scholarly journals Old Japanese Capital Local Community Festivals: The Matsugasaki Case

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-220
Author(s):  
Maya Keliyan
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Community Festivals ◽  
Old Japanese ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Local Traditions

The aim of the article is to explore the importance of local festivals for building and strengthening social ties and solidarity between local community members in the Matsugasaki district of the old Japanese capital Kyoto. The analysis is based on the results of qualitative surveys conducted by the author in 2012-2013, 2015-2016 and 2018-2019 at three local festivals. During all three periods, the Summer festival and the Obon (The festival of the Dead) were studied, and during the last period, the Autumn festival, which was restored after a seven-year break, was also examined. The enterprising local actors playing a leading role in the preservation, organization and performance of these festivals have been identified, characterizing their activities and motivation. The relationships between the native and the newcomers in the neighborhood are investigated, considering the problems between them, arising from the non-admission of the newcomers to participate in the organization and performance of Obon rituals. Conclusions are reached on the ways in which local traditions have been preserved and/or changed over the years, indicating the factors influencing these processes.

scholarly journals ORGANIZATIONAL AND LEGAL BASIS OF CUSTOMS CONTROL PROCEDURE

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-88
Author(s):  
Vitaliy Kadala ◽  
◽  
Olena Guzenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Control Procedure ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Organizational Mechanism ◽  
Control Procedures ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Realistic Information ◽  
Negative Factors ◽  
The Relationship

The implementation of customs control occupies a significant share of the activities of customs officers. Customs control procedures make it possible to identify customs violations in a timely manner, to ensure the content of measures aimed at preventing customs offenses, reveals the possibility of identifying shortcomings in the work of customs officials who are responsible for a particular area of work. In addition, the customs control procedure reveals not only the shortcomings in the work of certain parts of the customs, but above all, establishes the level of compliance with the principles of customs control and performance of its functions. This thesis is based on the fact that in case of violation of these segments there is a certain area of activity, which usually acts as a zone of customs violations. At the same time, customs control helps to improve the quality of document flow and provides an opportunity to form more realistic information flows for management decisions. At the same time, customs control procedures provide an opportunity to determine the relationship between the elements of the organizational mechanism, to establish at what stage is the duplication of functional responsibilities of responsible persons, and on this basis to decide on its improvement in the future. However, these advantages of customs control are partially offset by a number of negative factors that have some impact on the effectiveness of the procedure itself. There are professional and scientific discussions about the content of negative factors influencing customs control procedures, among which the leading role is given to the shortcomings in the law-making process. Existing problems indicate the feasibility of conducting research in this area. The article highlights the existing problematic factors influencing the customs control procedures, reveals the legal regulations for their implementation and determines the content of the principles and functions that customs officers are obliged to adapt during their adaptation. Attention is paid to the expediency of expanding the functions of the customs control procedure, the advantage of such changes is outlined. The author's position of content of conceptual categories «customs control», «customs control procedure», «organization of customs control» with the substantiation of the chosen approach is offered. The specific features of the organization of the customs control procedure are revealed, the main tasks are determined and the directions of its improvement are established. The author's position on the expediency of choosing both legal and human factors in the development of measures to improve the customs control procedure is given. The relationship between the qualification level of the executors of control actions and the effectiveness of the customs control procedure is substantiated.

Withshare

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiawei Chen ◽  
Benjamin V. Hanrahan ◽  
John M Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Local Community ◽  
User Study ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Community Members ◽  
The Social ◽  
Important Design

Coproductions are reciprocal activities that all parties are actively engaged in and create synergies that cannot be produced by one party alone. Coproduction activities are important for community building, as the social interactions among community members create social values such as new social ties, trust and reciprocal recognition. Mobile technologies bring new opportunity for coproductions by supporting small-scale reciprocal activities that are location and time sensitive. In this article, the authors introduce and study WithShare, a smartphone application that helps people to organize such coproduction activities. A 3-week user study with 38 young adults in a local community of college students shows WithShare facilitates the coordination of opportunistic and lightweight reciprocal activities in their daily life. The results highlight potentials of coproduction activities in strengthening existing social ties, and establishing new weak ties in the local community. The findings suggest important design implications for mobile technologies to support coproduction activities.

