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Fostering civic participation and collective actions for disaster risk reduction: Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand case studies
(Elsevier Ltd., 2024-11-03) Das M; Becker J; Doyle EEH
This paper explores how community members collaborate with emergency management organizations in the pre-disaster stage and engage in collective actions for reducing disaster risks in their communities. Utilizing four qualitative case studies from New Zealand, we examined how local groups interested in reducing community level disaster risks form, the nature of their collective actions and collaboration with emergency management organizations, their facilitators and barriers and the outcomes of the processes. The findings suggest that people's involvement, collaboration, and collective action in the pre-disaster stage entails participating in programmes administered by emergency management organizations through diverse community groups, informal emergency response teams, and specialized volunteer groups. The two primary goals are to have a group of people ready to provide immediate support in an event by maintaining community response teams and making prior arrangements that support people to spontaneously volunteer in an emergency, through community emergency hub approach. These groups engage in tasks such as creating community response plans, maintaining resources, and fostering communication and social capital. The factors facilitating these efforts include hazard awareness, community conversations, institutional support and active DRR organizations, clear objectives, skilled facilitators, and ensuring community solutions are supported. However, currently, community involvement in the pre-disaster stage is narrowly focused on improving response outcomes, lacking a broader perspective of addressing developmental and environmental issues that create risks. They are also rooted in the idea of a solidaristic community and rely on social capital. We discuss the implications of the current practices and the way forward.
Participation-- who owns it? : enhancing community participation on Bohol Island, Philippines : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
(Massey University, 2005) Vos, Robert John
Community participation has been seen as a means of improving project outcomes with participatory development practices being mainstreamed by most multilateral development agencies. However, 'participation' remains an overused, poorly understood and subjectively defined concept with various partners in the development process concurrently exhibiting different understandings of the concept. A critique of participation also suggests that the rhetoric of participation not only exceeds the practice but that practitioners can use participatory development in an unjust and abusive manner. A problem development organisations in the Philippines face is how to enhance community participation in project communities. Using a case study approach, this research studies a non-government organisation (NGO) and a rural community in the Philippines, partners in implementing two development projects during 1995 - 2003. Research on Bohol during June - July 2004 sought to understand the factors which influenced the willingness and ability of community members to participate in the projects, and the strategies used by the NGO to enhance community participation. This research finds that project participation was enhanced by the community's social cohesion, the NGO's authentic planning and implementation with the community, and the project personnel's respectful and trusting relationships with community members. Similarly, the manner in which project components explicitly met felt need, the enthusiasm generated by the NGO, and the high degree of community ownership of the projects, led to community participation. In contrast, community conflict, the community's negative experience of historical events, selective participation, and the high perceived costs of participation led to non-participation.
The effectiveness of community participation in planning and urban developments : thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Masterate of Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University
(Massey University, 2007) Van Empel, Christoffel
In recent years, community participation in planning and urban development processes has experienced an increased attention in planning process and public awareness of its importance in planning and public decision-making processes. There seems to be a growing expectation from the public to be involved, in order to hold the policymakers accountable. Contemporary planning theories acknowledge the value of community participation in the development processes of our built environment, suggesting that community involvement has the potential to achieve a more sustainable outcome. Research in this field suggests that citizen participation can generate trust, credibility, and commitment regarding the implementation of policies, and that the conflicts are resolved during the planning process rather than delaying implementation of completed plans. How and to what extent public involvement has an influence on the planning process however is dependent on the conditions such processes are operating. This thesis will investigate the tools available to measure the effectiveness of public participation and their influences on urban development and planning processes. The various approaches of community involvement will be studied to ascertain how the characteristics of public involvement affects the planning process, and to what extent the objectives of the parties involved are considered and reconciled in that process. This research will be based on a qualitative research strategy, by identifying and examining the characteristics of existing participation techniques in planning processes through a literature review. These findings will be used to develop a framework of indicators for the assessment of the effectiveness of community involvement in urban developments, by way of a case study. The case study used for this research is the "Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy', a collaborative initiative for the development of a growth strategy for the Christchurch region. The literature review has identified aspects such as, level, timing and extent of participation processes, type, quality and availability of