Influences of Engaging in a Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Process on Stakeholder Perceptions of Key Performance Indicators for Trails

Trail use is growing globally. Managers confront the classic dilemma of protecting ecological integrity and providing enriching experiences. They concomitantly face the imperative for sustainability—contemporarily characterized by complexity, uncertainty, conflict, and change. Heightened levels of visitation are cause for immense concerns due to adverse impacts to the environment as well as visitor experiences. COVID-19 exacerbates these challenges as heightened levels of visitation are occurring, while managers simultaneously face decreases in conservation funding, and restrictions on protected area operations. Participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) is an emerging in- novation to collaboratively address social-ecological challenges, such as issues as- sociated with trail use. This research is concerned with exploring the influences of engaging in a PM&E process on stakeholder perceptions of key performance indicators (KPIs) for trails. This study compares stakeholder perceptions of KPIs for trails before and after a PM&E workshop at the Niagara Glen Nature Reserve in Ontario, Canada. Results show that PM&E can facilitate consensus among stakeholders regarding the overall goals of management and associated KPIs for environmental management planning. Stakeholders were shown to experience a real change in their perceptions of KPIs. The PM&E process studied show that participants became more conscious of the wider social realities as well as their perceptions of trail management. The study has important implications for managers concerned with trails and sustainability, including building consensus among key stakeholders to reach management goals, enhancing localized decision making, and building capacity for management towards sustainability. Trails, as well as the wider community can ultimately benefit from participatory approaches to environmental management. Consensus-building through PM&E works to enhance decisions that account for a diversity of perspectives. Stakeholder participation in trail management increases the likelihood that local needs and priorities are met, while allowing stakeholders to build capacity and learn to effectively manage their environments. Furthermore, positive perceptions from being meaningfully involved in PM&E can ensure the support of constituents, which is imperative for the long-term success of management planning.

Applying Human-Centered Design Principles to Digital Syndromic Surveillance at a Mass Gathering in India: Viewpoint

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital health tools have been deployed by governments around the world to advance clinical and population health objectives. Few interventions have been successful or have achieved sustainability or scale. In India, government agencies are proposing sweeping changes to India’s digital health architecture. Underpinning these initiatives is the assumption that mobile health solutions will find near universal acceptance and uptake, though the observed reticence of clinicians to use electronic health records suggests otherwise. In this practice article, we describe our experience with implementing a digital surveillance tool at a large mass gathering, attended by nearly 30 million people. Deployed with limited resources and in a dynamic chaotic setting, the adherence to human-centered design principles resulted in near universal adoption and high end-user satisfaction. Through this use case, we share generalizable lessons in the importance of contextual relevance, stakeholder participation, customizability, and rapid iteration, while designing digital health tools for individuals or populations.

Peran Social Networking Sites dalam meningkatkan Stakeholder Engagement: A Literature Review

The role of Social Networking Sites in ongoing communication becomes easier, especially to build stakeholder management and stakeholder engagement, provide information, and monitor information to manage the image and reputation of the company. This literature review aims to explore the role of Social Networking Sites in increasing stakeholder engagement. This research method is a literature review that uses journal reference sources sorted by the role of Social Network Sites in increasing Stakeholder Engagement. The results show that Social Network Sites on the platforms Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube are tools to increase engagement with internal and external stakeholders to create relationships and improve the company's image and reputation. Social Network Sites play a role in building connections, relational relationships between customers, assessing the matrix for stakeholders, assessing company performance, assessing stakeholder participation, assessing marketing strategies, building relationship relationships, and forming customer loyalty. Online activities carried out by stakeholders are related to the image of the company's reputation, so that digital public relations and corporate communications must adequately manage it.

To which extent are socio-hydrology studies really integrative? The case of natural hazards and disaster research

Given the recent developments in socio-hydrology and its potential contributions to disaster risk reduction (DRR), we conducted a systematic literature review of socio-hydrological studies aiming to identify persisting gaps and discuss tractable approaches for tackling them. A total of 44 articles that address natural hazards or disasters were reviewed in detail. Our results indicated that: (i) 77.3 % of the studies addressed floods whereas there were very few research applications for droughts (11.4 %) and compound or multi-hazards (11.4 %); (ii) none of the articles investigated interactions across temporal and spatial scales; (iii) quantitative approaches were used more often (65.9 %) in comparison to mixed (22.7 %) and qualitative (11.4 %) approaches; (iv) monodisciplinary studies prevailed (61.4 %) over multi or interdisciplinary (9.1 %) ones, and (v) only 34.1 % of the articles involved stakeholder participation. In summary, we found that there is a fragmentation in the field, with a multitude of social and physical components, methods and data sources being used. Based on these findings, we point out potential ways of tackling the identified challenges to advance socio-hydrology, including studying multiple hazards in a joint framework and exploiting new methods for integrating results from qualitative and quantitative analyses to leverage on the strengths of different fields of knowledge. Addressing these challenges will improve our understanding of human-water interactions to support DRR.

