scholarly journals SOCIAL BENEFIT OF GREEN SPACES TO LOCAL COMMUNITY

Author(s):  
Gintarė VAZNONIENĖ ◽  
Bernardas VAZNONIS

The article deals with the concept of green spaces by highlighting its social benefit to the local community. Green spaces have become an important element in shaping rural and urban public spaces, creating attractive living surrounding, promoting integration, interaction and participation of locals, strengthening their health and enhancing overall wellbeing. Moreover, green spaces are often characterized as public spaces, so the interest in this topic implies that being in or using these spaces influences various social groups in any community. Unfortunately, the emphasis of social benefit of green spaces on the local level still lacks solid grounds in the social science discourse in Lithuania. In view of the above, the research methodology includes both theoretical and empirical research methods, where the following scientific problem is addressed: the ways or forms that the social benefit of green spaces manifests itself in relation to local communities? The aim of the research is to analyse manifestation of social benefit of green spaces to local community. The results of scientific literature analysis and interview with the specialists have provided some common insights such as how social benefit of green spaces can manifest itself on the local level. It has been acknowledged that, in terms of social benefit, green spaces are multifunctional, with their main purpose, however, being satisfaction of the needs of local community needs at the place they live in. Although green spaces are not fitted enough to support active participation, awareness of the variety of existing green spaces may contribute to promotion of various local community activities, interaction between different social groups, and appears as a “social bridge”, influencing overall wellbeing of individuals and community.

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 434-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Jonas Imperiale ◽  
Frank Vanclay

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on what can be learned about disaster risk reduction (DRR) from the L’Aquila trial of scientists. The court case was initiated because of a controversial meeting on 31 March 2009 of the Major Risks Committee (MRC), held under the auspices of the Italian Department of Civil Protection. The purpose of the meeting was to consider (prior to the fatal earthquake of 6 April 2009) disaster risk in the L’Aquila area, which was being affected by an earthquake swarm since October 2008. Design/methodology/approach The authors undertook a document analysis of trial materials, and a review of academic and media commentary about the trial. Findings The legal process revealed that disaster governance was inadequate and not informed by the DRR paradigm or international guidelines. Risk assessment was carried out only in a techno-scientific manner, with little acknowledgement of the social issues influencing risks at the local community level. There was no inclusion of local knowledge or engagement of local people in transformative DRR strategies. Originality/value Most previous commentary is inadequate in terms of not considering the institutional, scientific and social responsibilities for DRR as exposed by the trial. This paper is unique in that it considers the contents of the MRC meeting as well as all trial documents. It provides a comprehensive reflection on the implications of this case for DRR and the resilience of peoples and places at risk. It highlights that a switch from civil protection to community empowerment is needed to achieve sustainable outcomes at the local level.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-277
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Madej

AbstractThe paper refers to the social innovation of participatory budgeting which has become a very popular tool for stimulating citizen participation at the local level in Poland. It focuses on the major cities, defined as capitals of the voivodeships or regions. Based on the data concerning 2018 participatory budgeting editions in the eighteen cities, it describes the funding, organisation of the process, forms of voting and voter participation as well as the nature of projects selected and implemented. According to the amended Act on the Local Self-Government, organisation of participatory budgeting will only be obligatory for Polish cities from 2019. Despite that fact, it has already become quite popular and broadly applied in local communities. However, citizens’ participation and involvement in the process seems quite low, suggesting a need for experience sharing and improvement of the initiative. Also, project selection reflects the influence of various social groups within urban communities, rather than assisting groups which are at risk of marginalisation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 84-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Garbutt