DIFFUSION AND ADOPTION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN SOUTH AFRICAN TELECENTRES: SELECTED TELECENTRES IN KWAZULU-NATAL

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blessing Mbatha
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovations ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Ict Tools ◽  
The Government ◽  
Types Of Information

This study investigated the usage and types of information and communications technologies (ICTs) accessible to community members in four selected Thusong Service Centres (TSCs or telecentres) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The telecentres that participated in the study were: Nhlazuka, Mbazwane, Dududu and Malangeni. The study was informed by Rogers’ (1995) Diffusion of Innovations (DoI) theory. Through a survey, four TSCs were purposively selected. A questionnaire was used to collect data from community members in the four telecentres involved. The data collected was tabulated under the various headings and presented using tables, frequencies, percentiles and generalisations with the help of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results indicated that a variety of ICT tools have been adopted in the TSCs to provide the local community with the much-needed access to information and improved communication. The government should ensure that adequate varieties and levels of ICT competence are offered to all the citizens. In conclusion, there is a need for sufficient and coherent government policies regulating the training of the local community to use these ICTs effectively.

scholarly journals Intrinsic Value and Perceived Essentialism of Culture Heritage Sites as Tools for Planning Interventions

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5078
Author(s):  
Magdalena Roszczynska-Kurasinska ◽  
Anna Domaradzka ◽  
Anna Wnuk ◽  
Tomasz Oleksy
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Social Acceptance ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Design Changes ◽  
Culture Heritage ◽  
Response To Change

In order to remain alive and relevant, cultural heritage sites have to react and adapt to changing context in a coherent manner, i.e., in a way that is in line with the memory and identity of the place. The incoherent changes, i.e., the transformations that according to the local community do not agree with a character of a place, can be destructive for the long-term vitality of urban cultural heritage. In this study, we test which factors influence social acceptance of different alternations within the context of urban historical gardens that might, in turn, ensure the resilience of the place. Our study focuses on the intangible qualities of the place measured by intrinsic value, perceived essentialism and anti-essentialism as important predictors shaping the response to change. The correlational study was conducted using an online questionnaire designed to empirically grasp intangible qualities of cultural heritage sites. Five hundred twenty-nine responses were included in the analysis. The study shows that perceived historic value, inherent value (uniqueness and importance of the place) and (anti-)essentialist character of a place capture the differences between parks well and enables the finding of interventions that are coherent with a site’s genius loci. Measuring intangible qualities of urban gardens can help to design changes that find higher approval among local community members and users of the site. We discuss how the analysis of an intrinsic value and essentialism allows for planning better spatial interventions that align with the human-centered approach to urban development.

scholarly journals 3543 Translating the complex medical jargon of opioid use disorder and medication assisted treatment into locally relevant messages in rural Colorado using Boot Camp Translation

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (s1) ◽  
pp. 97-98
Author(s):  
Mary Fisher ◽  
Donald E. Nease ◽  
Linda Zittleman ◽  
Jack Westfall ◽  
Jennifer Ancona
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Boot Camp ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Research Network ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Medication Assisted Treatment ◽  
South Central

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a national epidemic and identified as a top priority by the practices and communities in rural Colorado. Until recently, few resources existed to address OUD in rural communities. In addition to training primary care and behavioral health practice teams in medication assisted treatment (MAT), Implementing Technology and Medication Assisted Treatment and Team Training and in Rural Colorado (IT MATTTRs Colorado) engaged local community members to alter the community conversation around OUD and treatment. For IT MATTTRs, the High Plains Research Network and the Colorado Research Network engaged community members in a 8-10 month process known as Boot Camp Translations (BCT) to translate medical information and jargon around OUD and MAT into concepts, messages, and materials that are meaningful and actionable to community members. The resulting community interventions are reported here. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: IT MATTTRs conducted separate BCTs in Eastern Colorado and the south central San Luis Valley. Community partners included non-health professionals with diverse backgrounds, public health and primary care professionals, law enforcement, and others. The BCT process includes a comprehensive education on OUD and MAT and facilitated meetings and calls to develop messages and dissemination strategies. Each BCT lasted around 8-10 months. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The BCT process elicited unique contextual ideas and constructs for messages, materials, and dissemination strategies. Themes common to both BCTs include the prevalence of OUD and that help is available in the local primary care office. Community-tailored messages are distributed through posters and flyer inserts, drink coasters, newspaper articles, letters to local judges, restaurant placemats, and websites. Examples of the materials and messages will be presented. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Local community members are eager to help address the OUD crisis. Built on community-based participatory research principles, BCT can be used to translate complex information and guidelines around OUD and MAT into messages and materials that reflect local culture and community needs.

scholarly journals Community Energy Companies in the UK: A Potential Model for Sustainable Development in “Local” Energy?