technical information, and techniques employed, as process influencing characteristics for community involvement. While, with a focus on the participation process, indicators such as legitimacy, ideology, fairness, equal power, competence, social learning, efficacy, responsiveness, representativeness, capacity and willingness, have been suggested as tools to measure the effectiveness of community involvement. The 'effectiveness' indicators as extracted from the literature review have been found valuable for the assessment of the community participation process and have been used as a framework for the analysis of the process in the case study, by observing the communication and consultation process and conducting a questionnaire survey of key stakeholders in the project. The case study has learned that, although the use of the individual indicators has been beneficial for the analysis of the process, the identified indicators have the potential to influence each other, suggesting that they should not be evaluated independently. The findings of this research can be summarized as follows: • Most sectors of the community seem to have an interest in their built environment and associated urban planning processes, provided that their involvement is encouraged by stimulating information on the relevant issues and expertise is provided to support their contributions. • Although no conclusive outcomes with regard to the motivation of the various participants in the process have been reached, the professionals involved in the projcct seem to have a networking and sharing of expertise focused interest. • A strong commonality in the views from the public has been observed, with a focus on the 'big picture' rather than self-interests. • Collaborative planning has been experienced as an effective technique for consensus building between the professionals involved in the process. • The quality of resources and allocation of time seem to be influential elements for a community participation process. Although, due to the timeline of the case study, the research has been limited to the community participation process related indicators, the observation of the process has suggested that process and outcomes should not be separated and that further research to assess the influences of the community involvement on the product outcomes would be valuable.
Popular participation in rural development : the New Zealand/Solomon Islands customary land reforestation project on Malaita : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Philosophy, Department of Sociology, Massey University
(Massey University, 1991) Clark, Kevin; Clark, Kevin
This study explores the concept of popular participation in rural development with particular reference to the forestry sector and its role in poverty alleviation. It starts with the premise that popular participation is necessary to address poverty issues and that popular participation can be promoted through aid projects funded by bilateral aid donors and implemented through government bureaucracies. The case study of an aid-funded social forestry project in Solomon Islands highlights impediments to aid agency promotion of popular participation: different objectives from local people, a blueprint approach to project management, and lack of experience in community development, and identifies some of the difficulties of working with Third World bureaucracies: a top down approach to development, limited resources, inexperience, and a weak infrastructure. Nevertheless, it concludes that a participatory approach to project planning and implementation is possible.
Local perspective on community based ecotourism : a case study in Ban Na in Phu Khao Khoay national protected area, Lao PDR : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Management at Massey University, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2011) Phimmakong, Kongchay; Phimmakong, Kongchay
In 2002 the Lao government adopted a policy for nationwide economic growth based on the development of tourism as a priority sector. This aims to alleviate poverty through ecotourism and pro-poor tourism, through community based projects such as Ban Na community based ecotourism (CBE) project. This research aimed to investigate factors influencing household involvement in CBE projects in Laos. The impacts of the project within the village were also identified. To date little research with this focus has been undertaken in Laos. The findings and recommendations of this research will provide important information to the Lao Government for the future development of strategies and initiatives concerning community participation in rural ecotourism. This is particularly important for Laos as they are in the early stages of developing their ecotourism industry, especially CBE projects in rural areas. To achieve this, a single case study was undertaken focusing on Ban Na CBE project and field data was collected using semi-structured interviews and observations, and additional secondary sources. Qualitative data analysis methods were used to extract the key findings. This research confirmed that CBE has the potential to enhance socio-cultural, socioeconomic and environmental benefits for rural communities in Laos. In socio-cultural terms CBE increased household awareness of the value of their traditional culture, and in socioeconomic terms CBE allowed local households to improve their livelihoods through financial benefits. The benefits have taken place at both community and household levels. At the community level, public infrastructure has been improved such as water supply upgrading. At the household level, households actively involved have gained direct income from guiding and homestays. The new source of income has enabled households to improve their housing conditions, to purchase farm materials and investing in their children’s education. Those households that have not been actively involved in CBE (that include the very poor) also benefit from selling local products and through access to the CBE village fund. CBE has resulted in enhanced conservation outcomes for the protected area. This is a consequence of increased household awareness of the environment and their impact on it. However, CBE has also had negative impacts including an increase in solid wastes and dust and noise associated with the increasing number of tourists. Findings from this research indicate that the majority of households can benefit from CBE projects