacher professional development in Earth system science and inquiry, and engaging K-12 students in Earth system science research relevant to their local communities that connect globally. MSTGLC connects GLOBE students, teachers, and communities, with educators and scientists from three integrated Earth systems science programs: the International Arctic Research Center, and NASA Landsat Data Continuity and Terra Satellite Missions. The project organizes GLOBE schools by biomes into eight Global Learning Communities (GLCs) and students monitor their seasons through regional based field campaigns. The project expands the current GLOBE phenology network by adapting current protocols and making them biome-specific. In addition, ice and mosquito phenology protocols will be developed for Arctic and Tropical regions, respectively. Initially the project will focus on Tundra and Taiga biomes as phenological changes are so pronounced in these regions. However, our long-term goal is to determine similar changes in other biomes (Deciduous Forest, Desert, Grasslands, Rain Forest, Savannah and Shrubland) based upon what we learn from these two biomes. This project will also contribute to critically needed Earth system science data such as in situ ice, mosquito, and vegetation phenology measurements for ground validations of remotely sensed data, which are essential for regional climate change impact assessments. Additionally it will contribute environmental data critical to prevention and management of diseases such as malaria in Asian, African, and other countries. Furthermore, this project will enable students to participate in the International Polar Year (IPY) (2007-2009) through field campaigns conducted by students in polar regions, and web chats between IPY scientists and GLOBE students from all eight GLCs that include non-polar countries.

The Role of Private Corporations in Regional Planning and Development: Opportunities and Challenges for the Governance of Housing and Land Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, T. H.; Wilson, C.; Bell, M.

2012-01-01

There is a broad consensus that the corporate sector has an active role in facilitating community development through corporate-community investment. However, there remains uncertainty as to how much the sector should invest without taking on responsibilities and influencing decisions which are traditionally within the realm of the state. This…

Developing a School-Based Preventive Life Skills Program for Youth in a Remote Indigenous Community in North Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Gary; Leckning, Bernard; Midford, Richard; Harper, Helen; Silburn, Sven; Gannaway, Jess; Dolan, Kylie; Delphine, Tim; Hayes, Craig

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of development and the pilot implementation of a preventive life skills curriculum for Indigenous middle school students in a very remote community college in the West Arnhem region of North Australia. The curriculum integrates proven educational and psychological techniques with…

Community-level characteristics associated with variation in rates of homelessness among families and single adults.

PubMed

Fargo, Jamison D; Munley, Ellen A; Byrne, Thomas H; Montgomery, Ann Elizabeth; Culhane, Dennis P

2013-12-01

We modeled rates of family and single-adult homelessness in the United States in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions and as a function of community-level demographic, behavioral, health, economic, and safety net characteristics. We entered community-level characteristics and US Department of Housing and Urban Development point-in-time counts for a single night in January 2009 into separate mixed-effects statistical analyses that modeled homelessness rates for 4 subpopulations: families and single adults in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions. Community-level factors accounted for 25% to 50% of the variance in homelessness rates across models. In metropolitan regions, alcohol consumption, social support, and several economic indicators were uniquely associated with family homelessness, and drug use and homicide were uniquely associated with single-adult homelessness. In nonmetropolitan regions, life expectancy, religious adherence, unemployment, and rent burden were uniquely associated with family homelessness, and health care access, crime, several economic indicators, and receipt of Supplemental Security Income were uniquely associated with single-adult homelessness. Considering homeless families and single adults separately enabled more precise modeling of associations between homelessness rates and community-level characteristics, indicating targets for interventions to reduce homelessness among these subpopulations.

Community-Level Characteristics Associated With Variation in Rates of Homelessness Among Families and Single Adults

PubMed Central

Fargo, Jamison D.; Munley, Ellen A.; Byrne, Thomas H.; Montgomery, Ann Elizabeth; Culhane, Dennis P.

2013-01-01

Objectives. We modeled rates of family and single-adult homelessness in the United States in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions and as a function of community-level demographic, behavioral, health, economic, and safety net characteristics. Methods. We entered community-level characteristics and US Department of Housing and Urban Development point-in-time counts for a single night in January 2009 into separate mixed-effects statistical analyses that modeled homelessness rates for 4 subpopulations: families and single adults in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions. Results. Community-level factors accounted for 25% to 50% of the variance in homelessness rates across models. In metropolitan regions, alcohol consumption, social support, and several economic indicators were uniquely associated with family homelessness, and drug use and homicide were uniquely associated with single-adult homelessness. In nonmetropolitan regions, life expectancy, religious adherence, unemployment, and rent burden were uniquely associated with family homelessness, and health care access, crime, several economic indicators, and receipt of Supplemental Security Income were uniquely associated with single-adult homelessness. Conclusions. Considering homeless families and single adults separately enabled more precise modeling of associations between homelessness rates and community-level characteristics, indicating targets for interventions to reduce homelessness among these subpopulations. PMID:24148057

Enhancing palliative care delivery in a regional community in Australia.

PubMed

Phillips, Jane L; Davidson, Patricia M; Jackson, Debra; Kristjanson, Linda; Bennett, Margaret L; Daly, John

2006-08-01

Although access to palliative care is a fundamental right for people in Australia and is endorsed by government policy, there is often limited access to specialist palliative care services in regional, rural and remote areas. This article appraises the evidence pertaining to palliative care service delivery to inform a sustainable model of palliative care that meets the needs of a regional population on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Expert consultation and an eclectic literature review were undertaken to develop a model of palliative care service delivery appropriate to the needs of the target population and resources of the local community. On the basis of this review, a local palliative care system that is based on a population-based approach to service planning and delivery, with formalized integrated network agreements and role delineation between specialist and generalist providers, has the greatest potential to meet the palliative care needs of this regional coastal community.

Organizing for Success: California's Regional Education Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Coleen; Venezia, Andrea; Lewis, Jodi; Lefkovitz, Bina

2015-01-01

As education reforms increasingly focus on the needs of students as they cross education systems and enter the workforce, regional partnerships, or consortia, are developing across the country to meet a wide range of students' needs. While regional partnerships have existed in different forms for decades to serve community needs, current…

BIRD COMMUNITIES AND HABITAT AS ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF FOREST CONDITION IN REGIONAL MONITORING

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological indicators for long-term monitoring programs are needed to detect and assess changing environmental conditions, We developed and tested community-level environmental indicators for monitoring forest bird populations and associated habitat. We surveyed 197 sampling plo...

Integrating Oral Health with Non-Communicable Diseases as an Essential Component of General Health: WHO's Strategic Orientation for the African Region.

PubMed

Varenne, Benoit

2015-05-01

In the context of the emerging recognition of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), it has never been more timely to explore the World Health Organization (WHO) strategic orientations on oral health in the WHO African region and to raise awareness of a turning point in the search for better oral health for everyone. The global initiative against NCDs provides a unique opportunity for the oral health community to develop innovative policies for better recognition of oral health, as well as to directly contribute to the fight against NCDs and their risk factors. The WHO African region has led the way in developing the first regional oral health strategy for the prevention and control of oral diseases integrated with NCDs. The support of the international oral health community in this endeavor is urgently needed for making a success story of this initiative of integrating oral health into NCDs.

Strengthening community leadership: evaluation findings from the california healthy cities and communities program.

PubMed

Kegler, Michelle C; Norton, Barbara L; Aronson, Robert E

2008-04-01

Collaborative approaches to community health improvement such as healthy cities and communities have the potential to strengthen community capacity through leadership development. The healthy cities and communities process orients existing local leadership to new community problem-solving strategies and draws out leadership abilities among residents not previously engaged in civic life. In an evaluation of the California Healthy Cities and Communities (CHCC) Program, leadership development was one of several outcomes assessed at the civic-participation level of the social ecology. Data collection methods included focus groups and surveys, semistructured interviews with coordinators and community leaders, and review of program documents. Findings suggest that the CHCC program enhanced capacity by expanding new leadership opportunities through coalition participation, program implementation, and civic leadership roles related to spin-off organizations and broader collaborative structures. Communities in rural regions were particularly successful in achieving significant leadership outcomes.

An assessment of the costs and benefits of interventions aimed at improving rural community water supplies in developed countries.

PubMed

Hunter, Paul R; Pond, Kathy; Jagals, Paul; Cameron, John

2009-06-01

We report a cost benefit analyses (CBA) for water interventions in rural populations of developed country sub-regions. A Bayesian belief network was used to estimate the cost benefit ratio using Monte Carlo simulation. Where possible we used input data from recently published primary research or systematic reviews. Otherwise variables were derived from previous work in the peer-reviewed or grey literature. For these analyses we considered the situation of people with small and very small community supplies that may not be adequately managed. For the three developed country sub-regions Amr-A (America region A), Eur-A (European region A) and Wpr-A (Western Pacific region A), we estimate the costs of acute diarrhoeal illness associated with small community supplies to be U$4671 million (95% CI 1721-9592), the capital costs of intervention to be USD 13703 million (95% CI 6670-20735), additional annual maintenance to be USD 804 million (95%CI 359-1247) and the CB ratio to be 2.78 (95%CI 0.86-6.5). However, we also estimated the cost of post infectious irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) following drinking water-associated acute gastroenteritis to be USD 11896 million (95%CI 3118-22657). When the benefits of reduced IBS are added to the analysis the CB ratio increases to 9.87 (95%CI 3.34-20.49). The most important driver of uncertainty was the estimate of the cost of illness. However, there are very few good estimates of costs in improving management of small rural supplies in the literature. Investments in drinking-water provision in rural settings are highly cost beneficial in the developed world. In the developed world, the CB ratio is substantially positive especially once the impact of IBS is included.

Combined use of GIS and environmental indicators for assessment of chemical, physical and biological soil degradation in a Spanish Mediterranean region.

PubMed

de Paz, José-Miguel; Sánchez, Juan; Visconti, Fernando

2006-04-01

Soil is one of the main non-renewable natural resources in the world. In the Valencian Community (Mediterranean coast of Spain), it is especially important because agriculture and forest biomass exploitation are two of the main economic activities in the region. More than 44% of the total area is under agriculture and 52% is forested. The frequently arid or semi-arid climate with rainfall concentrated in few events, usually in the autumn and spring, scarcity of vegetation cover, and eroded and shallow soils in several areas lead to soil degradation processes. These processes, mainly water erosion and salinization, can be intense in many locations within the Valencian Community. Evaluation of soil degradation on a regional scale is important because degradation is incompatible with sustainable development. Policy makers involved in land use planning require tools to evaluate soil degradation so they can go on to develop measures aimed at protecting and conserving soils. In this study, a methodology to evaluate physical, chemical and biological soil degradation in a GIS-based approach was developed for the Valencian Community on a 1/200,000 scale. The information used in this study was obtained from two different sources: (i) a soil survey with more than 850 soil profiles sampled within the Valencian Community, and (ii) the environmental information implemented in the Geo-scientific map of the Valencian Community digitised on an Arc/Info GIS. Maps of physical, chemical and biological soil degradation in the Valencian Community on a 1/200,000 scale were obtained using the methodology devised. These maps can be used to make a cost-effective evaluation of soil degradation on a regional scale. Around 29% of the area corresponding to the Valencian Community is affected by high to very high physical soil degradation, 36% by high to very high biological degradation, and 6% by high to very high chemical degradation. It is, therefore, necessary to draw up legislation and to establish the policy framework for actions focused on preventing soil degradation and conserving its productive potential.

Community Capacity Building in Regional VET: Small Business and Developing an Integrated Lifelong Learning Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plane, Karen

In a competitive market training economy, vocational education and training (VET) and small business in Australia face a number of challenges. They need to qualify the extent of lifelong learning skills being used in the small firm workplace, define the range of learning partnerships both within VET and the wider informal learning community in…

Local Adaptation and Institutionalization of an Accreditation Standard: A Community College's Development and Use of Student Learning Outcomes through Shared Governance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moss, Denise

2013-01-01

Since the early 2000's, California community college educators have experienced an intense increase in public demand for performance measures and continuous improvement in the form of outputs. One source of external pressure is the regional accrediting organizations, for California community colleges it is the Accrediting Commission for Community…

The macro-structural variability of the human neocortex.

PubMed

Kruggel, Frithjof

2018-05-15

The human neocortex shows a considerable individual structural variability. While primary gyri and sulci are found in all normally developed brains and bear clear-cut gross structural descriptions, secondary structures are highly variable and not present in all brains. The blend of common and individual structures poses challenges when comparing structural and functional results from quantitative neuroimaging studies across individuals, and sets limits on the precision of location information much above the spatial resolution of current neuroimaging methods. This work aimed at quantifying structural variability on the neocortex, and at assessing the spatial relationship between regions common to all brains and their individual structural variants. Based on structural MRI data provided as the "900 Subjects Release" of the Human Connectome Project, a data-driven analytic approach was employed here from which the definition of seven cortical "communities" emerged. Apparently, these communities comprise common regions of structural features, while the individual variability is confined within a community. Similarities between the community structure and the state of the brain development at gestation week 32 lead suggest that communities are segregated early. Subdividing the neocortex into communities is suggested as anatomically more meaningful than the traditional lobar structure. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The APA/HRSA Faculty Development Scholars Program: introduction to the supplement.

PubMed

Osborn, Lucy M; Roberts, Kenneth B; Greenberg, Larrie; DeWitt, Tom; Devries, Jeffrey M; Wilson, Modena; Simpson, Deborah E

2004-01-01

The purpose of this project was to improve pediatric primary care medical education by providing faculty development for full-time and community-based faculty who teach general pediatrics to medical students and/or residents in ambulatory pediatric community-based settings. Funding for the program came through an interagency agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). A train-the-trainer model was used to train 112 scholars who could teach skills to general pediatric faculty across the nation. The three scholar groups focused on community-based ambulatory teaching; educational scholarship; and executive leadership. Scholars felt well prepared to deliver faculty development programs in their home institutions and regions. They presented 599 workshops to 7989 participants during the course of the contract. More than 50% of scholars assumed positions of leadership, and most reported increased support for medical education in their local and regional environments. This national pediatric faculty development program pioneered in the development of a new training model and should guide training of new scholars and advanced and continuing training for those who complete a basic program.

A Citizen Science and Government Collaboration: Developing Tools to Facilitate Community Air Monitoring

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is actively involved in supporting citizen science projects and providing communities with information and assistance for conducting their own air pollution monitoring. As part of a Regional Applied Research Effort (RARE) project, EP...

Universities and Regional Development: A Critical Assessment of Tensions and Contradictions. International Studies in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pinheiro, Romulo, Ed.; Benneworth, Paul, Ed.; Jones, Glen A., Ed.

2012-01-01

Universities are under increasing pressure to help promote socio-economic growth in their local communities. However until now, no systematic, critical attention has been paid to the factors and mechanisms that currently make this process so daunting. In Universities and Regional Development, scholars from Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia…

Organization and startup of The Gambia's new community-based medical programme.

PubMed

Chávez, José A; Suárez, Lázaro V; Del Rosario, Odalis; Hechavarría, Suiberto; Quiñones, Judith

2012-01-01

The shortage of health professionals in developing countries and especially in their poorest regions imperils the vision of health for all. New training policies and strategies are needed urgently to address these shortages. The Gambia's new Community-Based Medical Programme is one such strategy. KEYWORDS Medical education, access to health care, healthcare disparities, health manpower, rural health, developing countries, The Gambia.

Fish Communities and Habitat of Geomorphically Stable Reference Reaches in Streams of the Catskill Mountain Region, New York

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mulvihill, Christiane I.; Baldigo, Barry P.; Ernst, Anne G.

2009-01-01

In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, began a 5-year study to develop a database that documents the physical and biological characteristics of nine stable reference reaches from seven streams in the New York City West of Hudson Water Supply Watershed in the Catskill Mountain region of New York State. Primary objectives of this study were to (1) develop a reference-reach database of morphology, aquatic biology, and fluvial processes, and (2) summarize the relations between fish communities, aquatic habitat, and stable stream morphology in streams in the Catskill Mountain region. Secondary objectives included documenting year-to-year variability in fish populations and stream habitat in geomorphically stable streams and demonstrating how reliably Habitat Suitability Index models can be used to characterize habitat conditions and predict the presence and abundance of populations of trout species. Fish and habitat databases were developed, and several important relations were identified. Fish-community indices differed considerably among sites where trout were present and where they were either absent or present in very low numbers; these differences were reflected in higher Habitat Suitability Index scores at trout-dominated sites. Several fish- community and habitat variables were found to be strongly associated with indices of stability and, therefore, determined to be useful tools for evaluating stream condition. Lastly, preliminary results suggest Rosgen stream type data can help refine fish and habitat relations and assist in our ability to predict habitat potential and fish-community composition.

An epistemic community comes and goes? Local and national expressions of heart health promotion in Canada.

PubMed

Eyles, John; Robinson, Kerry; Elliott, Susan

2009-02-23

The objective of this study is to examine the existence and shape of epistemic communities for (heart) health promotion at the international, national, provincial and regional levels in Canada. Epistemic community may be defined as a network of experts with an authoritative claim to policy relevant knowledge in their area of expertise. An interpretive policy analysis was employed using 60 documents (48 provincial, 8 national and 4 international) and 66 interviews (from 5 Canadian provinces). These data were entered into NUD*IST, a qualitative software analysis package, to assist in the development of codes and themes. These codes form the basis of the results. A scientific and policy epistemic community was identified at the international and Canadian federal levels. Provincially and regionally, the community is present as an idea but its implementation varies between jurisdictions. The importance of economic, political and cultural factors shapes the presence and shape of the epistemic community in different jurisdictions. The community waxes and wanes but appears robust.

Academic or Community Resource? Stakeholder Interests and Collection Management at Charles Sturt University Regional Archives, 1973-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boadle, Don

2003-01-01

This analysis of the transformation of the Charles Sturt University Regional Archives from a library special collection to a multi-function regional repository highlights the importance of stakeholder interests in determining institutional configurations and collection development priorities. It also demonstrates the critical importance of…

Staffing Systems of Care for Children and Families: A Report of the Southern Human Resource Development Consortium for Mental Health on Workforce Issues Related to Community-Based Service Delivery for Children and Adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbance/Mental Illness and Their Families.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pires, Sheila A.

This report describes the results of a regional needs assessment of workforce issues related to the delivery of community-based services for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance or mental illness and their families in a region comprising 12 southern states. The assessment involved a survey of key stakeholders, principally…

Geographic analysis of species richness and community attributes of forest birds from survey data in the mid-Atlantic integrated assessment region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cam, E.; Sauer, J.R.; Nichols, J.D.; Hines, J.E.; Flather, C.H.

2000-01-01

Species richness of local communities is a state variable commonly used in community ecology and conservation biology. Investigation of spatial and temporal variations in richness and identification of factors associated with these variations form a basis for specifying management plans, evaluating these plans, and for testing hypotheses of theoretical interest. However, estimation of species richness is not trivial: species can be missed by investigators during sampling sessions. Sampling artifacts can lead to erroneous conclusions on spatial and temporal variation in species richness. Here we use data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to estimate parameters describing the state of bird communities in the Mid-Atlantic Assessment (MAIA) region: species richness, extinction probability, turnover and relative species richness. We use a recently developed approach to estimation of species richness and related parameters that does not require the assumption that all the species are detected during sampling efforts. The information presented here is intended to visualize the state of bird communities in the MAIA region. We provide information on 1975 and 1990. We also quantified the changes between these years. We summarized and mapped the community attributes at a scale of management interest (watershed units).

Assessing the Community College Transfer Market: A Metamarketing Application

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leister, Douglas V.; MacLachlan, Douglas L.

1976-01-01

A conceptual model is proposed for strategic assessment of potential clientele groups of higher educational institutions. Market segmentation, a modern marketing tool for planning and strategy development, is illustrated with a particular four-year institution's analysis of its regional community college transfer market. (Author/LBH)

Master Plan for Data Processing Services, 1988-1993. Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connecticut Regional Community Colleges, Hartford. Board of Trustees.

Developed in accordance with a legislative mandate, this master plan for Connecticut's regional community colleges provides baseline data on the current status of data processing; identifies issues, trends, and constraints; and sets forth specific plans for computing activities and services within the community college system. Introductory…

Networks Analysis of a Regional Ecosystem of Afterschool Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Martha G.; Smith, Marc A.

2011-01-01

Case studies have documented the impact of family-school-community collaboration in afterschool programs on increasing awareness about the problems of at-risk youth, initiating dialogue among leaders and community representatives, developing rich school-based information systems, and demonstrating how to build strong relationships between public…

Aviation competition : regional jet service yet to reach many small communities

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-02-01

Many aviation experts view U.S. airlines' growing use of small regional jets as a revolutionary development that is significantly changing the aviation marketplace. Because jets are generally faster, quieter, smoother, and perceived to be safer than ...

Walkability of local communities: using geographic information systems to objectively assess relevant environmental attributes.

PubMed

Leslie, Eva; Coffee, Neil; Frank, Lawrence; Owen, Neville; Bauman, Adrian; Hugo, Graeme

2007-03-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to objectively measure features of the built environment that may influence adults' physical activity, which is an important determinant of chronic disease. We describe how a previously developed index of walkability was operationalised in an Australian context, using available spatial data. The index was used to generate a stratified sampling frame for the selection of households from 32 communities for the PLACE (Physical Activity in Localities and Community Environments) study. GIS data have the potential to be used to construct measures of environmental attributes and to develop indices of walkability for cities, regions or local communities.

Indicators to measure risk of disaster associated with drought: Implications for the health sector.

PubMed

Sena, Aderita; Ebi, Kristie L; Freitas, Carlos; Corvalan, Carlos; Barcellos, Christovam

2017-01-01

Brazil has a large semiarid region, which covers part of 9 states, over 20% of the 5565 municipalities in the country and at 22.5 million persons, 12% of the country's population. This region experiences recurrent and extended droughts and is characterized by low economic development, scarcity of natural resources including water, and difficult agricultural and livestock production. Local governments and communities need easily obtainable tools to aid their decision making process in managing risks associated with drought. To inform decision-making at the level of municipalities, we investigated factors contributing to the health risks of drought. We used education and poverty indicators to measure vulnerability, number of drought damage evaluations and historical drought occurrences as indicators of hazard, and access to water as an indicator of exposure, to derive a drought disaster risk index. Indicators such as access to piped water, illiteracy and poverty show marked differences in most states and, in nearly all states, the living conditions of communities in the semiarid region are worse than in the rest of each state. There are municipalities at high drought disaster risk in every state and there are a larger number of municipalities at higher risks from the center to the north of the semiarid region. Understanding local hazards, exposures and vulnerabilities provides the means to understand local communities' risks and develop interventions to reduce them. In addition, communities in these regions need to be empowered to add their traditional knowledge to scientific tools, and to identify the actions most relevant to their needs and realities.

Microbial community development in a dynamic gut model is reproducible, colon region specific, and selective for Bacteroidetes and Clostridium cluster IX.

PubMed

Van den Abbeele, Pieter; Grootaert, Charlotte; Marzorati, Massimo; Possemiers, Sam; Verstraete, Willy; Gérard, Philippe; Rabot, Sylvie; Bruneau, Aurélia; El Aidy, Sahar; Derrien, Muriel; Zoetendal, Erwin; Kleerebezem, Michiel; Smidt, Hauke; Van de Wiele, Tom

2010-08-01

Dynamic, multicompartment in vitro gastrointestinal simulators are often used to monitor gut microbial dynamics and activity. These reactors need to harbor a microbial community that is stable upon inoculation, colon region specific, and relevant to in vivo conditions. Together with the reproducibility of the colonization process, these criteria are often overlooked when the modulatory properties from different treatments are compared. We therefore investigated the microbial colonization process in two identical simulators of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem (SHIME), simultaneously inoculated with the same human fecal microbiota with a high-resolution phylogenetic microarray: the human intestinal tract chip (HITChip). Following inoculation of the in vitro colon compartments, microbial community composition reached steady state after 2 weeks, whereas 3 weeks were required to reach functional stability. This dynamic colonization process was reproducible in both SHIME units and resulted in highly diverse microbial communities which were colon region specific, with the proximal regions harboring saccharolytic microbes (e.g., Bacteroides spp. and Eubacterium spp.) and the distal regions harboring mucin-degrading microbes (e.g., Akkermansia spp.). Importantly, the shift from an in vivo to an in vitro environment resulted in an increased Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio, whereas Clostridium cluster IX (propionate producers) was enriched compared to clusters IV and XIVa (butyrate producers). This was supported by proportionally higher in vitro propionate concentrations. In conclusion, high-resolution analysis of in vitro-cultured gut microbiota offers new insight on the microbial colonization process and indicates the importance of digestive parameters that may be crucial in the development of new in vitro models.

In Patience and Hope: A 20-Year Narrative Study of a Family, School, and Community Partnership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higgins, Ann; Deegan, James G.

2009-01-01

This case study describes a 20-year journey of educational transformation from 1985 to 2005 in a bellwether, or highly developed, instance of one school, family, and community partnership--the Kileely Community Project--situated in a large social housing project in Limerick City in the Midwestern region of the Republic of Ireland. The study is a…

A proposed aquatic plant community biotic index for Wisconsin lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nichols, S.; Weber, S.; Shaw, B.

2000-01-01

The Aquatic Macrophyte Community Index (AMCI) is a multipurpose tool developed to assess the biological quality of aquatic plant communities in lakes. It can be used to specifically analyze aquatic plant communities or as part of a multimetric system to assess overall lake quality for regulatory, planning, management, educational, or research purposes. The components of the index are maximum depth of plant growth; percentage of the littoral zone vegetated; Simpson's diversity index; the relative frequencies of submersed, sensitive, and exotic species; and taxa number. Each parameter was scaled based on data distributions from a statewide database, and scaled values were totaled for the AMCI value. AMCI values were grouped and tested by ecoregion and lake type (natural lakes and impoundments) to define quality on a regional basis. This analysis suggested that aquatic plant communities are divided into four groups: (1) Northern Lakes and Forests lakes and impoundments, (2) North-Central Hardwood Forests lakes and impoundments, (3) Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains lakes, and (4) Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains impoundments, Driftless Area Lakes, and Mississippi River Backwater lakes. AMCI values decline from group 1 to group 4 and reflect general water quality and human use trends in Wisconsin. The upper quartile of AMCI values in any region are the highest quality or benchmark plant communities. The interquartile range consists of normally impacted communities for the region and the lower quartile contains severely impacted or degraded plant communities. When AMCI values were applied to case studies, the values reflected known impacts to the lakes. However, quality criteria cannot be used uncritically, especially in lakes that initially have low nutrient levels.The Aquatic Macrophyte Community Index (AMCI) is a multipurpose tool developed to assess the biological quality of aquatic plant communities in lakes. It can be used to specifically analyze aquatic plant communities or as part of a multimetric system to assess overall lake quality for regulatory, planning, management, educational, or research purposes. The components of the index are maximum depth of plant growth; percentage of the littoral zone vegetated; Simpson's diversity index; the relative frequencies of submersed, sensitive, and exotic species; and taxa number. Each parameter was scaled based on data distributions from a statewide database, and scaled values were totaled for the AMCI value, AMCI values were grouped and tested by ecoregion and lake type (natural lakes and impoundments) to define quality on a regional basis. This analysis suggested that aquatic plant communities are divided into four groups: (1) Northern Lakes and Forests lakes and impoundments, (2) North-Central Hardwood Forests lakes and impoundments, (3) Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains lakes, and (4) Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains impoundments, Driftless Area Lakes, and Mississippi River Backwater lakes. AMCI values decline from group 1 to group 4 and reflect general water quality and human use trends in Wisconsin. The upper quartile of AMCI values in any region are the highest quality or benchmark plant communities. The interquartile range consists of normally impacted communities for the region and the lower quartile contains severely impacted or degraded plant communities. When AMCI values were applied to case studies, the values reflected known impacts to the lakes. However, quality criteria cannot be used uncritically, especially in lakes that initially have low nutrient levels.In Wisconsin, the Aquatic Macrophyte Community Index (AMCI) was developed and used to define the quality of aquatic macrophyte communities in northern Wisconsin flowages. In this study, the AMCI concept was expanded to lakes and impoundments on a statewide basis. The parameters selected were the maximum depth of plant growth, percentage of littoral area vegetated, Simpson's diversity index, relative frequen

Structure of Benthic Communities along the Taiwan Latitudinal Gradient

PubMed Central

De Palmas, Stéphane; Kuo, Chao-Yang; Hsieh, Hernyi Justin; Chen, Chaolun Allen

2016-01-01

The distribution and the structure of benthic assemblages vary with latitude. However, few studies have described benthic communities along large latitudinal gradients, and patterns of variation are not fully understood. Taiwan, lying between 21.90°N and 25.30°N, is located at the center of the Philippine-Japan arc and lies at the northern margin of coral reef development. A wide range of habitats is distributed along this latitudinal gradient, from extensive fringing coral reefs at the southern coast to non-reefal communities at the north. In this study, we examined the structure of benthic communities around Taiwan, by comparing its assemblages in four regions, analyzing the effects of the latitudinal gradient, and highlighting regional characteristics. A total of 25 sites, 125 transects, and 2,625 photographs were used to analyze the benthic communities. Scleractinian corals present an obvious gradient of increasing diversity from north to south, whereas macro-algae diversity is higher on the north-eastern coast. At the country scale, Taiwanese coral communities were dominated by turf algae (49%). At the regional scale, we observed an important heterogeneity that may be caused by local disturbances and habitat degradation that smooths out regional differences. In this context, our observations highlight the importance of managing local stressors responsible for reef degradation. Overall, this study provides an important baseline upon which future changes in benthic assemblages around Taiwan can be assessed. PMID:27513665

Report Concerning the Activities Involved in the Development of a Rural Regional Skill Center Reported to the Grantor Partnership Development Fund of the Sears-Roebuck Foundation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Roger B.; Kelly, Michael G.

The Regional Skills Program at Big Bend Community College (BBCC) was developed to offer vocational skills training to high school students within BBCC's 5,000 square miles district. The objectives of the program were to identify training needs and priorities, determine the availability of transportation to BBCC, survey college and district…

The future of soil invertebrate communities in polar regions: different climate change responses in the Arctic and Antarctic?

PubMed

Nielsen, Uffe N; Wall, Diana H

2013-03-01

The polar regions are experiencing rapid climate change with implications for terrestrial ecosystems. Here, despite limited knowledge, we make some early predictions on soil invertebrate community responses to predicted twenty-first century climate change. Geographic and environmental differences suggest that climate change responses will differ between the Arctic and Antarctic. We predict significant, but different, belowground community changes in both regions. This change will be driven mainly by vegetation type changes in the Arctic, while communities in Antarctica will respond to climate amelioration directly and indirectly through changes in microbial community composition and activity, and the development of, and/or changes in, plant communities. Climate amelioration is likely to allow a greater influx of non-native species into both the Arctic and Antarctic promoting landscape scale biodiversity change. Non-native competitive species could, however, have negative effects on local biodiversity particularly in the Arctic where the communities are already species rich. Species ranges will shift in both areas as the climate changes potentially posing a problem for endemic species in the Arctic where options for northward migration are limited. Greater soil biotic activity may move the Arctic towards a trajectory of being a substantial carbon source, while Antarctica could become a carbon sink. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Influences of roads and development on bird communities in protected Chihuahuan Desert landscapes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gutzwiller, K.J.; Barrow, W.C.

2003-01-01

Our objective was to improve knowledge about effects of broad-scale road and development variables on bird communities in protected desert landscapes. Bird species richness and the relative abundance or probability of occurrence of many species were significantly associated with total length of roads within each of two spatial extents (1- and 2-km radii), distance to the nearest road, distance to the nearest development, or the two-way interactions of these variables. Regression models reflected non-linear relations, interaction effects, spatial-extent effects, and interannual variation. Road and development effects warrant special attention in protected areas because such places may be important sources of indigenous bird communities in a region.

Reviving a Community, Modernizing an Industry: Ireland's Furniture College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Regional Technology Strategies, Inc., Carrboro, NC.

Connemara, a rural region in Ireland, is characterized by high unemployment, high emigration, poor infrastructure, inadequate public services, and a low rate of transfer to third-level education. To address the situation, the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), joined forces with Connemara West (a community-owned development organization…

California Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) Regional Networks as Self-Sustaining Communities of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mullen, Adrienne Ann

2011-01-01

The Basic Skills Report for California Community Colleges (2007) stresses the importance of comprehensive training and development opportunities for all faculty (tenured and part-time), administrators and staff members who work with underprepared students. With such a large number of academically underprepared students entering the community…

A SUSTAINABLE METHOD OF WATER EXTRACTION FOR SCHOOL-COMMUNITY GARDENS IN NIGER, WEST AFRICA

EPA Science Inventory

The challenge of this project is significant in the developing world, specifically in the Air Massif region of Niger, the poorest country in the world. A sustainable water extraction system is needed to irrigate community gardens. These gardens produce a basic need, food, for ...

75 FR 6689 - Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program Advance Notice and Request for Comment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-10

... greater and more broad-based support of community development and investment decisions. However, these... and to expand opportunities for stakeholders to engage in decision-making, HUD is seeking comments on... its partners to better understand how this Program can support cooperative regional planning efforts...

Dispersal assembly of rain forest tree communities across the Amazon basin

PubMed Central

Lavin, Mathew; Torke, Benjamin M.; Twyford, Alex D.; Kursar, Thomas A.; Coley, Phyllis D.; Drake, Camila; Hollands, Ruth; Pennington, R. Toby

2017-01-01

We investigate patterns of historical assembly of tree communities across Amazonia using a newly developed phylogeny for the species-rich neotropical tree genus Inga. We compare our results with those for three other ecologically important, diverse, and abundant Amazonian tree lineages, Swartzia, Protieae, and Guatteria. Our analyses using phylogenetic diversity metrics demonstrate a clear lack of geographic phylogenetic structure, and show that local communities of Inga and regional communities of all four lineages are assembled by dispersal across Amazonia. The importance of dispersal in the biogeography of Inga and other tree genera in Amazonian and Guianan rain forests suggests that speciation is not driven by vicariance, and that allopatric isolation following dispersal may be involved in the speciation process. A clear implication of these results is that over evolutionary timescales, the metacommunity for any local or regional tree community in the Amazon is the entire Amazon basin. PMID:28213498

Dispersal assembly of rain forest tree communities across the Amazon basin.

PubMed

Dexter, Kyle G; Lavin, Mathew; Torke, Benjamin M; Twyford, Alex D; Kursar, Thomas A; Coley, Phyllis D; Drake, Camila; Hollands, Ruth; Pennington, R Toby

2017-03-07

We investigate patterns of historical assembly of tree communities across Amazonia using a newly developed phylogeny for the species-rich neotropical tree genus Inga We compare our results with those for three other ecologically important, diverse, and abundant Amazonian tree lineages, Swartzia , Protieae, and Guatteria Our analyses using phylogenetic diversity metrics demonstrate a clear lack of geographic phylogenetic structure, and show that local communities of Inga and regional communities of all four lineages are assembled by dispersal across Amazonia. The importance of dispersal in the biogeography of Inga and other tree genera in Amazonian and Guianan rain forests suggests that speciation is not driven by vicariance, and that allopatric isolation following dispersal may be involved in the speciation process. A clear implication of these results is that over evolutionary timescales, the metacommunity for any local or regional tree community in the Amazon is the entire Amazon basin.

Project TEACH: A Capacity-Building Training Program for Community-Based Organizations and Public Health Agencies.

PubMed

Sauaia, Angela; Tuitt, Nicole R; Kaufman, Carol E; Hunt, Cerise; Ledezma-Amorosi, Mariana; Byers, Tim

2016-01-01

Project TEACH (Teaching Equity to Advance Community Health) is a capacity-building training program to empower community-based organizations and regional public health agencies to develop data-driven, evidence-based, outcomes-focused public health interventions. TEACH delivers training modules on topics such as logic models, health data, social determinants of health, evidence-based interventions, and program evaluation. Cohorts of 7 to 12 community-based organizations and regional public health agencies in each of the 6 Colorado Area Health Education Centers service areas participate in a 2-day training program tailored to their specific needs. From July 2008 to December 2011, TEACH trained 94 organizations and agencies across Colorado. Training modules were well received and resulted in significant improvement in knowledge in core content areas, as well as accomplishment of self-proposed organizational goals, grant applications/awards, and several community-academic partnerships.

People's Participation in Development and the Management of Natural Resources. Report on the Caribbean Regional Workshop (Vieux Fort, St. Lucia, April 15-19, 1985).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vukasin, Helen L., Ed.

This Caribbean Regional Workshop was organized to bring together representatives of private, voluntary, and community development organizations, governmental agencies, and other non-governmental organizations in the Eastern Caribbean who were concerned with environmental quality. The conference was intended to improve the level of citizen…

The New Technicians Study: Opportunities for Entry-Level Workers in Information Technology Occupations. Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2003

The purpose of this study was to develop a body of labor market information to support the development of regional information technology instructional programs by a consortium of California Community Colleges located in the San Francisco Bay Region. This collection of summaries of six occupations begins with a guide that explains the components…

Rural Infrastructure and Economic Development Issues: Information Systems, Transportation and Education. Proceedings of a Regional Workshop (Atlanta, Georgia, October 3-4, 1990).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clouser, Rod, Ed.

The Southern Region Information Exchange Group-53 consists of 20 institutional members seeking a better understanding of the relationship between community infrastructure and economic development. This document contains four papers prepared for the group's working meeting in October 1990. "The Contribution of Four Lane Highway Investments to…

A history of human impacts on the Lake Erie fish community

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reutter, Jeffrey M.; Hartman, Wilbur L.; Downhower, J.F.

1988-01-01

The fisheries scientist working in the island region of Lake Erie has access to an extremely large and diverse freshwater fish community. It is the intention of this essay to discuss briefly that community and the impacts of human activities to provide future students and researchers with both current and historical information. Human settlements and development within the basin are discussed, followed by a description of the major stresses on the community, the impacts of those stresses, and the resulting or present-day fish community.

Education among the Akamba People 1895-1970: An Investigation of the Educational Policies of the Africa Inland Mission and the Development of Education in the Akamba Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nzioka, Bernard K.

2010-01-01

This dissertation looks critically at the activities of the Africa Inland Mission (AIM), a faith based evangelical mission organization in the development of education in Ukamba region located in the south-eastern part of Kenya from 1895-1970. AIM pioneered the introduction of modern education in this community amidst many challenges. Peter…

An Australian Indigenous community-led suicide intervention skills training program: community consultation findings.

PubMed

Nasir, Bushra; Kisely, Steve; Hides, Leanne; Ranmuthugala, Geetha; Brennan-Olsen, Sharon; Nicholson, Geoffrey C; Gill, Neeraj S; Hayman, Noel; Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan, Srinivas; Toombs, Maree

2017-06-13

Little is known of the appropriateness of existing gatekeeper suicide prevention programs for Indigenous communities. Despite the high rates of Indigenous suicide in Australia, especially among Indigenous youth, it is unclear how effective existing suicide prevention programs are in providing appropriate management of Indigenous people at risk of suicide. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with Indigenous communities in rural and regional areas of Southern Queensland. Thematic analysis was performed on the gathered information. Existing programs were time-intensive and included content irrelevant to Indigenous people. There was inconsistency in the content and delivery of gatekeeper training. Programs were also not sustainable for rural and regional Indigenous communities. Appropriate programs should be practical, relevant, and sustainable across all Indigenous communities, with a focus on the social, emotional, cultural and spiritual underpinnings of community wellbeing. Programs need to be developed in thorough consultation with Indigenous communities. Indigenous-led suicide intervention training programs are needed to mitigate the increasing rates of suicide experienced by Indigenous peoples living in rural and remote locations.

