scholarly journals Community resilience in post-socialist rural areas

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
Sándor Papp

Resilience thinking has become an increasingly popular topic in both academic and policy-making circles due to its normative interpretation, which assumes that resilience is the opposite of vulnerability. Vulnerable groups, communities, settlements, regions and nations have a greater likelihood of facing more serious consequences in the event of unpredictable, negative shocks. Based on this view, in general, rural communities and regions can be considered more vulnerable and hence less resilient to unknown, negative events, as the subsistence of these communities is more closely linked to their environments rather than to people living in urban areas. This is further exacerbated by the path dependence of having a post-socialist past: the ‘legacy’ of socialism that, in many cases, includes a relatively disadvantageous position, backwardness and intensification of peripheralisation processes. While there is no consensus on the concept of resilience itself, there are several approaches and perspectives related to possibly detecting signs of its existence in rural communities. Our aim to present how the notion of resilience can be operationalised at the farm level in post-socialist contexts based on three different perspectives in order to contribute resilience thinking related to post-socialist discourses. We illustrate how rural community resilience may be conceptualised based on the example of the grape- and wine-producing communities of Soltvadkert, Hungary and the Minis-Maderat wine region, Romania. Based on our qualitative methodological results, it can be stated that the resilience of a community or group, its properties reflecting resilience can be interpreted in several ways, which is partly location-dependent, partly path-dependent, however, it is highly dependent not only on embedded structures but also on activities that are constantly reproduced by community members.

Author(s):  
Remus Runcan

According to Romania’s National Rural Development Programme, the socio-economic situation of the rural environment has a large number of weaknesses – among which low access to financial resources for small entrepreneurs and new business initiatives in rural areas and poorly developed entrepreneurial culture, characterized by a lack of basic managerial knowledge – but also a large number of opportunities – among which access of the rural population to lifelong learning and entrepreneurial skills development programmes and entrepreneurs’ access to financial instruments. The population in rural areas depends mainly on agricultural activities which give them subsistence living conditions. The gap between rural and urban areas is due to low income levels and employment rates, hence the need to obtain additional income for the population employed in subsistence and semi-subsistence farming, especially in the context of the depopulation trend. At the same time, the need to stimulate entrepreneurship in rural areas is high and is at a resonance with the need to increase the potential of rural communities from the perspective of landscape, culture, traditional activities and local resources. A solution could be to turn vegetal and / or animal farms into social farms – farms on which people with disabilities (but also adolescents and young people with anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide, and alexithymia issues) might find a “foster” family, bed and meals in a natural, healthy environment, and share the farm’s activities with the farmer and the farmer’s family: “committing to a regular day / days and times for a mutually agreed period involves complying with any required health and safety practices (including use of protective clothing and equipment), engaging socially with the farm family members and other people working on and around the farm, and taking on tasks which would include working on the land, taking care of animals, or helping out with maintenance and other physical work”


Author(s):  
Jianhong Fan ◽  
You Mo ◽  
Yunnan Cai ◽  
Yabo Zhao ◽  
Dongchen Su

Resilience of rural communities is becoming increasingly important to contemporary society. In this study we used a quantitative method to measure the resilience regulating ability of rural communities close to urban areas—in Licheng Subdistrict, Guangzhou City, China. The main results are as follows: (1) Rural systems close to urban areas display superior adapting and learning abilities and have a stronger overall resilience strength, the spatial distribution of which is characterized by dispersion in whole and aggregation in part; (2) the resilience of most rural economic subsystems can reach moderate or higher levels with apparent spatial agglomeration, whilst the ecological subsystem resilience and social resilience are generally weaker; the spatial distribution of the former shows a greater regional difference while the latter is in a layered layout; (3) some strategies such as rebuilding a stable ecological pattern, making use of urban resources and cultivating rural subjectivity are proposed on this basis, in order to promote the sustainable development of rural areas and realize rural revitalization. This work also gives suggestion for the creation of appropriate and effective resilience standards specifically targeted for rural community-aiming to achieve the delivery of local sustainability goals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4359
Author(s):  
Carla Barlagne ◽  
Mariana Melnykovych ◽  
David Miller ◽  
Richard J. Hewitt ◽  
Laura Secco ◽  
...  