when the management of the project includes rules that limit the level of participation of any one household, thereby ensuring maximum household participation and subsequent resulting benefits. In a CBE project, there is no requirement for all households to be involved in providing services to tourists because it is not possible for some households to provide the types of service preferred by tourists. Although, not all households can actively participate in CBE, the benefits can be accessed by all those in the community. CBE has the potential to provide benefits across the community to both households who are actively and not actively involved in the project. This equitable benefit is a result of the CBE project rules that ensure assistance through the community fund, spread benefits from actively involved households and ensure those households not actively involved are able to access benefits. The findings from this research also illustrate that a local structure such as village committee can manage and establish rules for CBE projects without support from outsiders. The committee also has the potential to manage the allocation of benefits across the community. Further, rules within CBE projects have the potential to assist long term sustainability and ensure the equitable distribution of benefits throughout the community. CBE provides an opportunity for community members with different circumstances to participate in the project due to the range and nature of ecotourism activities such as guiding, hosting tourists and producing handicrafts. This is also the case for a homestay option which offers women an opportunity to be actively involved and gain direct benefits without leaving their children and household responsibilities. However, like other community based development projects, poorer households are limited from being actively involved as a result of lack of facilities, time, labour and lack of awareness of the rules around the project and potential benefits as well as personal confidence.
The influence of the Fijian way of life (bula vakavanua) on community-based marine conservation (CBMC) in Fiji, with a focus on social capital and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2011) Nainoca, Winifereti Ubianalaca
This doctoral research explores the role of bula vakavanua (traditional Fijian way of life) in implementing community-based marine conservation (CBMC) in Fiji, with a focus on indigenous Fijian social capital and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). A combination of western and indigenous methodologies was utilised with a particular focus on CBMC experiences at three case study sites, namely Navakavu (Rewa); Kubulau (Bua) and Verata (Tailevu). The Vanua Research Framework (VRF) developed by Nabobo-Baba (2007) was adapted to elicit stories from these communities based on indigenous practices of talanoa, which literally means „to tell a story‟. I am an indigenous Fijian female researcher, and consequently needed to respect and follow traditional protocols pertinent to females and indigenous Fijians with regards to gender issues and tribal and kinship links. The three key findings of my research are: the interconnectedness of all things in the bula vakavanua; talanoa as dialogue and negotiation to facilitate adaptation of the bula vakavanua to external factors; and kinship (veiwekani) as the hub through which TEK and social capital actions and behaviour are lived out. First, to indigenous Fijians, all creation is interconnected. The common Fiji mud crab1 (qari) is used as a metaphor to illustrate interconnection between all aspects of the bula vakavanua in an indigenous Fijian world. There is a „crab‟ saying in Fijian society that is translated “I‟ll walk how you walked, mother”. In CBMC initiatives, bula vakavanua (the crab) lives in an environment influenced by other factors, including political, social and economic factors. These factors have to be continually and appropriately integrated into the bula vakavanua so that the crab adapts and flourishes. Second, this integration can be facilitated by talanoa as dialogue and negotiation so that community members and CBMC partners can share, reflect upon and reframe their worldviews, perceptions and ultimately practices. Talanoa is facilitated by developing listening and communication skills that enable participants to clarify, critique and re- 1 Brachyura species. ii align their perceptions. This re-alignment may require the change in norms, behaviour and practices in prevailing Fijian culture in order to adapt to the changing environment. I use examples from my case studies to show where talanoa as dialogue and negotiations have worked and, where talanoa is still ongoing to develop shared understanding and resolve conflicts. Third, kinship (veiwekani) is the basis upon which most aspects of the bula vakavanua are lived out. Kinship may be based on blood links, Vanua links or through marriage. In Fiji both TEK and social capital are embedded within the kinship system of the bula vakavanua. For instance in TEK, skills and knowledge are inherited through birth and reinforced by oral transmission and training throughout the generations, emphasising the embeddedness of TEK in families and kinship systems. The impacts of this research are centred round the three key findings. Indigenous Fijians must appreciate that, just like the metaphorical crab, the bula vakavanua has to continually adapt to a changing environment through talanoa, or it will not survive. These adaptations will require different degrees of change in cultural behaviour and norms in order to make it suitable and relevant for the current times. The bula vakavanua (or other indigenous way of life) must be appreciated and how it plays out in the CBMC work must be understood, and appropriately facilitated, to help ensure the sustainability and success of the work. NGOs can play a more prominent role in facilitating talanoa sessions for unresolved issues in CBMC work, while indigenous Fijian individuals in the partner organisations can provide a crucial a link between the organisation and the community. The government also needs to exercise the political will to resolve some issues such as legal recognition of community-appointed qoliqoli wardens, MPAs and the issue of qoliqoli ownership by the Vanua. This research is not only relevant to Fiji, but to other Pacific Island sites, or any CBMC sites where indigenous knowledge and way of life exist.