Can Regional Colleges Make a Difference in Rural America? The Main Street Economist: Commentary on the Rural Economy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenfeld, Stuart A.; Sheaff, Katharine

Some regional two-year and four-year colleges are moving beyond their traditional mission of education to take proactive roles in promoting the economic development of their regions and communities. A study of regional colleges that help rural businesses and labor forces adapt to the challenges of rural economies found five outstanding goals of…

Use of Balanced Scorecard Methodology for Performance Measurement of the Health Extension Program in Ethiopia

PubMed Central

Teklehaimanot, Hailay D.; Teklehaimanot, Awash; Tedella, Aregawi A.; Abdella, Mustofa

2016-01-01

In 2004, Ethiopia introduced a community-based Health Extension Program to deliver basic and essential health services. We developed a comprehensive performance scoring methodology to assess the performance of the program. A balanced scorecard with six domains and 32 indicators was developed. Data collected from 1,014 service providers, 433 health facilities, and 10,068 community members sampled from 298 villages were used to generate weighted national, regional, and agroecological zone scores for each indicator. The national median indicator scores ranged from 37% to 98% with poor performance in commodity availability, workforce motivation, referral linkage, infection prevention, and quality of care. Indicator scores showed significant difference by region (P < 0.001). Regional performance varied across indicators suggesting that each region had specific areas of strength and deficiency, with Tigray and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region being the best performers while the mainly pastoral regions of Gambela, Afar, and Benishangul-Gumuz were the worst. The findings of this study suggest the need for strategies aimed at improving specific elements of the program and its performance in specific regions to achieve quality and equitable health services. PMID:26928842

Use of Balanced Scorecard Methodology for Performance Measurement of the Health Extension Program in Ethiopia.

PubMed

Teklehaimanot, Hailay D; Teklehaimanot, Awash; Tedella, Aregawi A; Abdella, Mustofa

2016-05-04

In 2004, Ethiopia introduced a community-based Health Extension Program to deliver basic and essential health services. We developed a comprehensive performance scoring methodology to assess the performance of the program. A balanced scorecard with six domains and 32 indicators was developed. Data collected from 1,014 service providers, 433 health facilities, and 10,068 community members sampled from 298 villages were used to generate weighted national, regional, and agroecological zone scores for each indicator. The national median indicator scores ranged from 37% to 98% with poor performance in commodity availability, workforce motivation, referral linkage, infection prevention, and quality of care. Indicator scores showed significant difference by region (P < 0.001). Regional performance varied across indicators suggesting that each region had specific areas of strength and deficiency, with Tigray and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region being the best performers while the mainly pastoral regions of Gambela, Afar, and Benishangul-Gumuz were the worst. The findings of this study suggest the need for strategies aimed at improving specific elements of the program and its performance in specific regions to achieve quality and equitable health services. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Innovation, entrepreneurship and textiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanton Godfrey, A.; Pourmojib, S.

2017-10-01

Innovation and entrepreneurship have become increasingly important parts of economic development in almost every country, region, and community. In this research we investigate the reasons people become entrepreneurs in the textile and apparel industries and compare entrepreneurship in these industries with other industries looking also at the success factors for start up companies. During our research we found many disrupters, people entering the textile and apparel industries from outside often having no prior experience in textiles or apparel. We also investigate the impact of government intervention on entrepreneurship. In recognition of the large economic impact entrepreneurial companies have on economic development and job growth, almost all federal governments, regional governments, and community governments have created support for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Eisenhower Pre-Service Teacher Education Project, Higher Education Consortium Region III. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wozniak, Jacci

The Eisenhower Pre-Service Teacher Education Project was developed by the University of Central Florida, the five community colleges in Region III of the Higher Education Consortium, and the private college and universities in the same region to design curriculum changes to improve the preparation of elementary and secondary math and science…

Perspectives of rural health and human service practitioners following suicide prevention training programme in Australia: A thematic analysis.

PubMed

Jones, Martin; Ferguson, Monika; Walsh, Sandra; Martinez, Lee; Marsh, Michael; Cronin, Kathryn; Procter, Nicolas

2018-05-01

There are well-established training programmes available to support health and human services professionals working with people vulnerable to suicide. However, little is known about involving people with lived experience in the delivery of suicide prevention training with communities with increased rates of suicide. The aim of this paper was to report on a formative dialogical evaluation that explored the views of health and human services workers with regard to a suicide prevention training programme in regional (including rural and remote areas) South Australia which included meaningful involvement of a person with lived experience in the development and delivery of the training. In 2015, eight suicide prevention training workshops were conducted with health and human services workers. All 248 participants lived and worked in South Australian regional communities. We interviewed a subsample of 24 participants across eight sites. A thematic analysis of the interviews identified five themes: Coproduction is key, It is okay to ask the question, Caring for my community, I can make a difference and Learning for future training. The overall meta-theme was "Involvement of a person with lived experience in suicide prevention training supports regional communities to look out for people at risk of suicide." This paper highlights the need for suicide prevention training and other workforce development programmes to include lived experience participation as a core component in development and delivery. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Late Pleistocene-Holocene community development in Central and SE-Europe in direct fossil record: scope of the approach, common patterns and inter-regional differences.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horacek, Ivan; Lozek, Vojen

2010-05-01

The information provided by modern instrumental approaches (molecular phylogeography, ancient DNA analyses, large scale radiocarbon datings etc.) refined the knowledge on Late Quaternary faunal development and range history of particular taxa in essential way. Nevertheless, the direct fossil record remains still an essential substrate in study of that topics, and to reveal all the information, that it may provide, and integrate it with the outputs of the other approaches presents one of the essential aim of the present meeting. Unfortunately, the immediate use of fossil record for the paleoecologic and paleobiogeographic inferences is often limited by its fragmentarity (both in temporal and spatial respects), taphonomic influences and/or locally specific post-sedimentary effects which all may bias it in a considerable degree. Hence, each particular record is to be carefully reexamined in respect to all factor which may bias it - unfortunately, often it is not too easy to respond that task, particularly when the record is retrived from secondary sources. It should also be remembered that the records representing narrow time slices without a robust lithostratigraphic context do not provide any information on the historical and contextual setting of the respective faunal situation. Such information that is essential for reconstructions of paleobiogeography of community development and similar locally-sensitive phenomena can only be retrived from the continuous sedimentary series which establish the sequence of particular faunal events by direct superposition. A sufficiently dense network of such series provides than a possibility of direct inter-regional comparisons and a high resolution information on the paleobiogeography of the Late Pleistocene-Holocene rearrangements of mammalian communities, local variation in history of particular species and its community context. We illustrate productivity of such approach on with aid of the fossil record obtained from continuous sedimentary sequences from different regions of Czech Republic and Slovakia (850 community samples, 29,800 MNI) and neighbouring countries of Central Europe. Despite common general trends we demonstrated stricking local and regional specificities. Among other they include (a) continuous survival of several woodland elements (Clethrionomys glareolus, Sorex araneus, Micotus subterraneus, Microtus agrestis) throughout Weichselian (including LGM) in the Carpathians, (b) prolonged survival of the glacial elements Ochotona pusilla and Microtus gregalis in Pannonian basin and (c) Dicrostonyx gulielmi in the Carpathian foredeep, contrasting to (d) the early disappearance of them in S-Germany and Bohemia, and (e) similar difference were found also in other cenologic traits. While the glacial communities were nearly homogenous in their structure throughout whole the region, the Holocene development produced a considerable faunal provincialism, which was the most pronounced during Boreal. In contrast to central Europe, the available sequences from the SE-Europe and Asia Minor show only minute faunal changes during the Vistulian and Holocene, no essential rearrangements in community structure were observed (at least as the core species are concerned) and except for Lagurus no glacial immigrant did invade the region. At the same time a degree of local provincialism was continuously high and, in a regional scale, it continuously exceeded that of the Boreal central Europe.

The Border Community & Immigration Stress Scale: A Preliminary Examination of a Community Responsive Measure in Two Southwest Samples

PubMed Central

Carvajal, Scott C.; Rosales, Cecilia; Rubio-Goldsmith, Raquel; Sabo, Samantha; Ingram, Maia; McClelland, Debra Jean; Redondo, Floribella; Torres, Emma; Romero, Andrea J.; Oleary, Anna Ochoa; Sanchez, Zoila; de Zapien, Jill Guernsey

2015-01-01

Background Understanding contemporary socio-cultural stressors may assist educational, clinical and policy-level health promotion efforts. This study presents descriptive findings on a new measure, the Border Community & Immigration Stress Scale (BCISS). Methods The data were from two community surveys as part of community based participatory projects conducted in the Southwestern US border region. This scale includes stressful experiences reflected in extant measures, with new items reflecting heightened local migration pressures and health care barriers. Results Stressors representing each main domain, including novel ones, were reported with frequency and at high intensity in the predominantly Mexican-descent samples. Total stress was also significantly associated with mental and physical health indicators. Discussion The study suggests particularly high health burdens tied to the experience of stressors in the US border region. Further, many of the stressors are also likely relevant for other communities within developed nations also experiencing high levels of migration. PMID:22430894

2 + 2 = BSW: An Innovative Approach to the Community College-University Continuum in Social Work Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Messinger, Lori

2014-01-01

This article is a case study of a 2 + 2 undergraduate social work degree program developed by a regional urban community college and a social work program at a midwestern university. This program brings the undergraduate social work degree program from the university's main campus to the community college campus, using university instructors to…

Tourism and its effects on southeast Alaska communities and resources: case studies from Haines, Craig, and Hoonah, Alaska.

Treesearch

Lee K. Cerveny

2005-01-01

Tourism has become integral to southeast Alaska’s regional economy and has resulted in changes to the social and cultural fabric of community life as well as to natural resources used by Alaskans. This study incorporates an ethnographic approach to trace tourism development in three rural southeast Alaska communities featuring different levels and types of tourism. In...

THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING, REPORT OF A CONFERENCE TO EXPLORE THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN TRAINING MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS (ATLANTA, APRIL, 1966).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

PENNINGROTH, PAUL W.

A CONFERENCE SPONSORED BY THE SOUTHERN REGIONAL EDUCATION BOARD AND THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH WAS HELD IN APRIL 1966, TO (1) PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND MENTAL HEALTH LEADERS TO CONSIDER SIGNIFICANT ISSUES IN THE TRAINING OF MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS, (2) PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT DEVELOPMENTS AND CURRENT PROGRAMS IN…

Canada's Composite Learning Index: A path towards learning communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cappon, Paul; Laughlin, Jarrett

2013-09-01

In the development of learning cities/communities, benchmarking progress is a key element. Not only does it permit cities/communities to assess their current strengths and weaknesses, it also engenders a dialogue within and between cities/communities on the means of enhancing learning conditions. Benchmarking thereby is a potentially motivational tool, energising further progress. In Canada, the Canadian Council on Learning created the world's first Composite Learning Index (CLI), the purpose of which is to measure the conditions of learning nationally, regionally and locally. Cities/communities in Canada have utilised the CLI Simulator, an online tool provided by the Canadian Council on Learning, to gauge the change in overall learning conditions which may be expected depending on which particular indicator is emphasised. In this way, the CLI has proved to be both a dynamic and a locally relevant tool for improvement, moreover a strong motivational factor in the development of learning cities/communities. After presenting the main features of the CLI, the authors of this paper sum up the lessons learned during its first 5 years (2006-2010) of existence, also with a view to its transferability to other regions. Indeed, the CLI model was already adopted in Europe by the German Bertelsmann foundation in 2010 and has the potential to be useful in many other countries as well.

Development of a Community-Based Palliative Care Model for Advance Cancer Patients in Public Health Centers in Busan, Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Sook-Nam; Choi, Soon-Ock; Shin, Seong Hoon; Ryu, Ji-Sun; Baik, Jeong-Won

2017-07-01

A feasible palliative care model for advance cancer patients is needed in Korea with its rapidly aging population and corresponding increase in cancer prevalence. This study describes the process involved in the development of a community-based palliative care (CBPC) model implemented originally in a Busan pilot project. The model development included steps I and II of the pilot project, identification of the service types, a survey exploring the community demand for palliative care, construction of an operational infrastructure, and the establishment of a service delivery system. Public health centers (including Busan regional cancer centers, palliative care centers, and social welfare centers) served as the regional hubs in the development of a palliative care model. The palliative care project included the provision of palliative care, establishment of a support system for the operations, improvement of personnel capacity, development of an educational and promotional program, and the establishment of an assessment system to improve quality. The operational infrastructure included a service management team, provision teams, and a support team. The Busan Metropolitan City CBPC model was based on the principles of palliative care as well as the characteristics of public health centers that implemented the community health projects. The potential use of the Busan CBPC model in Korea should be explored further through service evaluations.

Using Social Science to Ensure Sustainable Development Centered on Human Well-being in Costa Rica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hunt, C. A.; Durham, W. H.; Gaffikin, L.

2012-12-01

When then president José Figueres Ferrer invited the world to use Costa Rica as a "laboratory for sustainable development" in 1997, the country's fame as a biodiversity mecca was firmly established. Yet despite vast investment, conservation-related interventions in the cantons of Osa and Golfito along the country's southern Pacific coast have been seen as overly conservation-oriented and carried out "with its back to the communities." By ignoring human well-being, these interventions have been unable to overcome the region's vast disparities in access to resources and general state of underdevelopment despite investments of many millions of dollars in recent decades. With the country's third international airport and Central America's largest hydroelectric project proposed for the region, as well as other infrastructure-driven development currently underway, the region is poised to undergo rapid change. This presentation first describes the Osa-Golfito Initiative (INOGO), an interdisciplinary effort facilitated by the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment to development a long term strategic action plan that ensures a development trajectory focused on human and environmental well-being. Whereas a concurrent presentation will focus on biophysical components of INOGO, the focus here is on the often-overlooked contributions of social science for ensuring the region's future sustainability. An anthropological approach is taken to assess the assets and resources of the region's residents, and the obstacles and challenges as they perceive them. This groundwork provides a crucial link between individual and local realities, and the regional and national political economy, and thus provides greater probability of sustainable development occurring with its "face to the communities.";

Variations in community exposure to lahar hazards from multiple volcanoes in Washington State (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Diefenbach, Angela K.; Wood, Nathan J.; Ewert, John W.

2015-01-01

Understanding how communities are vulnerable to lahar hazards provides critical input for effective design and implementation of volcano hazard preparedness and mitigation strategies. Past vulnerability assessments have focused largely on hazards posed by a single volcano, even though communities and officials in many parts of the world must plan for and contend with hazards associated with multiple volcanoes. To better understand community vulnerability in regions with multiple volcanic threats, we characterize and compare variations in community exposure to lahar hazards associated with five active volcanoes in Washington State, USA—Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens—each having the potential to generate catastrophic lahars that could strike communities tens of kilometers downstream. We use geospatial datasets that represent various population indicators (e.g., land cover, residents, employees, tourists) along with mapped lahar-hazard boundaries at each volcano to determine the distributions of populations within communities that occupy lahar-prone areas. We estimate that Washington lahar-hazard zones collectively contain 191,555 residents, 108,719 employees, 433 public venues that attract visitors, and 354 dependent-care facilities that house individuals that will need assistance to evacuate. We find that population exposure varies considerably across the State both in type (e.g., residential, tourist, employee) and distribution of people (e.g., urban to rural). We develop composite lahar-exposure indices to identify communities most at-risk and communities throughout the State who share common issues of vulnerability to lahar-hazards. We find that although lahars are a regional hazard that will impact communities in different ways there are commonalities in community exposure across multiple volcanoes. Results will aid emergency managers, local officials, and the public in educating at-risk populations and developing preparedness, mitigation, and recovery plans within and across communities.

Space technology, sustainable development and community applications: Internet as a facilitator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peter, Nicolas; Afrin, Nadia; Goh, Gérardine; Chester, Ed

2006-07-01

Among other approaches, space technologies are currently being deployed for disaster management, environmental monitoring, urban planning, health applications, communications, etc. Although space-based applications have tremendous potential for socioeconomic development, they are primarily technology driven and the requirements from the end-users (i.e. the development community) are rarely taken into consideration during the initial development stages. This communication gap between the "space" and "development" communities can be bridged with the help of the web-based knowledge sharing portal focused on space applications for development. This online community uses the development gateway foundation's sophisticated content management system. It is modeled after the development gateway's knowledge sharing portals ( http://topics.developmentgateway.org) and draws from their expertise in knowledge management, partnership building and marketing. These types of portal are known to facilitate broad-based partnerships across sectors, regions and the various stakeholders but also to facilitate North-South and South-South cooperation. This paper describes the initiative "Space for Development" ( http://topics.developmentgateway.org/space) started in 2004 which aims to demonstrate how such a web-based portal can be structured to facilitate knowledge sharing in order to bridge the gap between the "space" and "development" communities in an innovative and global manner.

Development of lichen response indexes using a regional gradient modeling approach for large-scale monitoring of forests

Treesearch

Susan Will-Wolf; Peter Neitlich

2010-01-01

Development of a regional lichen gradient model from community data is a powerful tool to derive lichen indexes of response to environmental factors for large-scale and long-term monitoring of forest ecosystems. The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service includes lichens in its national inventory of forests of...

Participatory Community Education to Mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict in Botswana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zarestky, Jill; Ruyle, Leslie E.

2016-01-01

In northern Botswana, conflict between subsistence farmers and elephants can result in destroyed agricultural crops and death for both species. In June of 2016, students and faculty mentors from four universities traveled to the Okavango Delta region of Botswana to participate in a community education project designed to develop locally relevant…

Using Technology 24/7 for Regional Assistance after Shutdown of Major Industries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brinkman, Patricia; Hart, Melanie; Olinsky, Christine; Merkowitz, Rose Fisher

2011-01-01

People facing unemployment or who are underemployed need access to community and financial information and resources 24/7. Collaborating with community agencies and organizations, FCS educators developed a website with comprehensive local and state resources and educational tools that the consumer might otherwise not have been aware were…

Apples and Oranges Mean a New Fruit Crop: New Business Plan Competition Model Integrates Economic and Community Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldman, Jacqueline; Oden, Lisa Derby

2007-01-01

Mount Wachusett Community College Entrepreneurial Resource Center Business Plan Competition brings together stakeholders across all economic sectors to bolster the regional economy. It also highlights entrepreneurs as a viable career choice. The competition disintegrates existing silos, provides education to all entrants, and gives business…

Higher Education Research Community in Taiwan: An Emerging Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Sheng-Ju; Chan, Ying

2015-01-01

This paper aims to explore the evolution and characteristics of the higher education research community in Taiwan. In echoing the development of the East Asian region, Taiwan has made substantial progress during the past two decades. The massification of higher education itself has played a major role in promoting the academic differentiation or…

Communicating How Water Works: Results from a Community Water Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cockerill, Kristan

2010-01-01

Based on feedback from attendees at an environmental summit who requested information about regional water sources, a team comprised of a local nonprofit, a state university, and a cooperative extension office created a community water education program. Undergraduate student interns worked with the author to develop a 20-minute science-based…

Mission-Driven Adaptability in a Changing National Training System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zoellner, Don; Stephens, Anne; Joseph, Victor; Monro, Davena

2017-01-01

This case study of an adult and community education provider based in far north Queensland describes its capacity to balance various iterations of public policy against its vision for the future of Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders. Community-controlled organisations wanting to contribute to economic and social development in regional/remote…

Toward Family and Community: Mental Retardation Services in Massachusetts, New England, and the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Braddock, David; Hemp, Richard

1997-01-01

Current trends in mental retardation services in Massachusetts were investigated using the New England region, the state of Michigan, and the United States as comparative frames of reference. Massachusetts' movement toward reducing reliance on state institutions, reallocating funding, and developing community services and family support is…

Reflections on an Interdisciplinary, Community-Based, Team-Taught Adventure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fauvel, Anne Marie; Miller, Lisa K.; Lane, Paul; Farris, John

2010-01-01

A new team-taught course focused on interdisciplinary teaching and integrative learning was offered at Grand Valley State University during the Summer of 2008 at a regional campus in Holland, Michigan. Faculty from Engineering and Business developed this community-based, alternative-format course to engage students in the question: "What will…

The Hispanic Project for Architecture and Building Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dail, Edward; Mora, Jorge

2006-01-01

John Tyler Community College in Chester, Virginia, began a program in architecture and building construction in fall 2003 to meet the needs of the Hispanic community--a much neglected but rapidly growing segment of the regional population. After first hiring a Hispanic director (Mr. Jorge Mora), a program was developed that heavily involved the…

LA SAFE and Isle de Jean Charles: Regional Adaptation and Community Resettlement Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanders, M.

2017-12-01

LA SAFE, or Louisiana's Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments, is a strategic framework for community development utilizing future projections of coastal land loss and flood risk as a determining factor in regional growth management and local planning initiatives along a 10, 25, and 50 year timeline. LA SAFE utilizes the input of passionate local citizen leaders and organizations committed to enabling community members to take proactive steps towards mitigating risk and increasing resilience against coastal issues. The project aims to acknowledge that adaptation and restoration must go hand-in-hand with addressing community growth and contraction, as well as realizing Louisiana's most vulnerable coastal communities will need to contemplate resettlement over the next 50 years. The project's outlook is to become a global leader for adaptation and cultural design and restoration. Connecting a global interest with the project and offering extensive ways for people to learn about the issues and get involved will provide an immense amount of support necessary for future coastal environments around the world. This presentation will focus on the output of a year-long planning effort across a six-parish target area encompassing several vulnerable coastal Louisiana locales. The Resettlement of Isle de Jean Charles is a federally-funded and first-of-its kind initiative marking Louisiana's first attempt to relocate a vulnerable coastal community at-scale and as a group. Due to a myriad of environmental factors, the Island has experienced 98 percent land loss since 1955, leading to many of the Island's historical inhabitants to retreat to higher, drier landscapes. In moving the community at-scale, the project seeks to inject new life into the community and its residents in relocating the community to higher, safer ground, while also developing the new community in such a way that it maximizes economic development, job training, and educational opportunities and can be a locale that is not only a model for future resettlement projects, but also attracts new and former residents of the Isle de Jean Charles community. This presentation will recap planning work completed to date, as well as provide a highlight of how the project is developing as a scalable, replicable model.

SEE-GRID eInfrastructure for Regional eScience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prnjat, Ognjen; Balaz, Antun; Vudragovic, Dusan; Liabotis, Ioannis; Sener, Cevat; Marovic, Branko; Kozlovszky, Miklos; Neagu, Gabriel

In the past 6 years, a number of targeted initiatives, funded by the European Commission via its information society and RTD programmes and Greek infrastructure development actions, have articulated a successful regional development actions in South East Europe that can be used as a role model for other international developments. The SEEREN (South-East European Research and Education Networking initiative) project, through its two phases, established the SEE segment of the pan-European G ´EANT network and successfully connected the research and scientific communities in the region. Currently, the SEE-LIGHT project is working towards establishing a dark-fiber backbone that will interconnect most national Research and Education networks in the region. On the distributed computing and storage provisioning i.e. Grid plane, the SEE-GRID (South-East European GRID e-Infrastructure Development) project, similarly through its two phases, has established a strong human network in the area of scientific computing and has set up a powerful regional Grid infrastructure, and attracted a number of applications from different fields from countries throughout the South-East Europe. The current SEEGRID-SCI project, ending in April 2010, empowers the regional user communities from fields of meteorology, seismology and environmental protection in common use and sharing of the regional e-Infrastructure. Current technical initiatives in formulation are focusing on a set of coordinated actions in the area of HPC and application fields making use of HPC initiatives. Finally, the current SEERA-EI project brings together policy makers - programme managers from 10 countries in the region. The project aims to establish a communication platform between programme managers, pave the way towards common e-Infrastructure strategy and vision, and implement concrete actions for common funding of electronic infrastructures on the regional level. The regional vision on establishing an e-Infrastructure compatible with European developments, and empowering the scientists in the region in equal participation in the use of pan- European infrastructures, is materializing through the above initiatives. This model has a number of concrete operational and organizational guidelines which can be adapted to help e-Infrastructure developments in other world regions. In this paper we review the most important developments and contributions by the SEEGRID- SCI project.

An epistemic community comes and goes? Local and national expressions of heart health promotion in Canada

PubMed Central

Eyles, John; Robinson, Kerry; Elliott, Susan

2009-01-01

Background The objective of this study is to examine the existence and shape of epistemic communities for (heart) health promotion at the international, national, provincial and regional levels in Canada. Epistemic community may be defined as a network of experts with an authoritative claim to policy relevant knowledge in their area of expertise. Methods An interpretive policy analysis was employed using 60 documents (48 provincial, 8 national and 4 international) and 66 interviews (from 5 Canadian provinces). These data were entered into NUD*IST, a qualitative software analysis package, to assist in the development of codes and themes. These codes form the basis of the results. Results A scientific and policy epistemic community was identified at the international and Canadian federal levels. Provincially and regionally, the community is present as an idea but its implementation varies between jurisdictions. Conclusion The importance of economic, political and cultural factors shapes the presence and shape of the epistemic community in different jurisdictions. The community waxes and wanes but appears robust. PMID:19236697

The Roles of Science in Local Resilience Policy Development: A Case Study of Three U.S. Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clavin, C.; Gupta, N.

2015-12-01

The development and deployment of resilience policies within communities in the United States often respond to the place-based, hazard-specific nature of disasters. Prior to the onset of a disaster, municipal and regional decision makers establish long-term development policies, such as land use planning, infrastructure investment, and economic development policies. Despite the importance of incorporating disaster risk within community decision making, resilience and disaster risk are only one consideration community decision makers weigh when choosing how and whether to establish resilience policy. Using a case study approach, we examine the governance, organizational, management, and policy making processes and the involvement of scientific advice in designing and implementing resilience policy in three U.S. communities: Los Angeles, CA; Norfolk, VA; and Flagstaff, AZ. Disaster mitigation or resilience initiatives were developed and deployed in each community with differing levels and types of scientific engagement. Engagement spanned from providing technical support with traditional risk assessment to direct engagement with community decision makers and design of community resilience outreach. Best practices observed include embedding trusted, independent scientific advisors with strong community credibility within local government agencies, use of interdisciplinary and interdepartmental expert teams with management and technical skillsets, and establishing scientifically-informed disaster and hazard scenarios to enable community outreach. Case study evidence suggest science communication and engagement within and across municipal government agencies and scientifically-informed direct engagement with community stakeholders are effective approaches and roles that disaster risk scientists can fill to support resilience policy development.

CONCEPTUAL MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR DIAGNOSTICS RESEARCH

EPA Science Inventory

Conceptual model development will focus on the effects of habitat alteration, nutrients,suspended and bedded sediments, and toxic chemicals on appropriate endpoints (individuals, populations, communities, ecosystems) across spatial scales (habitats, water body, watershed, region)...

Handbook for assessing economic opportunities from the completion of Appalachian Development Highways

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-03-14

This handbook is designed to help economic development practitioners in Appalachian Region communities to identify and pursue economic opportunities, specifically including those made possible by newly-completed segments of the Appalachian Developmen...

Analysis of the bacterial strains using Biolog plates in the contaminated soil from Riyadh community.

PubMed

Al-Dhabaan, Fahad Abdullah M; Bakhali, Ali Hassan

2017-05-01

Routine manufacture, detonation and disposal of explosives in land and groundwater have resulted in complete pollution. Explosives are xenobiotic compounds, being toxic to biological systems, and their recalcitrance leads to persistence in the environment. The methods currently used for the remediation of explosive contaminated sites are expensive and can result in the formation of toxic products. The present study aimed to investigate the bacterial strains using the Biolog plates in the soil from the Riyadh community. The microbial strains were isolated using the spread plate technique and were identified using the Biolog method. In this study we have analyzed from bacterial families of soil samples, obtained from the different sites in 5 regions at Explosive Institute. Our results conclude that Biolog MicroPlates were developed for the rapid identification of bacterial isolates by sole-carbon source utilization and can be used for the identification of bacteria. Out of five communities, only four families of bacteria indicate that the microbial community lacks significant diversity in region one from the Riyadh community in Saudi Arabia. More studies are needed to be carried out in different regions to validate our results.

A public health hazard mitigation planning process.

PubMed

Griffith, Jennifer M; Kay Carpender, S; Crouch, Jill Artzberger; Quiram, Barbara J

2014-01-01

The Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, a member of the Training and Education Collaborative System Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center (TECS-PERLC), has long-standing partnerships with 2 Health Service Regions (Regions) in Texas. TECS-PERLC was contracted by these Regions to address 2 challenges identified in meeting requirements outlined by the Risk-Based Funding Project. First, within Metropolitan Statistical Areas, there is not a formal authoritative structure. Second, preexisting tools and processes did not adequately satisfy requirements to assess public health, medical, and mental health needs and link mitigation strategies to the Public Health Preparedness Capabilities, which provide guidance to prepare for, respond to, and recover from public health incidents. TECS-PERLC, with its partners, developed a framework to interpret and apply results from the Texas Public Health Risk Assessment Tool (TxPHRAT). The 3-phase community engagement-based TxPHRAT Mitigation Planning Process (Mitigation Planning Process) and associated tools facilitated the development of mitigation plans. Tools included (1) profiles interpreting TxPHRAT results and identifying, ranking, and prioritizing hazards and capability gaps; (2) a catalog of intervention strategies and activities linked to hazards and capabilities; and (3) a template to plan, evaluate, and report mitigation planning efforts. The Mitigation Planning Process provided a framework for Regions to successfully address all funding requirements. TECS-PERLC developed more than 60 profiles, cataloged and linked 195 intervention strategies, and developed a template resulting in 20 submitted mitigation plans. A public health-focused, community engagement-based mitigation planning process was developed by TECS-PERLC and successfully implemented by the Regions. The outcomes met all requirements and reinforce the effectiveness of academic practice partnerships and importance of community engagement in mitigation planning. Additional funding has been approved to expand the Mitigation Planning Process to all counties in Texas with local health departments.

Exurban Development and its Environmental Impact on Land Use in Kurgan City, Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrievskikh, Daria

Exurban communities as one of the forms of urban sprawl can cause significant changes in natural land cover. Exurban development refers to an expansion of communities located outside a city and its suburbs. One of the main reasons these settlements develop is a desire to live closer to nature with better ecological conditions. Exurbs often represent prosperous regions inhabited by people with high income. However, exurban development involves the human consumption of natural environments. Specifically, it directly affects community patterns, species patterns, and demographic patterns of surrounding ecosystems, as well as land use. Therefore, it is important to study the impact of exurban settlements on the natural environment. This study uses remote sensing imagery, Census data and primary data to analyze land cover change due to the emergence of exurban communities around Kurgan City, Russia, with an emphasis on the change of natural vegetation such as, forests in addition to human behavior.

Community health nursing practices in contexts of poverty, uncertainty and unpredictability: a systematization of personal experiences.

PubMed

Laperrière, Hélène

2007-01-01

Several years of professional nursing practices, while living in the poorest neighbourhoods in the outlying areas of Brazil's Amazon region, have led the author to develop a better understanding of marginalized populations. Providing care to people with leprosy and sex workers in riverside communities has taken place in conditions of uncertainty, insecurity, unpredictability and institutional violence. The question raised is how we can develop community health nursing practices in this context. A systematization of personal experiences based on popular education is used and analyzed as a way of learning by obtaining scientific knowledge through critical analysis of field practices. Ties of solidarity and belonging developed in informal, mutual-help action groups are promising avenues for research and the development of knowledge in health promotion, prevention and community care and a necessary contribution to national public health programmers.

Increasing Communities Capacity to Effectively Address Climate Change Through Education, Civic Engagement and Workforce Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niepold, F., III; Ledley, T. S.; Stanton, C.; Fraser, J.; Scowcroft, G. A.

2017-12-01

Understanding the causes, effects, risks, and developing the social will and skills for responses to global change is a major challenge of the 21st century that requires coordinated contributions from the sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts, and beyond. There have been many effective efforts to implement climate change education, civic engagement and related workforce development programs focused on a multitude of audiences, topics and in multiple regions. This talk will focus on how comprehensive educational efforts across our communities are needed to support cities and their primary industries as they prepare for, and embrace, a low-carbon economy and develop the related workforce.While challenges still exist in identifying and coordinating all stakeholders, managing and leveraging resources, and resourcing and scaling effective programs to increase impact and reach, climate and energy literacy leaders have developed initiatives with broad input to identify the understandings and structures for climate literacy collective impact and to develop regional/metropolitan strategy that focuses its collective impact efforts on local climate issues, impacts and opportunities. This Climate Literacy initiative envisions education as a central strategy for community's civic actions in the coming decades by key leaders who have the potential to foster the effective and innovative strategies that will enable their communities to seize opportunity and prosperity in a post-carbon and resilient future. This talk discusses the advances and collaborations in the Climate Change Education community over the last decade by U.S. federal and non-profit organization that have been made possible through the partnerships of the Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN), U.S. National Science Foundation funded Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) Alliance, and the Tri-Agency Climate Change Education Collaborative.

Toward a national health risk management approach in Australia.

PubMed

O'Donnell, Carol

2002-01-01

There has been increasing international consensus about the importance of competition for achieving national growth and community well-being. The Australian government accordingly has introduced policies to promote such competition. Major legislative review and many public inquiries have assisted implementation of national competition policy and the development of national goals and standards related to international agreements to promote health and sustainable development. Since the 1980s, Australia has had legislation that requires the identification and control of health risks arising at work. The management structures necessary for coordinated delivery of national programs designed for effective identification and control of health risks arising in communities to achieve national health and development goals are still being developed, however. Major difficulties related to this development are discussed. National health development programs should be approached primarily through establishment of regional partnerships between bodies responsible for managing community health, local government, and employment placement, in consultation with other relevant organizations and the community. Related research and evaluation programs are required.

Small Businesses. Workforce & Workplace Literacy Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

BCEL Brief, 1992

1992-01-01

This brief presents summary information and contacts/references for a sampling of programs and resources that have been developed to support small business workplace literacy projects. Twenty-two contacts are included: Finger Lakes Regional Education Center for Economic Development; Development Assistance Corporation; Wayne Community College;…

A multi-scale comparison of trait linkages to environmental and spatial variables in fish communities across a large freshwater lake.

PubMed

Strecker, Angela L; Casselman, John M; Fortin, Marie-Josée; Jackson, Donald A; Ridgway, Mark S; Abrams, Peter A; Shuter, Brian J

2011-07-01

Species present in communities are affected by the prevailing environmental conditions, and the traits that these species display may be sensitive indicators of community responses to environmental change. However, interpretation of community responses may be confounded by environmental variation at different spatial scales. Using a hierarchical approach, we assessed the spatial and temporal variation of traits in coastal fish communities in Lake Huron over a 5-year time period (2001-2005) in response to biotic and abiotic environmental factors. The association of environmental and spatial variables with trophic, life-history, and thermal traits at two spatial scales (regional basin-scale, local site-scale) was quantified using multivariate statistics and variation partitioning. We defined these two scales (regional, local) on which to measure variation and then applied this measurement framework identically in all 5 study years. With this framework, we found that there was no change in the spatial scales of fish community traits over the course of the study, although there were small inter-annual shifts in the importance of regional basin- and local site-scale variables in determining community trait composition (e.g., life-history, trophic, and thermal). The overriding effects of regional-scale variables may be related to inter-annual variation in average summer temperature. Additionally, drivers of fish community traits were highly variable among study years, with some years dominated by environmental variation and others dominated by spatially structured variation. The influence of spatial factors on trait composition was dynamic, which suggests that spatial patterns in fish communities over large landscapes are transient. Air temperature and vegetation were significant variables in most years, underscoring the importance of future climate change and shoreline development as drivers of fish community structure. Overall, a trait-based hierarchical framework may be a useful conservation tool, as it highlights the multi-scaled interactive effect of variables over a large landscape.

Evaluating the ecological association of casino industry economic development on community health status: a natural experiment in the Mississippi delta region.

PubMed

Honoré, Peggy A; Simoes, Eduardo J; Moonesinghe, Ramal; Wang, Xueyuan; Brown, Lovetta

2007-01-01

Objectives of this study were to examine for associations of casino industry economic development on improving community health status and funding for public health services in two counties in the Mississippi Delta Region of the United States. An ecological approach was used to evaluate whether two counties with casino gaming had improved health status and public health funding in comparison with two noncasino counties in the same region with similar social, racial, and ethic backgrounds. Variables readily available from state health department records were used to develop a logic model for guiding analytical work. A linear regression model was built using a stepwise approach and hierarchical regression principles with many dependent variables and a set of fixed and nonfixed independent variables. County-level data for 23 variables over an 11-year period were used. Overall, this study found a lack of association between the presence of a casino and desirable health outcomes or funding for public health services. Changes in the environment were made to promote health by utilizing gaming revenues to build state-of-the-art community health and wellness centers and sports facilities. However, significant increases in funding for local public health services were not found in either of the counties with casinos. These findings are relevant for policy makers when debating economic development strategies. Analysis similar to this should be combined with other routine public health assessments after implementation of development strategies to increase knowledge of health outcome trends and shifts in socioeconomic position that may be expected to accrue from economic development projects.

Opening Doors of Opportunity to Develop the Future Nuclear Workforce - 13325

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mets, Mindy

2013-07-01

The United States' long-term demand for highly skilled nuclear industry workers is well-documented by the Nuclear Energy Institute. In addition, a study commissioned by the SRS Community Reuse Organization concludes that 10,000 new nuclear workers are needed in the two-state region of Georgia and South Carolina alone. Young adults interested in preparing for these nuclear careers must develop specialized skills and knowledge, including a clear understanding of the nuclear workforce culture. Successful students are able to enter well-paying career fields. However, the national focus on nuclear career opportunities and associated training and education programs has been minimal in recent decades.more » Developing the future nuclear workforce is a challenge, particularly in the midst of competition for similar workers from various industries. In response to regional nuclear workforce development needs, the SRS Community Reuse Organization established the Nuclear Workforce Initiative (NWI{sup R}) to promote and expand nuclear workforce development capabilities by facilitating integrated partnerships. NWI{sup R} achievements include a unique program concept called NWI{sup R} Academies developed to link students with nuclear career options through firsthand experiences. The academies are developed and conducted at Aiken Technical College and Augusta Technical College with support from workforce development organizations and nuclear employers. Programs successfully engage citizens in nuclear workforce development and can be adapted to other communities focused on building the future nuclear workforce. (authors)« less

A comparison of atmospheric composition using the Carbon Bond and Regional Atmospheric Chemistry MechanismsChemistry Mechanisms

EPA Science Inventory

We incorporate the recently developed Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism (version 2, RACM2) into the Community Multiscale Air Quality modeling system for comparison with the existing 2005 Carbon Bond mechanism with updated toluene chemistry (CB05TU). Compared to CB05TU, RAC...

LINKING ETA MODEL WITH THE COMMUNITY MULTISCALE AIR QUALITY (CMAQ) MODELING SYSTEM: OZONE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

EPA Science Inventory

A prototype surface ozone concentration forecasting model system for the Eastern U.S. has been developed. The model system is consisting of a regional meteorological and a regional air quality model. It demonstrated a strong prediction dependence on its ozone boundary conditions....

Trends in Inclusive Education at Regional and Interregional Levels: Issues and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Opertti, Renato; Belalcazar, Carolina

2008-01-01

The UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE), through the Community of Practice (COP) in Curriculum Development, organized eight Regional Preparatory Workshops on Inclusive Education in 2007. These workshops had the overall goal of initiating a participatory, consultative process in order to highlight key issues and challenges regarding…

Regional Advanced Manufacturing Academy: An Agent of Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmeling, Daniel M.; Rose, Kevin

2010-01-01

Three Northeast Texas community colleges put aside service delivery areas and matters of "turf" to create Centers of Excellence that provided training throughout a nine county area. This consortium; along with 14 manufacturers, seven economic development corporations, and the regional workforce board, led the change in training a highly…

Planning, Development, and Change in Bristol Bay: A High School Curriculum. Teacher Guide and Student Text. Unit I: Introduction. Unit II: Village Corporations. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipka, Jerry; Willer, Cristy

This combined teacher guide and student text is written with the broad goal of involving high school students in Bristol Bay, Alaska, in the planning and design of their region's future. Unit I introduces changes occurring on village and regional levels, discusses planning strategies for community development, and presents village profiles for…

Temporal Changes in Community Resilience to Drought Hazard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mihunov, V.

2017-12-01

The threat of droughts and their associated impacts on the landscape and human communities have long been recognized. While considerable research on the climatological aspect of droughts has been conducted, studies on the resilience of human communities to the effects of drought remain limited. Understanding how different communities respond to and recover from the drought hazard, i.e. their community resilience, should inform the development of better strategies to cope with the hazard. This research assesses community resilience to drought hazard in South-Central U.S. and captures the temporal changes of community resilience in the region facing the climate change. First, the study applies the Resilience Inference Measurement (RIM) framework using the existing drought incidence, crop damage, socio-economic and food-water-energy nexus variables, which allows to assign county-level resilience scores in the study region and derive variables contributing to the resilience. Second, it captures the temporal changes in community resilience by using the model extracted from the RIM study and socio-economic data from several consecutive time periods. The resilience measurement study should help understand the complex process underlying communities' response to the drought impacts. The results identify gaps in resilience planning and help the improvement of the community resilience to the droughts of increasing frequency and intensity.

