scholarly journals A connected community response to COVID-19 in Toronto

2021 ◽  
pp. 175797592110382
Author(s):  
Garrett T. Morgan ◽  
Blake Poland ◽  
Suzanne F. Jackson ◽  
Anne Gloger ◽  
Sarah Luca ◽  
...  

In this commentary, we describe initial learnings from a community-based research project that explored how the relational space between residents and formal institutions in six marginalised communities in Toronto, Ontario, Canada impacted grassroots responses to the health and psycho-social stresses that were created and amplified by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Our research found that grassroots community leaders stepped up to fill the gaps left by Toronto’s formal public health and emergency management systems and were essential for mitigating the psycho-social and socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic that exacerbated pre-existing inequities and systemic failures. We suggest that building community resilience in marginalised communities in Toronto can embody health promotion in action where community members, organisational, institutional and government players create the social infrastructure necessary to build on local assets and work together to promote health by strengthening community action, advocating for healthy public policy and creating supportive environments.

1999 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Riemer

As anthropologists, applied researchers, and action researchers, we have long explored the relationship between researcher and researched; many of us have tried to reconceptualize these roles to make informants more equal partners in the research process. In the Southern African country of Botswana, Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRAs) have become the favored way to involve community members in applied-research. PRAs assist communities gather and document information about their surroundings, build rapport between the local community and extension officers, and plan development efforts through a series of facilitator-led activities. A PRA exercise results in a community-action plan, in which community members outline what will be done, when, how, and by whom. But while PRAs have been developed to help community members create a village profile and needs assessment, the research protocol itself tends to be a standardized "fill-in-the-blank exercise." In the most typical scenario, community members, with the guidance of outside facilitators, supply the missing information. The popularity of PRAs, coupled with this fixed, externally-driven format, raises questions about the meaning of participation in participatory research, and the degree to which community members can be expected to participate in researching their own lives. As part of my own examination of these issues, I recently co-facilitated a different model of participatory research in Botswana, in which the tools for data collection were fully designed and used by community members to research their own communities. In this article, I write about my own experiences, and those of the men and women who became participant researchers, in order to examine the power that active participation in research generates among community members and to describe the social and political dilemmas that arose from that participation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Billies

The work of the Welfare Warriors Research Collaborative (WWRC), a participatory action research (PAR) project that looks at how low income lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming (LG-BTGNC) people survive and resist violence and discrimination in New York City, raises the question of what it means to make conscientization, or critical consciousness, a core feature of PAR. Guishard's (2009) reconceptualization of conscientization as “moments of consciousness” provides a new way of looking at what seemed to be missing from WWRC's process and analysis. According to Guishard, rather than a singular awakening, critical consciousness emerges continually through interactions with others and the social context. Analysis of the WWRC's process demonstrates that PAR researchers doing “PAR deep” (Fine, 2008)—research in which community members share in all aspects of design, method, analysis and product development—should have an agenda for developing critical consciousness, just as they would have agendas for participation, for action, and for research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1063-1078
Author(s):  
T.N. Skorobogatova ◽  
I.Yu. Marakhovskaya

Subject. This article discusses the role of social infrastructure in the national economy and analyzes the relationship between the notions of Infrastructure, Service Industry and Non-Productive Sphere. Objectives. The article aims to outline a methodology for development of the social infrastructure of Russia's regions. Methods. For the study, we used the methods of statistical and comparative analyses. The Republic of Crimea and Rostov Oblast's social infrastructure development was considered as a case study. Results. The article finds that the level of social infrastructure is determined by a number of internal and external factors. By analyzing and assessing such factors, it is possible to develop promising areas for the social sphere advancement. Conclusions. Assessment and analysis of internal factors largely determined by the region's characteristics, as well as a comprehensive consideration of the impact of external factors will help ensure the competitiveness of the region's economy.


GIS Business ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Swapan Garain

In a developing country like India, village-centric development is very critical for improving Human Development Index of the country. In this direction, corporate contribution assumes significance for rehabilitation and resettlement of project affected people and overall intervention under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. Since India is a country of villages, CSR has to be more sensitive towards the economic, social and cultural needs of rural society of the country. In this paper, it is proposed to gear all interventions for promoting model villages. Model village presents a credible vehicle for bringing about sustainability of a village community unit. A model village must have three significant components of infrastructure development, livelihood promotion and provision of services. Infrastructure development must cater to creating basic physical as well as social infrastructure like approach road, school building, community centre and social capital. Promotion of livelihood includes skill training, self-employment, employment opportunities and village enterprise development, while provision for services for the villagers includes health care, education, sanitation, recreational and other community services. Model village plan envisages a self-contained village community at the apex of all the pillars of sustainability, namely, livelihood, infrastructure and services. The future of Indian economy and the prospect of industry are going to depend largely on building sustainable and self-maintained smallest self-governing units called model villages.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Татьяна Андреевна Водчиц

В предложенной статье поднята на рассмотрение общераспространённая проблематика напряженного состояния социальной инфраструктуры города на примере Москвы. Также берется к рассмотрению тот факт, что растущая инфраструктура – одна из глобальных проблем мегаполиса. Выявлены основные причины формирования дисбаланса городской среды. Предложен ряд способов возможного решения данной задачи.In the proposed article, the widespread problems of the tense state of the social infrastructure of the city are raised for consideration. Also taken into consideration is the fact that the growing infrastructure is one of the global problems of the metropolis. The main causes of the imbalance of the urban environment are revealed. A number of possible solutions to this problem are proposed.


