The Impact of Perceived Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives on Wetland Farming Communities in Indonesia

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature has advanced beyond its long-standing emphasis on a firm's financial performance to include its social impact. However, it has fallen short of offering insight into how effective CSR is in the event of a disaster. This study investigated the community's perception of CSR in wetland farmers communities after flood disasters. Data were from 49 farmer groups in South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. The research hypotheses were drawn: Perceived benefits of CSR initiatives affect farming community resilience, farming community wellbeing, and perceived competence of wetland farmers; Community resilience affects community wellbeing; Community wellbeing and community resilience affect perceived competence of farmers. The structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis showed that CSR initiatives positively affected community resilience and community wellbeing but had no effect on the perceived competence of farmers; Community resilience had a positive effect on community wellbeing. However, both community wellbeing and resilience did not affect perceived competence. This study sheds light on the complex link between the community and the individual. Triple bottom line and community psychology theories were applied, and this study contributes to the social impact of CSR by focusing on both community and individual, especially in the face of natural disasters in wetlands.

Indigenous Knowledge as Resource to Poverty

This chapter examines the ways in which African rural youths and women seek opportunities to innovate and adapt indigenous knowledge as a locally developed resource of community resilience in the attempt to reduce household poverty. Two case groups are discussed in this chapter, and both engaged in self-employment enterprises. The groups drew upon their ecological and cultural knowledge, enabling themselves through shoestring budgets to sustain their livelihood and community wellbeing. The chapter shows that unemployment affects young people and rural women from all occupations and ethnic groups, a situation that puts them in a vulnerable and precarious living condition and possibly in poverty trap. The analysis showed that for most of youth found on the Tanzania's streets and urban municipalities, a secondary education has not proven useful in practical knowledge, skills, values, or attitudes necessary to enter the world of work or to become self-employed.

Inuit wellness: A better understanding of the principles that guide actions and an overview of practices

By imposing non-Inuit ways of doing within households and communities, colonization has created a rift between generations and impacted the transmission of Inuit practices and knowledge. Inuit care-providers continue to support their fellow community members with individual and collective approaches to wellbeing. The objectives and design of the current project were developed with community members who play an active role in mobilization and wellness. Inuit and non-Inuit research assistants conducted 14 individual interviews and 2 group interviews (total of 19 participants) with key informants involved in community wellness work. Then an Elder (third author) shared her knowledge regarding traditional practices. In this study we describe three underlying principles regarding wellness practices as well as five approaches and the mechanisms by which these approaches seem to impact personal and collective wellbeing. This study highlights how Inuit culture and knowledge can support children, family and community wellbeing in the ways of being together and of taking care of each other. The study responds to an expressed desire named by our partners to document Inuit approaches as well as the principles and practices underlying such approaches and how they are related to self-determination.

Beyond population growth: bringing connection, renewal and agency into regional development

Background Boosting the population growth of towns and cities across regional Australia has long been a popular aspiration. However, the reality of many regional locations is long-term population decline. Aims Regional development has been underpinned by a growth paradigm which conflates population growth with success. This article explores how some regional communities have experienced renewal, fostered innovation, and enhanced community wellbeing without population growth. Data and methods A mixed methods approach informs this paper. Five case studies are used to illustrate ways in which regional communities can experience successful economic and social outcomes without population growth. Literature is provided for context and empirical data are used to illustrate key features of the selected towns. Results The case studies reveal themes of connection, place, agency and wellbeing which contribute to ‘successful’ communities. For example, developing connections with a wider network within the region or across sectors enables economic growth through innovation, irrespective of population growth. Conclusions Being able to respond to, or take advantage of, change is an important element in regional development and one which creates community renewal and wellbeing even if not population growth.

Influence of Tangible Ecosystem Goods Encroachment on Host Community Well-being: A Case of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

The study was set out to investigate how encroachment on ecosystem tangible goods improves the host community well-being. The problem was that over harvesting of the tangible goods resulted in the degradation of the ecosystem and thus affected the quality and quantity of the tangible goods harvested and thus negatively affected the host community's wellbeing. The study had threefold objectives and these were; to describe the ecosystem destruction trends; to determine the driving forces behind the encroachment of the park ecosystems and, to ascertain the different ecosystem tangible goods harvested from the park. The literature of the study focused on local community wellbeing and encroachment as well as the causes of rampant encroachment of the ecosystems both in unprotected areas and in protected areas. The methodology of this study was majorly descriptive and considered the population of 40 households and a sample of 32 households as well the household used as a sampling unit. The results indicated that encroachment on ecosystems occurred and as a result the ecosystem size dwindled over the past three decades. Also, the results revealed that the major cause of this encroachment was scarcity of land and poverty. Whereas the most demanded ecosystem resources were timber and fuel wood. It was concluded that because there was no wellbeing amongst the host community due to poverty and scarcity of land, they were forced to encroach on the ecosystem resources. It was therefore recommended that the park and host community should find mechanisms to empower the host community in order to minimize encroachment rates.

Interaction Between Social Business Sustainability and Consumer PurchaseDecision: Conceptual Framework

Due to the lack of research in social business sustainability development, it is necessary to investigate this problem, seeking community wellbeing. The goal of this paper is to elucidate the importance of sustainability development in relation to its different dimensions and the relationship between consumer perception and sustainability development. A systematic scientific literature analysis was performed. The results show that although sustainability is one of the main aspirations of companies, it is still difficult to achieve for effective transformation. The framework also reflects that sustainability is a particular change that has to be implemented over time, involving not only the business itself but also the surrounding environment (other systems). Furthermore, to achieve sustainable development it is essential to define which sustainability indicators will be selected, how they will be measured, and how the results will be tracked. A sustainable social business model must not be considered in isolation from its surrounding environment. Moreover, it is relevant to identify the public opinion, i.e., potential consumers, regarding effective sustainability development in order to get a more efficient result.

Fishing Livelihoods and Wellbeing

The final chapter of this book discusses the implications of a relational approach to fishing livelihoods for governance for improved social and ecological outcomes. The chapter reviews some of the ways in which academics, activists and policymakers can use approaches that emphasise the relational context of fishing livelihoods, and specifies the concept of wellbeing as one that can usefully and practically build bridges between fisheries stakeholders with diverse interests. The chapter then examines two assessments of fisheries on community wellbeing: the social and economic impacts of fisheries in Australia, and the effects of governance on wellbeing of fishing communities in Indonesia and Solomon Islands.