Mediating Data and Building Community for Informed, Intelligent Decision Making for the Polar Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulsifer, P. L.; Stieglitz, M.

2017-12-01

Much has been written about the state of data and related systems for the polar regions, however work remains to be done to achieve an envisioned integrated and well-defined pan-Arctic observing and data network that enables access to high quality data, expertise and information in support of scientific understanding, stakeholder needs, and agency operations. In this paper we argue that priorities for establishing such a network are in the area of machine-enhanced data mediation and the human aspects of community building. The authors have engaged in a U.S.-based, multi-agency process with the goal of applying modern cyberinfrastructure to improve capabilities for integrating data. A particular case-study focuses on establishing a carbon budget for the Arctic region. This effort contributes to broader global efforts aimed at establishing an international observing and data network. Results are based on a series meetings, workshops, systems design activities, and publications. Analysis reveals that there are a large number of polar data resources interacting in a network that functions as a data ecosystem. Given the size and complexity of the network, achieving broad data discovery and access and meaningful data integration (i.e. developing a carbon budget) will require advanced techniques including machine learning, semantic mediation, and the use of highly connected virtual research environments. To achieve the aforementioned goal will require a community of engaged researchers, technologists, and stakeholders to establish requirements and the social and organizational context needed for effective machine-based approaches. The results imply that: i) the polar research and application community must be more aware of advances in technology; ii) funders must adopt a long-term, sustainable infrastructure approach to systems development; iii) the community must work together to enable interoperability; iv) we must recognize that the challenge is socio-technical and that social and community-building aspects are as important as technology. Establishing cyberinfrastructure for informed, intelligent decision making for the polar regions will require an innovative combination of emerging technologies and community-building across stakeholders.

Development opportunities for hospital clinical laboratory joint ventures.

PubMed

Van Riper, J A

1995-01-01

Regional health-care providers are being given the opportunity to collaborate in specialty health-care services. Collaboration to achieve superior economies of scale is very effective in the clinical laboratory industry. National laboratory chains are consolidating and enhancing their control of the industry to ensure their historic profitability. National companies have closed many laboratory facilities and have laid off substantial numbers of laboratory personnel. Health-care providers can regain control of their locally generated laboratory health-care dollars by joining forces with clinical laboratory joint ventures. Laboratorians can assist the healthcare providers in bringing laboratory services and employment back to the local community. New capital for operational development and laboratory information systems will help bring the laboratory to the point of care. The independent regional laboratory is focused on supporting the medical needs of the community. The profit generated from a laboratory joint venture is shared among local health-care providers, supporting their economic viability. The laboratories' ability to contribute to the development of profit-making ventures will provide capital for new laboratory development. All of the above will ensure the clinical laboratories' role in providing quality health care to our communities and employment opportunities for laboratory personnel.

Strategic Framing Study Circles: Toward a Gold Standard of Framing Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feinberg, Jane

2009-01-01

This article explains how communities of practice have been developed as part of FrameWorks' field-building efforts. Strategic Framing Study Circles, as they are known, have been conducted with four statewide coalitions, one group of national organizations, and an emerging regional coalition. The goal of each community of practice is to build…

The Legislative Purposes and Intent of the Common Levy in Nebraska's Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blomstedt, Matthew L.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this historical study was to establish the purposes and intent of the common levy in Nebraska's learning community. The development of this unique regional educational structure consisting of eleven school districts in the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area is central to the study. The research detailed the context of the decisions…

Using epiphytic macrolichen communities for biomonitoring ammonia in forests of the greater Sierra Nevada, California

Treesearch

Sarah Jovan; Bruce Mccune

2006-01-01

Chronic, excessive nitrogen deposition is potentially an important ecological threat to forests of the greater Sierra Nevada in California. We developed a model for ammonia bioindication, a major nitrogen pollutant in the region, using epiphytic macrolichens. We used non-metric multidimensional scaling to extract gradients in lichen community composition from surveys...

The Internet & Regional Australia: How Rural Communities Can Address the Impact of the Internet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simpson, Rosie

In the last decade, a technological revolution has touched all aspects of business and society in Australia, the Western world, and to a lesser extent, the developing world. This revolution has occurred against a backdrop of long-term fundamental changes in rural Australian communities. The decline in traditional agriculture's terms of trade and…

Foundation Resource Guide. A Compilation of Major Foundations That Sponsor Activities Relevant to Community Outreach Partnership Centers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Kevin

This publication highlights national and regional foundations that are most likely to fund colleges and universities to perform activities similar to those undertaken by the Office of University Partnerships' Community Outreach Partnership Center Program (COPC) of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The COPC Program provides…

Blue oak plant communities of southern San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara Counties, California

Treesearch

Mark I. Borchert; Nancy D. Cunha; Patricia C. Krosse; Marcee L. Lawrence

1993-01-01

An ecological classification system has been developed for the Pacific Southwest Region of the Forest Service. As part of that classification effort, blue oak (Quercus douglasii) woodlands and forests of southern San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara Counties in Los Padres National Forest were classified into I3 plant communities using...

Critical Structural Factors in Community Development in New Hampshire, 1993/94.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Racino, Julie Ann

This study, one in a series of qualitative case studies on state and national practices in deinstitutionalization and community integration of people with disabilities, was conducted in 1991-92 and involved semistructured on-site interviews with administrators in the 12 New Hampshire regions. The focus is on two key milestones in the development…

Perceptions of Leadership Skills as an Indicator of a Community's Social Capital

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bolton, Elizabeth B.

2004-01-01

The leaders of two local and regional organizations, Cooperative Extension Service (CES) and Workforce Development Board (WDB), were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the leadership skills of each other as an indicator of the social capital within the community. Results showed the majority of both groups did not know if their counterparts…

Using the ANGELO Model To Develop the Children's Healthy Living Program Multilevel Intervention To Promote Obesity Preventing Behaviors for Young Children in the US-Affiliated Pacific Region

PubMed Central

Nigg, Claudio R.; Fialkowski, Marie K.; Butel, Jean; Hollyer, James R.; Barber, L. Robert; Bersamin, Andrea; Coleman, Patricia; Teo-Martin, Ursula; Vargo, Agnes M.; Novotny, Rachel

2014-01-01

Abstract Background: Almost 40% of children are overweight or obese by age 8 years in the US-Affiliated Pacific, inclusive of the five jurisdictions of Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. This article describes how the Children's Healthy Living (CHL) Program used the ANGELO (Analysis Grid for Environments/Elements Linked to Obesity) model to design a regional intervention to increase fruit and vegetable intake, water consumption, physical activity, and sleep duration and decrease recreational screen time and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in young children ages 2–8 years. Methods: Using the ANGELO model, CHL (1) engaged community to identify preferred intervention strategies, (2) reviewed scientific literature, (3) merged findings from community and literature, and (4) formulated the regional intervention. Results: More than 900 community members across the Pacific helped identify intervention strategies on importance and feasibility. Nine common intervention strategies emerged. Participants supported the idea of a regional intervention while noting that cultural and resource differences would require flexibility in its implementation in the five jurisdictions. Community findings were merged with the effective obesity-reducing strategies identified in the literature, resulting in a regional intervention with four cross-cutting functions: (1) initiate or strengthen school wellness policies; (2) partner and advocate for environmental change; (3) promote CHL messages; and (4) train trainers to promote CHL behavioral objectives for children ages 2–8 years. These broad functions guided intervention activities and allowed communities to tailor activities to maximize intervention fit. Conclusions: Using the ANGELO model assured that the regional intervention was evidence based while recognizing jurisdiction context, which should increase effectiveness and sustainability. PMID:25369548

Child health in Peru: importance of regional variation and community effects on children's height and weight.

PubMed

Shin, Heeju

2007-12-01

In developing countries, height and weight are good indicators of children's health and nutritional status. Maternal education has been accepted as one of the most important influences on child health. Using the 2000 Demographic and Health Survey of Peru, however, I find that the effect of maternal education varies as a function of region. In the most prosperous urban region, maternal education is less important for child health than in poor rural areas, and a higher level of education has a greater effect in rural areas. Multilevel analysis shows that a significant part of the observed correlation between maternal education and child health is moderated by regional differences and community characteristics. The finding suggests that Peruvian public policy should emphasize resource redistribution as well as women's education, and that investment in maternal education should be considered within regional contexts to enhance child health in rural areas.

Advancing Professional Development Through a Community of Practice: the New England Network for Faculty Affairs.

PubMed

Power, Christine M; Thorndyke, Luanne E; Milner, Robert J; Lowney, Kathleen; Irvin, Charles G; Fonseca-Kelly, Zoe; Benjamin, Emelia J; Bhasin, Robina M; Connelly, Maureen T

2018-01-01

In an era of competing priorities, funding is increasingly restricted for offices of faculty affairs and development. Opportunities for professional staff to grow and network through attendance at national meetings and to share best practices are limited. We sought to describe a community of practice established to enhance the professional development of faculty affairs professionals and to document its impact. We outlined the process of formation of the New England Network for Faculty Affairs (NENFA), reviewed the pedagogical approaches to professional development, and surveyed members to evaluate the impact of NENFA on their activities, professional network and their institutions. After a successful 2011 initial meeting, NENFA created an organizing committee and conducted a needs assessment among potential members. NENFA's charter, mission, goals, and structure were based on survey results. NENFA's regional community of practice grew to 31 institutions and held 10 meetings over 5 years. Meetings have examined a faculty development topic in depth using multiple learning formats to engage participants from academic medical centers and allied professions. Results from a 2015 member survey confirmed the value of NENFA. Multiple members documented changes in practice as a result of participating. NENFA has been sustained by volunteer leadership, collaboration, and the value that the group has brought to its members. We propose that a "community of practice" offers an effective model for collaborative learning among individuals at different institutions within a competitive health care environment. We recommend that the approach be replicated in other regions.

Evaluating the engagement of universities in capacity building for sustainable development in local communities.

PubMed

Shiel, Chris; Leal Filho, Walter; do Paço, Arminda; Brandli, Luciana

2016-02-01

Universities have the potential to play a leading role in enabling communities to develop more sustainable ways of living and working however, sustainable communities may only emerge with facilitation, community learning and continual efforts to build their capacities. Elements of programme planning and evaluation on the one hand, and capacity building on the other, are needed. The latter entails approaches and processes that may contribute to community empowerment; universities may either lead such approaches, or be key partners in an endeavour to empower communities to address the challenges posed by the need for sustainable development. Although capacity building and the promotion of sustainable development locally, are on the agenda for universities who take seriously regional engagement, very little is published that illustrates or describes the various forms of activities that take place. Further, there is a paucity of studies that have evaluated the work performed by universities in building capacity for sustainable development at the local level. This paper is an attempt to address this need, and entails an empirical study based on a sample of universities in the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Brazil. The paper examines the extent to which capacity building for sustainable development is being undertaken, suggests the forms that this might take and evaluates some of the benefits for local communities. The paper concludes by reinforcing that universities have a critical role to play in community development; that role has to prioritise the sustainability agenda. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING, REPORT OF A CONFERENCE TO EXPLORE THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN COLLEGE INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH WORKERS (2D, PACIFIC GROVE, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 10-12, 1966).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

PENNINGROTH, PAUL W.

A CONFERENCE SPONSORED BY THE SOUTHERN REGIONAL EDUCATION BOARD AND THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH WAS HELD IN APRIL 1966, TO (1) PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND MENTAL HEALTH LEADERS TO CONSIDER SIGNIFICANT ISSUES IN THE TRAINING OF MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS, (2) PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT DEVELOPMENTS AND CURRENT PROGRAMS IN…

High Y-chromosomal diversity and low relatedness between paternal lineages on a communal scale in the Western European Low Countries during the surname establishment.

PubMed

Larmuseau, M H D; Boon, N; Vanderheyden, N; Van Geystelen, A; Larmuseau, H F M; Matthys, K; De Clercq, W; Decorte, R

2015-07-01

There is limited knowledge on the biological relatedness between citizens and on the demographical dynamics within villages, towns and cities in pre-17th century Western Europe. By combining Y-chromosomal genotypes, in-depth genealogies and surname data in a strict genetic genealogical approach, it is possible to provide insights into the genetic diversity and the relatedness between indigenous paternal lineages within a particular community at the time of the surname adoption. To obtain these insights, six Flemish communities were selected in this study based on the differences in geography and historical development. After rigorous selection of appropriate DNA donors, low relatedness between Y chromosomes of different surnames was found within each community, although there is co-occurrence of these surnames in each community since the start of the surname adoption between the 14th and 15th century. Next, the high communal diversity in Y-chromosomal lineages was comparable with the regional diversity across Flanders at that time. Moreover, clinal distributions of particular Y-chromosomal lineages between the communities were observed according to the clinal distributions earlier observed across the Flemish regions and Western Europe. No significant indication for genetic differences between communities with distinct historical development was found in the analysis. These genetic results provide relevant information for studies in historical sciences, archaeology, forensic genetics and genealogy.

High Y-chromosomal diversity and low relatedness between paternal lineages on a communal scale in the Western European Low Countries during the surname establishment

PubMed Central

Larmuseau, M H D; Boon, N; Vanderheyden, N; Van Geystelen, A; Larmuseau, H F M; Matthys, K; De Clercq, W; Decorte, R

2015-01-01

There is limited knowledge on the biological relatedness between citizens and on the demographical dynamics within villages, towns and cities in pre-17th century Western Europe. By combining Y-chromosomal genotypes, in-depth genealogies and surname data in a strict genetic genealogical approach, it is possible to provide insights into the genetic diversity and the relatedness between indigenous paternal lineages within a particular community at the time of the surname adoption. To obtain these insights, six Flemish communities were selected in this study based on the differences in geography and historical development. After rigorous selection of appropriate DNA donors, low relatedness between Y chromosomes of different surnames was found within each community, although there is co-occurrence of these surnames in each community since the start of the surname adoption between the 14th and 15th century. Next, the high communal diversity in Y-chromosomal lineages was comparable with the regional diversity across Flanders at that time. Moreover, clinal distributions of particular Y-chromosomal lineages between the communities were observed according to the clinal distributions earlier observed across the Flemish regions and Western Europe. No significant indication for genetic differences between communities with distinct historical development was found in the analysis. These genetic results provide relevant information for studies in historical sciences, archaeology, forensic genetics and genealogy. PMID:25873146

A Strategy to Learn How to Build Scientific-Education and Outreach Partnerships in the Ocean Sciences: COSEE Ocean Learning Communities.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keil, R. G.; Bell, P. L.; Bittner, M. S.; Robigou, V.; Sider, K.

2005-12-01

The College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences and the College of Education at the University of Washington, the Seattle Aquarium, and the California Maritime Academy formed a partnership to establish a Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) labeled "Ocean Learning Communities." The COSEE-OLC will join the national network of NSF-funded centers that provide a catalytic environment in which partnerships between ocean researchers and educators flourish. The COSEE network contributes to the national advancement of ocean science education by sharing high-quality K-12 or informal education programs, best practices and methodologies, and offering exemplary courses through the network and at national professional meetings. Building on the successes and lessons of the existing COSEE centers, the COSEE-OLC will foster collaborations among the oceanography research community, the science of learning community, informal and formal educators, the general public, and the maritime industry in the Northwest region and the West coast. The concept for this partnership is based on reaching out to traditionally underserved populations (from the businesses that use the sea or for which economic success depends on the oceans to the united native tribes), listening to their concerns and needs and how these can be addressed within the context of ocean-based research. The challenges of integrating education and outreach with scientific research programs are addressed by the center's main catalytic activity to create Ocean Learning Communities. These communities will be gatherings of traditionally disparate stakeholders including scientists, educators, representatives of businesses with a connection to the oceans, and citizens who derive economic or recreational sustenance from the oceans. The center's principal goal is to, through time and structured learning activities, support various communities 1) to develop a common language and 2) to make a commitment to creating collaborations that will improve ocean research and public awareness at the regional scale. Researchers in the science of learning will evaluate and study the successes and challenges of these regional approaches to better understand the development and sustainability of productive partnerships and to develop learning models to share and apply at the national level.

Catalyzing Gender Equality-Focused Clean Energy Development in West Africa

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) partnered with the Clean Energy Solutions Center (Solutions Center), the African Development Bank and other institutions to develop a Situation Analysis of Energy and Gender Issues in ECOWAS Member States. Through a systematic approach to assess interlinked gender and energy issues in the region, the report puts forth a number of key findings. This brochure highlights ECREEE's partnership with the Solutions Center and key findings from the report.

Environmental Impact Research Program. Transplanting of the Seagrasses Halodule wrightii, Syringodium filiforme, and Thalassia testudinum for Sediment Stabilization and Habitat Development in the Southeast Region of the United States.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-07-01

TRANSPLANTING OF THE SEAGRASSES HALODULE WRIGHT/I, SYRINGODIUM FILIFORME, AND THALASSIA TESTUDINUM * - -FOR SEDIMENT STABILIZATION AND HABITAT DEVELOPMENT IN...SYRINGODIUM FILIFORME, AND THALASSIA TESTUDINUM FOR SEDIMENT STABILIZATION AND HABITAT DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTHEAST REGION OF THE UNITED STATES PART...Tallahassee,. Fla., 95 pp. den Hartog, C. 1971. The dynamic aspect in the ecology of seagrass communities. Thalassia Jugosl. 7:101-112. Derrenbacker, J.A., and

[Health promotion based on assets: how to work with this perspective in local interventions?

PubMed

Cofiño, Rafael; Aviñó, Dory; Benedé, Carmen Belén; Botello, Blanca; Cubillo, Jara; Morgan, Antony; Paredes-Carbonell, Joan Josep; Hernán, Mariano

2016-11-01

An asset-based approach could be useful to revitalise health promotion or community health interventions combining work with multiple partnerships, positive health, community engagement, equity and orientation of health determinants. We set some recommendations about how to incorporate the assets model in programmes, projects and interventions in health promotion. Some techniques are described for assets mapping and some experiences with this methodology being developed in different regions are systematised. We propose the term "Asset-based Health Promotion/Community Health" as an operational definition to work at the local level with a community engagement and participatory approach, building alliances between different institutions at the state-regional level and trying to create a framework for action with the generation of evaluations and evidence to work on population interventions from the perspective of positive health. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. All rights reserved.

Urban-development-induced Changes in the Diversity and Composition of the Soil Bacterial Community in Beijing.

PubMed

Yan, Bing; Li, Junsheng; Xiao, Nengwen; Qi, Yue; Fu, Gang; Liu, Gaohui; Qiao, Mengping

2016-12-09

Numerous studies have implicated urbanization as a major cause of loss of biodiversity. Most of them have focused on plants and animals, even though soil microorganisms make up a large proportion of that biodiversity. However, it is unclear how the soil bacterial community is affected by urban development. Here, paired-end Illumina sequencing of the 16 S rRNA gene at V4 region was performed to study the soil microbial community across Beijing's built-up area. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Verrucomicrobia, Planctomycetes, and Chloroflexi were the dominant phyla in all samples, but the relative abundance of these phyla differed significantly across these concentric zones. The diversity and composition of the soil bacterial community were found to be closely correlated with soil pH. Variance partitioning analysis suggested that urban ring roads contributed 5.95% of the bacterial community variation, and soil environmental factors explained 17.65% of the variation. The results of the current work indicate that urban development can alter the composition and diversity of the soil microbial community, and showed pH to be a key factor in the shaping of the composition of the soil bacterial community. Urban development did have a strong impact on the bacterial community of urban soil in Beijing.

Engaging Communities in Education and Research: PBRNs, AHEC, and CTSA

PubMed Central

Westfall, John M.; Ingram, Beth; Navarro, Daniel; Magee, Deidre; Niebauer, Linda; Zittleman, Linda; Fernald, Douglas; Pace, Wilson

2012-01-01

Abstract Background: Community engagement has become a prominent element in medical research and is an important component of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards program. Area Health Education Centers engage communities in education and workforce development. Methods: Engaging Communities in Education and Research (ECER) is a successful collaboration among the Colorado Area Health Education Center (AHEC), the Colorado Clinical Translational Science Institute, and Shared Network of Collaborative Ambulatory Practices and Partners—Colorado’s practice‐based research collaborative. The ECER Conference is an annual conference of community members, health care providers, clinical preceptors, AHEC board members, university faculty, primary care investigators, program administrators, and community organization leaders. Results: Over 1,000 people have participated in the ECER Conference representing all regions of Colorado. Several projects from the “new ideas” breakout session have been developed and completed. Six‐month follow‐up provided evidence of numerous new collaborations, campus‐community partnerships, and developing research projects. Several new collaborations highlight the long‐term nature of building on relationships started at the ECER Conference. Discussion and Conclusion: ECER has been a successful collaboration to develop and support campus‐community collaborations in Colorado. Although seemingly just a simple 3‐day conference, we have found that this event has lead to many important partnerships. Clin Trans Sci 2012; Volume #: 1–9 PMID:22686202

Urban-development-induced Changes in the Diversity and Composition of the Soil Bacterial Community in Beijing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Bing; Li, Junsheng; Xiao, Nengwen; Qi, Yue; Fu, Gang; Liu, Gaohui; Qiao, Mengping

2016-12-01

Numerous studies have implicated urbanization as a major cause of loss of biodiversity. Most of them have focused on plants and animals, even though soil microorganisms make up a large proportion of that biodiversity. However, it is unclear how the soil bacterial community is affected by urban development. Here, paired-end Illumina sequencing of the 16 S rRNA gene at V4 region was performed to study the soil microbial community across Beijing’s built-up area. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Verrucomicrobia, Planctomycetes, and Chloroflexi were the dominant phyla in all samples, but the relative abundance of these phyla differed significantly across these concentric zones. The diversity and composition of the soil bacterial community were found to be closely correlated with soil pH. Variance partitioning analysis suggested that urban ring roads contributed 5.95% of the bacterial community variation, and soil environmental factors explained 17.65% of the variation. The results of the current work indicate that urban development can alter the composition and diversity of the soil microbial community, and showed pH to be a key factor in the shaping of the composition of the soil bacterial community. Urban development did have a strong impact on the bacterial community of urban soil in Beijing.

The nexus of oil, conflict, and climate change vulnerability of pastoral communities in northwest Kenya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schilling, J.; Locham, R.; Weinzierl, T.; Vivekananda, J.; Scheffran, J.

2015-11-01

Turkana, in northwest Kenya, is the country's poorest and least developed county. Pastoralism in Turkana is well adapted to the harsh climatic conditions, but an increase in drought frequency associated with global climate change and intensifying violent conflicts between pastoral groups poses significant challenges for local communities. The conflicts are especially violent in the border region between the Turkana and the Pokot communities. In this very region significant oil reserves have recently been found. The first aim of this paper is to analyse how the oil exploration affects the communities' vulnerability to climate change. Secondly, the paper explores the risk of the oil explorations creating new conflicts or aggravating existing ones. The primary method of the study is qualitative field research supplemented with a geo-spatial analysis of conflict data. The field research was conducted in October 2013 and April 2014 in three villages with different levels of engagement with the oil exploration. At the time of the research, oil exploration was expected close to Lokwamosing, while it had recently started in the vicinity of Lopii and had been ongoing for a longer time close to Nakukulas. The findings suggest that the oil exploration increases the community's vulnerability to climate change. Further, unmet community expectations for water, employment and development pose a significant risk for violent conflict between local communities and the operating oil company. Intercommunal conflict over water and land could increase as well.

The sustainability of community-based therapeutic care (CTC) in nonemergency contexts.

PubMed

Gatchell, Valerie; Forsythe, Vivienne; Thomas, Paul-Rees

2006-09-01

Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian nongovernmental organization that piloted and is now implementing and researching community-based therapeutic care (CTC) approaches to managing acute malnutrition. Experience in several countries suggests that there are key issues to be addressed at the international, national, regional, and community levels for community-based treatment of acute malnutrition to be sustainable. At the national level there must be demonstrated commitment to a clear health policy and strategy to address outpatient treatment of acute malnutrition. In addition, locally available, affordable ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) must be accessible. At the regional level a functional health system and appropriate capacity for service provision are required. Integration of outpatient services should be viewed as a process with different levels of inputs at different phases depending on the capacity of the Ministry of Health (MOH). There is a need for indicators to facilitate scale-up and scale-back for future emergency response. Strong community participation and active screening linked to health service provision at the local level is paramount for sustainable assessment and referral of severe acute malnutrition. FUTURE CHALLENGES TO SUSTAIN COMMUNITY-BASED THERAPEUTIC CARE. Key challenges to the sustainable treatment of severe acute malnutrition include the development of locally produced RUTF, development of international standards on local RUTF production, the integration of outpatient treatment protocols into international health and nutrition guidelines, and further operational research into integration of community-based treatment of severe acute malnutrition into health systems in nonemergency contexts.

Climate Ready Estuaries

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Information on climate change impacts to different estuary regions, tools and resources to monitor changes, and information to help managers develop adaptation plans for risk management of estuaries and coastal communities.

Application of a gender-based approach to conducting a community health assessment for rural women in Southern Illinois.

PubMed

Zimmermann, Kristine; Khare, Manorama M; Wright, Cherie; Hasler, Allison; Kerch, Sarah; Moehring, Patricia; Geller, Stacie

2015-08-01

Rural populations in the United States experience unique challenges in health and health care. The health of rural women, in particular, is influenced by their knowledge, work and family commitments, as well as environmental barriers in their communities. In rural southern Illinois, the seven southernmost counties form a region that experiences high rates of cancer and other chronic diseases. To identify, understand, and prioritize the health needs of women living in these seven counties, a comprehensive gender-based community health assessment was conducted with the goal of developing a plan to improve women's health in the region. A gender-analysis framework was adapted, and key stakeholder interviews and focus groups with community women were conducted and analyzed to identify factors affecting ill health. The gender-based analysis revealed that women play a critical role in the health of their families and their communities, and these roles can influence their personal health. The gender-based analysis also identified several gender-specific barriers and facilitators that affect women's health and their ability to engage in healthy behaviors. These results have important implications for the development of programs and policies to improve health among rural women. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing Rural Business Incubators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinberg, Mark L.; Burnier, DeLysa

1991-01-01

Offers background on rural entrepreneurship and incubation in the United States, with particular focus on rural incubators at community colleges and regional incubation systems. Explains how incubators, which provide shared services and business/management assistance for tenant companies, differ from other entrepreneurial development strategies.…

Regional Variations in Medication Usage for Cardiovascular Diseases at the Community Level in China (PURE-China Study).

PubMed

Yang, Jin Gang; Gu, Hong Qiu; Bo, Jian; Wang, Yang; Li, Wei

2017-06-01

We investigated the usage of secondary prevention drugs and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products in individuals with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) at the community level in China. Among 2,407 participants with self-reported coronary heart disease (CHD) and 872 with stroke, nearly 80% of individuals with CHD and 73% of individuals with stroke were not taking any proven secondary prevention drug. However, 32.9% of them took TCM products. Patients with CVDs in rural areas used less secondary prevention treatment, but more TCM products than their counterparts in the urban regions. After adjusting for confounding factors, lower rates of secondary prevention treatment were evident in Western China compared with Eastern China, which was more developed. Systematic change is needed to promote the development of evidence-based medicine at the community level in China. Copyright © 2017 The Editorial Board of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. Published by China CDC. All rights reserved.

[Reflections on community-based rehabilitation strategy (CBR): the experience of a CBR program in Bolivia].

PubMed

Díaz-Aristizabal, Urko; Sanz-Victoria, Silvia; Sahonero-Daza, Milton; Ledesma-Ocampo, Sandra; Cachimuel-Vinueza, Mesías; Torrico, Marisabel

2012-01-01

Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is a strategy for community development endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Office (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is designed to promote rehabilitation, equal opportunity and social inclusion of Disabled Persons (DP) in their home communities by fostering cooperation among disabled individuals, their families, and other concerned social actors, it encourages community leadership and full social participation by DP through multi-sector cooperation. This article explores the historical antecedents and basic features of CBR strategy through an analysis of a directed culture change initiative developed by a foundation in the Cochabamba administrative region of Bolivia. Especially in intercultural environments, certain aspects of the socio-cultural context may determine whether CBR programs succeed or fail.

Functional Brain Networks Develop from a “Local to Distributed” Organization

PubMed Central

Power, Jonathan D.; Dosenbach, Nico U. F.; Church, Jessica A.; Miezin, Francis M.; Schlaggar, Bradley L.; Petersen, Steven E.

2009-01-01

The mature human brain is organized into a collection of specialized functional networks that flexibly interact to support various cognitive functions. Studies of development often attempt to identify the organizing principles that guide the maturation of these functional networks. In this report, we combine resting state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI), graph analysis, community detection, and spring-embedding visualization techniques to analyze four separate networks defined in earlier studies. As we have previously reported, we find, across development, a trend toward ‘segregation’ (a general decrease in correlation strength) between regions close in anatomical space and ‘integration’ (an increased correlation strength) between selected regions distant in space. The generalization of these earlier trends across multiple networks suggests that this is a general developmental principle for changes in functional connectivity that would extend to large-scale graph theoretic analyses of large-scale brain networks. Communities in children are predominantly arranged by anatomical proximity, while communities in adults predominantly reflect functional relationships, as defined from adult fMRI studies. In sum, over development, the organization of multiple functional networks shifts from a local anatomical emphasis in children to a more “distributed” architecture in young adults. We argue that this “local to distributed” developmental characterization has important implications for understanding the development of neural systems underlying cognition. Further, graph metrics (e.g., clustering coefficients and average path lengths) are similar in child and adult graphs, with both showing “small-world”-like properties, while community detection by modularity optimization reveals stable communities within the graphs that are clearly different between young children and young adults. These observations suggest that early school age children and adults both have relatively efficient systems that may solve similar information processing problems in divergent ways. PMID:19412534

Community-based materials development: report from the South Pacific.

PubMed

Goodwillie, D

1992-01-01

In the early 1980s, women in the South Pacific region called for culturally sensitive, attractive nutrition teaching aids. A set of 13 nutrition education books was produced dealing with food and diseases, food preservation, fitness, gardening, budgeting, developing training materials, and individual food needs of family members. A decision was made to expand the writing group to health educators, home economics teachers, agriculture workers and community workers. Over 70 Pacific Islanders from 19 countries were involved in writing, illustrating and field testing of the books. Nutrition books are used for English classes at the Tarawa Technical Institute, Kiribati. In the Cook Islands, home economics teachers are using some of the books in their classrooms. The South Pacific Commission Regional Community Education Training Center revised their food, nutrition, and community development curriculum using the nutrition books as a basic text. In Vanuatu, the books were the basis for a reference book for nonformal education centers, and the Red Cross in Fiji has reproduced materials from the books on cancer and other diseases for health and first aid community education. Major funding came from the Canadian International Development Agency, and technical and administrative assistance was obtained from the University of the South Pacific, South Pacific Commission (SPC), Simon Fraser University, and UNICEF. Local governments allowed their staff to assist with writing, field testing, and distribution of materials. Some participants assisted in producing the materials in local languages. An outcome from the project was the formation of a Pacific Island Nutritionist and Dietitians Association. The University of the South Pacific appointed a Nutrition Coordinator to continue the networking among the participants who will also develop a course with the materials for certificate level training in the Pacific Island countries.

Functional brain networks develop from a "local to distributed" organization.

PubMed

Fair, Damien A; Cohen, Alexander L; Power, Jonathan D; Dosenbach, Nico U F; Church, Jessica A; Miezin, Francis M; Schlaggar, Bradley L; Petersen, Steven E

2009-05-01

The mature human brain is organized into a collection of specialized functional networks that flexibly interact to support various cognitive functions. Studies of development often attempt to identify the organizing principles that guide the maturation of these functional networks. In this report, we combine resting state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI), graph analysis, community detection, and spring-embedding visualization techniques to analyze four separate networks defined in earlier studies. As we have previously reported, we find, across development, a trend toward 'segregation' (a general decrease in correlation strength) between regions close in anatomical space and 'integration' (an increased correlation strength) between selected regions distant in space. The generalization of these earlier trends across multiple networks suggests that this is a general developmental principle for changes in functional connectivity that would extend to large-scale graph theoretic analyses of large-scale brain networks. Communities in children are predominantly arranged by anatomical proximity, while communities in adults predominantly reflect functional relationships, as defined from adult fMRI studies. In sum, over development, the organization of multiple functional networks shifts from a local anatomical emphasis in children to a more "distributed" architecture in young adults. We argue that this "local to distributed" developmental characterization has important implications for understanding the development of neural systems underlying cognition. Further, graph metrics (e.g., clustering coefficients and average path lengths) are similar in child and adult graphs, with both showing "small-world"-like properties, while community detection by modularity optimization reveals stable communities within the graphs that are clearly different between young children and young adults. These observations suggest that early school age children and adults both have relatively efficient systems that may solve similar information processing problems in divergent ways.

Developing a Multicomponent Model of Nutritious Food Access and Related Implications for Community and Policy Practice.

PubMed

Freedman, Darcy A; Blake, Christine E; Liese, Angela D

2013-01-01

Access to nutritious foods is limited in disenfranchised communities in the United States. Policies are beginning to focus on improving nutritious food access in these contexts; yet, few theories are available to guide this work. We developed a conceptual model of nutritious food access based on the qualitative responses of food consumers in 2 different regions of the American South. Five domains (economic, service delivery, spatial-temporal, social, and personal) and related dimensions of nutritious food access were identified. The conceptual model provides practical guidance to researchers, policy makers, and practitioners working to improve nutritious food access in communities.

Developing a Multicomponent Model of Nutritious Food Access and Related Implications for Community and Policy Practice

PubMed Central

FREEDMAN, DARCY A.; BLAKE, CHRISTINE E.; LIESE, ANGELA D.

2014-01-01

Access to nutritious foods is limited in disenfranchised communities in the United States. Policies are beginning to focus on improving nutritious food access in these contexts; yet, few theories are available to guide this work. We developed a conceptual model of nutritious food access based on the qualitative responses of food consumers in 2 different regions of the American South. Five domains (economic, service delivery, spatial–temporal, social, and personal) and related dimensions of nutritious food access were identified. The conceptual model provides practical guidance to researchers, policy makers, and practitioners working to improve nutritious food access in communities. PMID:24563605

Tools for Teaching Climate Change Studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maestas, A.M.; Jones, L.A.

2005-03-18

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility (ACRF) develops public outreach materials and educational resources for schools. Studies prove that science education in rural and indigenous communities improves when educators integrate regional knowledge of climate and environmental issues into school curriculum and public outreach materials. In order to promote understanding of ACRF climate change studies, ACRF Education and Outreach has developed interactive kiosks about climate change for host communities close to the research sites. A kiosk for the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) community was installed at the Iupiat Heritage Center in 2003, and a kiosk for the Tropical Westernmore » Pacific locales will be installed in 2005. The kiosks feature interviews with local community elders, regional agency officials, and Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program scientists, which highlight both research and local observations of some aspects of environmental and climatic change in the Arctic and Pacific. The kiosks offer viewers a unique opportunity to learn about the environmental concerns and knowledge of respected community elders, and to also understand state-of-the-art climate research. An archive of interviews from the communities will also be distributed with supplemental lessons and activities to encourage teachers and students to compare and contrast climate change studies and oral history observations from two distinct locations. The U.S. Department of Energy's ACRF supports education and outreach efforts for communities and schools located near its sites. ACRF Education and Outreach has developed interactive kiosks at the request of the communities to provide an opportunity for the public to learn about climate change from both scientific and indigenous perspectives. Kiosks include interviews with ARM scientists and provide users with basic information about climate change studies as well as interviews with elders and community leaders discussing the impacts of climate change on land, sea, and other aspects of village life.« less

Community Revitalization by Geotourism: Tourism Study with Geoscience in Wakayama, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakakushi, T.; Hisatomi, K.; Konomatsu, M.; Furukubo, A.

2012-12-01

This paper presents our community-revitalization project in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Wakayama Prefecture is the southwestern part of the Kii Peninsula. The Kii Peninsula, especially its southern part, has many geoscientifically important natural heritages such as the volcano-plutonic complex including well exposed ring dyke in the Kumano region. Those geoheritages have been considered just as on-site educational tools, and not received enough attentions as contents for geotours. UNESCO defines that a Geopark is a geographical area where geological heritage sites are part of a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development. UNESCO also describes that it is necessary to also include and highlight sites of ecological, archaeological, historical and cultural value within each Geopark. In many societies, natural, cultural and social history are inextricably linked and cannot be separated. We plan to have the region registered as a geopark by Japan (or Global) Geopark Network. In the context of community-revitalization, a "regional brand" has drawn attention for its potential to attract tourists. A Geopark may contribute to establish a regional brand.

AmWeb: a novel interactive web tool for antimicrobial resistance surveillance, applicable to both community and hospital patients.

PubMed

Ironmonger, Dean; Edeghere, Obaghe; Gossain, Savita; Bains, Amardeep; Hawkey, Peter M

2013-10-01

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is recognized as one of the most significant threats to human health. Local and regional AMR surveillance enables the monitoring of temporal changes in susceptibility to antibiotics and can provide prescribing guidance to healthcare providers to improve patient management and help slow the spread of antibiotic resistance in the community. There is currently a paucity of routine community-level AMR surveillance information. The HPA in England sponsored the development of an AMR surveillance system (AmSurv) to collate local laboratory reports. In the West Midlands region of England, routine reporting of AMR data has been established via the AmSurv system from all diagnostic microbiology laboratories. The HPA Regional Epidemiology Unit developed a web-enabled database application (AmWeb) to provide microbiologists, pharmacists and other stakeholders with timely access to AMR data using user-configurable reporting tools. AmWeb was launched in the West Midlands in January 2012 and is used by microbiologists and pharmacists to monitor resistance profiles, perform local benchmarking and compile data for infection control reports. AmWeb is now being rolled out to all English regions. It is expected that AmWeb will become a valuable tool for monitoring the threat from newly emerging or currently circulating resistant organisms and helping antibiotic prescribers to select the best treatment options for their patients.

Achieving water security through community-based agreements in rural Northwestern Costa Rica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bautista Solís, P.; Bommel, P.; Campos, X.; Suarez, A.; Leclerc, G.

2016-12-01

Community-based drinking water organizations have the responsibility in supplying water for domestic use to 29% of the Costa Rican population. Nowadays, more than 1.500 of these organizations face important challenges for achieving this critical mission, such as fulfilling national drinking-water quality standards, and improving their organization and administration to secure water supply and distribution under climate change. We conducted action-research in two communities with similar geographical and demographic conditions: Cuajiniquil and Colas de Gallo located in the drought prone Guanacaste region in Costa Rica. Both communities are contrasted regarding to their assets and organization. We addressed the following research question: Can a participatory process help communities assess the situation of their aqueduct and its management, project themselves in the future, and build more resilient strategies to face domestic water restrictions? Through 16 participatory sessions, we adapted the Wat-a-Game (WAG) toolkit to the problem of domestic water provision in these communities, creating the WAG-Tico role-playing game. This was complemented by two other activities: visits by regional actors sharing their experience, and exchange visits between both communities for cross-learning about community-based water management. The process resulted in a locally-led collaboration between both communities and the emergence of community commitments for improving drought resilience. WAG-Tico sensibilized participants to appreciate the value of community organization and the impacts of climate change on water supply, and develop aqueduct management rules. Exchange visits and regional actors interventions promoted opportunities for accessing to external resources (i.e. social, human and financial). Colas de Gallo created its first water committee for building a community aqueduct and their first drilled well. Cuajiniquil has committed in protecting its water springs, organized training of women for repairing leaks in household water pipes, and a community contest for reducing water consumption. In this paper we analyze the synergic roles of distinct learning spaces to promote the emergence of community-based agreements that improved rural drinking water management.

Predicting domestic and community violence by soldiers living in a conflict region.

