Community development among toxic tailings: An interactional case study of extralocal institutions and environmental health

The primary purpose of an improved water supply and sanitation is the achievement of acceptable health and hygiene standards as well as the sustainable improvement of the environment. Many governments recognize this and so they budget for large sums of money to improve these services to the communities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the different gaps in environmental health and hygiene practices with the aim of suggesting a strategy of improving this in the Northern Province of South Africa. To do this, 231 households and 30 schools were surveyed. Workshops and visits to different government departments were also used. This paper reports the results from this study which indicate that the situation in schools was not any better than that in households, with more than 90% of the villages still dependent on the unimproved pit latrines and 56,6% relying on standpipes which were (70% of the time) non-operational. The main problems identified seem to those associated with implementation and maintenance. The study concludes that with proper training of the water committees and their active involvement with the government and NGOs, environmental health and hygiene problems can be minimized or eliminated.

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The young women's network: a case study in community development

Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology ◽

10.1002/casp.633 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 381-388 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

S. K. Steginga ◽

J. Dunn

Keyword(s):

Community Development

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Assets-based approaches to developing age friendly communities: learning from the bristol ageing better programme

Working with Older People ◽

10.1108/wwop-07-2021-0038 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Amy Beardmore ◽

Penny Beynon ◽

Christine Crabbe ◽

Carol Fry ◽

Jan Fullforth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Development ◽

Older People ◽

Production Method ◽

Project Delivery ◽

Development Projects ◽

Practical Application ◽

Content Type ◽

Diverse Groups ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose International attention is increasingly turning to the challenge of creating age-friendly environments. This study aims to examine the application of asset-based approaches in undertaking community development projects with older people. The paper intends to share the learning that may be useful when designing community development projects for older people in the future. Design/methodology/approach This study followed a multiple project case study design, with a focus on project delivery practices. It was undertaken as a co-production exercise involving university researchers and trained older volunteer community researchers (CRs). Over 18–24 months of qualitative research was conducted in relation to six area-based urban projects between 2018 and 2020. Findings There were five leading themes as follows: mapping and building on assets in highly localised settings; creating governance and direction through steering groups; developing activities with diverse groups of older people; reaching isolated and lonely older people; building local capacity to embed sustainability. Practical implications The effectiveness of assets-based approaches in promoting age-friendly agendas appears to be contingent on the values, skills, capacity and resourcing of delivery agencies, alongside wider public sector investment in communities. Diversity and inequalities amongst older people need to be taken into account and community development that specifically focuses on older people needs to be balanced with the whole population and intergenerational practice. Originality/value This paper provides an empirical account of the practical application of assets practices specifically in the context of the age-friendly community agenda. The co-production method brings together insights from academic and volunteer older CRs.

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