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Séverine Saintier
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Community Interest ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Energy Community ◽  
The Uk

The rise of renewable energy sources (RES) comes with a shift in attention from government and market energy governance to local community initiatives and self-regulation. Although this shift is generally welcome at domestic and EU level, the regulatory dimension, at both levels, is nevertheless not adapted to this multi-actor market since prosumers are not empowered and energy justice is far from achieved. The rise, in the UK, of Community Interest Companies (consumers and local actors’ collectives) in the energy sector provides an interesting perspective as it allows a whole system’s view. Research was conducted with six energy community organizations in the South West of England in order to evaluate their role and identity and assess whether this exemplar of “the rise of a social sphere in regulation” could be used as a model for a more sustainable social approach to the governance of economic relations. Findings illustrate that such organizations undoubtedly play an important role in the renewable energy sector and they also help to alleviate some aspects of “energy injustice”. Yet, the failure to recognize, in terms of energy policy, at domestic and EU level, the importance of such actors undermines their role. The need to embed and support such organizations in policy is necessary if one is to succeed to put justice at the core of the changing energy landscape.

Community dynamics in Fijian coral reef fish communities vary with conservation and shark-based tourism

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 363
Author(s):  
Mallory G. McKeon ◽  
Joshua A. Drew
Keyword(s):  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Fish Abundance ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Feeding Methods ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Unprotected Area

Marine protected areas (MPAs) effectively improve the biomass and diversity in heavily exploited marine systems, but often fail to reach their full potential because they require more space, time, and consistency of regulation. Recently, shark-based tourism, which utilises some of the remaining shark strongholds as tourism hotspots, has brought about increased awareness to exploited reef systems. In Fiji, specifically, shark diving companies include local community members in their operations to promote better understanding of their reefs. We seek to investigate whether seemingly denser shark populations during feeding times influence community composition and structure. Visual census data were collected from 50-m belt transects at four different reefs in Fiji: two MPAs with shark-based ecotourism with food provisioning, one MPA without shark-based ecotourism, and one unprotected area without shark-based tourism. Paradoxically, indices of evenness and diversity were highest in the non-protected site. However, there was significantly higher fish abundance and species diversity within reserves than outside of reserves. Within reserves, sites with shark feeding had lower fish abundance and higher richness, diversity, and evenness. Mean trophic level was highest at sites with shark feeding. Use of chum increased average fish abundance and diversity within shark-dive sites. These results indicate that there are evident differences between MPAs that do and do not offer trophic supplementation for shark-based ecotourism. Thus, tourism may be facilitating a shift of ecosystem composition in such areas. Furthermore, the results suggest that feeding methods may augment the impacts of shark-based tourism on the reef at large.

scholarly journals Community expectations and motivations in entomological research activities for the development of innovative malaria vector control tools: Target Malaria as a case study in Bana, Western Burkina Faso

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nourou Barry ◽  
Patrice Toé ◽  
Lea Pare/Toe ◽  
Javier Lezaun ◽  
Mouhamed Drabo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Motivational Factors ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Mosquito Collection ◽  
Entomological Research ◽  
The Village ◽  
Western Burkina Faso

Abstract BackgroundMany field entomology research projects involve local communities in mosquito-collection activities. Since 2012, Target Malaria, a not-for-profit research consortium, has been working with community members in various studies of mosquito collection, release and recapture in the village of Bana, in Western Burkina Faso. Target Malaria’s long-term goal is to develop innovative solutions to combat malaria in Africa with the help of mosquito modification technologies. Since the start of the project, members of local communities have shown interest in playing an active role in the implementation of the project’s research activities, but their actual motivations for such an interest remain under-investigated. This study therefore aimed to examine the factors that motivate the local community to contribute to the implementation of Target Malaria’s activities in the village of Bana. MethodsA qualitative approach was used to examine the factors motivating the local community to assist in the implementation of Target Malaria’s entomological research activities in Bana. 85 individual in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted, followed by interviews with three focus groups, one with youths who had participated in mosquito collections and two with men and women from the village. All data collected were fully transcribed, processed, and submitted for thematic content analysis. ResultsData showed that the willingness of local community members to participate in the entomological research activities of Target Malaria was informed by a wide range of motivational factors. Although the actors interviewed expressed their motivations under different semantic registers, the data showed a degree of consistency between different motivations advanced. These similarities enabled us to classify all of the motivational factors under 5 distinct categories: (a) assist in field research, (b) contribute to a better future, (c) acquire knowledge, (d) earn financial compensation, and (e) gain social prestige.ConclusionThese varying motivations reflected fundamentally different personal and collective perceptions about the participation process. In addition, this study shows that the interest of research on participation is a useful part of understanding public perceptions.

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