PubMed

Nandi, Corina; Elbert, Thomas; Bambonye, Manassé; Weierstall, Roland; Reichert, Manfred; Zeller, Anja; Crombach, Anselm

2017-11-01

Past research revealed war trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as potential predictors for domestic and community violence in crisis regions and among soldiers in different armed conflicts. The impact of family violence and other adversities experienced in childhood as well as of a combat-enhanced appeal for aggressive behavior (appetitive aggression) remains to be specified. In the present study, the authors separately predicted violence against children, intimate partner violence and community violence in 381 Burundian soldiers returning from foreign deployment and living in a post- conflict region. Using path analysis, they aimed to disentangle the independent contributions and pathways of the following variables: Exposure to war trauma and childhood familial violence, PTSD and depression symptom severity, and appetitive aggression. Childhood familial violence had an independent effect on all contexts of violence and was the only significant predictor for violence against the soldiers' own children. Intimate partner violence was additionally predicted by depression symptom severity, while community violence was additionally predicted by PTSD symptom severity and appetitive aggression. Besides war-related mental ill-health and appetitive aggression, violent experiences during childhood development must not be overlooked as a factor fueling the cycle of violence in conflict regions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Relative species richness and community completeness: avian communities and urbanization in the mid-Atlantic states

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cam, E.; Nichols, J.D.; Sauer, J.R.; Hines, J.E.; Flather, C.H.

2000-01-01

The idea that local factors govern local richness has been dominant for years, but recent theoretical and empirical studies have stressed the influence of regional factors on local richness. Fewer species at a site could reflect not only the influence of local factors, but also a smaller regional pool. The possible dependency of local richness on the regional pool should be taken into account when addressing the influence of local factors on local richness. It is possible to account for this potential dependency by comparing relative species richness among sites, rather than species richness per se. We consider estimation of a metric permitting assessment of relative species richness in a typical situation in which not all species are detected during sampling sessions. In this situation, estimates of absolute or relative species richness need to account for variation in species detection probability if they are to be unbiased. We present a method to estimate relative species richness based on capture-recapture models. This approach involves definition of a species list from regional data, and estimation of the number of species in that list that are present at a site-year of interest. We use this approach to address the influence of urbanization on relative richness of avian communities in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. There is a negative relationship between relative richness and landscape variables describing the level of urban development. We believe that this metric should prove very useful for conservation and management purposes because it is based on an estimator of species richness that both accounts for potential variation in species detection probability and allows flexibility in the specification of a 'reference community.' This metric can be used to assess ecological integrity, the richness of the community of interest relative to that of the 'original' community, or to assess change since some previous time in a community.

Charting New Paths: Rural Development in the South. 2001-2002 Annual Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southern Rural Development Center, Mississippi State.

The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) seeks to strengthen the capacity of the region's 29 land-grant institutions to address critical, contemporary rural development issues impacting the well-being of people and communities in the rural South. Work force development, education, leadership training, food security, civic engagement, urban…

NASA Center for Astronomy Education: Building a Community of Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brissenden, Gina; Prather, E.; Slater, T. F.; Greene, W. M.; Thaller, M.

2006-12-01

The NASA Center for Astronomy Education (CAE) is devoted to the professional development of introductory college astronomy instructors teaching at community colleges. The primary goal is building a "community of practice." Evaluation results suggest this community of practice model is effective at improving instructional practices, particularly in settings where instructors feel isolated from their peers. For community college faculty this isolation can be quite real. Many are the only astronomer, if not the only scientist, at their institution. In addition, they may be adjunct instructors who have no office, no institutional email address, nor appear in the campus directory. CAE works to prevent this sense of isolation by building both actual and virtual communities for these instructors, as well as provide actual and virtual professional development opportunities. CAE’s major effort is providing multi-tiered "Teaching Excellence Workshops" offered at national and regional venues. Ongoing support is offered through the CAE website. Instructors can learn about, and register for, upcoming workshops. They can engage in discussions about educational issues and share best practices with peers using the moderated discussion group AstroLrner@CAE. CAE also provides an updated article "This Month’s Teaching Strategy” which is a reflection on teaching strategies discussed in the workshops. Instructors can also find their peers through the online map of US community colleges offering introductory astronomy courses. Lastly, CAE Regional Teaching Exchanges facilitate local, and sustained, community building. CAE is supported by the NASA/JPL Navigator Public Engagement Program and the Spitzer Space Telescope Education and Public Outreach Program.

Exploring Climate Science with WV Educators: A Regional Model for Teacher Professional Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruberg, L. F.; Calinger, M.

2014-12-01

The National Research Council Framework for K-12 Science Literacy reports that children reared in rural agricultural communities, who experience regular interactions with plants and animals, develop more sophisticated understanding of ecology and biological systems than do urban and suburban children of the same age. West Virginia (WV) is a rural state. The majority of its residents live in communities of fewer than 2,500 people. Based on the features of the population being served and their unique strengths, this presentation focuses on a regional model for teacher professional development that addresses agricultural and energy vulnerabilities and adaptations to climate change in WV. The professional development model outlined shows how to guide teachers to use a problem-based learning approach to introduce climate data and analysis techniques within a scenario context that is locally meaningful. This strategy engages student interest by focusing on regional and community concerns. Climate science standards are emphasized in the Next Generation Science Standards, but WV has not provided its teachers with appropriate instructional resources to meet those standards. The authors addressed this need by offering a series of climate science education workshops followed by online webinars offered to WV science educators free of charge with funding by the West Virginia Space Grant Consortium. The authors report on findings from this series of professional development workshops conducted in partnership with the West Virginia Science Teachers Association. The goal was to enhance grades 5-12 teaching and learning about climate change through problem-based learning. Prior to offering the climate workshops, all WV science educators were asked to complete a short questionnaire. As Figure 1 shows, over 40% of the teacher respondents reported being confident in teaching climate science content. For comparison post workshops surveys measure teacher confidence in climate science instruction after the professional development sessions. In summary, this report describes how this professional approach can serve as a regional model to address the need for climate science literacy throughout Appalachia.

23 CFR 660.109 - Program development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... local, regional, and national level, including tourism and recreational travel; (3) The continuity of the transportation network serving the NFS and its dependent communities; (4) The mobility of the...

23 CFR 660.109 - Program development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... local, regional, and national level, including tourism and recreational travel; (3) The continuity of the transportation network serving the NFS and its dependent communities; (4) The mobility of the...

23 CFR 660.109 - Program development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... local, regional, and national level, including tourism and recreational travel; (3) The continuity of the transportation network serving the NFS and its dependent communities; (4) The mobility of the...

23 CFR 660.109 - Program development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... local, regional, and national level, including tourism and recreational travel; (3) The continuity of the transportation network serving the NFS and its dependent communities; (4) The mobility of the...

23 CFR 660.109 - Program development.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... local, regional, and national level, including tourism and recreational travel; (3) The continuity of the transportation network serving the NFS and its dependent communities; (4) The mobility of the...

Social Inclusion: Universities and Regional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Bruce

2011-01-01

At a time when the OECD (2007) is advocating more local engagement for higher education institutions, this study looks at a number of community initiatives in Australia where local universities have played a key role. All were studied as part of the PASCAL Universities and Regional Engagement (PURE) project, which involves a total of 19 regions…

Psychology Educators of Tennessee (PET): A Regional Learning Community for Psychology Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Kiesa; Jones, Linda; Brinthaupt, Thomas M.; Hart, Wendy

2016-01-01

This paper describes the development of a regional psychology teaching organisation, Psychology Educators of Tennessee (PET). PET is designed to enhance collaboration among teachers from local colleges, universities, and high schools. We discuss the history of PET, the themes and pragmatics associated with our annual conference, plans for…

An integrated approach to scale up the market penetration of low carbon technologies in developing countries and water scarce regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Michelle Angela

Water scarcity is a global challenge that stifles social and economic growth. There is a growing concern to examine the water-energy nexus to understand the importance of applying energy and water interactions to technology. In developing countries there are many communities that live off-grid in remote region with no access to electricity or clean water. Additionally, there are developed countries that are located in regions with electricity but no access to clean water. Recent developments in renewable energy technology and energy policies have greatly reduced the costs of renewable energy making them more attractive and affordable. The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the main barriers to deploying renewables to non-Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (non-OECD) countries and member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This dissertation examines the potential of renewable desalination technology systems across emerging countries. The findings of this research can serve as the basis for investors interested in entering this market. The combined chapters seek to address potential problems regarding the costs, methods, and tools required for the implementation of the appropriate water purification technologies for off-grid, community scale infrastructures.

When small changes matter: the role of cross-scale interactions between habitat and ecological connectivity in recovery.

PubMed

Thrush, Simon F; Hewitt, Judi E; Lohrer, Andrew M; Chiaroni, Luca D

2013-01-01

Interaction between the diversity of local communities and the degree of connectivity between them has the potential to influence local recovery rates and thus profoundly affect community dynamics in the face of the cumulative impacts that occur across regions. Although such complex interactions have been modeled, field experiments in natural ecosystems to investigate the importance of interactions between local and regional processes are rare, especially so in coastal marine seafloor habitats subjected to many types of disturbance. We conducted a defaunation experiment at eight subtidal sites, incorporating manipulation of habitat structure, to test the relative importance of local habitat features and colonist supply in influencing macrobenthic community recovery rate. Our sites varied in community composition, habitat characteristics, and hydrodynamic conditions, and we conducted the experiment in two phases, exposing defaunated plots to colonists during periods of either high or low larval colonist supply. In both phases of the experiment, five months after disturbance, we were able to develop models that explained a large proportion of variation in community recovery rate between sites. Our results emphasize that the connectivity to the regional species pool influences recovery rate, and although local habitat effects were important, the strength of these effects was affected by broader-scale site characteristics and connectivity. Empirical evidence that cross-scale interactions are important in disturbance-recovery dynamics emphasizes the complex dynamics underlying seafloor community responses to cumulative disturbance.

Geographical Variation in Community Divergence: Insights from Tropical Forest Monodominance by Ectomycorrhizal Trees.

PubMed

Fukami, Tadashi; Nakajima, Mifuyu; Fortunel, Claire; Fine, Paul V A; Baraloto, Christopher; Russo, Sabrina E; Peay, Kabir G

2017-08-01

Convergence occurs in both species traits and community structure, but how convergence at the two scales influences each other remains unclear. To address this question, we focus on tropical forest monodominance, in which a single, often ectomycorrhizal (EM) tree species occasionally dominates forest stands within a landscape otherwise characterized by diverse communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) trees. Such monodominance is a striking potential example of community divergence resulting in alternative stable states. However, it is observed only in some tropical regions. A diverse suite of AM and EM trees locally codominate forest stands elsewhere. We develop a hypothesis to explain this geographical difference using a simulation model of plant community assembly. Simulation results suggest that in a region with a few EM species (e.g., South America), EM trees experience strong selection for convergent traits that match the abiotic conditions of the environment. Consequently, EM species successfully compete against other species to form monodominant stands via positive plant-soil feedbacks. By contrast, in a region with many EM species (e.g., Southeast Asia), species maintain divergent traits because of complex plant-soil feedbacks, with no species having traits that enable monodominance. An analysis of plant trait data from Borneo and Peruvian Amazon was inconclusive. Overall, this work highlights the utility of geographical comparison in understanding the relationship between trait convergence and community convergence.

Community Health Workers-Promotores de Salud in Mexico: History and Potential for Building Effective Community Actions.

PubMed

Balcazar, Hector; Perez-Lizaur, Ana Bertha; Izeta, Ericka Escalante; Villanueva, Maria Angeles

2016-01-01

This article takes a historical perspective combining 3 illustrative examples of the origins of the community health worker (CHW) model in Mexico, as a community-based participatory strategy. Three examples were identified from the sparse literature about CHWs in Mexico emphasizing their key roles and functions in various community settings. The CHW models illustrate what is known of training-development and planning, implementation, and evaluation of the CHWs model in different settings addressing cardiovascular disease and risk factors. The potential exists for integrating CHW projects to expand the health promotion model with new emphasis on municipality and regional participation.

Substance abuse prevention in Cape Town's peri-urban settlements: local health trainers' perspectives

PubMed Central

Puljević, Cheneal; Learmonth, Despina

2014-01-01

South Africa currently experiences high levels of alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse. As a result there is a need for the initiation of regional AOD abuse prevention programmes with a specific focus on youth prevention strategies. The Medical Knowledge Institute (MKI) is a non-profit organisation which develops and facilitates health information workshops to members of disadvantaged peri-urban communities in South Africa. This research investigated the views of eight local MKI health trainers on factors contributing to AOD abuse in their communities. Although the expected focus of the discussion was on prevention strategies and effective interventions, the trainers placed more emphasis on the individual and community factors influencing AOD abuse. The themes which emerged through the research included: status, government, (di)stress, gender, recreation, consequences and community. This research holds significance as it has the potential to assist further development of community-based AOD prevention workshops and to guide public health policy and service development for AOD abuse. PMID:25750776

Effective Regional Community Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nesbitt, Rebecca; Merkowitz, Rose Fisher

2014-01-01

Times are changing, and so are Extension programs. These changes affect every aspect of the educational effort, including program development, project funding, educational delivery, partnership building, marketing, sharing impacts, and revenue generation. This article is not about how Extension is restructuring to adapt to changes; instead, it…

The impact of wilderness and other wildlands on local economies and regional development trends

Treesearch

Gundars Rudzitis; Rebecca Johnson

2000-01-01

There have been few economic studies of the impact of wilderness on nearby communities. The few studies that have been carried out find relatively modest economic impacts on the surrounding communities by people who come to recreate in federally wilderness areas. However, studies find that people are moving to areas near federally designated wilderness and other...

Adult Education in Industrial and Urban Community. Proceedings of ASPBAE Region 3 Conference (Daegu, Korea, September 9-15, 1979).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hwang, Jong-Gon, Ed.

The impact of urbanization and industrialization on adult education in East and Southeast Asia was the subject of a conference attended by thirty-five East Asian adult educators and scholars. Conference objectives included the following: to identify the impact of industrial development in urban and rural communities and the related problems of…

Great Lakes Oil-In-Ice Demonstration 3

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

October 2013 3 - Alpena Community College - CG Marine Safety Unit (MSU) Duluth, MN 2.2 Demonstration Concept This demonstration focused on...Marine Sanctuary Gabe Schneider Regional Rep for US Senator Carl Levin Dr. Olin Joynton President, Alpena Community College David Cummins Marine...Technology Advisor, Alpena CC Don MacMaster Dean of Workforce Development, Alpena CC Adam Wojciehowski Response & Security Coordinator - U.S. Operations

Act on Gender: A Peep into Intra-Household Water Use in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Region

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala; Harriden, Kate

2008-01-01

Intra-household water use and management from a gender perspective has remained a relatively under-researched theme in developed countries. Australia is no exception, with the lack of research particularly evident in the many rural and peri-urban communities. These communities have experienced significant water scarcity in recent years. In this…

Developing a Rural and Regional Science Challenge to Utilise Community and Industry-Based Partnerships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blake, Damian; Campbell, Coral

2009-01-01

Interest and participation in science in schools has been declining for many years and there is a genuine need to rejuvenate interest in science at the high school level. One possible solution is the completion of challenging science projects which fulfill an authentic purpose in the community. This paper discusses the results of ongoing research…

Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) Approach to Assessing Wetland Functions: Guidelines for Developing Guidebooks (Version 2)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

setting, landscape position, watershed size), the structural components of the wetland ecosystem (e.g., plants , animals, soil , water, and the...Community Support Characteristic Invertebrate Community Support Landscape/Regional Biodiversity Diversity of native plant species (index, H’) Number of...Flagging GPS and Digital Camera / Spare Batteries Clipboard, Calculator, and Pencils County Soil Survey Plant Identification Keys Munsell

A Proposal to the Massachusetts Board of Regional Community Colleges for a New Occupational Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Viaux, Frederic B.

The development of a Mental Health Technology Program at Middlesex Community College is proposed. The 2-year program would train the student to become a middle-level generalist in the field of mental health with special abilities as a communicator. On successfully completing the program, the student would receive an Associate Degree in Mental…

The Impact of a Geographic Technologies Professional Development Institute on Middle Eastern and North African Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benimmas, Aicha; Kerski, Joseph; Solis, Patricia

2011-01-01

Basic education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) seems to be characterized by lecture methods of instruction, a lack of interdisciplinary approaches and a disconnection with local community problems. During 2008, a "My Community, Our Earth" (MyCOE) workshop was organized in the MENA region and involved teachers of geography,…

Community Learning Approach (CLA) for Literacy Promotion of Women in the Fishing Villages of Region I (Philippines).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manlongat, Sylvia

After an analysis of 1990 Philippines National Statistics Office data showed a high incidence of illiteracy among women in the fishing villages, a project, Community Learning Approach (CLA), was developed to raise the literacy level. It was designed as an alternative delivery system of educating women in 24 villages for functional literacy and…

Management & Organization: Program Planning & Governance, Personnel, Business Management, Community Relations. Handbooks for Experience-Based Career Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Nancy; And Others

This is one of a set of five handbooks compiled by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory that describes the processes for planning and operating a total experience-based career education (EBCE) program. Processes and material are those developed by the original EBCE model--Community Experience in Career Education (CE)2. The area of…

A Community Organizes for Action: A Case Study of the Mon-Yough Region in Pennsylvania.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Avery, Robert W.; Chesler, Herbert A.

This case study examines the development and problems of the Mon-Yough Community Action Committee, Inc. (MYCAC), one of the local anti-poverty agencies in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The agency's major effort is to overcome problems created by the decline of the local steel industry by supporting existing welfare agencies, and through such…

Prospective Developments in Western Europe and in the Northwest Indian-Ocean Region. A Study of Selected Mid-Term Problems in U.S. Foreign Policy,

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-02-01

Other Countries ... The European Community - Transatlantic Problems II - 57 Probable Areas of Cooperation and Conflict ... Irplications for the United...West European nations launched the movement toward economic and political unification that culminated in the establishment of the European Community . In...the United Kingdom,and Germany -- are analyzed in some detail, as is that for the European Community as an institution. The West European nation in

Skin Microbiome Surveys Are Strongly Influenced by Experimental Design.

PubMed

Meisel, Jacquelyn S; Hannigan, Geoffrey D; Tyldsley, Amanda S; SanMiguel, Adam J; Hodkinson, Brendan P; Zheng, Qi; Grice, Elizabeth A

2016-05-01

Culture-independent studies to characterize skin microbiota are increasingly common, due in part to affordable and accessible sequencing and analysis platforms. Compared to culture-based techniques, DNA sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene or whole metagenome shotgun (WMS) sequencing provides more precise microbial community characterizations. Most widely used protocols were developed to characterize microbiota of other habitats (i.e., gastrointestinal) and have not been systematically compared for their utility in skin microbiome surveys. Here we establish a resource for the cutaneous research community to guide experimental design in characterizing skin microbiota. We compare two widely sequenced regions of the 16S rRNA gene to WMS sequencing for recapitulating skin microbiome community composition, diversity, and genetic functional enrichment. We show that WMS sequencing most accurately recapitulates microbial communities, but sequencing of hypervariable regions 1-3 of the 16S rRNA gene provides highly similar results. Sequencing of hypervariable region 4 poorly captures skin commensal microbiota, especially Propionibacterium. WMS sequencing, which is resource and cost intensive, provides evidence of a community's functional potential; however, metagenome predictions based on 16S rRNA sequence tags closely approximate WMS genetic functional profiles. This study highlights the importance of experimental design for downstream results in skin microbiome surveys. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rainfall Patterns and U.S. Migration from Rural Mexico

PubMed Central

Hunter, Lori M.; Murray, Sheena; Riosmena, Fernando

2014-01-01

In many rural regions of developing countries, natural resource dependency means changes in climate patterns hold tremendous potential to impact livelihoods. When environmentally-based livelihood options are constrained, migration can become an important adaptive strategy. Using data from the Mexican Migration Project, we model U.S. emigration from rural communities as related to community, household and climate factors. The results suggest that households subjected to recent drought conditions are far more likely to send a U.S. migrant, but only in communities with strong migration histories. In regions lacking such social networks, rainfall deficits actually reduce migration propensities, perhaps reflecting constraints in the ability to engage in migration as a coping strategy. Policy implications emphasize diversification of rural Mexican livelihoods in the face of contemporary climate change. PMID:25473143

Regional Approach for Linking Ecosystem Services and Livelihood Strategies Under Climate Change of Pastoral Communities in the Mongolian Steppe Ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ojima, D. S.; Galvin, K.; Togtohyn, C.

2012-12-01

Dramatic changes due to climate and land use dynamics in the Mongolian Plateau affecting ecosystem services and agro-pastoral systems in Mongolia. Recently, market forces and development strategies are affecting land and water resources of the pastoral communities which are being further stressed due to climatic changes. Evaluation of pastoral systems, where humans depend on livestock and grassland ecosystem services, have demonstrated the vulnerability of the social-ecological system to climate change. Current social-ecological changes in ecosystem services are affecting land productivity and carrying capacity, land-atmosphere interactions, water resources, and livelihood strategies. The general trend involves greater intensification of resource exploitation at the expense of traditional patterns of extensive range utilization. Thus we expect climate-land use-land cover relationships to be crucially modified by the social-economic forces. The analysis incorporates information about the social-economic transitions taking place in the region which affect land-use, food security, and ecosystem dynamics. The region of study extends from the Mongolian plateau in Mongolia. Our research indicate that sustainability of pastoral systems in the region needs to integrate the impact of climate change on ecosystem services with socio-economic changes shaping the livelihood strategies of pastoral systems in the region. Adaptation strategies which incorporate integrated analysis of landscape management and livelihood strategies provides a framework which links ecosystem services to critical resource assets. Analysis of the available livelihood assets provides insights to the adaptive capacity of various agents in a region or in a community. Sustainable development pathways which enable the development of these adaptive capacity elements will lead to more effective adaptive management strategies for pastoral land use and herder's living standards. Pastoralists will have the opportunity to utilize seasonal resources and enhance their ability to process and manufacture products from the available ecosystem services in these dynamic social-ecological systems.

Spatial Information Technology Center at Fulton-Montgomery Community College

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flinton, Michael E.

2004-01-01

The Spatial Information Technology Center (SITC) at Fulton-Montgomery Community College (FMCC) continued to fulfill its mission and charter by successfully completing its third year of operations under Congressional funding and NASA sponsorship. Third year operations (01 Oct 02 - 30 Sep 03) have been funded and conducted utilizing two authorized Research Grants NAG 13-00043 (via a one-year no-cost extension expiring Sep 03) and NAG 13-02053 (one-year no-cost extension expiring Sep 04). Drawdowns and reporting of fiscal activities for SlTC operations continues to pass through the Institute for the Application of Geo-spatial Technology (IAGT) at Cayuga Community College in Auburn, New York. Fiscal activity of the Center is reported quarterly via SF 272 to IAGT, thus this report contains only a budgetary overview and forecast of future expenditures for the remaining funds of NAG 13 - 02053. Funds from NAG 13 - 00043 were exhausted during the fourth quarter of fiscal year FY02 - 03, which necessitated initial draw down of NAG 13 - 02053. The IAGT receives no compensation for administrative costs as authorized and approved by NASA in each award budget. This report also includes the necessary addendums for each NAG award, as required by federal guidelines, though no reportable activities took place within this report period. Attached are the signed Report of New Technology/lnventions and a Final Property Report identifying qualifying equipment purchased by the Center. As an academic, economic and workforce development oriented program, the Center has made significant strides in bringing the technology, knowledge and applications of the spatial information technology field to the region it serves. Through the mission of the Center, the region's educational, economic development and work force communities have become increasingly educated to the benefits of spatial (Geospatial) technology, particularly in the region's K-12 arena. SlTC continues to positively affect the region's education, employment and economic development, while expanding its services and operations designed to be customer driven, growing infrastructure and affecting systemic change.

Spatial scaling patterns and functional redundancies in a changing boreal lake landscape

USGS Publications Warehouse

Angeler, David G.; Allen, Craig R.; Uden, Daniel R.; Johnson, Richard K.

2015-01-01

Global transformations extend beyond local habitats; therefore, larger-scale approaches are needed to assess community-level responses and resilience to unfolding environmental changes. Using longterm data (1996–2011), we evaluated spatial patterns and functional redundancies in the littoral invertebrate communities of 85 Swedish lakes, with the objective of assessing their potential resilience to environmental change at regional scales (that is, spatial resilience). Multivariate spatial modeling was used to differentiate groups of invertebrate species exhibiting spatial patterns in composition and abundance (that is, deterministic species) from those lacking spatial patterns (that is, stochastic species). We then determined the functional feeding attributes of the deterministic and stochastic invertebrate species, to infer resilience. Between one and three distinct spatial patterns in invertebrate composition and abundance were identified in approximately one-third of the species; the remainder were stochastic. We observed substantial differences in metrics between deterministic and stochastic species. Functional richness and diversity decreased over time in the deterministic group, suggesting a loss of resilience in regional invertebrate communities. However, taxon richness and redundancy increased monotonically in the stochastic group, indicating the capacity of regional invertebrate communities to adapt to change. Our results suggest that a refined picture of spatial resilience emerges if patterns of both the deterministic and stochastic species are accounted for. Spatially extensive monitoring may help increase our mechanistic understanding of community-level responses and resilience to regional environmental change, insights that are critical for developing management and conservation agendas in this current period of rapid environmental transformation.

Assessing diabetes practices in clinical settings: precursor to building community partnerships around disease management.

PubMed

Prochaska, John D; Mier, Nelda; Bolin, Jane N; Hora, Kerrie L; Clark, Heather R; Ory, Marcia G

2009-12-01

Many recommended best practices exist for clinical and community diabetes management and prevention. However, in many cases, these recommendations are not being fully utilized. It is useful to gain a sense of currently utilized and needed practices when beginning a partnership building effort to ameliorate such practice problems. The purpose of this study was to assess current practices in clinical settings within the Brazos Valley in preparation for beginning a community-based participatory research project on improving diabetes prevention and management in this region. Fifty-seven physicians with admission privileges to a regional health system were faxed a survey related to current diabetes patient loads, knowledge and implementation of diabetes-related best practices, and related topics. Both qualitative and quantitative examination of the data was conducted. Fifteen percent of responding providers indicated they implemented diabetes prevention best practices, with significant differences between primary-care physicians and specialists. Respondents indicated a need for educational and counseling resources, as well as an increased health-care workforce in the region. The utilization of a faxed-based survey proved an effective means for assessing baseline data as well as serving as a catalyst for further discussion around coalition development. Results indicated a strong need for both clinical and community-based services regarding diabetes prevention and management, and provided information and insight to begin focused community dialogue around diabetes prevention and management needs across the region. Other sites seeking to begin similar projects may benefit from a similar process.

Support for liberal development policies among community elites and non-elites in a rural region of Wisconsin

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Buttel, F.H.; Johnson, D.E.

Liberal development policies for rural areas, aimed at improving economic conditions and helping corporations find more profitable production sites, are found to fit the traditional role of intervention by government to encourage private investment in underdeveloped areas. Two strategies used in Wisconsin are analyzed to determine the level of community support and compare the social and intellectual support for growth centers of community elites with non-elites. Results indicate the general public does not support the concept of planned growth centers, with primary opposition coming from professional and farm groups rather than the ''traditionalism'' that is often used to characterize themore » area. Those favoring growth-center policies are primarily elites, who tend to limit their support to development of their own community. Elites also favor consolidating community and county delivery of services. Data for the study consisted of 231 personal interviews with leaders of 32 small- and mid-size communities. Their responses were then compared with a random sampling of non-elites. 27 references. (DCK)« less

Regional Interdependence in Adaptation to Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stacey, M. T.; Lubell, M.; Hummel, M.; Wang, R. Q.; Barnard, P.; Erikson, L. H.; Herdman, L.; Pozdnukhov, A.; Sheehan, M.

2017-12-01

Projections of sea level rise may differ in the pace of change, but there is clear consensus that coastal communities will be facing more frequent and severe flooding events in the coming century. As communities adapt to future conditions, infrastructure systems will be developed, modified and abandoned, with important consequences for services and resilience. Whether action or inaction is pursued, the decisions made by an individual community regarding a single infrastructure system have implications that extend spatially and temporally due to geographic and infrastructure system interactions. At the same time, there are a number of barriers to collective or coordinated action that inhibit regional solutions. This interplay between local actions and regional responses is one of the great challenges facing decision-makers grappling with both local and regional climate-change adaptation. In this talk, I present case studies of the San Francisco Bay Area that examine how shoreline infrastructure, transporation sytems and decision-making networks interact to define the regional response to local actions and the local response to regional actions. I will characterize the barriers that exist to regional solutions, and characterize three types of interdependence that may motivate decision-makers to overcome those barriers. Using these examples, I will discuss the importance of interdisciplinary analyses that integrate the natural sciences, engineering and the social science to climate change adaptation more generally.

Training community health students to develop community-requested social marketing campaigns: an innovative partnership.

PubMed

Lindsey, Billie J; Hawk, Carol Wetherill

2013-01-01

This paper describes a sustained partnership between a university community health program and local and regional community health agencies. As a key component of the Health Communication and Social Marketing course, the partnership involves undergraduate community health students working for and with community agencies and community members to design social marketing campaigns based on community-identified health needs. The goals of the course are to (1) provide students with the opportunity to work within the community to apply their skills in program planning, evaluation, and communication and (2) provide community agencies with a tailored campaign that can be implemented in their communities. Throughout the 10-week quarter, teams of students follow the principles of community participation in planning a social marketing campaign. These include (1) audience segmentation and formative assessment with the intended audience to determine campaign content and strategies and (2) pretesting and revisions of campaign messages and materials based on community feedback. This partnership contributes to the promotion of health in the local community and it builds the skills and competencies of future health educators. It demonstrates a successful and sustainable combination of community-based participatory research and experiential learning. From 2005 to 2011, 35 campaigns have been developed, many which have been implemented.

What’s in a word? The framing of health at the regional level: ASEAN, EU, SADC and UNASUR

PubMed Central

Amaya, Ana B; Rollet, Vincent; Kingah, Stephen

2015-01-01

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the Southern African Development Community and the Union of South American Nations have increasingly been involved in health diplomacy in the past decade, yet little is known about how they frame health as a foreign policy issue and how this has an impact on their prioritisation of policies. For this, we conducted a review of existing grey and peer-reviewed literature that address regional integration and health, as well as a documentary review according to security, development, trade, human rights, moral/ethical reasonings and global public goods frames identified in the literature. The policy frames identified responded to the challenges these regions currently face. The Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s struggle with re-emerging diseases has led to favouring a securitisation approach to health, the European Union approaches health as a cross-cutting policy issue, the Southern African Development Community presents health as a driver for development, and while the Union of South American Nations emphasises health as a human right and addresses the social determinants of health as an ethical imperative. Overall, these policy frames were useful in analysing the framing of health in foreign policy at the regional level. However, within our analysis, we identified a new frame that approaches health as an intersectoral issue. The impact of regional organisations’ forward will depend on their ability to harness their convening power and speak in a coherent voice on health matters. PMID:26635496

What's in a word? The framing of health at the regional level: ASEAN, EU, SADC and UNASUR.

PubMed

Amaya, Ana B; Rollet, Vincent; Kingah, Stephen

2015-12-01

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the Southern African Development Community and the Union of South American Nations have increasingly been involved in health diplomacy in the past decade, yet little is known about how they frame health as a foreign policy issue and how this has an impact on their prioritisation of policies. For this, we conducted a review of existing grey and peer-reviewed literature that address regional integration and health, as well as a documentary review according to security, development, trade, human rights, moral/ethical reasonings and global public goods frames identified in the literature. The policy frames identified responded to the challenges these regions currently face. The Association of Southeast Asian Nation's struggle with re-emerging diseases has led to favouring a securitisation approach to health, the European Union approaches health as a cross-cutting policy issue, the Southern African Development Community presents health as a driver for development, and while the Union of South American Nations emphasises health as a human right and addresses the social determinants of health as an ethical imperative. Overall, these policy frames were useful in analysing the framing of health in foreign policy at the regional level. However, within our analysis, we identified a new frame that approaches health as an intersectoral issue. The impact of regional organisations' forward will depend on their ability to harness their convening power and speak in a coherent voice on health matters.

Strong influence of regional species pools on continent-wide structuring of local communities.

PubMed

Lessard, Jean-Philippe; Borregaard, Michael K; Fordyce, James A; Rahbek, Carsten; Weiser, Michael D; Dunn, Robert R; Sanders, Nathan J

2012-01-22

There is a long tradition in ecology of evaluating the relative contribution of the regional species pool and local interactions on the structure of local communities. Similarly, a growing number of studies assess the phylogenetic structure of communities, relative to that in the regional species pool, to examine the interplay between broad-scale evolutionary and fine-scale ecological processes. Finally, a renewed interest in the influence of species source pools on communities has shown that the definition of the source pool influences interpretations of patterns of community structure. We use a continent-wide dataset of local ant communities and implement ecologically explicit source pool definitions to examine the relative importance of regional species pools and local interactions for shaping community structure. Then we assess which factors underlie systematic variation in the structure of communities along climatic gradients. We find that the average phylogenetic relatedness of species in ant communities decreases from tropical to temperate regions, but the strength of this relationship depends on the level of ecological realism in the definition of source pools. We conclude that the evolution of climatic niches influences the phylogenetic structure of regional source pools and that the influence of regional source pools on local community structure is strong.

The development of a model of community garden benefits to wellbeing.

PubMed

Egli, Victoria; Oliver, Melody; Tautolo, El-Shadan

2016-06-01

Community gardens contribute to community wellbeing by influencing the nutritional and social environment. The aim of this research was to develop a model that communicates the many benefits of community garden participation as described in the academic literature, to a diverse audience of laypersons. This model is an example of effective knowledge translation because the information is able to be more than simply understood but also practically applied. From April to August 2015, a model depicting the many benefits of community garden participation was prepared based on a global, critical literature review. The wellbeing benefits from community garden participation have been grouped into factors influencing the nutritional health environment and factors influencing the social environment. The graphic chosen to form the basis of the model is a fractal tree of life. In October 2015, to test the models comprehension and to obtain stakeholder feedback this model was presented to a diverse group of community members, leaders and workers from the Tāmaki region of Auckland, New Zealand. The model we present here effectively and clearly translates knowledge obtained from the academic literature on the benefits to wellbeing from community garden participation into a tool that can be used, adapted and developed by community groups, government agencies and health promoters.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of the national implementation of integrated community case management and community-based health planning and services in Ghana for the treatment of malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia.

PubMed

Escribano Ferrer, Blanca; Hansen, Kristian Schultz; Gyapong, Margaret; Bruce, Jane; Narh Bana, Solomon A; Narh, Clement T; Allotey, Naa-Korkor; Glover, Roland; Azantilow, Naa-Charity; Bart-Plange, Constance; Sagoe-Moses, Isabella; Webster, Jayne

2017-07-05

Ghana has developed two main community-based strategies that aim to increase access to quality treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and suspected pneumonia: the integrated community case management (iCCM) and the community-based health planning and services (CHPS). The aim of the study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of these strategies under programme conditions. A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted. Appropriate diagnosis and treatment given was the effectiveness measure used. Appropriate diagnosis and treatment data was obtained from a household survey conducted 2 and 8 years after implementation of iCCM in the Volta and Northern Regions of Ghana, respectively. The study population was carers of children under-5 years who had fever, diarrhoea and/or cough in the last 2 weeks prior to the interview. Costs data was obtained mainly from the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), the Ministry of Health, CHPS compounds and from a household survey. Appropriate diagnosis and treatment of malaria, diarrhoea and suspected pneumonia was more cost-effective under the iCCM than under CHPS in the Volta Region, even after adjusting for different discount rates, facility costs and iCCM and CHPS utilization, but not when iCCM appropriate treatment was reduced by 50%. Due to low numbers of carers visiting a CBA in the Northern Region it was not possible to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis in this region. However, the cost analysis showed that iCCM in the Northern Region had higher cost per malaria, diarrhoea and suspected pneumonia case diagnosed and treated when compared to the Volta Region and to the CHPS strategy in the Northern Region. Integrated community case management was more cost-effective than CHPS for the treatment of malaria, diarrhoea and suspected pneumonia when utilized by carers of children under-5 years in the Volta Region. A revision of the iCCM strategy in the Northern Region is needed to improve its cost-effectiveness. Long-term financing strategies should be explored including potential inclusion in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) benefit package. An acceptability study of including iCCM in the NHIS should be conducted.

12 CFR 228.21 - Performance tests, standards, and ratings, in general.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... obtained from community organizations, state, local, and tribal governments, economic development agencies... condition of the bank, the economic climate (national, regional, and local), safety and soundness...

12 CFR 25.21 - Performance tests, standards, and ratings, in general.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... from community organizations, state, local, and tribal governments, economic development agencies, or... of the bank, the economic climate (national, regional, and local), safety and soundness limitations...

12 CFR 345.21 - Performance tests, standards, and ratings, in general.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... from community organizations, state, local, and tribal governments, economic development agencies, or... of the bank, the economic climate (national, regional, and local), safety and soundness limitations...

Tobacco cessation intervention during pregnancy among Alaska Native women.

PubMed

Patten, Christi A

2012-04-01

This paper describes a community-based participatory research program with Alaska Native people addressing a community need to reduce tobacco use among pregnant women and children. Tobacco use during pregnancy among Alaska Native women is described along with development of a community partnership, findings from a pilot tobacco cessation intervention, current work, and future directions. Among Alaska Native women residing in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta region of western Alaska, the prevalence of tobacco use (cigarette smoking and/or use of smokeless tobacco) during pregnancy is 79%. Results from a pilot intervention study targeting pregnant women indicated low rates of participation and less than optimal tobacco abstinence outcomes. Developing alternative strategies to reach pregnant women and to enhance the efficacy of interventions is a community priority, and future directions are offered.

Tobacco Cessation Intervention During Pregnancy Among Alaska Native Women

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

This paper describes a community-based participatory research program with Alaska Native people addressing a community need to reduce tobacco use among pregnant women and children. Tobacco use during pregnancy among Alaska Native women is described along with development of a community partnership, findings from a pilot tobacco cessation intervention, current work, and future directions. Among Alaska Native women residing in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta region of western Alaska, the prevalence of tobacco use (cigarette smoking and/or use of smokeless tobacco) during pregnancy is 79%. Results from a pilot intervention study targeting pregnant women indicated low rates of participation and less than optimal tobacco abstinence outcomes. Developing alternative strategies to reach pregnant women and to enhance the efficacy of interventions is a community priority, and future directions are offered. PMID:22311690

Spatial Information Technology Center at Fulton-Montgomery Community College

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

The Spatial Information Technology Center (SITC) at Fulton-Montgomery Community College (FMCC) continued to fulfill its mission and charter by successfully completing its fourth year of operations under Congressional funding and NASA sponsorship. Fourth year operations (01 Oct 03 - 30 Sep 04) have been funded and conducted utilizing an authorized Research Grant NAG 13-02053 (via a one-year no-cost extension expiring Sep 04). Drawdown and reporting of fiscal activities for SITC operations passes through the Institute for the Application of Geo-spatial Technology (IAGT) at Cayuga Community College in Auburn, New York. Fiscal activity of the Center is reported quarterly via SF 272 to IAGT, this report contains an overview and expenditures for the remaining funds of NAG 13-02053. NAG 13-02053, slated for operating costs for the fiscal year FY02-03, received a one-year no-cost extension. SITC also received permission to use remaining funds for salaries and benefits through December 31,2004. The IAGT receives no compensation for administrative costs. This report includes addendums for the NAG award as required by federal guidelines. Attached are the signed Report of New Technology/Inventions and a Final Property Report. As an academic, economic, and workforce development program, the Center has made significant strides in bringing the technology, knowledge and applications of the spatial information technology field to the region it serves. Through the mission of the Center, the region's communities have become increasingly aware of the benefits of Geospatial technology, particularly in the region s K-12 arena. SITC continues to positively affect the region's education, employment and economic development, while expanding its services and operations.

Salinity Impacts on Agriculture and Groundwater in Delta Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clarke, D.; Salehin, M.; Jairuddin, M.; Saleh, A. F. M.; Rahman, M. M.; Parks, K. E.; Haque, M. A.; Lázár, A. N.; Payo, A.