In a context of political and economic austerity, social innovation has been presented as a solution to many social challenges, old and new. It aims to support the introduction of new ideas in response to the current urgent needs and challenges of vulnerable groups and seems to offer promising solutions to the challenges faced by rural areas. Yet the evidence base of the impacts on the sustainable development of rural communities remains scarce. In this paper, we explore social innovation in the context of community forestry and provide a brief synthetic review of key themes linking the two concepts. We examine a case of social innovation in the context of community forestry and analyse its type, extent, and scale of impact in a marginalized rural area of Scotland. Using an in-depth case study approach, we apply a mixed research methodology using quantitative indicators of impact as well as qualitative data. Our results show that social innovation reinforces the social dimension of community forestry. Impacts are highlighted across domains (environmental, social, economic, and institutional/governance) but are mainly limited to local territory. We discuss the significance of those results in the context of community forestry as well as for local development. We formulate policy recommendations to foster and sustain social innovation in rural areas.


Author(s):  
Tuuli-Marja Kleiner

Does civic participation lead to a large social network? This study claims that high levels of civic participation may obstruct individual social embeddedness. Using survey data from the German Survey on Volunteering (Deutscher Freiwilligensurvey; 1999–2009), this study conducts macro- as well as multi-level regressions to examine the link between civic participation and social embeddedness. Findings reveal that civic participation on the sub-national regional level is not generally associated with social embeddedness, but it affects the participants’ and non-participants’ possibilities for friendships differently. This holds especially true in urban areas, but the effect cannot be found in rural areas. The analysis has implications for further research to enhance the social embeddedness of the excluded.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Ssemugabo ◽  
Elizeus Rutebemberwa ◽  
Dan Kajungu ◽  
George W Pariyo ◽  
Adnan A Hyder ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND There is need for more timely data to inform interventions that address the growing noncommunicable disease (NCD) epidemic. With a global increase in mobile phone ownership, mobile phone surveys can bridge this gap. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to explore the acceptability and use of interactive voice response (IVR) surveys for surveillance of NCD behavioral risk factors in rural Uganda. METHODS This qualitative study employed user group testing (UGT) with community members. The study was conducted at the Iganga-Mayuge Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (IM-HDSS) in Eastern Uganda. We conducted four UGTs which consisted of different categories of HDSS members: females living in urban areas, males living in urban areas, females living in rural areas, and males living in rural areas. Participants were individually sent an IVR survey, then were brought in for a group discussion using a semistructured guide. Data were analyzed thematically using directed content analysis. RESULTS Participants perceived that IVR surveys may be useful in promoting confidentiality, saving costs, and raising awareness on NCD behavioral risk factors. Due to the clarity and delivery of questions in the local language, the IVR survey was perceived as easy to use. Community members suggested scheduling surveys on specific days and sending reminders as ways to improve their use for surveillance. Social issues such as domestic violence and perceptions toward unknown calls, technological factors including poor network connections and inability to use phones, and personal issues such as lack of access to phones and use of multiple networks were identified as barriers to the acceptability and use of mobile phone surveys. However, incentives were reported to motivate people to complete the survey. CONCLUSIONS Community members reflected on contextual and sociological implications of using mobile phones for surveillance of NCD behavioral risk factors. The opportunities and challenges that affect acceptability and use of IVR surveys should be considered in designing and implementing surveillance programs for NCD risk factors.


2012 ◽  
pp. 769-785
Author(s):  
K. P. Joo

The rural communities in South Korea have faced serious challenges as the country has gradually opened the agricultural market and extended the conclusion of Free Trade Agreement with more and more countries. Moreover, due to the national socio-economic and political structures, South Korea has been undergoing the technological imbalance between rural and urban areas. In order to cope with these vital social challenges, the South Korean government has exerted considerable investment and effort in establishing ICT knowledge and skills as well as infrastructure in rural areas. Thus, conceptualizing ICT in the context of adult education, this chapter addresses three ICT-supported adult education programs oriented toward developing ICT skills and competencies of people in agricultural areas of South Korea. The South Korean cases of agricultural ICT education represent the vast and concentrated national efforts in integrating ICT across rural areas in this fast changing global situation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. Studnek ◽  
Antonio R. Fernandez