Community participation in health development in Thailand : a thesis presented in fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing at Massey University
(Massey University, 1997) Tassniyom, Nit
This thesis is a chronicle of research into the implementation of community participation in health development in Thailand. Community participation is recognised as the key concept of primary health care. Participation in this study has been conceptualised as power. Therefore, to participate is to achieve power, and participation is a process of empowerment. The research participants were health workers employed at the subdistrict health centre, and village health volunteers. These participant groups were chosen because the researcher perceived that they were groups with relatively little power in the Thai health service. The research involved the participants in a two stage process. The first stage was an examination of the concept of participation in relation to the community's experience with development projects. During this stage it became apparent to the researcher that the original concept of community participation was poorly understood by both participant groups. The second stage involved the use of participatory research to achieve community empowerment by supporting the participants in an analysis-action-reflection process. Dialogue, with equal respect between the researcher and participants, was the key method to encourage analysis of their existing situation in order to raise their awareness, the most important step of empowerment. Simultaneously, action research was also utilised to solve a selected health problem, dengue fever control. A comparison between the results of the implementation of action research processes and that of the participatory research processes utilised in this study revealed that participatory research better ensured community participation in health development. The findings provide an understanding of the theoretical concept of community participation in health development, and its enaction by the use of an empowerment process. The utilisation of a new primary health care approach, whereby the community is empowered to be self reliant and solve its own health problems, would depend on the acceptance and application of the empowerment approach by health workers. The empowerment approach would need to be pivotal in the work of all health personnel, including the implementation of policies and routine practice. Specifically, the empowerment approach has much to offer community health nursing and its adoption would support the World Health Organisation's recommendation that a problem-solving, process-oriented and community-based curriculum is necessary to adequately prepare these practitioners. The adoption of this approach would require expansion of the present curriculum to include not only public health science and nursing science concepts, but also those related to community development. The new curriculum would uniquely equip nurses to work in communities and this in turn would provide specialised knowledge for community health nursing, allowing it to be differentiated from other nursing specialties.
Civil society in the Chi River, Northeast Thailand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Policy and Social Work at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2005) Choopug Suttisa
The thesis 'Civil Society in the Chi River, Northeast Thailand', aims to answer the questions of what civil society means in the Northeast Thai village context, which factors make civil society proactive and how civil society is activated. Participatory action research (PAR) was carried out in two communities in the Chi River Basin to answer the inquiries. The research discusses the contexts of the Northeast Region and the two communities in the Chi River Basin. The people in this area are of the Thai-Laos ethnic group and hold particular beliefs in an amalgam of Buddhism and animism which creates cultural rituals that are different from other regions. The society is based on kinship ties. The economic situation has transformed from an agrarian society to a commercial agriculture society. Through the research process the new term of 'grounded civil society' was created. It means 'the sphere of an autonomous group of local people who actively participate in collective action to deal with their struggles and promote their common interests by mobilizing cultural and social capitals in consort with other people to productively solve their problems. Grounded civil society may include traditional forms of mutual assistance, and formal or informal social associations. It seeks to have a significant influence on public policy at any level'. The research found that grounded civil society was activated by both outside and inside factors. The outside factors included the negative effect of government development projects and the intervention of the participatory action research, which stimulated local people to engage in civil society. The inside factors activating civil society were the poor economic conditions of the villagers and the social capital existing in the communities. The social capital was built up around kinship ties and cultural capital, which generated the social values and norms of the local people. The research concluded with an analysis of the causal links between social capital and civil society claiming that social capital facilitated the creation of civil society. Further research possibilities are suggested.