2015-12-01

Delta regions are attractive for high intensity agriculture due to the availability of rich sedimentary soils and of fresh water. Many of the world's tropical deltas support high population densities which are reliant on irrigated agriculture. However environmental changes such as sea level rise, tidal inundation and reduced river flows have reduced the quantity and quality of water available for successful agriculture. Additionally, anthropogenic influences such as the over abstraction of ground water and the increased use of low quality water from river inlets has resulted in the accumulation of salts in the soils which diminishes crop productivity. Communities based in these regions are usually reliant on the same water for drinking and cooking because surface water is frequently contaminated by commercial and urban pollution. The expansion of shallow tube well systems for drinking water and agricultural use over the last few decades has resulted in mobilisation of salinity in the coastal and estuarine fringes. Sustainable development in delta regions is becoming constrained by water salinity. However salinity is often studied as an independent issue by specialists working in the fields of agriculture, community water supply and groundwater. The lack of interaction between these disciplines often results in corrective actions being applied to one sector without fully assessing the effects of these actions on other sectors. This paper describes a framework for indentifying the causes and impacts of salinity in delta regions based on the source-pathway-receptor framework. It uses examples and scenarios from the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta in Bangladesh together with field measurements and observations made in vulnerable coastal communities. The paper demonstrates the importance of creating an holistic understanding of the development and management of water resources to reduce the impact of salinity in fresh water in delta regions.

Implementing the first regional hospice palliative care program in Ontario: the Champlain region as a case study.

PubMed

Pereira, José; Contant, Jocelyne; Barton, Gwen; Klinger, Christopher

2016-07-26

Regionalization promotes planning and coordination of services across settings and providers to meet population needs. Despite the potential advantages of regionalization, no regional hospice palliative care program existed in Ontario, Canada, as of 2010. This paper describes the process and early results of the development of the first regional hospice palliative care program in Ontario. The various activities and processes undertaken and the formal agreements, policies and documents are described. A participative approach, started in April 2009, was used. It brought together over 26 health service providers, including residential hospices, a palliative care unit, community and hospital specialist consultation teams, hospitals, community health and social service agencies (including nursing), individual health professionals, volunteers, patients and families. An extensive stakeholder and community vetting process was undertaken that included work groups (to explore key areas such as home care, the hospital sector, hospice and palliative care unit beds, provision of care in rural settings, e-health and education), a steering committee and input from over 320 individuals via e-mail and town-halls. A Transitional Leadership Group was elected to steer the implementation of the Regional Program over the summer of 2010. This group established the by-laws and details regarding the governance structure of the Regional Program, including its role, responsibilities, reporting structures and initial performance indicators that the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) approved. The Regional Program was formally established in November 2010 with a competency-based Board of 14 elected members to oversee the program. Early work involved establishing standards and performance indicators for the different sectors and settings in the region, and identifying key clinical needs such as the establishment of more residential hospice capacity in Ottawa and a rural framework to ensure access for citizens in rural and remote regions. Challenges encountered are explored as are the process enablers and facilitators. The paper views the development and implementation process from the perspectives of several frameworks and models related to change management. Following on several initial achievements, the long term success of the Regional Program will depend on consolidating the early gains and demonstrating changes based on key measurable outcomes.

Contributions for Repositioning a Regional Strategy for Healthy Municipalities, Cities and Communities (HM&C): Results of a Pan-American Survey

PubMed Central

Rice, Marilyn; Vizzotti, Carlos; Frassia, Romina; Vizzotti, Pablo; Akerman, Marco

2010-01-01

This article presents the results of the 1st Regional Survey of Healthy Municipalities, Cities and Communities (HM&C) carried out in 2008 by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and ISALUD University of Argentina. It discusses the responses obtained from 12 countries in the Americas Region. Key informants in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay were selected and encouraged to answer the survey, while informants from Canada and Honduras answered voluntarily and were included in this analysis. The discussion of the results of the Survey provides insight into the current status of HM&C in the Region and suggests key topics for repositioning the Regional strategy relative to: (1) the conceptual identity and tools for HM&C; (2) challenging areas in the implementation process (scale, legal framework, and development of capacities); (3) related strategies and participatory processes such as the ways citizen empowerment in governance is supported; (4) the need to monitor and assess the impact of the HM&C strategy on the health and quality of life of the populations involved; and (5) the need for developing a strategic research and training agenda. The analysis and discussion of these results aims to provide useful input for repositioning the strategy in the Region and contributing to the emergence of a second generation of concepts and tools capable of meeting the developing priorities and needs currently faced by the HM&C strategy. PMID:20532989

Contributions for repositioning a regional strategy for Healthy Municipalities, Cities and Communities (HM&C): results of a pan-American survey.

PubMed

Meresman, Sergio; Rice, Marilyn; Vizzotti, Carlos; Frassia, Romina; Vizzotti, Pablo; Akerman, Marco

2010-09-01

This article presents the results of the 1st Regional Survey of Healthy Municipalities, Cities and Communities (HM&C) carried out in 2008 by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and ISALUD University of Argentina. It discusses the responses obtained from 12 countries in the Americas Region. Key informants in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay were selected and encouraged to answer the survey, while informants from Canada and Honduras answered voluntarily and were included in this analysis. The discussion of the results of the Survey provides insight into the current status of HM&C in the Region and suggests key topics for repositioning the Regional strategy relative to: (1) the conceptual identity and tools for HM&C; (2) challenging areas in the implementation process (scale, legal framework, and development of capacities); (3) related strategies and participatory processes such as the ways citizen empowerment in governance is supported; (4) the need to monitor and assess the impact of the HM&C strategy on the health and quality of life of the populations involved; and (5) the need for developing a strategic research and training agenda. The analysis and discussion of these results aims to provide useful input for repositioning the strategy in the Region and contributing to the emergence of a second generation of concepts and tools capable of meeting the developing priorities and needs currently faced by the HM&C strategy.

European national healthy city networks: the impact of an elite epistemic community.

PubMed

Heritage, Zoë; Green, Geoff

2013-10-01

National healthy cities networks (NNs) were created 20 years ago to support the development of healthy cities within the WHO Europe Region. Using the concept of epistemic communities, the evolution and impact of NNs is considered, as is their future development. Healthy cities national networks are providing information, training and support to member cities. In many cases, they are also involved in supporting national public health policy development and disseminating out healthy city principles to other local authorities. National networks are a fragile but an extremely valuable resource for sharing public health knowledge.

Shopping Centers: Their Development and Impact on a Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berezowski, P. E.; And Others

Presenting extensive background material on the development of shopping centers, this paper includes elementary and junior high school outdoor education activities centering upon shopping center studies. Background material includes analysis of the following: shopping center types (architecture, regional location, etc); land use (guidelines for…

The Information Age and Information Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Graeme C.; And Others

1991-01-01

This theme issue includes eight articles that discuss the information age, the impact of information technology, and the role of libraries. Highlights include libraries in Brazil, Indonesia, and Nigeria; the Universal Availability of Publications (UAP) program; community literacy; database development in Malawi; and the Regional Energy Resources…

Towards integrated crisis support of regional emergency networks.

PubMed

Caro, D H

1999-01-01

Emergency and crisis management pose multidimensional information systems challenges for communities across North America. In the quest to reduce mortality and morbidity risks and to increase the level of crisis preparedness, regional emergency management networks have evolved. Integrated Crisis Support Systems (ICSS) are enabling information technologies that assist emergency managers by enhancing the ability to strategically manage and control these regional emergency networks efficiently and effectively. This article underscores the ICCS development, control and leadership issues and their promising implications for regional emergency management networks.

Comparative dynamics of avian communities across edges and interiors of North American ecoregions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Karanth, K.K.; Nichols, J.D.; Sauer, J.R.; Hines, J.E.

2006-01-01

Aim Based on a priori hypotheses, we developed predictions about how avian communities might differ at the edges vs. interiors of ecoregions. Specifically, we predicted lower species richness and greater local turnover and extinction probabilities for regional edges. We tested these predictions using North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data across nine ecoregions over a 20-year time period. Location Data from 2238 BBS routes within nine ecoregions of the United States were used. Methods The estimation methods used accounted for species detection probabilities < 1. Parameter estimates for species richness, local turnover and extinction probabilities were obtained using the program COMDYN. We examined the difference in community-level parameters estimated from within exterior edges (the habitat interface between ecoregions), interior edges (the habitat interface between two bird conservation regions within the same ecoregion) and interior (habitat excluding interfaces). General linear models were constructed to examine sources of variation in community parameters for five ecoregions (containing all three habitat types) and all nine ecoregions (containing two habitat types). Results Analyses provided evidence that interior habitats and interior edges had on average higher bird species richness than exterior edges, providing some evidence of reduced species richness near habitat edges. Lower average extinction probabilities and turnover rates in interior habitats (five-region analysis) provided some support for our predictions about these quantities. However, analyses directed at all three response variables, i.e. species richness, local turnover, and local extinction probability, provided evidence of an interaction between habitat and region, indicating that the relationships did not hold in all regions. Main conclusions The overall predictions of lower species richness, higher local turnover and extinction probabilities in regional edge habitats, as opposed to interior habitats, were generally supported. However, these predicted tendencies did not hold in all regions.

Indicators to measure risk of disaster associated with drought: Implications for the health sector

PubMed Central

Ebi, Kristie L.; Freitas, Carlos; Corvalan, Carlos; Barcellos, Christovam

2017-01-01

Introduction Brazil has a large semiarid region, which covers part of 9 states, over 20% of the 5565 municipalities in the country and at 22.5 million persons, 12% of the country’s population. This region experiences recurrent and extended droughts and is characterized by low economic development, scarcity of natural resources including water, and difficult agricultural and livestock production. Local governments and communities need easily obtainable tools to aid their decision making process in managing risks associated with drought. Methods To inform decision-making at the level of municipalities, we investigated factors contributing to the health risks of drought. We used education and poverty indicators to measure vulnerability, number of drought damage evaluations and historical drought occurrences as indicators of hazard, and access to water as an indicator of exposure, to derive a drought disaster risk index. Results Indicators such as access to piped water, illiteracy and poverty show marked differences in most states and, in nearly all states, the living conditions of communities in the semiarid region are worse than in the rest of each state. There are municipalities at high drought disaster risk in every state and there are a larger number of municipalities at higher risks from the center to the north of the semiarid region. Conclusions Understanding local hazards, exposures and vulnerabilities provides the means to understand local communities’ risks and develop interventions to reduce them. In addition, communities in these regions need to be empowered to add their traditional knowledge to scientific tools, and to identify the actions most relevant to their needs and realities. PMID:28742848

USDA Climate Hubs - delivering usable information and tools to farmers, ranchers and forest land managers - Communication insights from the Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, R.; Steele, R.

2016-12-01

The USDA Climate Hubs were established in 2014 to develop and deliver science-based, region-specific information and technologies, with USDA agencies and partners, to agricultural and natural resource managers to enable climate-informed decision-making. In the two and half years of existence, our regional leads have gained insights into communicating with the agricultural and forestry communities throughout the different regions of the country. Perspectives differ somewhat among regions and sectors. This talk will share those various insights.

Housing development erodes avian community structure in U.S. protected areas

Treesearch

Eric M. Wood; Anna M. Pidgeon; Volker C. Radeloff; David Helmers; Patrick D. Culbert; Nicholas S. Keuler; Curtis H. Flather

2014-01-01

Protected areas are a cornerstone for biodiversity conservation, but they also provide amenities that attract housing development on inholdings and adjacent private lands. We explored how this development affects biodiversity within and near protected areas among six ecological regions throughout the United States. We quantified the effect of housing density within, at...

Southern Rural Development Center Annual Progress Report, 1987. SRDC Series No. 101.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southern Rural Development Center, Mississippi State, MS.

In fiscal year 1987, the Southern Rural Development Center was involved with 40 projects, task forces, symposia, conferences, workshops and other activities, focusing specifically on the rural problems of the region and supporting the community development efforts of 29 land-grant institutions in 13 southern states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin…

Partnering for Economic Development: How Town-Gown Relations Impact Local Economic Development in Small and Medium Cities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massey, Jennifer; Field, Sean; Chan, Yolande

2014-01-01

Universities play an increasingly prominent role in shaping regional, social, and economic development. In Canada, however, spatial, economic, and social differences between universities and their host communities continue to challenge positive town--gown relationships and undermine the benefits associated with high concentrations of prospective…

Delivering on a New Destiny. 2005 Annual Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, 2005

2005-01-01

The North Central Regional Center for Rural Development helps a number of stakeholders meet their mission and objectives. Stakeholders include those who directly fund the organization, as well as the moral community of the people and places of the North Central region. It is at the nexus of federal, state and local demands and opportunities. The…

Tree Changes or Wholesale Changes: The Role of Adult Education in Transitions in Regional Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Townsend, Robert; Delves, Melinda

2009-01-01

Regional adult education and training providers have been required in recent decades to adapt to funding structures rather than engage with their local communities. This has meant providing education programs that are funded based on national or State and Territory based policy frameworks, often linked to human capital development. Adult education…

Factors determining the location of forest products firms

Treesearch

R.F. Fraser; F.M. Goode

1991-01-01

In the past decade there has been an increase in the number of intrastate, state and regional programs aimed at encouraging forest resource based economic development in northeastern USA. These programs were aimed at deriving economic benefits from the large volume of mature forest resources in the region. The improvement of rura1 communities by creating job...

How Higher Education Institutions Contribute to the Growth in Regions of Europe?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lilles, Alo; Rõigas, Kärt

2017-01-01

Various studies show that higher education institutions contribute to regional economic development by R&D, creation of human capital, knowledge and technology transfer, and by creation of a favourable milieu. It is brought out that the basic procedure is to sum expenditures of the college community (students, faculty, staff and visitors)…

77 FR 9956 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-21

... of regional significance, use data to set and monitor progress toward performance goals, and engage... Principles; d. Use geo-coded data sets and other metrics in developing, implementing, monitoring, and... (103 Stat. 1987, 42 U.S.C. 3545), the Department is publishing the names, addresses, and amounts of the...

No Place Like Home: Place and Community Identity among North Country Youth. New England Issue Brief No. 24

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, Genevieve R.; Tucker, Corinna Jenkins

2011-01-01

This brief explores the link between rural youths' identification with their community, their self-esteem, and their future plans. The panel study of New Hampshire's Coos County youth offers a snapshot into the dynamics of a population that is developing its identity in a region that is undergoing an identity transformation of its own. Place…

What is Watershed Integrity? How is the Watershed Integrity in the Western Balkans? How does the IWI apply to my community? How can we Use the IWI to Manage River and Lake Basins?

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract: The Regional Environmental Center of Central and Eastern Europe was established by the United States and European Commission in 1990. WED is adapting the Index of Watershed Integrity (IWI) for Building Local Community Resilience for the Sustainable Development of Waters...

Building Learning Communities: Partnerships, Social Capital and VET Performance. A National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation Program Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allison, Janelle; Gorringe, Scott; Lacey, Justine

2006-01-01

This study examines the nature of the impact of vocational education and training (VET), and its project-based activities and partnerships, on the development of sustainable communities in regional Australia. It finds that VET plays a critical role as the entry point to learning and builds considerable social and other forms of capital in regional…

Professional Learning Communities Facilitator's Guide for the What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide: Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade. REL 2016-277

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosanovich, Marcia; Foorman, Barbara

2016-01-01

The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast developed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) Facilitators Guide to support educators in the implementation of recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse's. The practice guide focuses on the foundational reading skills that enable students to read words, relate those words to their…

Intervention Mapping as a Participatory Approach to Developing an HIV Prevention Intervention in Rural African American Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corbie-Smith, Giselle; Akers, Aletha; Blumenthal, Connie; Council, Barbara; Wynn, Mysha; Muhammad, Melvin; Stith, Doris

2010-01-01

Southeastern states are among the hardest hit by the HIV epidemic in this country, and racial disparities in HIV rates are high in this region. This is particularly true in our communities of interest in rural eastern North Carolina. Although most recent efforts to prevent HIV attempt to address multiple contributing factors, we have found few…

Working Respectfully with Families: A Practical Guide for Educators and Human Service Workers. Training Module I: The Child, the Family, and the Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connard, Christie; And Others

Educators and service providers often have little opportunity to work cooperatively with families to enhance outcomes for children. This document is the first in a four-part training module that was developed by Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's Child, Family, and Community Program. The modules are based on an ecological, family-centered…

Metabarcoding Baseline for the Sargasso Sea Zooplankton Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanco-Bercial, L.; Alam, S.

2016-02-01

Understanding the responses and evolution of any community over space and time requires a deep knowledge of the species present at each location and their interactions. Where taxonomy turns out to be challenging, as it is in the case of zooplankton, supra-species grouping is a common resort in community characterization. Although this makes morphological identification manageable, there is the associated price of a limited depth of study and the risk of mixing different species' organismal responses. As global change begins to influence species distributions and physiologies, it becomes ever more important to discriminate at a species specific level. The development of DNA-based identification protocols during the last decades are rapidly driving these limitations away, increasing our understanding of the existing complexity of even very close taxa to different stressors or environmental conditions. Beyond the mere taxonomic discrimination of the analyzed community, the use of DNA sequences allows for the rapid integration of phylogenetic measurements and related indexes. In this presentation, we show our first results tackling one of the regions with the highest zooplankton diversity, the Subtropical North Atlantic at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (BATS) site. The chosen metabarcoding region was the hypervariable V9 region of the 18S rRNA gene. In this first investigation, we establish the baseline information needed for further and more comprehensive analyses on the time series: minimum coverage depth per sample, taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of the community and effect of the Diel Vertical Migration in the epipelagic community. We also analyze the limitations of the species identification in relation to the variability of the V9 region within and between species.

[Development of standards for education and training in family and community medicine - contributions by WONCA IberoAmerica (CIMF)].

PubMed

Demarzo, Marcelo Marcos Piva; Marin, Anibal; Padula Anderson, Maria Inez; De Castro Filho, Eno Dias; Kidd, Michael

2011-02-01

The WONCA Education Working Party (WEP) is developing a set of standards for medical student education, postgraduate training in family medicine / general practice and continuing professional development for family doctors. At this point the contributions by WONCA world regions are very important, and for this reason the main objective of this report is to present the standards developed by the Iberoamerican WONCA Region (CIMF). To be comprehensive and effective, standards should reflect regional realities and so the contributions from CIMF may reinforce and strengthen the key initiative of WEP and the implementation of the standards throughout the world. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Effects of brine contamination from energy development on wetland macroinvertebrate community structure in the Prairie Pothole Region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Preston, Todd M.; Borgreen, Michael J.; Ray, Andrew M.

2018-01-01

Wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America support macroinvertebrate communities that are integral to local food webs and important to breeding waterfowl. Macroinvertebrates in PPR wetlands are primarily generalists and well adapted to within and among year changes in water permanence and salinity. The Williston Basin, a major source of U.S. energy production, underlies the southwest portion of the PPR. Development of oil and gas results in the coproduction of large volumes of highly saline, sodium chloride dominated water (brine) and the introduction of brine can alter wetland salinity. To assess potential effects of brine contamination on macroinvertebrate communities, 155 PPR wetlands spanning a range of hydroperiods and salinities were sampled between 2014 and 2016. Brine contamination was documented in 34 wetlands with contaminated wetlands having significantly higher chloride concentrations, specific conductance and percent dominant taxa, and significantly lower taxonomic richness, Shannon diversity, and Pielou evenness scores compared to uncontaminated wetlands. Non-metric multidimensional scaling found significant correlations between several water quality parameters and macroinvertebrate communities. Chloride concentration and specific conductance, which can be elevated in naturally saline wetlands, but are also associated with brine contamination, had the strongest correlations. Five wetland groups were identified from cluster analysis with many of the highly contaminated wetlands located in a single cluster. Low or moderately contaminated wetlands were distributed among the remaining clusters and had macroinvertebrate communities similar to uncontaminated wetlands. While aggregate changes in macroinvertebrate community structure were observed with brine contamination, systematic changes were not evident, likely due to the strong and potentially confounding influence of hydroperiod and natural salinity. Therefore, despite the observed negative response of macroinvertebrate communities to brine contamination, macroinvertebrate community structure alone is likely not the most sensitive indicator of brine contamination in PPR wetlands.

75 FR 11621 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Request for Extension of Currently Approved...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-11

... Awards (TPEA) Program is a biennial awards program developed by the FHWA and the Federal Transit... System Preservation Program Grant Application. Delta Region Transportation Development Program Grant...: Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Program Grant Application: Section 1117 of the Safe...

Challenges in Services to the South Pacific Region for International Nongovernmental Organizations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holdsworth, J. K.; Winkley, B.

1990-01-01

Establishing community-based rehabilitation projects for visually impaired populations in developing countries in the South Pacific presents challenges in communication, logistics, security, and other factors. Program development must consider differences in geography, population distribution, resources, cultural and religious values, and needs.…

25 CFR 170.101 - What is the IRR Program consultation and coordination policy?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... safety; (2) Developing State, metropolitan, regional, IRR, and tribal transportation improvement programs that impact tribal lands, communities, and members; (3) Developing short- and long-range transportation... measures necessary to protect and/or enhance Indian lands and the environment, and counteract the impacts...

President's Role in Economic Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kopecek, Robert J.

This document focuses on the role of community college presidents in the varied activities entailed by economic development. Specifically, the paper addresses those activities that involve the political, financial, and economic aspects of regional or county planning, marketing and financing. First, definitions are provided of two types of economic…

Structure analysis and core community detection of embodied resources networks among regional industries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Xijun; Dong, Yanbo; Wu, Yuying; Wei, Guodan; Xing, Lizhi; Yan, Jia

2017-08-01

To address the double pressure of scarce resources and regional industrial isomorphism, this paper applied the concepts of exergy and embodied resources based on economic input-output (I-O) data. We constructed the embodied resources networks among the regional industries of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (also known as Jing-Jin-Ji) in China. We analyzed the rules of embodied resources consumption in the area's industries, identified the core community structures, and studied the characteristics of industrial homogeneity through regional comparisons. The results showed that the dependence on scarce resources of industrial operations in Beijing was less than in Jin-Ji, while the dependence on finance, technology, information, and other service resources in Beijing was higher than in Jin-Ji. The I-O efficiency of embodied resources among industries and the agglomeration of correlation relationships in industries with large embodied resources were higher than in Jin-Ji. The industrial coincidence degree in the ;bridge; industries and in the core community in Jin-Ji was higher than in Jing-Jin and Jing-Ji, which means the industrial homogeneous competition of Jin-Ji was higher, too. This study makes a significant contribution toward promoting the dislocation development of regional industries, accelerating the coordination of resources, and reducing homogeneity competition.

Managing extreme natural disasters in coastal areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kesavan, P. C.; Swaminathan, M. S.

2006-08-01

Extreme natural hazards, particularly the hydro-meteorological disasters, are emerging as a cause of major concern in the coastal regions of India and a few other developing countries. These have become more frequent in the recent past, and are taking a heavy toll of life and livelihoods. Low level of technology development in the rural areas together with social, economic and gender inequities enhance the vulnerability of the largely illiterate, unskilled, and resource-poor fishing, farming and landless labour communities. Their resilience to bounce back to pre-disaster level of normality is highly limited. For the planet Earth at crossroads, the imminent threat, however, is from a vicious spiral among environmental degradation, poverty and climate change-related natural disasters interacting in a mutually reinforcing manner. These, in turn, retard sustainable development, and also wipe out any small gains made thereof. To counter this unacceptable trend, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation has developed a biovillage paradigm and rural knowledge centres for ecotechnological and knowledge empowerment of the coastal communities at risk. Frontier science and technologies blended with traditional knowledge and ecological prudence result in ecotechnologies with pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation. The rural communities are given training and helped to develop capacity to adopt ecotechnologies for market-driven eco-enterprises. The modern information and communication-based rural knowledge centres largely operated by trained semi-literate young women provide time- and locale-specific information on weather, crop and animal husbandry, market trends and prices for local communities, healthcare, transport, education, etc. to the local communities. The ecotechnologies and time- and locale-specific information content development are need-based and chosen in a ‘bottom-up’ manner. The use of recombinant DNA technology for genetic shielding of agricultural crops for coastal regions against abiotic stress (induced by the water- and weather-related natural disasters), strengthens the foundations of sustainable agriculture undertaken by the resource-poor small farm families.

Managing extreme natural disasters in coastal areas.

PubMed

Kesavan, P C; Swaminathan, M S

2006-08-15

Extreme natural hazards, particularly the hydro-meteorological disasters, are emerging as a cause of major concern in the coastal regions of India and a few other developing countries. These have become more frequent in the recent past, and are taking a heavy toll of life and livelihoods. Low level of technology development in the rural areas together with social, economic and gender inequities enhance the vulnerability of the largely illiterate, unskilled, and resource-poor fishing, farming and landless labour communities. Their resilience to bounce back to pre-disaster level of normality is highly limited. For the planet Earth at crossroads, the imminent threat, however, is from a vicious spiral among environmental degradation, poverty and climate change-related natural disasters interacting in a mutually reinforcing manner. These, in turn, retard sustainable development, and also wipe out any small gains made thereof. To counter this unacceptable trend, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation has developed a biovillage paradigm and rural knowledge centres for ecotechnological and knowledge empowerment of the coastal communities at risk. Frontier science and technologies blended with traditional knowledge and ecological prudence result in ecotechnologies with pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation. The rural communities are given training and helped to develop capacity to adopt ecotechnologies for market-driven eco-enterprises. The modern information and communication-based rural knowledge centres largely operated by trained semi-literate young women provide time- and locale-specific information on weather, crop and animal husbandry, market trends and prices for local communities, healthcare, transport, education, etc. to the local communities. The ecotechnologies and time- and locale-specific information content development are need-based and chosen in a 'bottom-up' manner. The use of recombinant DNA technology for genetic shielding of agricultural crops for coastal regions against abiotic stress (induced by the water- and weather-related natural disasters), strengthens the foundations of sustainable agriculture undertaken by the resource-poor small farm families.

Health promoting community radio in rural Bali: an impact evaluation.

PubMed

Waters, D; James, R; Darby, J

2011-01-01

This article reports and discusses the process and key recommendations of an evaluation of a community oriented radio station in a rural village in Bali, Indonesia. Community development and health promotion strategies were adopted with the purpose of positively impacting the health and social needs of the local community. The essential element of participation in communication for development was extended to the choice of an evaluation methodology that facilitated community empowerment. The Most Significant Change method was utilised to interview 74 participants (combination of individual interview and focus groups) and to provide the basis for the community itself to identify what it considered to be significant change brought about by the on-air and off-air interventions delivered by the radio station. The 2007 study found that, in contrast to the findings of a needs assessment in 2004, the community now largely valued the input of the radio station with community members stating they were 'very proud of the radio station'. Changes in community perceptions are considered attributable to the radio station adopting a health promotion/community development approach to a combination of on-air programming to support off-air activities within the community. The radio station is in a valuable position to continue making a positive contribution to the village of Tulikup and to the wider region of Bali. Heartline Bali FM made a positive impact on the quality of life of local people through a combination of strategically designed on- and off-air activities based on a community development and community participation approach to radio programming. Most Significant Change evaluation extended and strengthened the participatory dynamic of the 3 year project.

Community violence exposure in early adolescence: Longitudinal associations with hippocampal and amygdala volume and resting state connectivity.

PubMed

Saxbe, Darby; Khoddam, Hannah; Piero, Larissa Del; Stoycos, Sarah A; Gimbel, Sarah I; Margolin, Gayla; Kaplan, Jonas T

2018-06-11

Community violence exposure is a common stressor, known to compromise youth cognitive and emotional development. In a diverse, urban sample of 22 adolescents, participants reported on community violence exposure (witnessing a beating or illegal drug use, hearing gun shots, or other forms of community violence) in early adolescence (average age 12.99), and underwent a neuroimaging scan 3-5 years later (average age 16.92). Community violence exposure in early adolescence predicted smaller manually traced left and right hippocampal and amygdala volumes in a model controlling for age, gender, and concurrent community violence exposure, measured in late adolescence. Community violence continued to predict hippocampus (but not amygdala) volumes after we also controlled for family aggression exposure in early adolescence. Community violence exposure was also associated with stronger resting state connectivity between the right hippocampus (using the manually traced structure as a seed region) and bilateral frontotemporal regions including the superior temporal gyrus and insula. These resting state connectivity results held after controlling for concurrent community violence exposure, SES, and family aggression. Although this is the first study focusing on community violence in conjunction with brain structure and function, these results dovetail with other research linking childhood adversity with smaller subcortical volumes in adolescence and adulthood, and with altered frontolimbic resting state connectivity. Our findings suggest that even community-level exposure to neighborhood violence can have detectable neural correlates in adolescents. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Action without frontiers. SADC meeting.

PubMed

Klouda, T

1997-02-01

The factors which affect AIDS and the transmission of HIV transcend national, racial, cultural, religious, political, and programmatic boundaries. The European Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) jointly held a conference in Lilongwe, Malawi, during December 4-6 to bring together senior officials from a wide range of development sectors in the 12 countries of the SADC region to examine the potential for regional, comprehensive action on relevant issues. Conference outcomes will be reviewed and agreed upon at a future regional ministerial meeting. Origins of the conference, innovative aspects of the conference, and regional and sectoral involvement are discussed. Employment, mining, medical drugs, education, and tourism were discussed extensively at the conference as separate sectors.

Transcending jurisdictions: developing partnerships for health in Manitoba First Nation communities.

PubMed

Eni, Rachel; Phillips-Beck, Wanda

2011-09-01

The article describes national, regional and community-level activities that contributed to the Manitoba First Nation partnership in maternal and child health programming. The activities reveal a potential for health change that is possible through working together across jurisdictional boundaries. Although we are only in the early phases of program implementation, the Manitoba First Nation Strengthening Families Maternal Child Health Program already suggests considerable successes and measurable outcomes. The article encourages development of further partnerships in the promotion of First Nation health and wellness programming.

Find Cancer Early: Evaluation of a Community Education Campaign to Increase Awareness of Cancer Signs and Symptoms in People in Regional Western Australians.

PubMed

Croager, Emma Jane; Gray, Victoria; Pratt, Iain Stephen; Slevin, Terry; Pettigrew, Simone; Holman, C D'arcy; Bulsara, Max; Emery, Jon

2018-01-01

Cancer outcomes for people living in rural and remote areas are worse than for those living in urban areas. Although access to and quality of cancer treatment are important determinants of outcomes, delayed presentation has been observed in rural patients. Formative research with people from rural Western Australia (WA) led to the Find Cancer Early campaign. Find Cancer Early was delivered in three regions of WA, with two other regions acting as controls. Staff delivered the campaign using a community engagement approach, including promotion in local media. Television communications were not used to minimize contamination in the control regions. The campaign evaluation was undertaken at 20 months via a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey comparing campaign and control regions. The primary outcome variable was knowledge of cancer signs and symptoms. Recognition and recall of Find Cancer Early and symptom knowledge were higher in the campaign regions. More than a quarter of those who were aware of the campaign reported seeing the GP as a result of their exposure. Despite limited use of mass media, Find Cancer Early successfully improved knowledge of cancer symptoms and possibly led to changes in behavior. Social marketing campaigns using community development can raise awareness and knowledge of a health issue in the absence of television advertising.

Recruitment Strategies and Lessons Learned from the Children's Healthy Living Program Prevalence Survey

PubMed Central

Fialkowski, Marie K.; Yamanaka, Ashley; Wilkens, Lynne R.; Braun, Kathryn L.; Butel, Jean; Ettienne, Reynolette; McGlone, Katalina; Remengesau, Shelley; Power, Julianne M.; Johnson, Emihner; Gilmatam, Daisy; Fleming, Travis; Acosta, Mark; Belyeu-Camacho, Tayna; Shomour, Moria; Sigrah, Cecilia; Nigg, Claudio; Novotny, Rachel

2016-01-01

The US Affiliated Pacific region's childhood obesity prevalence has reached epidemic proportions. To guide program and policy development, a multi-site study was initiated, in collaboration with partners from across the region, to gather comprehensive information on the regional childhood obesity prevalence. The environmental and cultural diversity of the region presented challenges to recruiting for and implementing a shared community-based, public health research program. This paper presents the strategies used to recruit families with young children (n = 5775 for children 2 – 8 years old) for obesity-related measurement across eleven jurisdictions in the US Affiliated Pacific Region. Data were generated by site teams that provided summaries of their recruitment strategies and lessons learned. Conducting this large multi-site prevalence study required considerable coordination, time and flexibility. In every location, local staff knowledgeable of the community was hired to lead recruitment, and participant compensation reflected jurisdictional appropriateness (e.g., gift cards, vouchers, or cash). Although recruitment approaches were site-specific, they were predominantly school-based or a combination of school- and community-based. Lessons learned included the importance of organization buy-in; communication, and advance planning; local travel and site peculiarities; and flexibility. Future monitoring of childhood obesity prevalence in the region should consider ways to integrate measurement activities into existing organizational infrastructures for sustainability and cost-effectiveness, while meeting programmatic (e.g. study) goals. PMID:29546153

Recruitment Strategies and Lessons Learned from the Children's Healthy Living Program Prevalence Survey.

PubMed

Fialkowski, Marie K; Yamanaka, Ashley; Wilkens, Lynne R; Braun, Kathryn L; Butel, Jean; Ettienne, Reynolette; McGlone, Katalina; Remengesau, Shelley; Power, Julianne M; Johnson, Emihner; Gilmatam, Daisy; Fleming, Travis; Acosta, Mark; Belyeu-Camacho, Tayna; Shomour, Moria; Sigrah, Cecilia; Nigg, Claudio; Novotny, Rachel

2016-01-01

The US Affiliated Pacific region's childhood obesity prevalence has reached epidemic proportions. To guide program and policy development, a multi-site study was initiated, in collaboration with partners from across the region, to gather comprehensive information on the regional childhood obesity prevalence. The environmental and cultural diversity of the region presented challenges to recruiting for and implementing a shared community-based, public health research program. This paper presents the strategies used to recruit families with young children (n = 5775 for children 2 - 8 years old) for obesity-related measurement across eleven jurisdictions in the US Affiliated Pacific Region. Data were generated by site teams that provided summaries of their recruitment strategies and lessons learned. Conducting this large multi-site prevalence study required considerable coordination, time and flexibility. In every location, local staff knowledgeable of the community was hired to lead recruitment, and participant compensation reflected jurisdictional appropriateness (e.g., gift cards, vouchers, or cash). Although recruitment approaches were site-specific, they were predominantly school-based or a combination of school- and community-based. Lessons learned included the importance of organization buy-in; communication, and advance planning; local travel and site peculiarities; and flexibility. Future monitoring of childhood obesity prevalence in the region should consider ways to integrate measurement activities into existing organizational infrastructures for sustainability and cost-effectiveness, while meeting programmatic (e.g. study) goals.

A systems-based approach to transform climate education in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific islands (USAPI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sussman, A.; Fletcher, C. H.; Sachs, J. P.

2011-12-01

The USAPI has a population of about 1,800,000 people spread across 4.9 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Islands are characterized by a multitude of indigenous cultures and languages. English is the common language of instruction in all jurisdictions, but is not the language spoken at home for most students outside of Hawai'i. Many USAPI students live considerably below the poverty line. The Pacific Island region is projected to experience some of the most profound negative impacts considerably sooner than other regions. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Pacific Islands Climate Education Partnership (PCEP) aims to educate the region's students and citizens in ways that exemplify modern science and indigenous environmental knowledge, address the urgency of climate change impacts, and honor indigenous cultures. Students and citizens within the region will have the knowledge and skills to advance their and our understanding of climate change, and to adapt to its impacts. PCEP has developed a regional network, tools, and an emerging plan to systemically transform K-14 climate education in the USAPI. More than 50 organizations and networks have joined the partnership. These partners include all of the region's state departments of education, major universities, and community colleges, and a wide range of local partners, particularly conservation organizations. One of PCEP's major tools is general, multidisciplinary K-14 climate science education framework that organizes major underlying concepts and skills within appropriate grade-span progressions. This framework is based largely upon prior national science and climate literacy work and the National Research Council's recent document "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas." The PCEP climate education framework has an Earth System Science foundation that is directly applicable in all locations, and it also has orientations that are particularly relevant to the USAPI context. PCEP is working with the Micronesia Conservation Trust and The Nature Conservancy to combine the climate education work with local community climate adaptation projects. This work combines the PCEP climate education framework with the Micronesia Challenge community training plans and materials, particularly the Pacific-oriented community booklet "Adapting to a Changing Climate." Combining pre-college education with community climate adaptation has the potential to yield major synergistic benefits for both efforts. Another key PCEP tool is an interactive web-based environment (http://pcep.dsp.wested.org) that interlinks the region's locations, organizations and people with information about climate science and climate impacts. This system enables the region's diverse stakeholders to access and contribute to the same information pool, and to collectively develop, and disseminate our work. This web-based environment can be configured for other climate education projects or regions.

From community-based pilot testing to region-wide systems change: lessons from a local quality improvement collaborative.

PubMed

Keyser, Donna J; Pincus, Harold Alan

2010-01-01

A community-based collaborative conducted a 2-year pilot study to inform efforts for improving maternal and child health care practice and policy in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. (1) To test whether three small-scale versions of an evidence-based, systems improvement approach would be workable in local community settings and (2) to identify specific policy/infrastructure reforms for sustaining improvements. A mixed methods approach was used, including quantitative performance measurement supplemented with qualitative data about factors related to outcomes of interest, as well as key stakeholder interviews and a literature review/Internet search. Quantitative performance results varied; qualitative data revealed critical factors for the success and failure of the practices tested. Policy/infrastructure recommendations were developed to address specific practice barriers. This information was important for designing a region-wide quality improvement initiative focused on maternal depression. The processes and outcomes provide valuable insights for other communities interested in conducting similar quality improvement initiatives.

Culturally Grounded Prevention for Minority Youth Populations: A Systematic Review of the Literature

PubMed Central

Lauricella, Michela; Valdez, Jessica K.; Okamoto, Scott K.; Helm, Susana; Zaremba, Colleen

2016-01-01

Contemporary prevention science has focused on the application of cultural adaptations of evidence-based prevention programs for minority youth populations. Far less is known about culturally grounded methods that are intended to organically develop prevention programs within specific populations and communities. This article systematically reviews recent literature on culturally grounded interventions used to prevent health disparities in ethnic minority youth populations. In this review, we assessed 31 peer-reviewed articles published in 2003 or later that fit inclusionary criteria pertaining to the development and evaluation of culturally grounded prevention programs. The evaluated studies indicated different approaches toward cultural grounding, as well as specific populations, geographic regions, and health issues that have been targeted. Specifically, the findings indicated that most of the studies focused on the development and evaluation of culturally grounded HIV/STI and substance abuse prevention programs for Mexican American, African American, and American Indian/Alaska Native youth residing in the South or Southwestern U.S. These studies largely relied on community-based participatory or qualitative research methods to develop programs from the “ground up.” This review has implications for the development of future culturally grounded and culturally adapted prevention programs targeting underserved minority youth populations and geographic regions. Specifically, it identifies populations and regions where culturally grounded prevention efforts are underdeveloped or non-existent, providing some scientific direction for the future development of these types of programs. PMID:26733384

Culturally Grounded Prevention for Minority Youth Populations: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

PubMed

Lauricella, Michela; Valdez, Jessica K; Okamoto, Scott K; Helm, Susana; Zaremba, Colleen

2016-02-01

Contemporary prevention science has focused on the application of cultural adaptations of evidence-based prevention programs for minority youth populations. Far less is known about culturally grounded methods that are intended to organically develop prevention programs within specific populations and communities. This article systematically reviews recent literature on culturally grounded interventions used to prevent health disparities in ethnic minority youth populations. In this review, we assessed 31 peer-reviewed articles published in 2003 or later that fit inclusionary criteria pertaining to the development and evaluation of culturally grounded prevention programs. The evaluated studies indicated different approaches toward cultural grounding, as well as specific populations, geographic regions, and health issues that have been targeted. Specifically, the findings indicated that most of the studies focused on the development and evaluation of culturally grounded HIV/STI and substance abuse prevention programs for Mexican-American, African American, and American Indian/Alaska Native youth residing in the South or Southwestern US. These studies largely relied on community-based participatory or qualitative research methods to develop programs from the "ground up." This review has implications for the development of future culturally grounded and culturally adapted prevention programs targeting underserved minority youth populations and geographic regions. Specifically, it identifies populations and regions where culturally grounded prevention efforts are underdeveloped or non-existent, providing some scientific direction for the future development of these types of programs.