AbstractIntroduction: This study intended to describe the types of organizations and communities in which Nationally Registered First Responders (NRFR) perform their duties. Also, it aimed to estimate the number of NRFR who received disaster preparedness training. It was hypothesized that NRFR participation in disaster preparedness training was related to the types of organizations and communities in which they performed their duties.Methods: The NRFR re-registering in 2006 were asked to report the organization type and community size in which they work. They also were asked to report the amount and content of preparedness training received during the last 24 months. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was utilized to describe the relationship between NRFR organizational characteristics and the receipt of disaster preparedness training.Results: The analysis included 872 (59%) individuals who completed the survey and reported working for one or more emergency medical services (EMS) organizations. The majority of NRFR performed work in rural areas (75%) and more NRFR reported working for fire departments (61%) than for any other organization type. In all categories of service type, participants who reported working in urban areas had higher odds of receiving disaster preparedness training than those working in rural areas. Additionally, regardless of community size, individuals working in fire departments were more likely to receive disaster preparedness training.Conclusions: This study indicated that the majority of NRFR perform EMS duties for fire departments and work in rural communities. In this sample of NRFR, more than one-quarter did not receive disaster preparedness training within a 24-month period. Finally, a statistical model was constructed that indicated a relationship between service type, community size, and the participation in disaster preparedness training.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. e023033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yafei Si ◽  
Zhongliang Zhou ◽  
Min Su ◽  
Xiao Wang ◽  
Xin Lan ◽  
...  

ObjectiveDespite the latest wave of China’s healthcare reform initiated in 2009 has achieved unprecedented progress in rural areas, little is known for specific vulnerable groups’ catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) in urban China. This study aims to estimate the trend of incidence, intensity and inequality of CHE in hypertension households (households with one or more than one hypertension patient) in urban Shaanxi, China from 2008 to 2013.MethodsBased on the fourth and the fifth National Health Service Surveys of Shaanxi, we identified 460 and 1289 households with hypertension in 2008 and 2013, respectively for our analysis. We classified hypertension households into two groups: simplex households (with hypertension only) and mixed households (with hypertension plus other non-communicable diseases). CHE would be identified if out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure was equal to or higher than 40% of a household’s capacity to pay. Concentration index and its decomposition based on Probit regressions were employed to measure the income-related inequality of CHE.ResultsWe find that CHE occurred in 11.2% of the simplex households and 22.1% of the mixed households in 2008, and the 21.5% of the simplex households and the 46.9% of mixed households incurred CHE in 2013. Furthermore, there were strong pro-poor inequalities in CHE in the simplex households (−0.279 and −0.283) and mixed households (−0.362 and −0.262) both in 2008 and 2013. The majority of observed inequalities in CHE could be associated with household economic status, household head’s health status and having elderly members.ConclusionWe find a sharp increase of CHE occurrence and the sustained strong pro-poor inequalities for simplex and mixed households in urban Shaanxi Province of China from 2008 to 2013. Our study suggests that more concerns are needed for the vulnerable groups such as hypertension households in urban areas of China.


2010 ◽  
Vol 07 (02) ◽  
pp. 129-143
Author(s):  
AININ SULAIMAN ◽  
NOOR ISMAWATI JAAFAR ◽  
ROHANA JANI

This paper focuses on examining the ICT diffusion by studying an initiative of the Malaysian government to bridge the digital divide that exists across the country's urban and rural communities. This is achieved through investigating the operation and the experience of a typical Rural Internet Centre. The findings of this study showed that there is keen interest among the community to learn and sharpen their ICT-related skills. The Internet Centre serves to provide an avenue for the realisation of this goal. The study showed that despite some operational snags, the Internet Centre performed well. One of the by-products of the centre was that its activities fostered closer relationships among users; it provided an avenue for disparate community members to interact and share their new skills. Bringing the ICT usage and appreciation to the rural areas was successful. About half of the centre users made weekly visits during which they searched for information on the internet, sent and received e-mail and attended the Internet Centre's regular IT classes. They also saw it as a valuable communication channel and a potential leveller of the technological capability gap.


Author(s):  
Łukasz Komorowski ◽  
Monika Stanny

The paper assumed that public transport is more often financed in the multifunctional rural areas than in typical agricultural communities. The authors have tried to explain whether public transport in urban areas is regressive or the number of communities financing this service is increasing. Own studies show that number of rural communities financing public transport has increased between 2001 and 2016. In spite of all, there are large spatial differentiations across the country. Comparatively high percentage of inhabitants of typical agricultural areas do not have possibility to use public transport. Need to organize this service was pointed relatively often in those communities.


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