Community capability building for environmental conservation in Lake Biwa (Japan) through an adaptive and abductive approach

In the south basin of Lake Biwa, Shiga, Japan, overgrown aquatic weeds (submerged macrophytes) impede cruising boats and cause unpleasant odors and undesirable waste when washed ashore. To address this socio-ecological problem, Shiga Prefectural Government implemented a public program to remove overgrown weeds and compost them ashore to conserve the lake environment, while coastal inhabitants and occasional volunteers remove weeds from the beaches to maintain the quality of the living environment. However, these effects are limited because of disjointed social networks. We applied an adaptive and abductive approach to develop community capability to jointly address this problem by sharing academic knowledge with local actors and empowering them. The initial multifaceted reviews, including interviews and postal questionnaire surveys, revealed that the agro-economic value of composted weeds declined in historical and socio-psychological contexts and that most of the unengaged public relied on local governments to address environmental problems. These findings were synthesized and assessed with workshop participants, including local inhabitants, governmental agents, businesspeople, social entrepreneurs, and research experts, to unearth the best solution. The workshops resulted in the development of an e-point system, called Biwa Point, to promote and acknowledge voluntary environmental conservation activities, including beach cleaning. It may contribute to enhancing the socio-ecological capability of communities. Additionally, ethical issues, such as publication of inconvenient truths, undesired interpretation by the researchers, and social constraints in research methods, arose through our research practice.

An adaptive and abductive approach to develop community capability for environmental conservation in Lake Biwa (Japan)

In the south basin of Lake Biwa, Shiga, Japan, overgrown aquatic weeds (submerged macrophytes) impede cruising boats, and cause unpleasant odors and undesirable waste when washed ashore. To address this socio-ecological problem, Shiga Prefectural Government implemented a public program to remove overgrown weeds and compost them ashore to conserve the lake environment, while coastal inhabitants and occasional volunteers remove weeds from the beaches to maintain the quality of the living environment. However, these effects are limited because of the disjointed social networks. We evaluate an adaptive and abductive approach to develop community capability to jointly address this problem by sharing the academic knowledge with local actors and empowering them to adopt initiatives. The initial multifaceted academic reviews, including interviews and postal questionnaire surveys revealed that the agro-economic value of composted weeds declined in historical and socio-psychological contexts and that most of the unengaged public relied on local governments to address environmental problems. These findings were synthesized and assessed with workshop participants, including local inhabitants, governmental agents, businesspeople, social entrepreneurs, and research experts, to unearth the best solution. The workshops resulted in the development of an e-point system, called Biwa Point , to promote and acknowledge voluntary environmental conservation activities, including beach cleaning. It may contribute to enhancing the socio-ecological capability of communities. Additionally, ethical issues, such as publication of inconvenient truths or undesired interpretation by the researchers as well as social constraints in research methods, arose through our research practice.

Macquarie–Yaegl Partnership: Community Capability Strengthening Through Western and Indigenous Science

The rich customary knowledge possessed by Indigenous people from around the world has provided intellectually stimulating academic research opportunities and has been a successful avenue for healthcare and drug discovery as well as commercial native foods, flavours, fragrances, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and agricultural products. When conducted with benefit sharing and reciprocity as core agenda, such research can provide community capability strengthening and immense rewards for both the Indigenous people and the academic research team involved, as well as benefiting potentially many others. This account shares my experiences as a natural products and medicinal chemistry academic, of working with Australian Aboriginal Elders, most notably from Yaegl Country of northern New South Wales, on investigating their bush medicines. Together we have facilitated the recognition and preservation of Yaegl Country customary knowledge and through initiation of a science leadership program, the National Indigenous Science Education Program, we have promoted educational attainment and STEM engagement in Australian Aboriginal youth. While this account is authored as my own personal statement of the Macquarie–Yaegl partnership, I am indebted to the Yaegl Aboriginal Elders and other Australian Aboriginal people I have worked with, and my university, school and community collaborators, my research team and student volunteers, who have all enabled the outcomes described in this account to be realised, and have made the experience so rewarding. I am also thankful to the Royal Australian Chemical Institute for the recognition of the value of this work through the award of a 2019 Royal Australian Chemical Institute Citation.

Mechanism of Implementing Technology in the Community of Eastern Indonesia (Case Study in Belu Regency– Nusa Tenggara Timur Province)

<p>The strategy of implementing innovation and technology in the Belu Regency community is very important to be stated as best practice for other regions in Eastern Indonesia. This paper discusses a number of strategies that can be implemented as best practices for increasing community capability in using technology for managing and processing local resources by: technical training and continues coaching; providing equipment to target house-hold scale enterprises; and encourage Regional Governments to actively assist communities continually. Some strategies that fail in implementing technology in the regions are important lessons for us, that technology implementation requires adequate initial information, starting from location conditions, socio-economic of community, supporting infrastructure, human resource readiness, involvement and full support from the Regional Government. From long experience in Belu Regency, it can be a lesson for the technology implementation in Eastern Indonesia or in other regions that have similarities in community characteristics and natural conditions.</p>

Community Resilience of Mining Area and Food Vulnerability in South Kalimantan

Coal mining policies and activities in addition to having a positive impact on state income, job creation and business, also have a negative impact on ecosystems and communities in the mining area. The study was conducted in two mining communities in South Kalimantan using an emic and etic approach to explore community resilience and food insecurity due to ecological changes and the impact of mining policies and activities. Coal mining policies and activities in South Kalimantan causes catastrophic floods, land damage, and crop failure on lowland rice fields that have an impact on potential food insecurity at the household and community level. The pattern of community resilience in the two communities is in the form of social movements as a form of social adaptation, and agricultural land recovery and changing agricultural commodities as a form of ecological adaptation. The process of community resilience in the two communities is at the level of recovery towards a stable community condition, not yet at the transformation stage. Community capability is the most influential factor on the degree of community resilience so that the handling of food insecurity based on community resilience needs to be done by developing strategies to increase community capability.