Deforestation as a result of wildfire incidence in the Worobong Forest Reserve in the Eastern Region of Ghana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danquah, S.

2009-04-01

This submission captures report on the perennial occurrence of wildfires and their accompanying effects on the inhabitants and the fringe forest communities in the Worobong Forest Reserve within the Eastern part of Ghana. Wildfire continues to be the single serious threat to the sustainable development and management of forest and wildlife resources in Ghana, thus depriving indigenous fringe forest communities of enormous socio-economic benefit of the forest. Locally, fire is used in the preparation of farm lands, tapping of palm-wine, charcoal production, honey harvesting, etc. This paper identifies some of the effects of wildfires on the indigenous communities and various interventions made to address the wildfire menace in the area of study over the years. Keywords: Wildfire, Fringe Forest Communities, Sustainable Development Resources, Socio-Economic Benefits

Application of process mapping to understand integration of high risk medicine care bundles within community pharmacy practice.

PubMed

Weir, Natalie M; Newham, Rosemary; Corcoran, Emma D; Ali Atallah Al-Gethami, Ashwag; Mohammed Abd Alridha, Ali; Bowie, Paul; Watson, Anne; Bennie, Marion

2017-11-21

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme - Pharmacy in Primary Care collaborative is a quality improvement initiative adopting the Institute of Healthcare Improvement Breakthrough Series collaborative approach. The programme developed and piloted High Risk Medicine (HRM) Care Bundles (CB), focused on warfarin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), within 27 community pharmacies over 4 NHS Regions. Each CB involves clinical assessment and patient education, although the CB content varies between regions. To support national implementation, this study aims to understand how the pilot pharmacies integrated the HRM CBs into routine practice to inform the development of a generic HRM CB process map. Regional process maps were developed in 4 pharmacies through simulation of the CB process, staff interviews and documentation of resources. Commonalities were collated to develop a process map for each HRM, which were used to explore variation at a national event. A single, generic process map was developed which underwent validation by case study testing. The findings allowed development of a generic process map applicable to warfarin and NSAID CB implementation. Five steps were identified as required for successful CB delivery: patient identification; clinical assessment; pharmacy CB prompt; CB delivery; and documentation. The generic HRM CB process map encompasses the staff and patients' journey and the CB's integration into routine community pharmacy practice. Pharmacist involvement was required only for clinical assessment, indicating suitability for whole-team involvement. Understanding CB integration into routine practice has positive implications for successful implementation. The generic process map can be used to develop targeted resources, and/or be disseminated to facilitate CB delivery and foster whole team involvement. Similar methods could be utilised within other settings, to allow those developing novel services to distil the key processes and consider their integration within routine workflows to effect maximal, efficient implementation and benefit to patient care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Putting It All Together: Developing College Television Consortia. The State Consortia Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAuliffe, Daniel G.

A model for a television consortium for Connecticut regional community colleges is presented. A successful consortium involves commitment to the purpose of providing access to higher education for nontraditional students, willingness of program developers and administrators to listen to and work with people having divergent viewpoints, adequate…

The Role of Higher Education in Linking Arts, Culture, and Economic Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steinkamp, Judith S.

2004-01-01

In the knowledge economy, colleges and universities are realigning academic initiatives to link more closely with regional needs. They are unique catalysts for forming community alliances to focus on issues of economic development, neighborhood revitalization, and cultural tourism. In partnership with business, municipalities, and cultural…

Sierra University in Mexico

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Celis, Francisco Manuel Orozco

2003-01-01

Sierra University was designed to promote the development of the mountain communities in the State of Sonora, Mexico. The university offers high school graduates an opportunity to pursue their studies in their home region, in order to stimulate economic development and contribute to social cohesion in the highlands area. The university is equipped…

Developing a Culture of Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamb, Janeen; Visnovska, Jana

2012-01-01

This paper explores the role of professional learning community and collegial discussion as important supports for developing teacher expertise in the teaching and learning of mathematics in rural and remote regions of Queensland, Australia. The research reported in this paper is from the first year of a longitudinal research and development…

The Latin-American region and the challenges to develop one homogeneous and harmonized hazard model: preliminary results for the Caribbean and Central America regions in the GEM context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, J.; Arcila, M.; Benito, B.; Eraso, J.; García, R.; Gomez Capera, A.; Pagani, M.; Pinho, R.; Rendon, H.; Torres, Y.

2013-05-01

Latin America is a seismically active region with complex tectonic settings that make the creation of hazard models challenging. Over the past two decades PSHA studies have been completed for this region in the context of global (Shedlock, 1999), regional (Dimaté et al., 1999) and national initiatives. Currently different research groups are developing new models for various nations. The Global Earthquake Model (GEM), an initiative aiming at the creation of a large global community working collaboratively on building hazard and risk models using open standards and tools, is promoting the collaboration between different national projects and groups so as to facilitate the creation of harmonized regional models. The creation of a harmonized hazard model can follow different approaches, varying from a simple patching of available models to a complete homogenisation of basic information and the subsequent creation of a completely new PSHA model. In this contribution we describe the process and results of a first attempt aiming at the creation of a community based model covering the Caribbean and Central America regions. It consists of five main steps: 1- Identification and collection of available PSHA input models; 2- Analysis of the consistency, transparency and reproducibility of each model; 3- Selection (if more then a model exists for the same region); 4- Representation of the models in a standardized format and incorporation of new knowledge from recent studies; 5- Proposal(s) of harmonization We consider some PHSA studies completed over the latest twenty years in the region comprising the Caribbean (CAR), Central America (CAM) and northern South America (SA), we illustrate a tentative harmonization of the seismic source geometries models and we discuss the steps needed toward a complete harmonisation of the models. Our will is to have a model based on best practices and high standards created though a combination of knowledge and competences coming from the scientific community, incorporating national and regional Institutions. This is an ambitious goal that can be pursued only through an intense and open cooperation between all the interested subjects.

Environment, advocacy, and community participation: MOPAWI in Honduras.

PubMed

Brehm, V M

2000-02-01

This paper analyzes the work of Mosquitia Pawisa (MOPAWI) in relation to the development of its strategic linkages among the grassroots, the state, and ultimately the international level of politics in practice. Over the years, MOPAWI has developed a large and complex program addressing many aspects of development in La Mosquitia. Working strategically at two levels, MOPAWI has endeavored to change government policy for the region through continued lobbying and advocacy. It has also worked alongside with local communities to find ways of improving livelihoods without harming the environment. The key strength of the MOPAWI work has been the high level of community participation and mobilization by managing their own development in a time of profound change. Overall, the experience of MOPAWI suggests that nongovernmental organizations can play a strategic role in obtaining environmental protection, government recognition of ethnic diversity, and rights for indigenous people.

Headwater streams and forest management: does ecoregional context influence logging effects on benthic communities?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Medhurst, R. Bruce; Wipfli, Mark S.; Binckley, Chris; Polivka, Karl; Hessburg, Paul F.; Salter, R. Brion

2010-01-01

Effects of forest management on stream communities have been widely documented, but the role that climate plays in the disturbance outcomes is not understood. In order to determine whether the effect of disturbance from forest management on headwater stream communities varies by climate, we evaluated benthic macroinvertebrate communities in 24 headwater streams that differed in forest management (logged-roaded vs. unlogged-unroaded, hereafter logged and unlogged) within two ecological sub-regions (wet versus dry) within the eastern Cascade Range, Washington, USA. In both ecoregions, total macroinvertebrate density was highest at logged sites (P = 0.001) with gathering-collectors and shredders dominating. Total taxonomic richness and diversity did not differ between ecoregions or forest management types. Shredder densities were positively correlated with total deciduous and Sitka alder (Alnus sinuata) riparian cover. Further, differences in shredder density between logged and unlogged sites were greater in the wet ecoregion (logging × ecoregion interaction; P = 0.006) suggesting that differences in post-logging forest succession between ecoregions were responsible for differences in shredder abundance. Headwater stream benthic community structure was influenced by logging and regional differences in climate. Future development of ecoregional classification models at the subbasin scale, and use of functional metrics in addition to structural metrics, may allow for more accurate assessments of anthropogenic disturbances in mountainous regions where mosaics of localized differences in climate are common.

Delivering Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development in Southern Africa: Problems and Prospects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maruatona, Tonic L.

2012-01-01

Southern African Development Community (SADC) nations in principle endorse lifelong learning (LLL) as a useful framework for sustainable development. However, in spite of the rhetoric, only a few member states such as South Africa, Botswana and Namibia have officially endorsed LLL in their educational policies. The sub-region is plagued by social…

"XSEL" Virtual Selective High School Provision: Delivering Academically Selective Secondary Curriculum in Regional, Rural and Remote NSW

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furney, Ann-Marie; McDiarmid, Carole

2014-01-01

This paper describes the development and implementation of the "xsel" program in Western NSW. The program supports identified high school students from regional, rural and remote communities to access the study of English, maths and science at an academically selective level. A program review was undertaken during 2012 using a structured…

Great Basin vegetation response to groundwater fluctuation, climate variability, and previous land cultivation: The application of multitemporal measurements from remote sensing data to regional vegetation dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elmore, Andrew James

The conversion of large natural basins to managed watersheds for the purpose of providing water to urban centers has had a negative impact on semiarid ecosystems, worldwide. We view semiarid plant communities as being adapted to short, regular periods of drought. However, human induced changes in the water balance often remove these systems from the range of natural variability that has been historically established. This thesis explores vegetation changes over a 13-yr period for Owens Valley, in eastern California. Using remotely sensed measurements of vegetation cover, an extensive vegetation survey, field data and observations, precipitation records, and data on water table depth, I identify the key modes of response of xeric, phreatophytic, and exotic Great Basin plant communities. Three specific advancements were reached as a result of this work. (1) A change classification technique was developed that was used to separate regions of land-cover that were dependent on precipitation from regions dependent on groundwater. This technique utilized Spectral Mixture Analysis of annually acquired Landsat Thematic Mapper remote sensing data, to retrieve regional estimates of percent vegetation cover. (2) A threshold response related to depth-to-water dependence was identified for phreatophytic Alkali Meadow communities. Plant communities that were subject to groundwater depths below this threshold exhibited greater invasion by precipitation sensitive plants. (3) The floristic differences between previously cultivated and uncultivated land were found to account for an increased sensitivity of plant communities to precipitation variability. Through (2) and (3), two human influences (groundwater decline and previous land cultivation) were shown to alter land cover such that the land became more sensitive to precipitation change. Climate change predictions include a component of increased climate variability for the western United States; therefore, these results place serious doubt on the sustainability of human activities in this region. The results from this work broadly cover topics from remote sensing techniques to the ecology of Great Basin plant communities and are applicable wherever large regions of land are being managed in an era of changing environmental conditions.

Commentary: linking health equity with economic development: insights from my year as Chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce.

PubMed

Clancy, Gerard P

2012-12-01

Many urban areas struggle with significant health disparities. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, there is a 14-year difference in life expectancy between the predominantly African American population in north Tulsa and the predominantly Caucasian population in south Tulsa. The roots of Tulsa's health disparities can be linked, in part, to a long history of racial mistrust stemming from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, arguably one of the worst race riots in U.S. history. In 2011, the author served as both a university campus president and chairman of the board of the Tulsa region's chamber of commerce. Through his work with the chamber, he discovered the business community's substantial resources and advocacy abilities. He also found that regional business leaders strongly supported health equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives, both as moral obligations and regional economic development imperatives. After sharing the lessons he learned from working closely with business leaders, the author encourages other academic health centers (AHCs) to reach out to their business communities, which are likely willing and able to help them undertake similar initiatives. In doing so, AHCs and businesses can work together to improve the economic vitality of their regions.

[Teenage fecundity rates in Chile: a serious public health problem].

PubMed

Molina C, Ramiro; Molina G, Temístocles; González A, Electra

2007-01-01

Teenage fecundity rates are an indicator of epidemiological discrimination in developing countries. To study fertility rates of girls under 14 years of age in Chile from 1993 to 2003. Information of children born alive from mothers aged 10 to 15 years, was obtained from the Chilean National Institute of Statistics. Age segmented population data was obtained from the Ministry of Health. Trends were analyzed by regions and single ages. The rates in communities of the Metropolitan Region were compared. Between 1993 and 2003, there was an increasing trend in fecundity rates, ratios and crude numbers. These rates duplicate from 14 to 15 years of age. In the Metropolitan Region, the fecundity ratios of communities with lower economical incomes is seven times greater than those with higher incomes. During 2003, the fecundity rates in Chile were 100 and 10 higher than those of Holland and Sweden in 1981. In developing countries with very low infant mortality rates such as Chile, the high fecundity rates of young girls is an indicator of a deficient human and social development. Sexual Education and Health Services for adolescents are essential to prevent this public health problem.

NANA Geothermal Assessment Program Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jay Hermanson

2010-06-22

In 2008, NANA Regional Corporation (NRC) assessed geothermal energy potential in the NANA region for both heat and/or electricity production. The Geothermal Assessment Project (GAP) was a systematic process that looked at community resources and the community's capacity and desire to develop these resources. In October 2007, the US Department of Energy's Tribal Energy Program awarded grant DE-FG36-07GO17075 to NRC for the GAP studies. Two moderately remote sites in the NANA region were judged to have the most potential for geothermal development: (1) Granite Mountain, about 40 miles south of Buckland, and (2) the Division Hot Springs area in themore » Purcell Mountains, about 40 miles south of Shungnak and Kobuk. Data were collected on-site at Granite Mountain Hot Springs in September 2009, and at Division Hot Springs in April 2010. Although both target geothermal areas could be further investigated with a variety of exploration techniques such as a remote sensing study, a soil geochemical study, or ground-based geophysical surveys, it was recommended that on-site or direct heat use development options are more attractive at this time, rather than investigations aimed more at electric power generation.« less

Resource-Based Capability on Development Knowledge Management Capabilities of Coastal Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teniwut, Roberto M. K.; Hasyim, Cawalinya L.; Teniwut, Wellem A.

2017-10-01

Building sustainable knowledge management capabilities in the coastal area might face a whole new challenge since there are many intangible factors involved from openness on new knowledge, access and ability to use the latest technology to the various local wisdom that still in place. The aimed of this study was to identify and analyze the resource-based condition of coastal community in this area to have an empirical condition of tangible and intangible infrastructure on developing knowledge management capability coastal community in Southeast Maluku, Indonesia. We used qualitative and quantitative analysis by depth interview and questionnaire for collecting the data with multiple linear regression as our analysis method. The result provided the information on current state of resource-based capability of a coastal community in this Southeast Maluku to build a sustainability model of knowledge management capabilities especially on utilization marine and fisheries resources. The implication of this study can provide an empirical information for government, NGO and research institution to dictate on how they conducted their policy and program on developing coastal community region.

Promoting health and happiness in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Scannavino, Caetano; Anastácio, Rui

2007-01-01

With the motto "Health, happiness of the body. Happiness, health of the soul", the Health & Happiness Project (PSA) works to promote integrated and sustainable community development in parts of the Brazilian Amazon. PSA grew out of local workers' personal experience in collaborating with communities and the need for sustainable actions for their future development. PSA was established as a not-for-profit organization in 1987 It started off by implementing strategies that would increase the health status of the population, which was identified as the biggest challenge, to then extend to other areas of development. Education, training and community participation were key elements of the project's actions, which included basic sanitation, reproductive health and child health, technical assistance in agricultural practices and youth empowerment through communications, among others. Once the health structure was established, the work moved on to new priorities related to education, economic production, protection of the environment and community management in the medium and long terms. The project's success has helped to institutionalize the practices and today it reaches a total of approximately 5,000 families distributed across 150 rural communities in the mid- and low-Amazon region.

Blueprint for the development of low carbon society scenarios for Asian regions- case study of Iskandar Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, C. S.; Matsuoka, Y.; Chau, L. W.; Teh, B. T.; Simson, J. J.; Gomi, K.

2013-06-01

Malaysian government aims to reduce 40% reduction of carbon emission intensity by the year 2020 using 2005 as the base year. Several mitigation and adaptation strategies in addressing environmental and climate change are formulated at national, regional and local level to mitigate greenhouse gases. This paper aims to examine local and regional resilient policy actions to reduce greenhouse gases using the empirical case of Iskandar Malaysia. The study case is selected because it is one of the fast developing economic corridor regions in Malaysia. In this study, a low carbon society blueprint is initiated to guide the rapid development of this economic corridor towards low carbon green growth. The blueprint provides the sustainable green growth roadmap with major 12 actions for the region. It is done through a bottom-up approach where stakeholder discussions are carried out to allow local communities participation in the plan formulation.

Development and Utilization of Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS). Delicacy, Imprecision, and Uncertainty of Oceanic Simulations: An Investigation with the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS). Mixing in the Ocean Surface Layer Using the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS).

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-30

community use for ROMS is biogeochemisty: chemical cycles, water quality, blooms , micro-nutrients, larval dispersal, biome transitions, and coupling to...J.C. McWilliams, X. Capet, and J. Kurian, 2010: Heat balance and eddies in the Peru- Chile Current System. Climate Dynamics, 37, in press. doi10.1007

What is Watershed Integrity? How is the Watershed Integrity in the Western Balkans? How does the IWI apply to my community? How can we Use the IWI to Manage River and Lake Basins? (Kosovo)

EPA Science Inventory

The Regional Environmental Center of Central and Eastern Europe was established by the United States and European Commission in 1990. WED is adapting the Index of Watershed Integrity (IWI) for Building Local Community Resilience for the Sustainable Development of Watersheds in So...

Professional Learning Communities Participant's Activities for the What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide: Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade. REL 2016-277a

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosanovich, Marcia; Foorman, Barbara

2016-01-01

The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast developed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) Facilitators Guide to support educators in the implementation of recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse's. The practice guide focuses on the foundational reading skills that enable students to read words, relate those words to their…

Solar Feasibility Study May 2013 - San Carlos Apache Tribe

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rapp, Jim; Duncan, Ken; Albert, Steve

2013-05-01

The San Carlos Apache Tribe (Tribe) in the interests of strengthening tribal sovereignty, becoming more energy self-sufficient, and providing improved services and economic opportunities to tribal members and San Carlos Apache Reservation (Reservation) residents and businesses, has explored a variety of options for renewable energy development. The development of renewable energy technologies and generation is consistent with the Tribe’s 2011 Strategic Plan. This Study assessed the possibilities for both commercial-scale and community-scale solar development within the southwestern portions of the Reservation around the communities of San Carlos, Peridot, and Cutter, and in the southeastern Reservation around the community of Bylas.more » Based on the lack of any commercial-scale electric power transmission between the Reservation and the regional transmission grid, Phase 2 of this Study greatly expanded consideration of community-scale options. Three smaller sites (Point of Pines, Dudleyville/Winkleman, and Seneca Lake) were also evaluated for community-scale solar potential. Three building complexes were identified within the Reservation where the development of site-specific facility-scale solar power would be the most beneficial and cost-effective: Apache Gold Casino/Resort, Tribal College/Skill Center, and the Dudleyville (Winkleman) Casino.« less

A Tale of Two Trails: Exploring Different Paths to Success

PubMed Central

Walker, Jennifer G.; Evenson, Kelly R.; Davis, William J.; Bors, Philip; Rodríguez, Daniel A.

2016-01-01

Background This comparative case study investigates 2 successful community trail initiatives, using the Active Living By Design (ALBD) Community Action Model as an analytical framework. The model includes 5 strategies: preparation, promotion, programs, policy, and physical projects. Methods Key stakeholders at 2 sites participated in in-depth interviews (N = 14). Data were analyzed for content using Atlas Ti and grouped according to the 5 strategies. Results Preparation Securing trail resources was challenging, but shared responsibilities facilitated trail development. Promotions The initiatives demonstrated minimal physical activity encouragement strategies. Programs Community stakeholders did not coordinate programmatic opportunities for routine physical activity. Policy Trails’ inclusion in regional greenway master plans contributed to trail funding and development. Policies that were formally institutionalized and enforced led to more consistent trail construction and safer conditions for users. Physical Projects Consistent standards for way finding signage and design safety features enhanced trail usability and safety. Conclusions Communities with different levels of government support contributed unique lessons to inform best practices of trail initiatives. This study revealed a disparity between trail development and use-encouragement strategies, which may limit trails’ impact on physical activity. The ALBD Community Action Model provided a viable framework to structure cross-disciplinary community trail initiatives. PMID:21597125

Regional gradient analysis and spatial pattern of woody plant communities in Oregon forests.

Treesearch

J.L. Ohmann; T.A. Spies

1998-01-01

Knowledge of regional-scale patterns of ecological community structure, and of factors that control them, is largely conceptual. Regional- and local-scale factors associated with regional variation in community composition have not been quantified. We analyzed data on woody plant species abundance from 2443 field plots across natural and seminatural forests and...

Adoption of Geospatial Systems towards evolving Sustainable Himalayan Mountain Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murthy, M. S. R.; Bajracharya, B.; Pradhan, S.; Shestra, B.; Bajracharya, R.; Shakya, K.; Wesselmann, S.; Ali, M.; Bajracharya, S.; Pradhan, S.

2014-11-01

Natural resources dependence of mountain communities, rapid social and developmental changes, disaster proneness and climate change are conceived as the critical factors regulating sustainable Himalayan mountain development. The Himalayan region posed by typical geographic settings, diverse physical and cultural diversity present a formidable challenge to collect and manage data, information and understands varied socio-ecological settings. Recent advances in earth observation, near real-time data, in-situ measurements and in combination of information and communication technology have transformed the way we collect, process, and generate information and how we use such information for societal benefits. Glacier dynamics, land cover changes, disaster risk reduction systems, food security and ecosystem conservation are a few thematic areas where geospatial information and knowledge have significantly contributed to informed decision making systems over the region. The emergence and adoption of near-real time systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), board-scale citizen science (crowd-sourcing), mobile services and mapping, and cloud computing have paved the way towards developing automated environmental monitoring systems, enhanced scientific understanding of geophysical and biophysical processes, coupled management of socio-ecological systems and community based adaptation models tailored to mountain specific environment. There are differentiated capacities among the ICIMOD regional member countries with regard to utilization of earth observation and geospatial technologies. The region can greatly benefit from a coordinated and collaborative approach to capture the opportunities offered by earth observation and geospatial technologies. The regional level data sharing, knowledge exchange, and Himalayan GEO supporting geospatial platforms, spatial data infrastructure, unique region specific satellite systems to address trans-boundary challenges would go a long way in evolving sustainable Himalayan livelihoods.

Evaluating the 100 year floodplain as an indicator of flood risk in low-lying coastal watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sebastian, A.; Brody, S.; Bedient, P. B.

2013-12-01

The Gulf of Mexico is the fastest growing region in the United States. Since 1960, the number of housing units built in the low-lying coastal counties has increased by 246%. The region experiences some of the most intense rainfall events in the country and coastal watersheds are prone to severe flooding characterized by wide floodplains and ponding. This flooding is further exacerbated as urban development encroaches on existing streams and waterways. While the 100 year floodplain should play an important role in our ability to develop disaster resilient communities, recent research has indicated that existing floodplain delineations are a poor indicator of actual flood losses in low-lying coastal regions. Between 2001 and 2005, more than 30% of insurance claims made to FEMA in the Gulf Coast region were outside of the 100 year floodplain and residential losses amounted to more than $19.3 billion. As population density and investments in this region continue to increase, addressing flood risk in coastal communities should become a priority for engineers, urban planners, and decision makers. This study compares the effectiveness of 1-D and a 2-D modeling approaches to spatially capture flood claims from historical events. Initial results indicate that 2-D models perform much better in coastal environments and may serve better for floodplain modeling helping to prevent unintended losses. The results of this study encourage a shift towards better engineering practices using existing 2-D models in order to protect resources and provide guidance for urban development in low-lying coastal regions.

Developing an objective evaluation method to estimate diabetes risk in community-based settings.

PubMed

Kenya, Sonjia; He, Qing; Fullilove, Robert; Kotler, Donald P

2011-05-01

Exercise interventions often aim to affect abdominal obesity and glucose tolerance, two significant risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Because of limited financial and clinical resources in community and university-based environments, intervention effects are often measured with interviews or questionnaires and correlated with weight loss or body fat indicated by body bioimpedence analysis (BIA). However, self-reported assessments are subject to high levels of bias and low levels of reliability. Because obesity and body fat are correlated with diabetes at different levels in various ethnic groups, data reflecting changes in weight or fat do not necessarily indicate changes in diabetes risk. To determine how exercise interventions affect diabetes risk in community and university-based settings, improved evaluation methods are warranted. We compared a noninvasive, objective measurement technique--regional BIA--with whole-body BIA for its ability to assess abdominal obesity and predict glucose tolerance in 39 women. To determine regional BIA's utility in predicting glucose, we tested the association between the regional BIA method and blood glucose levels. Regional BIA estimates of abdominal fat area were significantly correlated (r = 0.554, P < 0.003) with fasting glucose. When waist circumference and family history of diabetes were added to abdominal fat in multiple regression models, the association with glucose increased further (r = 0.701, P < 0.001). Regional BIA estimates of abdominal fat may predict fasting glucose better than whole-body BIA as well as provide an objective assessment of changes in diabetes risk achieved through physical activity interventions in community settings.

Complexity in action: Untangling latent relationships between land quality, economic structures and socio-spatial patterns in Italy.

PubMed

Salvati, Luca; Tombolini, Ilaria; Gemmiti, Roberta; Carlucci, Margherita; Bajocco, Sofia; Perini, Luigi; Ferrara, Agostino; Colantoni, Andrea

2017-01-01

Land quality, a key economic capital supporting local development, is affected by biophysical and anthropogenic factors. Taken as a relevant attribute of economic systems, land quality has shaped the territorial organization of any given region influencing localization of agriculture, industry and settlements. In regions with long-established human-landscape interactions, such as the Mediterranean basin, land quality has determined social disparities and polarization in the use of land, reflecting the action of geographical gradients based on elevation and population density. The present study investigates latent relationships within a large set of indicators profiling local communities and land quality on a fine-grained resolution scale in Italy with the aim to assess the potential impact of land quality on the regional socioeconomic structure. The importance of land quality gradients in the socioeconomic configuration of urban and rural regions was verified analyzing the distribution of 149 socioeconomic and environmental indicators organized in 5 themes and 17 research dimensions. Agriculture, income, education and labour market variables discriminate areas with high land quality from areas with low land quality. While differential land quality in peri-urban areas may reflect conflicts between competing actors, moderate (or low) quality of land in rural districts is associated with depopulation, land abandonment, subsidence agriculture, unemployment and low educational levels. We conclude that the socioeconomic profile of local communities has been influenced by land quality in a different way along urban-rural gradients. Policies integrating environmental and socioeconomic measures are required to consider land quality as a pivotal target for sustainable development. Regional planning will benefit from an in-depth understanding of place-specific relationships between local communities and the environment.

Complexity in action: Untangling latent relationships between land quality, economic structures and socio-spatial patterns in Italy

PubMed Central

Salvati, Luca; Tombolini, Ilaria; Gemmiti, Roberta; Carlucci, Margherita; Bajocco, Sofia; Perini, Luigi; Ferrara, Agostino

2017-01-01

Land quality, a key economic capital supporting local development, is affected by biophysical and anthropogenic factors. Taken as a relevant attribute of economic systems, land quality has shaped the territorial organization of any given region influencing localization of agriculture, industry and settlements. In regions with long-established human-landscape interactions, such as the Mediterranean basin, land quality has determined social disparities and polarization in the use of land, reflecting the action of geographical gradients based on elevation and population density. The present study investigates latent relationships within a large set of indicators profiling local communities and land quality on a fine-grained resolution scale in Italy with the aim to assess the potential impact of land quality on the regional socioeconomic structure. The importance of land quality gradients in the socioeconomic configuration of urban and rural regions was verified analyzing the distribution of 149 socioeconomic and environmental indicators organized in 5 themes and 17 research dimensions. Agriculture, income, education and labour market variables discriminate areas with high land quality from areas with low land quality. While differential land quality in peri-urban areas may reflect conflicts between competing actors, moderate (or low) quality of land in rural districts is associated with depopulation, land abandonment, subsidence agriculture, unemployment and low educational levels. We conclude that the socioeconomic profile of local communities has been influenced by land quality in a different way along urban-rural gradients. Policies integrating environmental and socioeconomic measures are required to consider land quality as a pivotal target for sustainable development. Regional planning will benefit from an in-depth understanding of place-specific relationships between local communities and the environment. PMID:28574984

Intervention Mapping as a Participatory Approach to Developing an HIV prevention Intervention in Rural African American Communities

PubMed Central

Corbie-Smith, Giselle; Akers, Aletha; Blumenthal, Connie; Council, Barbara; Wynn, Mysha; Muhammad, Melvin; Stith, Doris

2011-01-01

Southeastern states are among the hardest hit by the HIV epidemic in this country, and racial disparities in HIV rates are high in this region. This is particularly true in our communities of interest in rural eastern North Carolina. Although most recent efforts to prevent HIV attempt to address multiple contributing factors, we have found few multilevel HIV interventions that have been developed, tailored or tested in rural communities for African Americans. We describe how Project GRACE integrated Intervention Mapping (IM) methodology with community based participatory research (CBPR) principles to develop a multi-level, multi-generational HIV prevention intervention. IM was carried out in a series of steps from review of relevant data through producing program components. Through the IM process, all collaborators agreed that we needed a family-based intervention involving youth and their caregivers. We found that the structured approach of IM can be adapted to incorporate the principles of CBPR. PMID:20528128

The Global Youth Service Team: students applying science and technology in remote, developing region of the world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hollinger, Doug

2012-03-01

Eh Kalu, director of the Karen Department of Health and Welfare along the border region between Thailand and Burma said, ``It is very difficult to attend to a medical emergency at night when all you have are candles for light.'' The Global Youth Service Team (GYST) provides high school and college students with the opportunity to apply science that they have learned in the performance of international humanitarian service. Volunteers with the GYST build solar powered electrical systems, ultraviolet water purifiers, provide training and education to people who are most in need due to energy poverty, lack access to resources, natural disasters or human rights violations. GYST volunteers train with photovoltaic materials and equipment to become solar energy technicians. They then travel to remote communities in developing countries where we are able to catalyze improvements in education and health care, promote sustainable energy initiatives and help communities develop the capacity to use their own resources by which to create opportunity.

The Community Water Model (CWATM) / Development of a community driven global water model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burek, Peter; Satoh, Yusuke; Greve, Peter; Kahil, Taher; Wada, Yoshihide

2017-04-01

With a growing population and economic development, it is expected that water demands will increase significantly in the future, especially in developing regions. At the same time, climate change is expected to alter spatial patterns of hydrological cycle and will have global, regional and local impacts on water availability. Thus, it is important to assess water supply, water demand and environmental needs over time to identify the populations and locations that will be most affected by these changes linked to water scarcity, droughts and floods. The Community Water Model (CWATM) will be designed for this purpose in that it includes an accounting of how future water demands will evolve in response to socioeconomic change and how water availability will change in response to climate. CWATM represents one of the new key elements of IIASA's Water program. It has been developed to work flexibly at both global and regional level at different spatial resolutions. The model is open source and community-driven to promote our work amongst the wider water community worldwide and is flexible enough linking to further planned developments such as water quality and hydro-economic modules. CWATM will be a basis to develop a next-generation global hydro-economic modeling framework that represents the economic trade-offs among different water management options over a basin looking at water supply infrastructure and demand managements. The integrated modeling framework will consider water demand from agriculture, domestic, energy, industry and environment, investment needs to alleviate future water scarcity, and will provide a portfolio of economically optimal solutions for achieving future water management options under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for example. In addition, it will be able to track the energy requirements associated with the water supply system e.g., pumping, desalination and interbasin transfer to realize the linkage with the water-energy economy. In a bigger framework of nexus - water, energy, food, ecosystem - CWATM will be coupled to the existing IIASA models including the Integrated Assessment Model MESSAGE and the global land and ecosystem model GLOBIOM in order to realize an improved assessments of water-energy-food-ecosystem nexus and associated feedback. Our vision for the short to medium term work is to introduce water quality (e.g., salinization in deltas and eutrophication associated with mega cities) into CWATM and to consider qualitative and quantitative measures of transboundary river and groundwater governance into an integrated modelling framework.

Transdisciplinary science: a path to understanding the interactions among ocean acidification, ecosystems, and society

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yates, Kimberly K.; Turley, Carol; Hopkinson, Brian M.; Todgham, Anne E.; Cross, Jessica N.; Greening, Holly; Williamson, Phillip; Van Hooidonk, Ruben; Deheyn, Dimitri D.; Johnson, Zachary

2015-01-01

The global nature of ocean acidification (OA) transcends habitats, ecosystems, regions, and science disciplines. The scientific community recognizes that the biggest challenge in improving understanding of how changing OA conditions affect ecosystems, and associated consequences for human society, requires integration of experimental, observational, and modeling approaches from many disciplines over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Such transdisciplinary science is the next step in providing relevant, meaningful results and optimal guidance to policymakers and coastal managers. We discuss the challenges associated with integrating ocean acidification science across funding agencies, institutions, disciplines, topical areas, and regions, and the value of unifying science objectives and activities to deliver insights into local, regional, and global scale impacts. We identify guiding principles and strategies for developing transdisciplinary research in the ocean acidification science community.

Tsunami exposure estimation with land-cover data: Oregon and the Cascadia subduction zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wood, N.

2009-01-01

A Cascadia subduction-zone earthquake has the potential to generate tsunami waves which would impact more than 1000 km of coastline on the west coast of the United States and Canada. Although the predictable extent of tsunami inundation is similar for low-lying land throughout the region, human use of tsunami-prone land varies, creating variations in community exposure and potential impacts. To better understand such variations, land-cover information derived from midresolution remotely-sensed imagery (e.g., 30-m-resolution Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery) was coupled with tsunami-hazard information to describe tsunami-prone land along the Oregon coast. Land-cover data suggest that 95% of the tsunami-prone land in Oregon is undeveloped and is primarily wetlands and unconsolidated shores. Based on Spearman rank correlation coefficients (rs), correlative relationships are strong and statistically significant (p < 0.05) between city-level estimates of the amount of land-cover pixels classified as developed (impervious cover greater than 20%) and the amount of various societal assets, including residential and employee populations, homes, businesses, and tax-parcel values. Community exposure to tsunami hazards, described here by the amount and relative percentage of developed land in tsunami-prone areas, varies considerably among the 26 communities of the study area, and these variations relate to city size. Correlative relationships are strong and significant (p < 0.05) for community exposure rankings based on land-cover data and those based on aggregated socioeconomic data. In the absence of socioeconomic data or community-based knowledge, the integration of hazards information and land-cover information derived from midresolution remotely-sensed imagery to estimate community exposure may be a useful first step in understanding variations in community vulnerability to regional hazards.

Feedback on flood risk management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreau, K.; Roumagnac, A.

2009-09-01

For several years, as floods were increasing in South of France, local communities felt deprive to assume their mission of protection and information of citizens, and were looking for assistance in flood management. In term of flood disaster, the fact is that physical protection is necessary but inevitably limited. Tools and structures of assistance to anticipation remain slightly developed. To manage repeated crisis, local authorities need to be able to base their policy against flood on prevention, warnings, post-crisis analysis and feedback from former experience. In this objective, after 3 years of test and improvement since 2003, the initiative Predict-Services was developped in South of France: it aims at helping communities and companies to face repeated flood crisis. The principle is to prepare emergency plans, to organize crisis management and reduce risks; to help and assist communities and companies during crisis to activate and adapt their emergency plans with enough of anticipation; and to analyse floods effects and improve emergency plans afterwards. In order to reduce risks, and to keep the benefits of such an initiative, local communities and companies have to maintain the awareness of risk of the citizens and employees. They also have to maintain their safety plans to keep them constantly operational. This is a part of the message relayed. Companies, Local communities, local government authorities and basin stakeholders are the decision makers. Companies and local communities have to involve themselves in the elaboration of safety plans. They are also completely involved in their activation that is their own responsability. This applies to other local government authorities, like districts one's and basin stakeholders, which participle in the financing community safety plans and adminitrative district which are responsible of the transmission of meteorological alert and of rescue actions. In the crossing of the géo-information stemming from the space technology, communication, meteorology, hydraulics and hydrology, Predict-services brings help to local communities in their mission of protection and information to the citizens, for flood problems and helps companies to limit and delete operating losses facing floods. The initiative, developped by BRL, EADS Astrium, in association with Meteo France, has been employed and is functioning on cities of south of France, notably on Montpellier, and also on the scale of catchment area( BRL is a regional development company, a public private partnership controlled by the local gouvernments of the Languedoc-Roussillon Region). The initiative has to be coordinated with state services to secure continuity and coherence of information. This initiative is developped in dialogue with State services as Météo France, the Ministry for the interior, the Ministry for ecology and the durable development, the Regional Direction of the Environment (DIREN), the Central service of Hydrometeorology and Support to the Forecast of the Floods ( SCHAPI) and service of forecast of rising (SPC). It has been successfully functioning for 5 years with 300 southern cities from South West to South East of France and notably Montpellier and Sommières, famous for it’s flood problems on the Vidourle river where no human loss was to regret and where the economic impacts were minimized. Actually developed in cities of South of France, this initiative is to be developed nationaly and very soon internationally. Thanks to the efficiency of it’s method, this initiative is also developed in partnership with insurance company involved in prevention actions. The presentation will expose the feedback of this initiative and lessons learned.

Developmental delay in the Amazon: The social determinants and prevalence among rural communities in Peru

PubMed Central

Alnasser, Yossef

2017-01-01

The consequences of poor child development are becoming increasingly recognized. Programs are being put in place around the world to improve child development by providing healthy and stimulating environments for children. However, these programs often have limited reach and little is known about the prevalence of developmental delay in under-developed communities. The current study set-out to better understand the prevalence of developmental delay in rural communities in the Amazon region of Peru. Also, it explores social determinants that are associated with any delay. Cross-sectional study by evaluating developmental delay in children under 4 years utilizing Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3). Additionally, conducting a social determinants questionnaire answered by caretakers to identify social drivers for developmental delay. The data was analyzed with multi-variant analysis to measure association. The prevalence of developmental delay in the Amazonian communities was 26.7% (19.3% in communication, 11.4% in gross motor skills, 8% in both) (N = 596). The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed significant associations between developmental delay and; level of education (OR 0.64, p = 0.009), age of mother during child’s birth (OR 0.96, p = 0.002), visits by community health agents (OR 0.73, p = 0.013), and river as primary water source (OR 2.39, p = 0.001). The social determinants questionnaire revealed that 39% of the mothers had their first child before the age of 17, nearly half stopped going to school before the age of 12 (52%), 29% gave birth at home, 13% breast fed for less than 7 months, and 50% of the children had diarrhea in the last month. There is still a great need to improve the conditions for child development in the Amazon region of Peru. One-fourth of the children suffer from developmental delay, which will likely impede their potentials for life unless something is done. The impact of education, age of mother at birth of the child, community health agents, and access to clean drinking water were important findings. Improvements can be made in these areas to create a large, cost-effective impact on the well-being of the communities. PMID:29023517

Developmental delay in the Amazon: The social determinants and prevalence among rural communities in Peru.