Influence of Governance Practices on Performance of County Governments in Kenya

The Kenyan government acknowledges that there has been poor performance in the public sector over the years, especially in the management of public resources, which has hindered the realization of sustainable economic growth. Governance presents the single biggest opportunity for operational efficiency in any organization; therefore, its adoption is paramount in public sector management. The study examined the influence of governance practices on the performance of county governments in Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to establish how internal controls, stakeholder participation, internal audit standards, and transparency influence the performance of county governments in Kenya. The study employed a descriptive research design. The target population was Heads of Departments in all Ministries, Chief Officers of all Ministries, and Members of the County Assembly. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data gathered from the questionnaires administered was analyzed with the help of SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The study used multiple linear regression and correlation analysis to show the relationship between the variables. The study findings indicated that internal controls, stakeholder participation, internal audit standards and transparency have a positive and significant relationship with on performance of county governments' in Kenya. The entire null hypotheses was rejected. The study recommends that the County Government should encourage stakeholders to participate by incorporating their views in governance processes. A feedback mechanism should also be delivered where stakeholders are informed of the process of their participation and the key decisions that result from the participation. Further, the study recommends that there is need for the county government to come up with its calendar of events on its activities. Keywords: Internal Controls, Stakeholder Participation, Internal Audit Standards, Transparency, Performance & County Government.

Assessment processes and principles related to Food Security that Zimbabwe can rely on for insight.

Increasing frequency and intensity of food insecurity in Zimbabwe, amidst heavy investment in Disaster Risk Reduction efforts threaten the achievement of the Zero Hunger target by 2030. The need to interrogate assessment practice need not be overemphasized. An interpretive–constructivist paradigm guided this study, while desktop review, focus group discussions and individual interviews were the main data collection tools. A purposively selected sample, of 85participants from Bulilima, Gwanda, Mangwe, and Umzingwane districts was used. These districts share similar social and cultural characteristics and hazards. The sample consisted of District development coordinators (DDCs), Environmental Management Agency, Rural District Council (RDC) chief executive officers, councillors, traditional leaders (chiefs), NGO managers, and heads of schools, deemed to bring depth into the study. NVivo software was used in data analysis to establish order, structure, and meaning, to ensure coherence, consistency, and quality of research findings and deductions. The study found that the term, “assessment” was variedly understood across disciplines and levels of responsibility, due to the existence of parallel assessment regimes that fragment and weaken assessment practice. Hence, the need to make capacity-building, training and education and stakeholder participation a permanent feature in Zimbabwe. This will promote correct understanding and application of the terms, and increase the knowledge of DRR practice. Assessment practice challenges emanate from the manner in which stakeholders do assessments. Hence, the need for attitude change and commitment to the pooling of all the resources towards the assessment practice, and adherence to standards and principles that govern assessment.

Assessing the Impact of Optimization Measures on Sustainable Water Resource Management in the Guanzhong Area, China

Limited water resources and rapid socioeconomic development pose new challenges to watershed water resource management. By integrating the perspectives of stakeholders and decision-makers, this study aims to identify cases and approaches to achieve sustainable water resources management. It improves and expands the experience of previous project research. The comparative evaluation provides an analytical basis to verify the importance of stakeholder participation in water policy interactions. The results show that if an effective demand management policy is not implemented, the Guanzhong area will not meet water demand in the future. Through the combination of water-saving policies, water transfer projects and other measures, the available water resources will continue into the future. Optimizing management measures, improving the ecological environment, and encouraging stakeholder participation will help change this situation, although supply-side limitations and future uncertainties likely cause unsustainable water. Therefore, decision-makers should pay attention to the application potential of water-saving and other measures to reduce dependence on external water sources. In addition, the three sustainable development decision-making principles identified in this paper can promote the fairness and stability of water policy.

Towards Insect-Friendly Road Lighting—A Transdisciplinary Multi-Stakeholder Approach Involving Citizen Scientists

(1) The project “Tatort Streetlight” implements an insect-friendly road light design in a four year before–after, control–impact (BACI) approach involving citizen scientists. It will broaden the stakeholder interests from solely anthropogenic perspectives to include the welfare of insects and ecosystems. Motivated by the detrimental impacts of road lighting systems on insects, the project aims to find solutions to reduce the insect attraction and habitat fragmentation resulting from roadway illumination. (2) The citizen science approach invites stakeholders to take part and join forces for the development of a sustainable and environmentally friendly road lighting solution. Here, we describe the project strategy, stakeholder participation and motivation, and how the effects of the alternative road luminaire and lighting design can be evaluated. (3) The study compares the changes in (a) insect behavior, (b) night sky brightness, and (c) stakeholder participation and awareness. For this purpose, different experimental areas and stakeholders in four communities in Germany are identified. (4) The project transfers knowledge of adverse effects of improperly managed road illumination and interacts with various stakeholders to develop a new road lighting system that will consider the well-being of street users, local residents, and insects.

Multi-Stakeholder Approach in Natural Resources Management: The Case of Mida Creek and Gongoni-Marereni Mangrove Ecosystems in Kilifi County, Kenya

Multi-stakeholder approach has an overall improvement in conservation and management of mangrove forests resources, more so with a functional coordination framework among stakeholders. Mida creek and Gongoni-Marereni sites were compared in terms of the presence of the multi-stakeholders and the level of coordination and cooperation among stakeholders in conservation of mangrove forests. Data was gathered through a semi-structured interview questionnaire from Key Informants from the stakeholders present in the two sites. The data collected captured stakeholder presence on site, participation in mangrove conservation, and coordination and cooperation with others. There was a variation in multi-stakeholder participation in the two sites. Gongoni-Marereni site had less stakeholders compared to Mida creek which had more, with the latter having a greater participation of stakeholders. The Gongoni-Marereni site mangroves were degraded while in Mida creek had healthy mangroves.