Social inclusion has been conceptualised as having two key aspects: distributional aspects relating to access to resources including employment, and relational aspects which concern the connections between people and the wider society. While both are important, the emphasis in Australian social inclusion policy has been on distributional aspects. This paper focuses on the relational aspects of social inclusion, and argues that it is critically important to include relational considerations in social inclusion policy. Central to the relational aspects of social inclusion is achieving a sense of belonging, particularly at the everyday, local level. Belonging in this everyday sense can be thought of as an ongoing project achieved through everyday practices, rather than solely in terms of membership of a group. While many such practices, for example regularly engaging in team sports, are accepted ways of establishing and maintaining belonging, for others in a community practices of belonging may necessitate disrupting or at least broadening the established norms of how one belongs. To ground this discussion of inclusion and belonging, this paper draws on practices of belonging in a regional community. Established norms of belonging are examined through the idea of ‘being a local’, a way of belonging that appears to be based on membership. The paper then turns to two local projects which disrupt the exclusive bounds of local membership and establish new and inclusive practices of belonging. To conclude, parallels are drawn between the boundaries which define ‘the social’ in social inclusion and ‘the local community’ in being a local, to argue for the importance of including relational aspects of social inclusion within social inclusion policy debates and program formulation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 174-192
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Ura

The article presents the basic issues concerning the legal solutions contained in the on the Realization of Social Services by the Social Services Center Act. This legal act provides new tasks for municipalities concerning the creation of new organizational units of the commune i.e. social service centers. The aim of the this legal solutions is to develop and integrate the social services system at the local level. Establishing a social service center (CUS) is not an obligatory task of the commune. Therefore the question arises if the creation of the new organizational units would be related to the financial issues of the commune. Probably the communes would also take into the account the fact that in many of them have been running the social service centers targeted at specific social groups, usually seniors or disabled people for several years.


Human Affairs ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Caruso

AbstractThe aim of this article is to describe the consequences of state intervention at the local level after a destructive earthquake hit the south of Italy in 1980. The kind of intervention adopted, the amount of financial investment and the way in which it was distributed affected the social and economic equilibrium of the local community in terms of perceptions of trust, patronage and effects on development.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-187
Author(s):  
Kentaro Matsubara

This paper explores the relationship between local lineage social structure and the workings of tax registration in Qing China, through a case study providing documentary evidence of a level of precision that enables us to go beyond the findings of previous scholarship. In the first instance, it reconstructs a tax dispute where implications of the registration system come into play, based on rare records made by the taxpayers themselves. In doing so, it shows that (a) the registered “acreage” of land was in fact unrelated to any actual land whatsoever; (b) tax collection ceased to be able to rely on knowledge of the terrain and had to depend on knowing the social groups that could be held responsible for payment, while the cohesion and internal differentiation of these social groups was (in turn) underpinned by tax collection and registration; and (c) since the registration system did not permit the government to keep track of actual landholding, property rights had to be secured at the local community level. In conclusion, an attempt is made to speculate on the extent to which this specific case contributes to our knowledge of local social structure, the interactions between localities and the government, and the property regime of Qing China overall.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 63-69
Author(s):  
INTA OSTROVSKA ◽  
LUDMILA ALEKSEJEVA ◽  
DMITRIJS OĻEHNOVIČS ◽  
LIENE LEIKUMA-RIMICĀNE ◽  
JĀNIS KUDIŅŠ

The essential definition of the promotion of smart regional growth is local resource, potential, exploration of operational mechanisms. That is in order to develop the understanding of local resource feasibility and the community activities. It is important to develop cross-sectoral cooperation, which is focused on non-technological, social and on the ecological innovation processes in connection with entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship is an essential mechanism in economic activity balancing, while creating social values that encourage the local community to participate in many areas and reduce socio-economic disparities. The ‘’Traditional’’ entrepreneur whose main desire is to create a product, find their client and thus, earn money, differs from a social businessman. An entrepreneur who has chosen the social niche, firstly, solves a social problem. In Latvia, social entrepreneurship is becoming more popular. Help and consultation at this point is provided by the Latvian entrepreneurship association (LEA), which has been in operation since the year of 2015. The region of Latgale is also becoming more popular in this field. In order to evaluate social entrepreneurship feasibility and to determine factors in the region of Latgale, cross-disciplinary research has to be carried out. Moreover, research and development in this area involves the involvement of a wide variety of stakeholders: NGO (non-governmental organisation), state, business, representatives of the public.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-39
Author(s):  
Kateryna Kotelenets ◽  
Olena Kondratiuk