PubMed

Westgard, Christopher; Alnasser, Yossef

2017-01-01

The consequences of poor child development are becoming increasingly recognized. Programs are being put in place around the world to improve child development by providing healthy and stimulating environments for children. However, these programs often have limited reach and little is known about the prevalence of developmental delay in under-developed communities. The current study set-out to better understand the prevalence of developmental delay in rural communities in the Amazon region of Peru. Also, it explores social determinants that are associated with any delay. Cross-sectional study by evaluating developmental delay in children under 4 years utilizing Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3). Additionally, conducting a social determinants questionnaire answered by caretakers to identify social drivers for developmental delay. The data was analyzed with multi-variant analysis to measure association. The prevalence of developmental delay in the Amazonian communities was 26.7% (19.3% in communication, 11.4% in gross motor skills, 8% in both) (N = 596). The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed significant associations between developmental delay and; level of education (OR 0.64, p = 0.009), age of mother during child's birth (OR 0.96, p = 0.002), visits by community health agents (OR 0.73, p = 0.013), and river as primary water source (OR 2.39, p = 0.001). The social determinants questionnaire revealed that 39% of the mothers had their first child before the age of 17, nearly half stopped going to school before the age of 12 (52%), 29% gave birth at home, 13% breast fed for less than 7 months, and 50% of the children had diarrhea in the last month. There is still a great need to improve the conditions for child development in the Amazon region of Peru. One-fourth of the children suffer from developmental delay, which will likely impede their potentials for life unless something is done. The impact of education, age of mother at birth of the child, community health agents, and access to clean drinking water were important findings. Improvements can be made in these areas to create a large, cost-effective impact on the well-being of the communities.

Coupled-Circulation-Chemistry Studies with the Finite-Volume CCM: Trace Gas Transport in the Tropopause Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pawson, Steven; Lin, Shian-Jiann; Rood, Richard B.; Nebuda, Sharon; Nielsen, J. Eric; Douglass, Anne R.

2000-01-01

A joint project between the Data Assimilation Office at NASA GSFC and NCAR involves linking the physical packages from the Community Climate Model (CCM) with the flux-form semi-Lagrangian dynamical core developed by Lin and Rood in the DAO. A further development of this model includes the implementation of a chemical package developed by Douglass and colleagues in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch at NASA GSFC. Results from this coupled dynamics-radiation-chemistry model will be presented, focussing on trace gas transport in the tropopause region.

Integrating ecosystem services analysis into scenario planning practice: accounting for street tree benefits with i-Tree valuation in Central Texas.

PubMed

Hilde, Thomas; Paterson, Robert

2014-12-15

Scenario planning continues to gain momentum in the United States as an effective process for building consensus on long-range community plans and creating regional visions for the future. However, efforts to integrate more sophisticated information into the analytical framework to help identify important ecosystem services have lagged in practice. This is problematic because understanding the tradeoffs of land consumption patterns on ecological integrity is central to mitigating the environmental degradation caused by land use change and new development. In this paper we describe how an ecosystem services valuation model, i-Tree, was integrated into a mainstream scenario planning software tool, Envision Tomorrow, to assess the benefits of public street trees for alternative future development scenarios. The tool is then applied to development scenarios from the City of Hutto, TX, a Central Texas Sustainable Places Project demonstration community. The integrated tool represents a methodological improvement for scenario planning practice, offers a way to incorporate ecosystem services analysis into mainstream planning processes, and serves as an example of how open source software tools can expand the range of issues available for community and regional planning consideration, even in cases where community resources are limited. The tool also offers room for future improvements; feasible options include canopy analysis of various future land use typologies, as well as a generalized street tree model for broader U.S. application. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

"Safe Schools within Safe Communities: A Regional Summit in the Heartland." Policy Briefs Special Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huertas, Aurelio, Jr.; Sullivan, Carol

This report documents the proceedings of a regional policy seminar hosted by the Iowa Department of Education with support from the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) and the Midwest Regional Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities (MRC). The seminar, "Safe Schools Within Safe Communities," was held on September 19-20,…

Socializing the policy on public transportation to the community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asmawi, A.; Mariana, D.; Sjoraida, D. F.

2018-03-01

This article discusses how public policies on transportation can be communicated to the society in Sukabumi City, West Java, Indonesia. It is important for the community because the development of transportation services has a very close relationship with social welfare and economic growth of the region. This can be demonstrated with an indication that the region whose better transportation system tends to have better levels of social welfare and economic growth. The study here used a multiple case method. The cases consist of activities which were the implementation of the government’s program of socialization to the people of Sukabumi City on transportation. This regency is a door to an expansion of West Java development to the Southwest area that there are things new in government services, including in the field of transportation. Interviews, observation and document analyses were used to collect the data. Face to face interviews using a list of questions were also developed for this study. The findings of the study indicate that in addition to its own designing and implementing transportation development plan in Sukabumi City itself, there is also a transportation development involving West Java provincial government, even the national government of Indonesia in the region. All of the transportation plans could be properly communicated to the public because it used a variety of media, including the traditional, the modern, and the social.

Methodological Considerations in Researching Community Services in the Northeast. A Northeast Regional Community Services Study. New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 836, September 1975.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Derr, Donn A., Ed.; And Others

Documenting several elements relative to regional research on community services in 10 northeastern states as experienced in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Regional Research Project NE-77 (1971), this monograph represents the NE-77 technical committee's effort to identify basic research issues re: the delivery of community services in rural…

Community-based participatory process--climate change and health adaptation program for Northern First Nations and Inuit in Canada.

PubMed

McClymont Peace, Diane; Myers, Erin

2012-05-08

Health Canada's Program for Climate Change and Health Adaptation in Northern First Nation and Inuit Communities is unique among Canadian federal programs in that it enables community-based participatory research by northern communities. The program was designed to build capacity by funding communities to conduct their own research in cooperation with Aboriginal associations, academics, and governments; that way, communities could develop health-related adaptation plans and communication materials that would help in adaptation decision-making at the community, regional, national and circumpolar levels with respect to human health and a changing environment. Community visits and workshops were held to familiarize northerners with the impacts of climate change on their health, as well as methods to develop research proposals and budgets to meet program requirements. Since the launch of the Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program in 2008, Health Canada has funded 36 community projects across Canada's North that focus on relevant health issues caused by climate change. In addition, the program supported capacity-building workshops for northerners, as well as a Pan-Arctic Results Workshop to bring communities together to showcase the results of their research. Results include: numerous films and photo-voice products that engage youth and elders and are available on the web; community-based ice monitoring, surveillance and communication networks; and information products on land, water and ice safety, drinking water, food security and safety, and traditional medicine. Through these efforts, communities have increased their knowledge and understanding of the health effects related to climate change and have begun to develop local adaptation strategies.

Motivations and perceptions of community advisory boards in the ethics of medical research: the case of the Thai-Myanmar border.

PubMed

Maung Lwin, Khin; Cheah, Phaik Yeong; Cheah, Phaik Kin; White, Nicholas J; Day, Nicholas P J; Nosten, Francois; Parker, Michael

2014-02-17

Community engagement is increasingly promoted as a marker of good, ethical practice in the context of international collaborative research in low-income countries. There is, however, no widely agreed definition of community engagement or of approaches adopted. Justifications given for its use also vary. Community engagement is, for example, variously seen to be of value in: the development of more effective and appropriate consent processes; improved understanding of the aims and forms of research; higher recruitment rates; the identification of important ethical issues; the building of better relationships between the community and researchers; the obtaining of community permission to approach potential research participants; and, the provision of better health care. Despite these diverse and potentially competing claims made for the importance of community engagement, there is very little published evidence on effective models of engagement or their evaluation. In this paper, drawing upon interviews with the members of a Community Advisory Board on the Thai-Myanmar border, we describe and critically reflect upon an approach to community engagement which was developed in the context of international collaborative research in the border region. Drawing on our analysis, we identify a number of considerations relevant to the development of an approach to evaluating community engagement in this complex research setting. The paper also identifies a range of important ways in which the Community Advisory Board is in practice understood by its members (and perhaps by community members beyond this) to have morally significant roles and responsibilities beyond those usually associated with the successful and appropriate conduct of research.

Condom social marketing, Pentecostalism, and structural adjustment in Mozambique: a clash of AIDS prevention messages.

PubMed

Pfeiffer, James

2004-03-01

Despite significant debate about the efficacy, ideology, and ethics of the method, condom social marketing (CSM) has become the dominant approach to AIDS education in many sub-Saharan African countries. However, critics have charged that social marketing (SM) distracts from the structural determinants of health-related behavior and excludes genuine community participation. This article argues that the diffusion of SM techniques in Africa is not driven by demonstrated efficacy but is attributable to the promotion of privatization and free markets in the structural adjustment era across the region. The CSM experience in a central Mozambican community reveals the dangers of using the method at the expense of community dialogue and participation to confront the AIDS epidemic. The advertising campaign developed to sell condoms has clashed with Pentecostal and Independent Churches, now a majority of the population, that have expanded rapidly across the region spreading a contrasting message about sexuality and risky behavior.

Evidence-Based Programs for Older Adults: A Disconnect Between U.S. National Strategy and Local Senior Center Implementation.

PubMed

Bobitt, Julie; Schwingel, Andiara

2017-01-01

While U.S. national policies have been developed to support evidence-based (EB) lifestyle programs for older adults, there has been limited research to determine the extent to which these programs actually reach local communities. This study sought to identify factors that impact the implementation of EB physical activity, nutrition, and chronic disease management programs at regional (Area Agencies on Aging [AAAs]) and community levels (senior Centers [SCs]). Interviews were conducted with directors of four AAAs and 12 SCs to understand their perspectives on EB program implementation. Narratives revealed differences between AAAs and SCs regarding knowledge about EB programs and reasons to promote and adopt these programs. The only agreement occurred when discussing concerns about funding and program inflexibility. Substantial gaps exist between how EB lifestyle programs are promoted and implemented at the regional and community levels.

Development of the Nursing Community Apgar Questionnaire (NCAQ): a rural nurse recruitment and retention tool.

PubMed

Prengaman, M P; Bigbee, J L; Baker, E; Schmitz, D F

2014-01-01

Health professional shortages are a significant issue throughout the USA, particularly in rural communities. Filling nurse vacancies is a costly concern for many critical access hospitals (CAH), which serve as the primary source of health care for rural communities. CAHs and rural communities have strengths and weaknesses that affect their recruitment and retention of rural nurses. The purpose of this study was to develop a tool that rural communities and CAHs can utilize to assess their strengths and weaknesses related to nurse recruitment and retention. The Nursing Community Apgar Questionnaire (NCAQ) was developed based on an extensive literature review, visits to multiple rural sites, and consultations with rural nurses, rural nurse administrators and content experts. A quantitative interview tool consisting of 50 factors that affect rural nurse recruitment and retention was developed. The tool allows participants to rate each factor in terms of advantage and importance level. The tool also includes three open-ended questions for qualitative analysis. The NCAQ was designed to identify rural communities' and CAHs' strengths and challenges related to rural nurse recruitment and retention. The NCAQ will be piloted and a database developed for CAHs to compare their results with those in the database. Furthermore, the NCAQ results may be utilized to prioritize resource allocation and tailor rural nurse recruitment and retention efforts to highlight a community's strengths. The NCAQ will function as a useful real-time tool for CAHs looking to assess and improve their rural nurse recruitment and retention practices and compare their results with those of their peers. Longitudinal results will allow CAHs and their communities to evaluate their progress over time. As the database grows in size, state, regional, and national results can be compared, trends may be discovered and best practices identified.

Using fish communities to assess streams in Romania: Initial development of an index of biotic integrity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Angermeier, P.L.; Davideanu, G.

2004-01-01

Multimetric biotic indices increasingly are used to complement physicochemical data in assessments of stream quality. We initiated development of multimetric indices, based on fish communities, to assess biotic integrity of streams in two physiographic regions of central Romania. Unlike previous efforts to develop such indices for European streams, our metrics and scoring criteria were selected largely on the basis of empirical relations in the regions of interest. We categorised 54 fish species with respect to ten natural-history attributes, then used this information to compute 32 candidate metrics of five types (taxonomic, tolerance, abundance, reproductive, and feeding) for each of 35 sites. We assessed the utility of candidate metrics for detecting anthropogenic impact based on three criteria: (a) range of values taken, (b) relation to a site-quality index (SQI), which incorporated information on hydrologic alteration, channel alteration, land-use intensity, and water chemistry, and (c) metric redundancy. We chose seven metrics from each region to include in preliminary multimetric indices (PMIs). Both PMIs included taxonomic, tolerance, and feeding metrics, but only two metrics were common to both PMIs. Although we could not validate our PMIs, their strong association with the SQI in each region suggests that such indices would be valuable tools for assessing stream quality and could provide more comprehensive assessments than the traditional approaches based solely on water chemistry.

Draft of the Martin Peña Initative Plan

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This action plan is being developed so that EPA Region 2 can implement a strategy that focuses its programs and regulatory authorities in activities that comprehensively address the environmental issues affecting the Martin Pena communities.

Skin microbiome surveys are strongly influenced by experimental design

PubMed Central

Meisel, Jacquelyn S.; Hannigan, Geoffrey D.; Tyldsley, Amanda S.; SanMiguel, Adam J.; Hodkinson, Brendan P.; Zheng, Qi; Grice, Elizabeth A.

2016-01-01

Culture-independent studies to characterize skin microbiota are increasingly common, due in part to affordable and accessible sequencing and analysis platforms. Compared to culture-based techniques, DNA sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene or whole metagenome shotgun (WMS) sequencing provide more precise microbial community characterizations. Most widely used protocols were developed to characterize microbiota of other habitats (i.e. gastrointestinal), and have not been systematically compared for their utility in skin microbiome surveys. Here we establish a resource for the cutaneous research community to guide experimental design in characterizing skin microbiota. We compare two widely sequenced regions of the 16S rRNA gene to WMS sequencing for recapitulating skin microbiome community composition, diversity, and genetic functional enrichment. We show that WMS sequencing most accurately recapitulates microbial communities, but sequencing of hypervariable regions 1-3 of the 16S rRNA gene provides highly similar results. Sequencing of hypervariable region 4 poorly captures skin commensal microbiota, especially Propionibacterium. WMS sequencing, which is resource- and cost-intensive, provides evidence of a community’s functional potential; however, metagenome predictions based on 16S rRNA sequence tags closely approximate WMS genetic functional profiles. This work highlights the importance of experimental design for downstream results in skin microbiome surveys. PMID:26829039

Regional Similarities and Consistent Patterns of Local Variation in Beach Sand Bacterial Communities throughout the Northern Hemisphere

PubMed Central

Staley, Christopher

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Recent characterization of the bacterial community structure in beach sands has revealed patterns of biogeography similar to those observed in aquatic environments. Studies to date, however, have mainly focused on subtidal sediments from marine beaches. Here, we investigate the bacterial diversity, using Illumina-based sequencing of the V5-V6 region of the 16S rRNA gene, at 11 beaches representing those next to the Great Lakes, Florida, and the Pacific Ocean. The alpha diversity differed significantly among regions (P < 0.0001), while the within-region diversity was more similar. The beta diversity also differed by region (P < 0.001), where freshwater sands had significantly higher abundances of taxa within the Actinobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia than marine environments. In contrast, marine sands harbored greater abundances of Gammaproteobacteria and Planctomycetes, and those from Florida had more Deltaproteobacteria and Firmicutes. Marine beaches had significantly different phylogenetic community structures (P ≤ 0.018), but freshwater and Florida beaches showed fewer within-region phylogenetic differences. Furthermore, regionally distinct patterns in taxonomic variation were observed in backshore sands, which had communities distinct from those in nearshore sands (P < 0.001). Sample depth minimally influenced the community composition. The results of this study reveal distinct bacterial community structures in sand on a broad geographic scale but moderate regional similarity and suggest that local variation is primarily related to the distance from the shoreline. This study offers a novel comparison of the bacterial communities in freshwater and marine beach sands and provides an important basis for future comparisons and analyses to elucidate factors affecting microbial ecology in this underexplored environment. IMPORTANCE This study presents a large-scale geographic characterization of the bacterial communities present in beach sands. While previous studies have evaluated how environmental factors influence bacterial community composition, few have evaluated bacterial communities in freshwater sands. Furthermore, the use of a consistent methodology to characterize bacterial communities here allowed a novel comparison of communities across geographic regions. We reveal that while the community composition in sands at individual beaches is distinct, beach sands within the same region harbor similar assemblages of bacteria and these assemblages differ greatly between regions. In addition, moisture, associated with distance from the shoreline, strongly influences the bacteria present in sands and more strongly influences the bacteria present than sample depth does. Thus, the data presented here offer an important basis for a broader characterization of the ecology of bacteria in sands, which may also be relevant to public health and resource management initiatives. PMID:26921429

Water use benefit index as a tool for community-based monitoring of water related trends in the Great Barrier Reef region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smajgl, A.; Larson, S.; Hug, B.; De Freitas, D. M.

2010-12-01

SummaryThis paper presents a tool for documenting and monitoring water use benefits in the Great Barrier Reef catchments that allows temporal and spatial comparison along the region. Water, water use benefits and water allocations are currently receiving much attention from Australian policy makers and conservation practitioners. Because of the inherent complexity and variability in water quality, it is essential that scientific information is presented in a meaningful way to policy makers, managers and ultimately, to the general public who have to live with the consequences of the decisions. We developed an inexpensively populated and easily understandable water use benefit index as a tool for community-based monitoring of water related trends in the Great Barrier Reef region. The index is developed based on a comparative list of selected water-related indices integrating attributes across physico-chemical, economic, social, and ecological domains currently used in the assessment of water quality, water quantity and water use benefits in Australia. Our findings indicate that the proposed index allows the identification of water performance indicators by temporal and spatial comparisons. Benefits for decision makers and conservation practitioners include a flexible way of prioritization towards the domain with highest concern. The broader community benefits from a comprehensive and user-friendly tool, communicating changes in water quality trends more effectively.

Community-driven demand creation for the use of routine viral load testing: a model to scale up routine viral load testing.

PubMed

Killingo, Bactrin M; Taro, Trisa B; Mosime, Wame N

2017-11-01

HIV treatment outcomes are dependent on the use of viral load measurement. Despite global and national guidelines recommending the use of routine viral load testing, these policies alone have not translated into widespread implementation or sufficiently increased access for people living with HIV (PLHIV). Civil society and communities of PLHIV recognize the need to close this gap and to enable the scale up of routine viral load testing. The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) developed an approach to community-led demand creation for the use of routine viral load testing. Using this Community Demand Creation Model, implementers follow a step-wise process to capacitate and empower communities to address their most pressing needs. This includes utlizing a specific toolkit that includes conducting a baseline assessment, developing a treatment education toolkit, organizing mobilization workshops for knowledge building, provision of small grants to support advocacy work and conducting benchmark evaluations. The Community Demand Creation Model to increase demand for routine viral load testing services by PLHIV has been delivered in diverse contexts including in the sub-Saharan African, Asian, Latin American and the Caribbean regions. Between December 2015 and December 2016, ITPC trained more than 240 PLHIV activists, and disbursed US$90,000 to network partners in support of their national advocacy work. The latter efforts informed a regional, community-driven campaign calling for domestic investment in the expeditious implementation of national viral load testing guidelines. HIV treatment education and community mobilization are critical components of demand creation for access to optimal HIV treatment, especially for the use of routine viral load testing. ITPC's Community Demand Creation Model offers a novel approach to achieving this goal. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of the International AIDS Society published by John Wiley & sons Ltd on behalf of the International AIDS Society.

DOE-AVCP Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Latham, Brent

The purpose of the Cooperative Agreement was based on the mission the two agencies have in common. The Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) has been a critical player in accomplishing what Alaskan Native communities need since 1964 with various programs including energy assistance. The AVCP/DOE Partnership enabled AVCP to assist 10 of 56 remote Alaska Native villages in the development of a community-led Community Energy Plan. These plans have empowered the 10 Tribes to address their own energy development needs. The community energy plans that AVCP assisted the communities with identified the community’s energy vision, goals, and a highmore » level project timeline of each goal. The plans also include the technical potential, resource assessment, grant and technical assistance resources. The AVCP/DOE Partnership also enabled AVCP to provide tribal leaders and staff from the 56 Federally-Recognized Tribes with information about the policies and programs of the Department, support regional workshops and forums, and provide directed technical assistance for initial energy project support.« less

Performance of ceramic disk filter coated with nano ZnO for removing Escherichia coli from water in small rural and remote communities of developing regions.

PubMed

Huang, Jing; Huang, Guohe; An, Chunjiang; He, Yuan; Yao, Yao; Zhang, Peng; Shen, Jian

2018-07-01

Global water safety is facing great challenges due to increased population and demand. There is an urgent need to develop suitable water treatment strategy for small rural and remote communities in low-income developing countries. In order to find a low-cost solution, the reduction of E. coli using ceramic water disk coated with nano ZnO was investigated in this study. The performance of modified ceramic disk filters was influenced by several factors in the filter production process. Based on the factorial analysis, the pore size of the disk filters was the most significant factor for influencing E. coli removal efficiency and the clay content was the most significant one for influencing flow rate of modified disk filters. The coating of nano ZnO led to the change of disk filter surface and porosity. The reduction of E. coli could be attributed to both filter retention and photocatalytic antibacterial activity of nano ZnO. The effects of filter operation factors including initial E. coli concentration, illumination time and lamp power on E. coli removal effectiveness were also revealed. The results can help find a safe and cost-effective approach to solve drinking water problems in small rural and remote communities of developing regions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fishing degrades size structure of coral reef fish communities.

PubMed

Robinson, James P W; Williams, Ivor D; Edwards, Andrew M; McPherson, Jana; Yeager, Lauren; Vigliola, Laurent; Brainard, Russell E; Baum, Julia K

2017-03-01

Fishing pressure on coral reef ecosystems has been frequently linked to reductions of large fishes and reef fish biomass. Associated impacts on overall community structure are, however, less clear. In size-structured aquatic ecosystems, fishing impacts are commonly quantified using size spectra, which describe the distribution of individual body sizes within a community. We examined the size spectra and biomass of coral reef fish communities at 38 US-affiliated Pacific islands that ranged in human presence from near pristine to human population centers. Size spectra 'steepened' steadily with increasing human population and proximity to market due to a reduction in the relative biomass of large fishes and an increase in the dominance of small fishes. Reef fish biomass was substantially lower on inhabited islands than uninhabited ones, even at inhabited islands with the lowest levels of human presence. We found that on populated islands size spectra exponents decreased (analogous to size spectra steepening) linearly with declining biomass, whereas on uninhabited islands there was no relationship. Size spectra were steeper in regions of low sea surface temperature but were insensitive to variation in other environmental and geomorphic covariates. In contrast, reef fish biomass was highly sensitive to oceanographic conditions, being influenced by both oceanic productivity and sea surface temperature. Our results suggest that community size structure may be a more robust indicator than fish biomass to increasing human presence and that size spectra are reliable indicators of exploitation impacts across regions of different fish community compositions, environmental drivers, and fisheries types. Size-based approaches that link directly to functional properties of fish communities, and are relatively insensitive to abiotic variation across biogeographic regions, offer great potential for developing our understanding of fishing impacts in coral reef ecosystems. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Comparison of bird community indices for riparian restoration planning and monitoring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Young, Jock S.; Ammon, Elisabeth M.; Weisburg, Peter J.; Dilts, Thomas E.; Newton, Wesley E.; Wong-Kone, Diane C.; Heki, Lisa G.

2013-01-01

The use of a bird community index that characterizes ecosystem integrity is very attractive to conservation planners and habitat managers, particularly in the absence of any single focal species. In riparian areas of the western USA, several attempts at arriving at a community index signifying a functioning riparian bird community have been made previously, mostly resorting to expert opinions or national conservation rankings for species weights. Because extensive local and regional bird monitoring data were available for Nevada, we were able to develop three different indices that were derived empirically, rather than from expert opinion. We formally examined the use of three species weighting schemes in comparison with simple species richness, using different definitions of riparian species assemblage size, for the purpose of predicting community response to changes in vegetation structure from riparian restoration. For the three indices, species were weighted according to the following criteria: (1) the degree of riparian habitat specialization based on regional data, (2) the relative conservation ranking of landbird species, and (3) the degree to which a species is under-represented compared to the regional species pool for riparian areas. To evaluate the usefulness of these indices for habitat restoration planning and monitoring, we modeled them using habitat variables that are expected to respond to riparian restoration efforts, using data from 64 sampling sites in the Walker River Basin in Nevada and California. We found that none of the species-weighting schemes performed any better as an index for evaluating overall habitat condition than using species richness alone as a community index. Based on our findings, the use of a fairly complete list of 30–35 riparian specialists appears to be the best indicator group for predicting the response of bird communities to the restoration of riparian vegetation.

Quality Assurance Framework Implementation Guide for Isolated Community Power Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Esterly, Sean R.; Baring-Gould, Edward I.; Burman, Kari A.

This implementation guide is a companion document to the 'Quality Assurance Framework for Mini-Grids' technical report. This document is intended to be used by one of the many stakeholder groups that take part in the implementation of isolated power systems. Although the QAF could be applied to a single system, it was designed primarily to be used within the context of a larger national or regional rural electrification program in which many individual systems are being installed. This guide includes a detailed overview of the Quality Assurance Framework and provides guidance focused on the implementation of the Framework from themore » perspective of the different stakeholders that are commonly involved in expanding energy development within specific communities or regions. For the successful long-term implementation of a specific rural electrification program using mini-grid systems, six key stakeholders have been identified that are typically engaged, each with a different set of priorities 1. Regulatory agency 2. Governmental ministry 3. System developers 4. Mini-utility 5. Investors 6. Customers/consumers. This document is broken into two distinct sections. The first focuses on the administrative processes in the development and operation of community-based mini-grid programs, while the second focuses on the process around the installation of the mini-grid project itself.« less

Health Extension in New Mexico: An Academic Health Center and the Social Determinants of Disease

PubMed Central

Kaufman, Arthur; Powell, Wayne; Alfero, Charles; Pacheco, Mario; Silverblatt, Helene; Anastasoff, Juliana; Ronquillo, Francisco; Lucero, Ken; Corriveau, Erin; Vanleit, Betsy; Alverson, Dale; Scott, Amy

2010-01-01

The Agricultural Cooperative Extension Service model offers academic health centers methodologies for community engagement that can address the social determinants of disease. The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center developed Health Extension Rural Offices (HEROs) as a vehicle for its model of health extension. Health extension agents are located in rural communities across the state and are supported by regional coordinators and the Office of the Vice President for Community Health at the Health Sciences Center. The role of agents is to work with different sectors of the community in identifying high-priority health needs and linking those needs with university resources in education, clinical service and research. Community needs, interventions, and outcomes are monitored by county health report cards. The Health Sciences Center is a large and varied resource, the breadth and accessibility of which are mostly unknown to communities. Community health needs vary, and agents are able to tap into an array of existing health center resources to address those needs. Agents serve a broader purpose beyond immediate, strictly medical needs by addressing underlying social determinants of disease, such as school retention, food insecurity, and local economic development. Developing local capacity to address local needs has become an overriding concern. Community-based health extension agents can effectively bridge those needs with academic health center resources and extend those resources to address the underlying social determinants of disease. PMID:20065282

The Applied and Workforce Baccalaureate at South Texas College: Specialized Workforce Development Addressing Economic Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mejia, Juan E.

2012-01-01

South Texas College (STC), created in 1993 as South Texas Community College (STCC), has developed from a concept by visionary leaders in the region to currently offering more than one hundred degree and certificate options for students from the counties of Hidalgo and Starr, including two bachelor of applied technology (B.A.T.) degrees. These…

Southern Rural Development Center Annual Progress Report, FY 1985. SRDC Series No. 80.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southern Rural Development Center, Mississippi State, MS.

In fiscal year (FY) 1985 the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) was engaged in 24 major activities that responded to the rural problems of the region and supported the community development efforts of 29 land-grant universities in 13 southern states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The work of the SRDC Business Management Network…

An electronic consumer health library: NetWellness.

PubMed Central

Guard, R; Haag, D; Kaya, B; Marine, S; Morris, T; Schick, L; Shoemaker, S

1996-01-01

NetWellness is a community-based, consumer-defined grant program supporting the delivery of electronic health information to rural residents of southern Ohio and urban and suburban communities in the Greater Cincinnati tri-state region. NetWellness is a collaboratively developed and publicly and privately funded demonstration project. Information is delivered via ISDN, standard dial, dedicated network connections, and the Internet. TriState Online (Greater Cincinnati's Free-Net) and other southern Ohio Free-Nets are key access points in the larger project communities. The other access points are more than forty workstations distributed at public sites throughout the project's primary geographical area. Design strengths and limitations, training initiatives, technical issues, and the project's impact on medical librarianship are examined in this paper. Also discussed are ways of determining community needs and interest, building political alliances, finding and developing funding sources, and overcoming technical obstacles. NetWellness's Internet address is: http:@www.netwellness.org. PMID:8913548

Economic and Workforce Development Program Annual Report, 2015

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California Community Colleges, Chancellor's Office, 2015

2015-01-01

California's community colleges continue to play a crucial role in the state's economy by providing students with the skills and knowledge to succeed and by advancing the economic growth and global competitiveness of California and its regional economies through the Economic and Workforce Development Program (EWD). Under the Doing What Matters for…

Building on Living Traditions: Early Childhood Education and Culture in Solomon Islands

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Lindsay J.

2012-01-01

The Solomon Islands, a small developing nation in the South Pacific, demonstrates an emerging community-based kindergarten model with the potential to promote context and culture relevant early learning and development, despite deeply embedded foundations in colonial legacies. Based on the Kahua region of Makira-Ulawa Province, this collaborative,…

On the Varieties of People's Relationships with Places: Hummon's Typology Revisited

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewicka, Maria

2011-01-01

Numerous studies show that place attachment correlates positively with age, length of residence and strength of local ties and negatively with community size, education, and economic development of the region of residence. Does that mean that along with education, mobility, economic development and urbanization and with the decrease in importance…

Economic and Workforce Development Program Annual Report, 2014

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California Community Colleges, Chancellor's Office, 2014

2014-01-01

California's community colleges continue to play a crucial role in the state's economy by providing students with the skills and knowledge to succeed and by advancing the economic growth and global competitiveness of California and its regional economies through the Economic and Workforce Development Program (EWD). The EWD program invests in the…

DoD Workshop on Southeast Regional Planning and Sustainability

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-01

development (Berke, 2007). Weak plans and ordinances in these locations mean limited knowledge about existing human and natural resource systems...research on sustainable community design, and disseminate that knowledge through innovative teaching and outreach. Rather than serving as outside...technical work is being done to address these issues, much institutional change will be needed to tie this knowledge to advance regional plans and

Development of Fieldwork Activities to Educate the Youth for the Biological and Cultural Preservation in Rural Communities of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mammadova, Aida

2017-01-01

In order to achieve the regional sustainability and bio-cultural preservation, environmental education of youth will be critical, however due to the lack of the specific subject of regional studies at the educational curriculum, students are not able to achieve the skills to understand the local environment and feel isolated from nature. We…

Child Health in Peru: Importance of Regional Variation and Community Effects on Children's Height and Weight

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shin, Heeju

2007-01-01

In developing countries, height and weight are good indicators of children's health and nutritional status. Maternal education has been accepted as one of the most important influences on child health. Using the 2000 Demographic and Health Survey of Peru, however, I find that the effect of maternal education varies as a function of region. In the…

An Early Look at Building a Social Learning for Sustainability Community of Practice: RCE Grand Rapids' Flagship Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glasser, Harold

2010-01-01

Grand Rapids is the first United Nations University (UNU) Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) on education for sustainable development (ESD) in the United States. It builds on the region's long history and deep foundation in research, planning and problem solving to build a sustainable future. This article explores the concept of RCEs as social…

Learning Collaborations between ACE and Vocational Education and Training Providers: Good Practice Partnerships. A National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation Program Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gelade, Sue; Stehlik, Tom; Willis, Peter

2006-01-01

This project developed in response to the national research priority of the role of vocational education and training (VET) in building economic and social capital in regions and communities. Several key streams of work have been identified in relation to this objective, including regional segmentation, indicators and performance measures, and…

Our De-Urbanized Cities and Other Obvious Paradoxes--An Outsider's Contributions to an Action Caucus of the SCA (Speech Communication Association).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Eugene F.

Despite large rural areas, the United States is basically an urban nation, particularly since the extensiveness and variety of communication networks, rather than open spaces, determine the true degree of urbanization of a region or community. A region is urban to the extent that its interpersonal and media channels are developed. The metropolitan…

Empowering Women for Development through Community-Driven Sustainable Programmes: A Response to Traditional Patriarchal Power in the Southern African Region

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Braimoh, Dele; Lekoko, Rebecca; Alade, Eunice B.

2004-01-01

In the Southern Africa region, the act of prejudice against women mostly occurs where patriarchal power reigns. This type of power is felt in areas such as inheritance right, division of labour, access to political and economic resources and legal and social matters. Other areas of discrimination against women include access to educational and…

Microgrid optimized resource dispatch for public-purpose resiliency and sustainability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burr, Michael; Camilleri, John; Lubkeman, David

Communities in Atlantic coastal regions have in recent years sought to improve the resiliency of their critical infrastructure and public services, especially to protect against hurricanes and other events capable of causing widespread damage and disruption. As the backbone of any community’s critical functions, the electricity distribution system requires high resiliency in order to maintain local energy delivery services. Against this backdrop, the Project sought to develop a resilient energy microgrid control system capable of integrating distributed renewable energy resources, natural gas CHP units, energy storage, and demand-side management technologies in near-real-time optimization schemes for the community of Olney, Md.more » The Montgomery County Planning Board in 2005 established the Olney Town Center area as a “civic center/town commons,” in part because it serves as a key point of interaction in the community – but also because it contains numerous vital community assets. With a total peak electrical load of about 8 MW (including Montgomery General Hospital with a 2.4 MW peak), the Project area is a business and essential services area, directly serving a suburban population of more than 33,000 residents. It contains a hospital, police station, two fire stations, two schools, grocery stores, and gas stations, and the community’s water tower, among other things. Moreover, the location stands at the crossroads of two state highways that represent major regional arteries for commerce and public safety in Montgomery County. These characteristics made the Project area an appropriate setting for considering microgrid deployment. It presented a model of a typical Maryland suburban community, with geographic dispersion of vital assets over a sizeable area, and a combination of overhead distribution lines and underground cables serving those critical loads. Such a representative model helped to ensure the solutions developed and the scenarios tested would be readily applicable to other communities in the state and the region. Further, the Project’s outcomes and lessons provide insights to guide community microgrid design and development in many locations. To achieve Project objectives – including those established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory – the Project team researched, developed, and tested in simulation a set of microgrid controls capable of maintaining electricity supplies for critical community loads in the event of a regional utility outage lasting many days or even weeks. Testing and analysis showed that the microgrid would be capable of maintaining electricity supply to critical loads essentially indefinitely in most outage scenarios, while also substantially improving overall reliability for microgrid customers. With targeted improvements in local utility distribution infrastructure, test analysis showed that the microgrid would be capable of reducing annual electricity outages for critical loads by 98%. Further, to help achieve environmental and efficiency policy goals established by both the State of Maryland and the federal government, the team designed the system to reduce the annual carbon footprint of served loads by 20%, and to improve system energy efficiency for those loads by at least 20%. Testing showed that, as designed, the system is capable of meeting these performance requirements, with potential for further improvements through more effective thermal energy utilization. This Final Report, comprised of four volumes and 11 annexes, presents the results of these project efforts, including feasibility assessment (section F) and guidance for decision-makers considering prospective deployment of public-purpose microgrid systems in Maryland communities.« less

Progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in a community of extreme poverty: local vs. national disparities in Peru.

PubMed

Gyorkos, Theresa W; Joseph, Serene A; Casapía, Martin

2009-06-01

Standard indicators are being used worldwide to track progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These are usually at country level and do not accurately reflect within-country variability of progress towards the targets. This may lead to lack of attention and under-resourcing of the most vulnerable populations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare selected standard MDG indicators at country level and community level in Peru. As MDG indicators we selected: (i) moderate to severe and severe underweight in children under 5 years old; (ii) immunization against measles in 1-year olds; (iii) births attended by skilled health professionals and (iv) youth unemployment. Country-level data for Peru were obtained from United Nations published sources. Community-level data were obtained from a household survey conducted in 2005-2006 in Belén, a community of extreme poverty in the Amazon region. Belén indicators were consistently less favourable than country-level indicators, and indicators even differed between zones of high and low socioeconomic status within Belén itself. Compared to MDG indicators at the national level in Peru, the population of Belén experiences intra-country regional disparities in important health and social outcomes. Improving the coverage and quality of interventions and services in this community is essential. Other vulnerable populations in Peru should also be identified and targeted so that they can benefit from, and ultimately contribute to, progress in achieving the MDGs.

Western Washington and Oregon Community Tree Guide: Benefits, Costs and Strategic Planting

Treesearch

E.G. McPherson; S.E. Maco; J.R. Simpson; P.J. Peper; Q. Xiao; A. VanDerZanden; N. Bell

2002-01-01

Communities in Western Washington and Oregon include nearly 7.4 million people (State of Washington 2001, US Census Bureau 2001) comprising almost 80% of the states’ total populations. The region’s rapid growth, development, and increasing congestion belie the area’s verdant repute. Forests continue to be a quintessential component of the Pacific Northwest’s economic,...

Research and Development of a Convertible Use Rapidly Expandable Model for Response to Disasters and Mass Casualties

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-01

Local health departments and communities must be prepared to address gaps where the capacity of healthcare systems is exceeded. 6 The...team to identify and understand gaps in available assets. Resources evaluated included regional hospitals, plans for patient care surge capacity...Tracking certain prescription purchases can yield clues to a new disease outbreak in the community. Software to evaluate for trends can monitor

Building Community Resilience to Disasters: A Way Forward to Enhance National Health Security.

PubMed

Chandra, Anita; Acosta, Joie; Howard, Stefanie; Uscher-Pines, Lori; Williams, Malcolm; Yeung, Douglas; Garnett, Jeffrey; Meredith, Lisa S

2011-01-01

Community resilience, or the sustained ability of a community to withstand and recover from adversity, has become a key policy issue at federal, state, and local levels, including in the National Health Security Strategy. Because resources are limited in the wake of an emergency, it is increasingly recognized that resilience is critical to a community's ability to reduce long recovery periods after an emergency. This article shares details of a report that provides a roadmap for federal, state, and local leaders who are developing plans to enhance community resilience for health security threats and describes options for building community resilience in key areas. Based on findings from a literature review and a series of community and regional focus groups, the authors provide a definition of community resilience in the context of national health security and a set of eight levers and five core components for building resilience. They then describe suggested activities that communities are pursuing and may want to strengthen for community resilience, and they identify challenges to implementation.

Building Community Resilience to Disasters

PubMed Central

Chandra, Anita; Acosta, Joie; Howard, Stefanie; Uscher-Pines, Lori; Williams, Malcolm; Yeung, Douglas; Garnett, Jeffrey; Meredith, Lisa S.

2011-01-01

Abstract Community resilience, or the sustained ability of a community to withstand and recover from adversity, has become a key policy issue at federal, state, and local levels, including in the National Health Security Strategy. Because resources are limited in the wake of an emergency, it is increasingly recognized that resilience is critical to a community's ability to reduce long recovery periods after an emergency. This article shares details of a report that provides a roadmap for federal, state, and local leaders who are developing plans to enhance community resilience for health security threats and describes options for building community resilience in key areas. Based on findings from a literature review and a series of community and regional focus groups, the authors provide a definition of community resilience in the context of national health security and a set of eight levers and five core components for building resilience. They then describe suggested activities that communities are pursuing and may want to strengthen for community resilience, and they identify challenges to implementation. PMID:28083162

Developing a community based service model for disability: Listening to the needs of all beneficiaries and providers.

PubMed

Collins, Katrina

2017-12-11

To inform the strategic and operational development of a community based service model at the Crann Centre, Cork, Ireland for SB children, adults, their families and providers. A needs assessment was conducted by gathering the views of multiple stakeholder perspectives within the SB community in the geographical region the Centre will serve. The intention is to create project deliverables that are responsive to the needs highlighted through this research. The study used a multi method design with a participatory research approach to explore the needs of SB individuals, families and providers. This involved in depth interviews, focus groups and online surveys. One hundred and fifty-nine respondents contributed to this qualitative needs assessment. The research established a range of psychosocial, clinical, vocational and educational issues causing ongoing difficulties for SB individuals and families. Providers highlighted supports that would benefit the social and clinical wellbeing of persons with SB. Collectively participants in the study reported that there was an absence of coordinated, continuous and comprehensive service delivery for the SB community in the region. This was amplified by geographical location of services and access to relevant supports. Consensus across stakeholders in this research pointed to the necessity for an innovative model of community based provision at the Crann Centre. This was described as offering a service with family at the core of an assets based model of practice. A key finding was the lack of importance placed on the social and emotional development of SB individuals. Traditionally participants described a singular focus on physical health through clinically defined treatment models. The desire for a social model of disability that informed health and wellbeing of SB individuals and families emerged as a prominent recommendation from the research.