Climate Change and Hazards Risk Management, Community Capability, Resilience and Vulnerability in Swat, Shangla, and Kohistan District, Northwest Pakistan

The study area comprises of humid and undifferentiated highland climates having total precipitation of52inches (1320mm) and fluctuation of -5.3inches or -134millimeters (1961-2014). The study area was a highly humidclimate in 1961, while recently it seems on the porch of sub-humid ambiance. The annual trends show depletion in theprecipitation concentration since 1980. Based on temperature, there are three types of temperature zones that are cool,cold and highlands. The maximum temperature recorded in June as well as July and reversed in January. The averagetemperature indicates a rise of 0.20C, which is higher during winters and converse in summers. The swell in the degreeof hotness enhanced the water anxiety as well as the recoil of glaciers and increased the rate of natural hazards. Thehydrology of the area is highly susceptible to the alteration in weather conditions in terms of glaciers retreat; fall inriver flow, sub-surface water, natural disasters, desiccation of ponds and water springs. The yearly runoff of the Swatriver reveals a decrease of -0.03 m3/Sec, while it is 12.4 m3/Sec in the Ghurband river (Shangla). It is concluded, thatthe yearly inclination of water runoff is contrary to mean temperature and directly proportional to precipitation. Themost frequent natural disasters of the study area comprise of earthquakes, floods, landslides, snow avalanches, forestfires and epidemics (hepatitis, stomachache, and cholera). These hazards can be minimized using well planning (top tobottom) for risk management, preparedness, vulnerabilities and mitigation strategies at the community level in the area.

Climate Change and Hazards Risk Management, Community Capability, Resilience and Vulnerability in Swat, Shangla, and Kohistan District, Northwest Pakistan

The study area comprises of humid and undifferentiated highland climates having total precipitation of52inches (1320mm) and fluctuation of -5.3inches or -134millimeters (1961-2014). The study area was a highly humidclimate in 1961, while recently it seems on the porch of sub-humid ambiance. The annual trends show depletion in theprecipitation concentration since 1980. Based on temperature, there are three types of temperature zones that are cool,cold and highlands. The maximum temperature recorded in June as well as July and reversed in January. The averagetemperature indicates a rise of 0.20C, which is higher during winters and converse in summers. The swell in the degreeof hotness enhanced the water anxiety as well as the recoil of glaciers and increased the rate of natural hazards. Thehydrology of the area is highly susceptible to the alteration in weather conditions in terms of glaciers retreat; fall inriver flow, sub-surface water, natural disasters, desiccation of ponds and water springs. The yearly runoff of the Swatriver reveals a decrease of -0.03 m3/Sec, while it is 12.4 m3/Sec in the Ghurband river (Shangla). It is concluded, thatthe yearly inclination of water runoff is contrary to mean temperature and directly proportional to precipitation. Themost frequent natural disasters of the study area comprise of earthquakes, floods, landslides, snow avalanches, forestfires and epidemics (hepatitis, stomachache, and cholera). These hazards can be minimized using well planning (top tobottom) for risk management, preparedness, vulnerabilities and mitigation strategies at the community level in the area.

Evaluasi Program CSR PT. Socfindo terhadap Kesejahteraan Masyarakat Nagan Raya

This article aims to investigate the contribution and impact of PT. Socfindo to the society around the company and to show the response of the society toward existing of PT. Socfindo. The research method used in this article is a qualitative approach. The theory used is the community empowerment theory. The results show that CSR program that is running still in a stage like charity, philanthropy dan infrastructure development. CSR nowadays did not exist yet an aspect of human resources development or community capability development. The existing of the company has an impact on society, that is a social conflict between society and company. Also, it has an impact on the living environment, like air pollution, waste leak, and dust. The economic impact has not been seen significantly. The company has not up to economic empowerment program. Society response to the company shows the distrust or skepticism caused by many dynamics. AbstrakArtikel ini mengkaji tentang bagaimana kontribusi dan dampak PT. Socfindo terhadap masyarakat sekitar perusahaan dan bagaimana respon masyarakat terhadap kehadiran PT.Socfindo. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data melalui observasi, wawancara mendalam dan dokumentasi. Teori yang digunakan adalah teori pemberdayaan masyarakat. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa program CSR yang dijalankan masih pada tahap-tahap program yang bersifat charity, phylantrophy dan pembangunan infrastruktur, CSR saat ini belum menyentuh pada aspek peningkatan sumberdaya manusia atau peningkatan kapasitas masyarakat. Kehadiran perusahaan berdampak pada sosial, yaitu konflik sosial antara masyarakat dengan perusahaan, dampak lainnya berupa dampak terhadap lingkungan hidup, polusi udara, kebocoran limbah, debu. Dampak ekonomi belum terlihat secara signifikan, perusahaan belum sampai pada program pemberdayaan ekonomi. Respon masyarakat terhadap perusahaan menunjukkan ketidakpercayaan yang disebabkan oleh banyaknya dinamika.