Participation and project sustainability : Participatory Integrated Development in Rain-fed Areas (PIDRA) project in East Java-Indonesia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2008) Komalawati
This thesis examines the relationships between participation and project sustainability. By using the Participatory Integrated Development in the Rain-fed Areas (PIDRA), an integrated rural development project, in three districts of East Java, Indonesia, as a case study, it addresses the question about what kind of participation will lead the intended beneficiaries to continue to use and benefit from the services that remain beyond the project period. The research found that the project mostly targeted the poor, marginalised, and vulnerable people, and widows as household heads. However, some high school graduates and wealthy villagers were also included as target beneficiaries. Most participants were actively involved and participated in the project implementation activities, but rarely participated in project planning and design as well as monitoring and evaluation. The results also show that factors influencing participation of the intended beneficiaries of the PIDRA Project in the target areas were: the responsibility of the beneficiaries to the groups as members and as leaders part of the management team; the level of education, knowledge, and skills of participants; incentives provided to access credits; the availability and use of sanctions; the geographical situation; poverty; age; support from the government; and the role of facilitators. Analysis of the case study shows that the PIDRA Project in East Java will likely have some sustainable activities and benefits in the short term. Furthermore, participation is likely lead to the project sustainability of some project elements when participation is not only used as a means but also as an end. However, the results also suggest the increasing cooperation and collaboration of government and the NGOs, and defining participant groups based on similar educational background and socio-economic situation will enhance participation and project sustainability. This study would also raise the attention of development practitioners of the dangers of the participatory approach in their practice because it could be manipulative, harm people who are supposed to be advantaged, and hence create “new tyranny” in development interventions.
Participatory approaches to development : an analysis of the experiences of development projects in Sudan : a thesis presented in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2007) El Gack, Nawal El-Gaili
This thesis aims to explore and analyse the experiences of participatory development projects in Sudan. The study focuses on participation in development, an issue that has attracted debate and discussion since the early 1970s. To contribute to this discussion and create more knowledge on this issue the White Nile Agricultural Services Project (WNASP) and North Kordofan Rural Development Project (NKRDP) were selected as case studies. Through various methods the nature and potential of participatory development approaches and interventions have been explored with the aim of identifying the factors that influenced people's participation, and suggesting ways to improve the practice of participatory development at grassroots level. The study found that although the projects encouraged and claimed to adopt participatory approaches, people were not engaged in a process through which participation could achieve empowerment or create real changes in their lives. The outcome of people's participation in the projects was influenced by development providers' policies, credibility and behaviour of staff, nature and amount of resources, socio-cultural norms, power relations, and communities' previous experiences, organisation and level of education. This suggests that primarily, designing participatory development programmes requires an in-depth understanding of prevailing social, economic, political and physical environments. Secondly, development providers should adopt approaches that accept negotiations with communities and challenge oppressive situations. Finally, if participatory development is to achieve its objectives, local communities must be provided with resources, information and skills. Based on evidence from powerful individuals in North Kordofan, this thesis suggests a moral-obligatory approach as one of the ways to improve the practice of participatory development in Sudan. This approach requires a fundamental change in development providers' policies, visions and credibility. If the essence of participatory development is adhered to, and if strategies and plans are designed collectively then there is an opportunity for making real change in the lives of those addressed by development interventions. This thesis concludes that more research is needed to explore the values, role, and impact of development providers and facilitators, as well as the nature and potential of local communities' participative values, organisations and practices.

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