Between power and perception: Understanding youth perspectives in participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) in Ghana

Participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) approaches have been touted as an important concept for local participation in social interventions programmes. Utilizing a process analysis approaches, the PM&E data gathered through key informant interviews, formal surveys, and policy frameworks were analyzed. The study revealed three dominant power struggles between youth and programme implementers in three districts at the Greater Accra region, Ghana. The first and pervasive form of power dynamics involves the youth and programme implementers. The second involves a variety of arrangements with the government on one hand and implementers and youth on the other side. The third is who qualifies to be a beneficiary and for that matter participate in the PM&E. In these three forms of power struggles the paper reveals superior implementers control of who participate in the programme PM&E and at what stage in the process. The power imbalance between programme implementer and target beneficiaries impeded the level of beneficiaries’ participation in the PM&E.     

Engaging children and youth in research and evaluation using group concept mapping

Group concept mapping is a systematic methodology that recognizes participants’ expertise in their own experiences. In this approach, participants share their diverse knowledge and interpret the data generated by all group members. This approach uniquely blends quantitative and qualitative techniques to create illustrative, structured conceptualizations. In this article, we describe the steps in group concept mapping and report feedback on this method from 37 children and youth who participated in group concept mapping studies. We recommend group concept mapping as an engaging way to involve children and youth in research and evaluation activities.     

阶层固化背景下底层青年的“中国梦”

时至今日,社会各个阶层的固化趋势渐趋严重,很大程度上成为中华民族复兴历程上最大的拦路虎,这不能不引起我们的关注和重视。而广大的新世纪底层青年正是在这一背景下踏上历史舞台,展开各自的人生传奇。当代底层青年面对着日益严峻的阶层固化态势,他们的崛起之路变得愈加坎坷和艰难。他们要破茧而出,打破阶层藩篱,实现逆袭,获得职业成功,必须把握该阶层的特点、构成,并依赖政府、社会各方面的参与和努力,更重要的是,个人的奋斗和坚持是不可或缺的。     

社交网络时代大学生政治参与及引导机制研究

社交网络时代,网络成为大学生政治参与的新载体,大学生通过社交网络参与政治社会生活积极性高,原因在于:通过网络参与的及时性;同辈交流自由化,长幼交流隐私化;接受信息私己性与自我满足性。因此,可构建大学生网络政治参与引导互动模型,包含动力机制、协调机制、导向机制、效能机制以及交互机制等内容。     

The Community Development for Healthy Children Initiative

Abstract

An increasing interest in positive youth development has led to the creation and expansion of programs and initiatives related to youth involvement and engagement. This article focuses on the Community Development for Healthy Children initiative, which envisions making Kansas the best state in the nation in which to raise a child. The initiative includes three primary strategies: A multi-media campaign; technical assistance and support to local communities; and mini-grant opportunities. The paper provides examples of activities from across the state that promote youth involvement. Outcomes across four areas are examined, and the benefits and challenges of this initiative are also discussed.     

Young People Leaving Care: Participatory Research to Improve Child Welfare Practices and the Rights of Children and Young People

Abstract

This paper discusses participatory research with young people who are leaving public care in Finland to begin independent lives. The aim of the research, organised by SOS Children's Villages International, was to bring about change in alternative care arrangements, particularly those involving young people's transition to independence. The project used a participatory research design based on employing care-leaving peers as co-researchers. This paper adheres to the methodological principles of empowerment in analysing the personal experiences of young people leaving alternative care with the goal of informing good practice. The findings suggest that the peer research method can be an effective means of empowering young people to develop research skills and to be involved in knowledge production, as well as serving as a means of promoting improved services for “care-leavers”, those young people who are leaving either foster care or institutional care. The participatory and peer research method challenges the traditional understandings of expertise and knowledge production. Although the hierarchy between adult researchers and young people as co-researchers is still evident, the method provides possibilities for better understanding the social- and health-service systems and their challenges and pitfalls from a user's perspective.     

Links between informal caregiving and volunteering in Sweden: a 17-year perspective

This article analyses informal caregiving and volunteering in organizations over 17 years in Sweden, with a focus on links between these two forms of unpaid activities. The discussion is based on results from a national survey that was repeated four times in the period 1992–2009. Links were found between the different types of activities. In all four studies a substantial group of the population was involved both in informal caregiving and volunteering. This group of ‘active citizens’ are commonly also engaged in informal social networks. This ‘double active’ group had increased over time and they provide a substantial amount of hours of involvement. Patterns outlined in this article demonstrate that unpaid activities represent a multifaceted phenomenon, and that the boundaries between informal caregiving and volunteering as forms of engagement may be more fluid than has previously been acknowledged. The results challenge the literature in which informal caregiving is viewed as a major obstacle to volunteering. At the same time, however, informal caregiving in general was found to be increasing. There might be reasons to be cautious about the possible risk that too much pressure on citizens for informal caregiving might jeopardize the type of double involvement that is outlined in this article.     

论建立和完善高校青年志愿者活动的激励机制

高校青年志愿者运动已经成为高校德育建设的重要载体之一,建立和完善活动的激励机制是全社会倡导奉献、友爱、互助和进步的志愿者精神的需要,是志愿者活动规范化、制度化的需要,也是对大学生追求自我价值与创造的劳动价值的认可的需要。建立和完善活动激励机制就必须结合高校的育人目标,坚持精神激励为主、奖惩结合的原则,建立科学可行的评估体系,不断加大内、外激励的力度。     

略论政府建筑供给——公共管理的话语分析

政府建筑是一项间接消费型公共物品,亦是政府形象的重要体现,因而在公共管理语境中,其供给和设计必须既能够通过完善监督机制、引入民营化模式以及革新官员非理性心理等途径体现出效率的诉求,同时更应在地理布局、建筑风格与审美情趣等方面努力嵌入一度为传统公共行政和政府建筑所弃绝的公平、民主和参与价值.     

Using GIS in community design charrettes: Lessons from a Japan–U.S. collaboration in earthquake recovery and mitigation planning for Kobe

Charrettes have become popular in the urban design field, especially for use among multidisciplinary teams of professionals and non-professional community stakeholders seeking to incorporate a rich array of expertise in short visioning activities. Geographic Information Systems are among the technologies with potential to provide sophisticated spatial information to charrette participants efficiently. This article reports on a charrette carried out jointly by teams from Kobe University and the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, using GIS to inform urban design in three neighborhoods affected by the Great Hanshin–Awaji Earthquake of 1995 in Kobe, Japan. The article describes the charrette itself, and discusses the utility of GIS, given the challenges of disaster recovery in a context of undeveloped institutions for public participation, and with participants of different linguistic and educational backgrounds. In combination with electronically storable drawing technology, GIS proved useful in enlarging the multidisciplinary and cross-cultural reach of urban design; in incorporating new layers of pre-prepared expert data, and in combining such data with dynamically-generated “advice maps” and design ideas. For GIS-based charrettes to become more widely useful in community-scale design in Japan, however, additional property-scale data need to be available.