Economies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Dmitriy G. Rodionov ◽  
Evgenii A. Konnikov ◽  
Magomedgusen N. Nasrutdinov

The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused a transformation of virtually all aspects of the world order today. Due to the introduction of the world quarantine, a considerable share of professional communications has been transformed into a format of distance interaction. As a result, the specific weight of traditional components of the investment attractiveness of a region is steadily going down, because modern business can be built without the need for territorial unity. It should be stated that now the criteria according to which investors decide if they are ready to invest in a region are dynamically transforming. The significance of the following characteristics is increasingly growing: the sustainable development of a region, qualities of the social environment, and consistency of the social infrastructure. Thus, the approaches to evaluating the region’s investment attractiveness must be transformed. Moreover, the investment process at the federal level involves the determination of target areas of regional development. Despite the universal significance of innovative development, the region can develop much more dynamically when a complex external environment is formed that complements its development model. Interregional interaction, as well as an integrated approach to innovative development, taking into account not only the momentary effect, but also the qualitative long-term transformation of the region, will significantly increase the return on investment. At the same time, the currently existing methods for assessing the investment attractiveness of the region are usually heuristic in nature and are not universal. The heuristic nature of the existing methods does not allow to completely abstract from the subjectivity of the researcher. Moreover, the existing methods do not take into account the cyclical properties of the innovative development of the region, which lead to the formation of a long-term effect from the transformation of the regional environment. This study is aimed at forming a comprehensive methodology that can be used to evaluate the investment attractiveness of a certain region and conclude about the lines of business that should be developed in it as well as to find ways to increase the region’s investment attractiveness. According to the results of the study, a comprehensive methodology was formed to evaluate the region’s investment attractiveness. It consists of three key indicators, namely, the level of the region’s investment attractiveness, the projected level of the region’s investment attractiveness, and the development vector of the region’s investment attractiveness. This methodology is based on a set of indicators that consider the status of the economic and social environment of the region, as well as the status of the innovative and ecological environment. The methodology can be used to make multi-dimensional conclusions both about the growth areas responsible for increasing the region’s innovative attractiveness and the lines of business that should be developed in the region.


1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben A. Nelson ◽  
J. Andrew Darling ◽  
David A. Kice

Epiclassic occupants of the site of La Quemada left the disarticulated remains of 11-14 humans in an apparently sacred structure outside the monumental core of the site. Several lines of evidence are reviewed to generate propositions about the ritual meanings and functions of the bones. A comparative analysis reveals the complexity of mortuary practices in northern and western Mexico, and permits the suggestion that these particular remains were those of revered ancestors or community members. The sacred structure is seen as a charnel house, in which the more ancient tradition of ancestor worship expressed in shaft tombs was essentially perpetuated above ground. Hostile social relations are clearly suggested, however, by other categories of bone deposits. Recognition of the rich variability of mortuary displays leads to questions about their role in the maintenance of the social order.


2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy J Heineke ◽  
Elizabeth Coleman ◽  
Elizabeth Ferrell ◽  
Craig Kersemeier

In this article, we outline the necessary action steps for schools to improve the achievement of bilingual students. We review, summarize, and utilize the pertinent scholarly literature to make suggestions for school-wide, collaborative efforts to support the achievement of bilingual learners through linguistically responsive pedagogy and practice. Our research-based recommendations include the need for school actors to negotiate language policy and mandates, lay the necessary ideological foundations, build effective school structures and systems, and foster meaningful collaboration with families and communities. When teachers, administrators, counselors, families, and community members work together, schools can improve to promote the social, cultural, linguistic, and academic achievement of bilingual students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 485
Author(s):  
Blanca L. Díaz Mariño ◽  
Frida Carmina Caballero-Rico ◽  
Ramón Ventura Roque Hernández ◽  
José Alberto Ramírez de León ◽  
Daniel Alejandro González-Bandala

Understanding the value of research for society has become a priority, and several methodologies have been developed to assess the social impact of research. This study aimed to determine how productive interactions are developed during the execution of research projects. A retrospective study was conducted on 33 projects from 1999 to 2020. Semi-structured interviews with the technical managers were conducted to analyze how different actors of the project—researchers, government officials, and civil society and private sector stakeholders—were involved, illustrating how productive interactions occur in specific biodiversity contexts. The results revealed different levels and intensities of productive interactions; on the one hand, three projects involved all actors; eight involved researchers outside the institution; and 25 involved community members. The number of participants ranged from 2 to 37. All research evaluated had a disciplinary orientation. The type and time of interactions with other interested parties depended on the amount of funding, project type, project duration, and, significantly, on the profile of the technical manager. The importance of assessing and valuing productive interactions was identified as a fundamental element in promoting the social impact of research, as well as integrating inter- or multidisciplinary projects that impact the conservation of socio-ecological systems.


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