Multi-Sector Sustainability Browser (MSSB) User Manual: A ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA’s Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) Research Program is developing methodologies, resources, and tools to assist community members and local decision makers in implementing policy choices that facilitate sustainable approaches in managing their resources affecting the built environment, natural environment, and human health. In order to assist communities and decision makers in implementing sustainable practices, EPA is developing computer-based systems including models, databases, web tools, and web browsers to help communities decide upon approaches that support their desired outcomes. Communities need access to resources that will allow them to achieve their sustainability objectives through intelligent decisions in four key sustainability areas: • Land Use • Buildings and Infrastructure • Transportation • Materials Management (i.e., Municipal Solid Waste [MSW] processing and disposal) The Multi-Sector Sustainability Browser (MSSB) is designed to support sustainable decision-making for communities, local and regional planners, and policy and decision makers. Document is an EPA Technical Report, which is the user manual for the Multi-Sector Sustainability Browser (MSSB) tool. The purpose of the document is to provide basic guidance on use of the tool for users

Groundwater Recharge Assessment in a Remote Region of Colombia Through Citizen Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomez, A. M.; Wise, E.; Riveros-Iregui, D.

2017-12-01

Understanding water dynamic and storage is essential for decision making in hydrology issues. In remote groundwater-dependent regions affected by population displacement and land over exploitation, especially in developing economies, limited data hinders the production of information necessary to formulate and implement effective water management plans. The community science research approach, which seeks to solve scientific questions with the participation of the community at various levels, represents an opportunity in these regions. We present results of a citizen science project developed to improve the conceptualization of groundwater flow path and to estimate the monthly direct recharge to the shallow aquifer in a remote rural region, the Man River watershed, located in one of the last foothills between the Western and Central Andes cordillera in Colombia. This project was conducted by: i) implementing a water level monitoring network aided by the community to collect weekly data from 2007 to 2010; ii) comparing the precipitation data and water table time series to identify the response of the shallow aquifer to the wet season; iii) conceptualizing specific groundwater-surface interactions through water table spatial analysis; and iv) estimating direct groundwater recharge using the Water Table Fluctuation method. Water quality test results were shared with the local community. Results show that groundwater interacts with the main tributaries to the Man River. Two scenarios were identified related to water table temporal behavior: (1) the water table rises during the transition from the dry to the wet season (between March and April), and (2) it increases one month after this transition. In general, groundwater levels descend in November, which is the end of the wet season. The work with the community provided useful insights for interpreting the collected data and allowed for information exchange concerning the groundwater quality and methods for improving the sanitary conditions of the dug wells. This project represents a valuable strategy for adding information to the hydrogeological conceptual model at low cost. It also provides opportunities for the implementation of a more informed water management plan while improving water quality and accessibility at the domestic household level.

Ocean Data Interoperability Platform (ODIP): Developing a Common Framework for Marine Data Management on a Global Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glaves, H. M.; Schaap, D.

2014-12-01

As marine research becomes increasingly multidisciplinary in its approach there has been a corresponding rise in the demand for large quantities of high quality interoperable data. A number of regional initiatives are already addressing this requirement through the establishment of e-infrastructures to improve the discovery and access of marine data. Projects such as Geo-Seas and SeaDataNet in Europe, Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) in the USA and IMOS in Australia have implemented local infrastructures to facilitate the exchange of standardised marine datasets. However, each of these regional initiatives has been developed to address their own requirements and independently of other regions. To establish a common framework for marine data management on a global scale these is a need to develop interoperability solutions that can be implemented across these initiatives.Through a series of workshops attended by the relevant domain specialists, the Ocean Data Interoperability Platform (ODIP) project has identified areas of commonality between the regional infrastructures and used these as the foundation for the development of three prototype interoperability solutions addressing: the use of brokering services for the purposes of providing access to the data available in the regional data discovery and access services including via the GEOSS portal the development of interoperability between cruise summary reporting systems in Europe, the USA and Australia for routine harvesting of cruise data for delivery via the Partnership for Observation of Global Oceans (POGO) portal the establishment of a Sensor Observation Service (SOS) for selected sensors installed on vessels and in real-time monitoring systems using sensor web enablement (SWE) These prototypes will be used to underpin the development of a common global approach to the management of marine data which can be promoted to the wider marine research community. ODIP is a community lead project that is currently focussed on regional initiatives in Europe, the USA and Australia but which is seeking to expand this framework to include other regional marine data infrastructures.

The East Asian Office of Astronomy for Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Grijs, Richard; Zhang, Ziping

2015-08-01

At the 2012 General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) programme announced a number of exciting new partnerships to assist with the IAU's decadal strategic plan (2010-2020). These landmark decisions included establishing a new coordinating centre that aims at using astronomy as a tool for development in East Asia. The agreement covers two important functions. One is known as a Regional Node, which entails the coordination of astronomy-for-development activities in countries within the general geographical region of East Asia (in first instance China, Mongolia and the DPRK, but without placing firm geographical limits on the region). The other is known as a Language Expertise Centre which will deal with all aspects relating to (mainly) the Chinese language and culture. The impact of the latter may obviously spread well beyond the geographical region to other parts of the world. At this next General Assembly, we aim at updating the community of the achievements and aims of the East Asian Office of Astronomy for Development.

Nestedness in assemblages of helminth parasites of bats: a function of geography, environment, or host nestedness?

PubMed

Warburton, Elizabeth M; Van Der Mescht, Luther; Khokhlova, Irina S; Krasnov, Boris R; Vonhof, Maarten J

2018-05-01

Nested subsets occur in ecological communities when species-poor communities are subsets of larger, species-rich communities. Understanding this pattern can help elucidate species colonization abilities, extinction risks, and general structuring of biological communities. Here, we evaluate nestedness in a poorly studied host-parasite system, bats and their helminths, across the Japanese archipelago and within its different bioclimatic regions. We hypothesized that (1) if helminth communities are nested across geographic sites at the level of the archipelago, then broad-scale processes, like colonization-extinction dynamics, mainly structure parasite assemblages; (2) if helminth communities are nested across geographic sites at the level of the bioclimatic region, then fine-scale environmental variation plays a significant role in species nestedness; (3) if helminth community nestedness mirrors host species nestedness, then communities are nested because the habitats they occupy are nested; and (4) if nestedness does not occur or if it is not correlated with any geographical or host data, then passive sampling could be responsible for the patterns of parasite assemblage in our sample. We found that helminth communities were nested across host species throughout the archipelago but, when considering each bioclimatic region, helminths in only one region were significantly more nested than the null model. Helminth communities were also nested across sites within all four bioclimatic regions. These results suggest that helminths form nested subsets across the archipelago due to broad-scale processes that reflect the overall lineages of their mammalian hosts; however, at the regional scale, environmental processes related to nestedness of their habitats drive parasite community nestedness.

Training physicians for community-oriented primary care in Latin America: model programs in Mexico, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

PubMed Central

Braveman, P A; Mora, F

1987-01-01

Under the rubrics of preventive and social medicine, public health, and family and community medicine, medical educators in Latin America have developed programs to train physicians for community-oriented health care (COPC). The historical background for such programs in Latin America is reviewed. Three relevant examples of programs in Mexico, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica are highlighted, drawing on the author's direct experience with and in these faculties. The paper addresses the relation between these programs and national and regional trends in education and services. PMID:3826469

Representative Agricultural Pathways and Scenarios for Regional Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptation. 5; Chapter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valdivia, Roberto O.; Antle, John M.; Rosenzweig, Cynthia; Ruane, Alexander C.; Vervoort, Joost; Ashfaq, Muhammad; Hathie, Ibrahima; Tui, Sabine Homann-Kee; Mulwa, Richard; Nhemachena, Charles;

Ecosystem services provided by pacific NW Estuaries: State of knowledge

EPA Science Inventory

Coastal regions in the United States are rapidly developing areas, with increasing urbanization and growing populations. Estuarine and nearshore coastal marine waters provide valuable ecosystem services to resident and transient human communities. In the Pacific Northwest (PNW)...

REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY IN NIGERIA: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS.

PubMed

Adedini, Sunday A; Odimegwu, Clifford; Imasiku, Eunice N S; Ononokpono, Dorothy N; Ibisomi, Latifat

2015-03-01

There are substantial regional disparities in under-five mortality in Nigeria, and evidence suggests that both individual- and community-level characteristics have an influence on health outcomes. Using 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data, this study (1) examines the effects of individual- and community-level characteristics on infant/child mortality in Nigeria and (2) determines the extent to which characteristics at these levels influence regional variations in infant/child mortality in the country. Multilevel Cox proportional hazard analysis was performed on a nationally representative sample of 28,647 children nested within 18,028 mothers of reproductive age, who were also nested within 886 communities. The results indicate that community-level variables (such as region, place of residence, community infrastructure, community hospital delivery and community poverty level) and individual-level factors (including child's sex, birth order, birth interval, maternal education, maternal age and wealth index) are important determinants of infant/child mortality in Nigeria. For instance, the results show a lower risk of death in infancy for children of mothers residing in communities with a high proportion of hospital delivery (HR: 0.70, p < 0.05) and for children whose mothers had secondary or higher education (HR: 0.84, p < 0.05). Although community factors appear to influence the association between individual-level factors and death during infancy and childhood, the findings consistently indicate that community-level characteristics are more important in explaining regional variations in child mortality, while individual-level factors are more important for regional variations in infant mortality. The results of this study underscore the need to look beyond the influence of individual-level factors in addressing regional variations in infant and child mortality in Nigeria.

The Bird Community Resilience Index: a novel remote sensing-based biodiversity variable for quantifying ecological integrity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michel, N. L.; Wilsey, C.; Burkhalter, C.; Trusty, B.; Langham, G.

2017-12-01

Scalable indicators of biodiversity change are critical to reporting overall progress towards national and global targets for biodiversity conservation (e.g. Aichi Targets) and sustainable development (SDGs). These essential biodiversity variables capitalize on new remote sensing technologies and growth of community science participation. Here we present a novel biodiversity metric quantifying resilience of bird communities and, by extension, of their associated ecological communities. This metric adds breadth to the community composition class of essential biodiversity variables that track trends in condition and vulnerability of ecological communities. We developed this index for use with North American grassland birds, a guild that has experienced stronger population declines than any other avian guild, in order to evaluate gains from the implementation of best management practices on private lands. The Bird Community Resilience Index was designed to incorporate the full suite of species-specific responses to management actions, and be flexible enough to work across broad climatic, land cover, and bird community gradients (i.e., grasslands from northern Mexico through Canada). The Bird Community Resilience Index consists of four components: density estimates of grassland and arid land birds; weighting based on conservation need; a functional diversity metric to incorporate resiliency of bird communities and their ecosystems; and a standardized scoring system to control for interannual variation caused by extrinsic factors (e.g., climate). We present an analysis of bird community resilience across ranches in the Northern Great Plains region of the United States. As predicted, Bird Community Resilience was higher in lands implementing best management practices than elsewhere. While developed for grassland birds, this metric holds great potential for use as an Essential Biodiversity Variable for community composition in a variety of habitat.

Exploration of the diversity and associated health benefits of traditional pickles from the Himalayan and adjacent hilly regions of Indian subcontinent.

PubMed

Chakraborty, Rakhi; Roy, Swarnendu

2018-05-01

The Himalayas have provided shelter to the various communities for thousands of years and have remained the cradle for the origin of diverse cultures and traditions. The Himalayan belt is rich in biodiversity and have ushered mankind with numerous gifts for survival and existence. The art of pickling is believed to have developed independently among the different communities of this region. In this region, the main meal is supplemented with pickles or achar that not only adds flavour, but also enhances the value of the meal and often comes with inherent health benefits. The prime objective of this article was to enlist the diverse pickles that are being prepared and consumed by the different tribes and communities, and at the same time analyse the science behind pickle preparation and health benefits and concerns associated with pickles. We have enlisted about hundred monotypic pickles, that are prepared from single fruit or vegetable; but sometimes fungi such as Agaricus and ferns like Diplazium and Pteridium have also been used. Also, fish and meat pickles are common mostly in the Eastern Himalayan region. Traditional pickles constitute the medicinal values of the ingredients and other beneficial properties conferred by the associated microorganisms.

Response of soil bacterial communities to lead and zinc pollution revealed by Illumina MiSeq sequencing investigation.

PubMed

Xu, Xihui; Zhang, Zhou; Hu, Shunli; Ruan, Zhepu; Jiang, Jiandong; Chen, Chen; Shen, Zhenguo

2017-01-01

Soil provides a critical environment for microbial community development. However, microorganisms may be sensitive to substances such as heavy metals (HMs), which are common soil contaminants. This study investigated bacterial communities using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene fragment sequencing in geographic regions with and without HM pollution to elucidate the effects of soil properties and HMs on bacterial communities. No obvious changes in the richness or diversity of bacterial communities were observed between samples from mining and control areas. Significant differences in bacterial richness and diversity were detected between samples from different geographic regions, indicating that the basic soil characteristics were the most important factors affecting bacterial communities other than HMs. However, the abundances of several phyla and genera differed significantly between mining and control samples, suggesting that Zn and Pb pollution may impact the soil bacterial community composition. Moreover, regression analyses showed that the relative abundances of these phyla and genera were correlated significantly with the soil-available Zn and Pb contents. Redundancy analysis indicated that the soil K, ammoniacal nitrogen (NH 4 + -N), total Cu, and available Zn and Cu contents were the most important factors. Our results not only suggested that the soil bacteria were sensitive to HM stresses but also indicated that other soil properties may affect soil microorganisms to a greater extent.

Social Network Analysis and Mining to Monitor and Identify Problems with Large-Scale Information and Communication Technology Interventions

PubMed Central

da Silva, Aleksandra do Socorro; de Brito, Silvana Rossy; Vijaykumar, Nandamudi Lankalapalli; da Rocha, Cláudio Alex Jorge; Monteiro, Maurílio de Abreu; Costa, João Crisóstomo Weyl Albuquerque; Francês, Carlos Renato Lisboa

2016-01-01

The published literature reveals several arguments concerning the strategic importance of information and communication technology (ICT) interventions for developing countries where the digital divide is a challenge. Large-scale ICT interventions can be an option for countries whose regions, both urban and rural, present a high number of digitally excluded people. Our goal was to monitor and identify problems in interventions aimed at certification for a large number of participants in different geographical regions. Our case study is the training at the Telecentros.BR, a program created in Brazil to install telecenters and certify individuals to use ICT resources. We propose an approach that applies social network analysis and mining techniques to data collected from Telecentros.BR dataset and from the socioeconomics and telecommunications infrastructure indicators of the participants’ municipalities. We found that (i) the analysis of interactions in different time periods reflects the objectives of each phase of training, highlighting the increased density in the phase in which participants develop and disseminate their projects; (ii) analysis according to the roles of participants (i.e., tutors or community members) reveals that the interactions were influenced by the center (or region) to which the participant belongs (that is, a community contained mainly members of the same region and always with the presence of tutors, contradicting expectations of the training project, which aimed for intense collaboration of the participants, regardless of the geographic region); (iii) the social network of participants influences the success of the training: that is, given evidence that the degree of the community member is in the highest range, the probability of this individual concluding the training is 0.689; (iv) the North region presented the lowest probability of participant certification, whereas the Northeast, which served municipalities with similar characteristics, presented high probability of certification, associated with the highest degree in social networking platform. PMID:26727472

Social Network Analysis and Mining to Monitor and Identify Problems with Large-Scale Information and Communication Technology Interventions.

PubMed

da Silva, Aleksandra do Socorro; de Brito, Silvana Rossy; Vijaykumar, Nandamudi Lankalapalli; da Rocha, Cláudio Alex Jorge; Monteiro, Maurílio de Abreu; Costa, João Crisóstomo Weyl Albuquerque; Francês, Carlos Renato Lisboa

2016-01-01

The published literature reveals several arguments concerning the strategic importance of information and communication technology (ICT) interventions for developing countries where the digital divide is a challenge. Large-scale ICT interventions can be an option for countries whose regions, both urban and rural, present a high number of digitally excluded people. Our goal was to monitor and identify problems in interventions aimed at certification for a large number of participants in different geographical regions. Our case study is the training at the Telecentros.BR, a program created in Brazil to install telecenters and certify individuals to use ICT resources. We propose an approach that applies social network analysis and mining techniques to data collected from Telecentros.BR dataset and from the socioeconomics and telecommunications infrastructure indicators of the participants' municipalities. We found that (i) the analysis of interactions in different time periods reflects the objectives of each phase of training, highlighting the increased density in the phase in which participants develop and disseminate their projects; (ii) analysis according to the roles of participants (i.e., tutors or community members) reveals that the interactions were influenced by the center (or region) to which the participant belongs (that is, a community contained mainly members of the same region and always with the presence of tutors, contradicting expectations of the training project, which aimed for intense collaboration of the participants, regardless of the geographic region); (iii) the social network of participants influences the success of the training: that is, given evidence that the degree of the community member is in the highest range, the probability of this individual concluding the training is 0.689; (iv) the North region presented the lowest probability of participant certification, whereas the Northeast, which served municipalities with similar characteristics, presented high probability of certification, associated with the highest degree in social networking platform.

A framework for regional primary health care to organise actions to address health inequities.

PubMed

Freeman, Toby; Javanparast, Sara; Baum, Fran; Ziersch, Anna; Mackean, Tamara

2018-06-01

Regional primary health-care organisations plan, co-ordinate, and fund some primary health-care services in a designated region. This article presents a framework for examining the equity performance of regional primary health-care organisations, and applies it to Australian Medicare Locals (funded from 2011 to 2015). The framework was developed based on theory, literature, and researcher deliberation. Data were drawn from Medicare Local documents, an online survey of 210 senior Medicare Local staff, and interviews with 50 survey respondents. The framework encompassed equity in planning, collection of equity data, community engagement, and strategies to address equity in access, health outcomes, and social determinants of health. When the framework was applied to Medicare Locals, their inclusion of equity as a goal, collection of equity data, community engagement, and actions improving equity of access were strong, but there were gaps in broader advocacy, and strategies to address social determinants of health, and equity in quality of care. The equity framework allows a platform for advancing knowledge and international comparison of the health equity efforts of regional primary health-care organisations.

Engaging Communities to Understand and Adapt to Environmental Changes with The GLOBE Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wegner, K.; Malmberg, J. S.; Murphy, T.; Mauriello, H.

2015-12-01

During the past twenty years, The GLOBE Program (www.globe.gov) has connected scientists, K-12 students, teachers, and other stakeholders to "co-create" scientific understanding of their local, regional, and global environment in more than 110 countries. Through the support and collaboration of federal agencies- NASA, NSF, and NOAA- the community-driven GLOBE database has more than 130 million Earth science measurements (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and pedosphere) that align with the USGCRP's indicators of climate change, such as air and surface temperature (Indicator: Global Surface Temperature), land cover (Indicators: 1) Forest Cover; 2) Grassland, Shrubland, and Pasture Cover), and plant phenology (Indicator: Start of Spring). GLOBE contributes to climate literacy while encouraging community members of all ages to enrich their scientific understanding, define issues of local relevance, and engage in broader action, such as regional and global science campaigns. In this session, we will present case studies of how GLOBE data has been used to inspire "homegrown" research campaigns such as the GLOBE Surface Temperature Campaign and European Aerosols Campaign, as well as solution-based action in response to environmental changes, including the development of a mosquito protocol in Thailand and across Africa and a toad service project in the Czech Republic. We will also discuss some of the initiatives we have led as a program in order to promote and share local and regional community-led efforts with our worldwide GLOBE community, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities presented by supporting climate research.

Seasonality and vertical structure of microbial communities in an ocean gyre.

PubMed

Treusch, Alexander H; Vergin, Kevin L; Finlay, Liam A; Donatz, Michael G; Burton, Robert M; Carlson, Craig A; Giovannoni, Stephen J

2009-10-01

Vertical, seasonal and geographical patterns in ocean microbial communities have been observed in many studies, but the resolution of community dynamics has been limited by the scope of data sets, which are seldom up to the task of illuminating the highly structured and rhythmic patterns of change found in ocean ecosystems. We studied vertical and temporal patterns in the microbial community composition in a set of 412 samples collected from the upper 300 m of the water column in the northwestern Sargasso Sea, on cruises between 1991 and 2004. The region sampled spans the extent of deep winter mixing and the transition between the euphotic and the upper mesopelagic zones, where most carbon fixation and reoxidation occurs. A bioinformatic pipeline was developed to de-noise, normalize and align terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) data from three restriction enzymes and link T-RFLP peaks to microbial clades. Non-metric multidimensional scaling statistics resolved three microbial communities with distinctive composition during seasonal stratification: a surface community in the region of lowest nutrients, a deep chlorophyll maximum community and an upper mesopelagic community. A fourth microbial community was associated with annual spring blooms of eukaryotic phytoplankton that occur in the northwestern Sargasso Sea as a consequence of winter convective mixing that entrains nutrients to the surface. Many bacterial clades bloomed in seasonal patterns that shifted with the progression of stratification. These richly detailed patterns of community change suggest that highly specialized adaptations and interactions govern the success of microbial populations in the oligotrophic ocean.

A systems approach for the development of a sustainable community--the application of the sensitivity model (SM).

PubMed

Chan, Shih-Liang; Huang, Shu-Li

2004-09-01

Corresponding to the concept of 'Think globally, act locally and plan regionally' of sustainable development, this paper discusses the approach of planning a sustainable community in terms of systems thinking. We apply a systems tool, the sensitivity model (SM), to build a model of the development of the community of Ping-Ding, located adjacent to the Yang-Ming-Shan National Park, Taiwan. The major issue in the development of Ping-Ding is the conflict between environmental conservation and the development of a local tourism industry. With the involvement of local residents, planners, and interest groups, a system model of 26 variables was defined to identify characteristics of Ping-Ding through pattern recognition. Two scenarios concerning the sustainable development of Ping-Ding are simulated with interlinked feedbacks from variables. The results of the analysis indicate that the development of Ping-Ding would be better served by the planning of agriculture and the tourism industry. The advantages and shortfalls of applying SM in the current planning environment of Taiwan are also discussed to conclude this paper.

Local community knowledge and participation for animal diversity conservation in SSWP IV Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashuri, Nova Maulidina; Oktafitria, Dwi; Wirawan, Indra; Muttaqin, Zainul; Alfarisy, M. Ulya; Azis, Abdul; Argiyanti, Sherly Eka; Fadilah, Via Nur

2017-06-01

Key to animal biodiversity conservation are the local communities that live in and around these sites as their livelihoods depend on the natural resources these sites provide. SSWP (Sub Satuan Wilayah Pembangunan) IV Sidoarjo covers Krian, Balongbendo, Tarik, Prambon, and Wonoayu subdistrict with the main function as technical agricultural, industrial zones supported by the low density of settlement activity. Development in this region which tend not balanced between technical agricultural and industrial activities, it is necessary to study in depth so that rapid industrial development can still pay attention to the environment because there is a trend change in agricultural land use and settlements for industrial activities. Take a look at the projections of potential future threats and potential huge biodiversity in SSWP IV is necessary to do a program with a strategic approach to community support efforts to efficiently manage potential biodiversity. As well as the development and diversification of food security program in the region is an abundant source of food. The purpose of this study was to determine the biodiversity of animals in SSWP IV Sidoarjo and knowing how the knowledge and participation of local communities on biodiversity of animals in the region. The study was conducted in August-September 2016 through direct field surveys for collecting animal biodiversity primary data. It also conducted a structured interview to determine how much knowledge and participation of local communities towards the conservation of biodiversity of animals in SSWP IV Sidoarjo. The results of field studies obtained 28 Aves species, 48 species of Insect, 14 species of Pisces, 4 species of Reptiles, 6 species of Mammals. It was known that there were a bird species with protected status in accordance with UU No. 5 1990 and least concern status in accordance with IUCN. While the results of the interview obtained 63% of 19 respondents did not know about the definition of biodiversity, however, 62% of respondents knew that the conservation of biodiversity is the protection of biodiversity. Based on the results of the study can be recommended to empowering knowledge and participation of local communities and suggest that a scheme of stakeholder-led no-take zones may be an effective strategy conservation for animal biodiversity.

Engaging Underrepresented Minorities in Research: Our Vision for a "Research-Friendly Community".

PubMed

Olson, Mary; Cottoms, Naomi; Sullivan, Greer

2015-01-01

This article introduces our "Research-Friendly Community" vision, placing research in the arena of social justice by giving citizens a voice and opportunity to actively determine research agendas in their community. The mission of Tri-County Rural Health Network, a minority-owned, community-based nonprofit serving 16 counties in Arkansas' Mississippi River Delta region, is to increase access to health-related services and opportunities to both participate in and shape research. Tri-County has built trust with the community through the use of Deliberative Democracy Forums, a model devised by the Kettering Foundation and through a community health worker program called Community Connectors. Over time, a partnership was formed with investigators at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Tri-County serves as a boundary spanner to link community members, other community organizations, local politicians, policy maker, and researchers. We describe our experience for other nonprofits or universities who might want to develop a similar program.

Attitude toward female genital mutilation among Somali and Harari people, Eastern Ethiopia

PubMed Central

Abathun, Asresash Demissie; Sundby, Johanne; Gele, Abdi A

2016-01-01

Background Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a worldwide problem, and it is practiced by many communities in Africa and Asia as well as immigrants from those areas. This practice results in short- and long-term health consequences on women’s health. Like many other developing countries, FGM is widely practiced in Ethiopia, especially among Somali and Harari ethnic groups. Despite intensive campaigns against FGM in Ethiopia, since 2011, it has been practiced in the aforementioned communities. There is no recent information as to whether these campaigns have an impact on the attitude and practice of the community regarding FGM. This qualitative research was aimed at exploring the attitudes of Somali and Harari people between 18 and 65 years toward FGM. Methods A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit 64 (32 in each region) participants. Data were collected from October to December 2015 in Somali and Harari Regions. Results The findings showed that there was a strong support for the continuation of the practice among female discussants in Somali region, whereas male discussants from the same region and the majority of the participants from Harari region had a positive attitude toward the discontinuation of the practice. Marriageability was the major reason for practicing FGM in Somali region, whereas making girls calm, sexually inactive, and faithful for their husbands were mentioned in Harari region. Although young men in both the regions prefer to marry uncircumcised girls, the study showed that there are some differences in the attitude toward the FGM practice between the people in the two regions. Conclusion The findings show that there is an attitudinal difference between the people in the two regions, which calls for behavioral change communication using women-centered approach and culturally appropriate strategies. As young people in both the regions had the intention to marry uncircumcised girls, there has to be a strong advocacy and multisectoral collaboration to stop FGM in both the regions. PMID:27785105

[Health in Andean regional integration].

PubMed

Agudelo, Carlos A

2007-01-01

Despite their shared history, the Andean countries are socially and politically diverse, with heterogeneous health realities and complex integration processes. General developments such as the Latin American Free Trade Association and Latin American Integration Association have existed for decades, along with others of a regional scope, like the Andean Community of Nations, Caribbean Community, and Central American Common Market. The health field has a specific instrument in the Andean Region called the Hipólito Unánue Agreement, created in 1971. Integration processes have concentrated on economic aspects, based on preferential customs agreements that have led to an important long-term increase in trade. Less progress has been made in the field of health in terms of sharing national experiences, knowledge, and capabilities. Analysis of experiences in health has shown that integration depends on the countries' respective strengths and to a major extent on national political processes.

Random forests, a novel approach for discrimination of fish populations using parasites as biological tags.

PubMed

Perdiguero-Alonso, Diana; Montero, Francisco E; Kostadinova, Aneta; Raga, Juan Antonio; Barrett, John

2008-10-01

Due to the complexity of host-parasite relationships, discrimination between fish populations using parasites as biological tags is difficult. This study introduces, to our knowledge for the first time, random forests (RF) as a new modelling technique in the application of parasite community data as biological markers for population assignment of fish. This novel approach is applied to a dataset with a complex structure comprising 763 parasite infracommunities in population samples of Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, from the spawning/feeding areas in five regions in the North East Atlantic (Baltic, Celtic, Irish and North seas and Icelandic waters). The learning behaviour of RF is evaluated in comparison with two other algorithms applied to class assignment problems, the linear discriminant function analysis (LDA) and artificial neural networks (ANN). The three algorithms are used to develop predictive models applying three cross-validation procedures in a series of experiments (252 models in total). The comparative approach to RF, LDA and ANN algorithms applied to the same datasets demonstrates the competitive potential of RF for developing predictive models since RF exhibited better accuracy of prediction and outperformed LDA and ANN in the assignment of fish to their regions of sampling using parasite community data. The comparative analyses and the validation experiment with a 'blind' sample confirmed that RF models performed more effectively with a large and diverse training set and a large number of variables. The discrimination results obtained for a migratory fish species with largely overlapping parasite communities reflects the high potential of RF for developing predictive models using data that are both complex and noisy, and indicates that it is a promising tool for parasite tag studies. Our results suggest that parasite community data can be used successfully to discriminate individual cod from the five different regions of the North East Atlantic studied using RF.

Dynamics of land-use change and conservation in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States: environmental and economic implications with linkages to rural community well-being

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gascoigne, William; Hoag, Dana; Johnson, Rex; Koontz, Lynne

2013-01-01

Rural America has changed dramatically over the last century, from having over half the population living in rural settings to only 20 percent residing in a rural area today, and outmigration of younger populations from rural communities remains a constant issue for local governing officials. A declining tax base and concurrent rising costs for maintenance and repair of aging infrastructure add further challenges to policy decisions. Reduced enrollment has caused school closures or mergers. Farm consolidation and technical advances reduced the demand for local labor. On the positive side, however, record-high commodity prices have amplified farm income to new heights. The increased revenues can lead to farmers spending additional money within the local region, while at the same time increased transportation of products has impacted local infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Such dynamics present challenges for municipal leaders charged with promoting economic development and balanced spending, while at the same time maintaining the way of life and rural character that are so important to area residents. The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of the United States covers much of the Northern Great Plains, including parts of North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and a small part of Montana, and extends across a broad swath of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The region is defined largely by its rural character but has experienced extensive land conversion over the last century, with agricultural areas replacing native prairie habitat. Additional pressures arise from oil and gas development, global markets for agricultural production, and increased demands for biofuel feedstocks. Record-high commodity prices increase pressure on the native prairie as farmers look for new cropland acres. The volatility of commodity prices has raised fears over the intensity of land conversion to row-crop agriculture, the economic health and resiliency of rural communities, and ultimately, population dynamics and outmigration of younger generations. Land-use pressures are increased by the exponential growth of oil and gas production in the region, where some 8,200 wells are now in production within the Williston Basin of North Dakota, accompanied by increased population pressures on housing and municipal services. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)--a cropland retirement program with close to 4.8 million acres enrolled in the PPR--faces uncertainty in upcoming legislative actions, with a large majority of property enrollments scheduled to expire by 2017. The CRP historically has provided improved habitat conditions, reductions of soil damage through erosion and loss of nutrients, and sequestration of millions of tons of atmospheric carbon. In turn, wildlife-related recreation levels have increased in many parts of the PPR, with money spent in local communities. Contemporary resource-management and rural-development planning increasingly emphasize the need for diversification and integration of resource-extractive industries with nonmarket-based recreational and amenity values that tie into quality of life. Ultimately, each community is unique in its environmental, social, economic, and fiscal endowments. One rural-development policy may work better in one community than another. In addition, rural-development issues such as migration, job growth, and taxes are diverse in themselves. The goal of this report is to qualitatively and quantitatively discuss the economic impacts of land-use decisions in rural areas, particularly in the PPR.

Assessing dementia in resource-poor regions.

PubMed

Maestre, Gladys E

2012-10-01

The numbers and proportions of elderly are increasing rapidly in developing countries, where prevalence of dementia is often high. Providing cost-effective services for dementia sufferers and their caregivers in these resource-poor regions poses numerous challenges; developing resources for diagnosis must be the first step. Capacity building for diagnosis involves training and education of healthcare providers, as well as the general public, development of infrastructure, and resolution of economic and ethical issues. Recent progress in some low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) provides evidence that partnerships between wealthy and resource-poor countries, and between developing countries, can improve diagnostic capabilities. Without the involvement of the mental health community of developed countries in such capacity-building programs, dementia in the developing world is a disaster waiting to happen.

Trypanosoma cruzi reservoir—triatomine vector co-occurrence networks reveal meta-community effects by synanthropic mammals on geographic dispersal

PubMed Central

Valiente-Banuet, Leopoldo; Sánchez-Cordero, Víctor; Stephens, Christopher R.

2017-01-01

Contemporary patterns of land use and global climate change are modifying regional pools of parasite host species. The impact of host community changes on human disease risk, however, is difficult to assess due to a lack of information about zoonotic parasite host assemblages. We have used a recently developed method to infer parasite-host interactions for Chagas Disease (CD) from vector-host co-occurrence networks. Vector-host networks were constructed to analyze topological characteristics of the network and ecological traits of species’ nodes, which could provide information regarding parasite regional dispersal in Mexico. Twenty-eight triatomine species (vectors) and 396 mammal species (potential hosts) were included using a data-mining approach to develop models to infer most-likely interactions. The final network contained 1,576 links which were analyzed to calculate centrality, connectivity, and modularity. The model predicted links of independently registered Trypanosoma cruzi hosts, which correlated with the degree of parasite-vector co-occurrence. Wiring patterns differed according to node location, while edge density was greater in Neotropical as compared to Nearctic regions. Vectors with greatest public health importance (i.e., Triatoma dimidiata, T. barberi, T. pallidipennis, T. longipennis, etc), did not have stronger links with particular host species, although they had a greater frequency of significant links. In contrast, hosts classified as important based on network properties were synanthropic mammals. The latter were the most common parasite hosts and are likely bridge species between these communities, thereby integrating meta-community scenarios beneficial for long-range parasite dispersal. This was particularly true for rodents, >50% of species are synanthropic and more than 20% have been identified as T. cruzi hosts. In addition to predicting potential host species using the co-occurrence networks, they reveal regions with greater expected parasite mobility. The Neotropical region, which includes the Mexican south and southeast, and the Transvolcanic belt, had greatest potential active T. cruzi dispersal, as well as greatest edge density. This information could be directly applied for stratification of transmission risk and to design and analyze human-infected vector contact intervention efficacy. PMID:28413725

An edge-centric perspective on the human connectome: link communities in the brain.

PubMed

de Reus, Marcel A; Saenger, Victor M; Kahn, René S; van den Heuvel, Martijn P

2014-10-05

Brain function depends on efficient processing and integration of information within a complex network of neural interactions, known as the connectome. An important aspect of connectome architecture is the existence of community structure, providing an anatomical basis for the occurrence of functional specialization. Typically, communities are defined as groups of densely connected network nodes, representing clusters of brain regions. Looking at the connectome from a different perspective, instead focusing on the interconnecting links or edges, we find that the white matter pathways between brain regions also exhibit community structure. Eleven link communities were identified: five spanning through the midline fissure, three through the left hemisphere and three through the right hemisphere. We show that these link communities are consistently identifiable and investigate the network characteristics of their underlying white matter pathways. Furthermore, examination of the relationship between link communities and brain regions revealed that the majority of brain regions participate in multiple link communities. In particular, the highly connected and central hub regions showed a rich level of community participation, supporting the notion that these hubs play a pivotal role as confluence zones in which neural information from different domains merges. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Thriving locally in the global economy.

PubMed

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss

2003-08-01

More and more small and midsize companies are joining corporate giants in striving to exploit international growth markets. At the same time, civic leaders worry about their communities' economic future in light of the impact of global forces on the operation and survival of business. How can communities retain local vitality yet still link their business to the global economy? Harvard professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter addresses that question in this classic HBR article, orginally published in 1995. To avoid a clash between international economic interests and local political interests, globalizing business must learn how to be responsive to the communities in which they operate, Kanter says. And communities must determine how to create a civic culture that will attract and retain footloose companies. The author surveyed five U.S. regions with direct connections to the global economy--Boston, Cleveland, Miami, Seattle, and the Spartanburg-Greenville region of South Carolina--to determine their business and civic leader's strategies for improving their constituent's quality of life. She identified ways in which the global economy can work locally by capitalizing on the resources that distinguish one place from another. Kanter argues that regions can invest in capabilities that connect their local populations to the global economy in one of three ways: as thinkers, makers, or traders. She points to the Spartanburg-Greenville region as a good example of a world-class makers, with its exceptional blue-collar workforce that has attracted more than 200 companies from 18 countries. The history of the economic development of this region is a lesson for those seeking to understand how to achieve world-class status and bring local residents into the world economy.

Effects of rural residential development on forest communities in Oregon and Washington, USA

Treesearch

David L. Azuma; Bianca N.I. Eskelson; Joel L. Thompson

2014-01-01

Rural residential development in forests of Oregon and Washington continues to be a key driver of land use change. This type of development can have a variety of effects on the goods and services forests provide to the region. We used structure density from photo-interpreted points around forest inventory and analysis plots to examine differences in forest attributes...

A taxonomy for community-based care programs focused on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care in resource-poor settings

PubMed Central

Rachlis, Beth; Sodhi, Sumeet; Burciul, Barry; Orbinski, James; Cheng, Amy H.Y.; Cole, Donald

2013-01-01

Community-based care (CBC) can increase access to key services for people affected by HIV/AIDS through the mobilization of community interests and resources and their integration with formal health structures. Yet, the lack of a systematic framework for analysis of CBC focused on HIV/AIDS impedes our ability to understand and study CBC programs. We sought to develop taxonomy of CBC programs focused on HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings in an effort to understand their key characteristics, uncover any gaps in programming, and highlight the potential roles they play. Our review aimed to systematically identify key CBC programs focused on HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings. We used both bibliographic database searches (Medline, CINAHL, and EMBASE) for peer-reviewed literature and internet-based searches for gray literature. Our search terms were ‘HIV’ or ‘AIDS’ and ‘community-based care’ or ‘CBC’. Two co-authors developed a descriptive taxonomy through an iterative, inductive process using the retrieved program information. We identified 21 CBC programs useful for developing taxonomy. Extensive variation was observed within each of the nine categories identified: region, vision, characteristics of target populations, program scope, program operations, funding models, human resources, sustainability, and monitoring and evaluation strategies. While additional research may still be needed to identify the conditions that lead to overall program success, our findings can help to inform our understanding of the various aspects of CBC programs and inform potential logic models for CBC programming in the context of HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings. Importantly, the findings of the present study can be used to develop sustainable HIV/AIDS-service delivery programs in regions with health resource shortages. PMID:23594416

A taxonomy for community-based care programs focused on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care in resource-poor settings.

PubMed

Rachlis, Beth; Sodhi, Sumeet; Burciul, Barry; Orbinski, James; Cheng, Amy H Y; Cole, Donald

2013-04-16

Community-based care (CBC) can increase access to key services for people affected by HIV/AIDS through the mobilization of community interests and resources and their integration with formal health structures. Yet, the lack of a systematic framework for analysis of CBC focused on HIV/AIDS impedes our ability to understand and study CBC programs. We sought to develop taxonomy of CBC programs focused on HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings in an effort to understand their key characteristics, uncover any gaps in programming, and highlight the potential roles they play. Our review aimed to systematically identify key CBC programs focused on HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings. We used both bibliographic database searches (Medline, CINAHL, and EMBASE) for peer-reviewed literature and internet-based searches for gray literature. Our search terms were 'HIV' or 'AIDS' and 'community-based care' or 'CBC'. Two co-authors developed a descriptive taxonomy through an iterative, inductive process using the retrieved program information. We identified 21 CBC programs useful for developing taxonomy. Extensive variation was observed within each of the nine categories identified: region, vision, characteristics of target populations, program scope, program operations, funding models, human resources, sustainability, and monitoring and evaluation strategies. While additional research may still be needed to identify the conditions that lead to overall program success, our findings can help to inform our understanding of the various aspects of CBC programs and inform potential logic models for CBC programming in the context of HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings. Importantly, the findings of the present study can be used to develop sustainable HIV/AIDS-service delivery programs in regions with health resource shortages.