The article is devoted to the study of the social distance of the youth of Luhansk region. Social distance described as a certain degree of closeness and remoteness of people in relation to each other. It illustrates social relationships among people of different cultures, nationalities, social groups, so it is relevant for research. Exploring the problem of social distance, the author turns to the scientific works and research of such scientists as R. Park, E. Bogardus, V. Paniotto, N. Panina and others, describing their contribution to the development of science on this topic. The purpose of this article is to study the social distance of young people in Luhansk region, by conducting this study at the local level, which indicates the lack of such experience before. For this purpose, we chose the method of questionnaires, and 418 young people of Luhansk region of different ages and fields of activity acted as respondents. The study used a simplified method of E. Bogardus to measure the degree of social distance of respondents to representatives of certain social groups, and the terminology of interpretation of social distance by N. Panina. Also, a simplified scale of social distance was used, limited to three possible answers: "I agree to communicate with them personally", "I agree to accept them in society, but would like to avoid personal communication" and "No I want them to be in our society in general, ”and not only national minorities but also social groups of a marginal nature and representatives of sexual minorities were chosen as social groups. Particular attention was paid to the description of the results of the study. The study found that young people in Luhansk region have social closeness to residents of the European Union, are tolerant of people with disabilities, people with COVID-19 and IDPs, as well as socially distant from marginalized groups, sexual minorities and more. As a result, it was proved that the students have an average level of social distance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey Menzel Baker ◽  
Courtney Nations Azzari ◽  
Meredith Rhoads Thomas ◽  
Aronté Marie Bennett

Many Americans living in poverty rely on a constellation of social services to meet their consumption needs. This article explores the conditions under which social service programs enhance or detract from holistic well-being, from recipients’ perspectives. Depth interviews with 45 rural and urban recipients reveal, through a power–justice–access model, that holistic well-being extends beyond access to social service programs to include power to choose and control resource outcomes and justice (respect) in recipients’ experiences with elements of the social service ecosystem (design, practices, actors, resources). Theoretically, focusing on the social service ecosystem allows a broader understanding of holistic well-being than is possible through a resource-based or dyadic perspective. In terms of policy, the findings suggest the need to include subjective, versus solely objective, approaches in assessing the performance of the social service ecosystem in meeting consumption needs. Finally, the authors offer a practical principle termed “sensitized standardization,” whereby, at the local level, needs are addressed in relation to the context of recipients’ daily lives and the macro structure of the social service ecosystem.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changhwan Shin

Purpose With the aim of finding a balance between social and economic benefits, the social economy has reemerged in the crisis of the welfare state. The Fordist welfare state can be characterized by state-provided welfare, the mediation of paid work and welfare by the labor market and redistributive policies. Globally, neoliberalism and the market have given rise to social exclusion; in this context, the social economy is emerging as an alternative to the market domination of societies. This paper aims to construct a conceptual framework of welfare provision in an open innovation era. Design/methodology/approach The welfare state system between the Fordist welfare state and post-Fordist welfare state is different on provision and delivery of welfare service. To construct the conceptual relation among the social economy, the state and the market and welfare provision in the social economy, this study mainly used the literature review. Findings Attention should be paid to civil society at the local level to ignite social economy through open social innovation. Various social actors in the local community need to change and develop the social economy with collaborative entrepreneurship and collaborative economic mindsets. Research limitation/implications This paper presents the welfare service model led by social economy and open innovation, as well as social change. To fill the shortage of welfare provision caused by crisis of the welfare state, social economy is considered as an alternative for neo-liberalism. This study emphasizes that endogenous local development is a prerequisite for social economy as a welfare supplier. Practical implications In the social economy, reciprocity, democracy, self-help and social capital at the local level are emphasized. Also, open innovation put emphasis on collaboration economy among the local community, firms and the public sector: this emphasis can be expected to affect the welfare provision system and the social relations surrounding welfare. To address social problem and social needs, the social economy can adapt and apply the open innovation model. Originality/value The previous researches on open innovation mainly deal with the business sector and the public sector, but this paper has a focus on the relation between provision of social welfare and social innovation. The social economy is likely to function properly on the foundation of open social innovation.


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