Community-based household waste management: Lessons learnt from EXNORA's ‘zero waste management’ scheme in two South Indian cities

This paper presents two case studies on the efforts by a community-based organisation to promote a sustainable integrated waste management system in Indian mega cities. This effort was initiated in 1989 by a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) called EXNORA and is based on a ‘zero waste management scheme’ set up, run and financed by the residents themselves. As this model has been widely quoted as successful, the study aims at learning from two communities implementing this model.Results are reported from a survey of the two schemes that used various tools to assess both their performance and sustainability in selected residential areas of two Indian cities, Chennai and Hyderabad. The results indicate limited success of the schemes both in saving a significant fraction of the generated waste from dumping, and in rehabilitating the local poor. However, they show that motivated individuals can successfully set up and manage waste collection systems that lead to overall environmental improvements. The differences in the two schemes reflect how the local assets and contexts impact on the success of the scheme. The scheme in a rich neighbourhood of Hyderabad was less ambitious in its overall objectives and focussed on the provision of a waste management service, using the opportunity to provide local employment to a socially deprived fraction of the population. The scheme in a middle-class area of Chennai, although pioneering in its approach, suffered from diseconomies of scale and lack of social integration, making it less viable in the medium to long term. Both schemes suffered from a lack of community involvement, motivation and political support, which threatens the long-term sustainability of the enterprise. The research concludes that the role that communities can realistically play in management of their own waste depends on the local context. The system advocated by EXNORA seems to require significant local resources, and political and technical support which are hard to find and sustain without strong local leaders. Another model set up in the city of Visakhapatnam is finally introduced as an alternative. This is based on triangular contracts between the municipality, the residents and micro-enterprises and may provide a good solution in dealing with the technical and commercial aspects which communities find difficult.     

Evaluation of HIV/AIDS peer education projects in Zambia

This 1998 evaluation assessed the peer education programmes of HIV/AIDS projects run by four non-governmental organisations. A mini-case study approach was used and analysis was based on cross-case itemistic variables. The projects were assessed only in terms of immediate developmental outcomes to target groups rather than on long-term impact. The study concluded the following: (1) The projects had raised community awareness of HIV/AIDS; (2) Basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS was for the most part accurate; (3) There was anecdotal evidence of behavioural changes in terms of partner-reduction as reported by the projects, though the evidence was sometimes conflicting; and (4) There was evidence that certain traditional practices, which contributed to the spread of the virus (e.g. sexual cleansing and scarification), were becoming modified over time. The programmes were also instrumental in protecting human rights and enabling people living with HIV/AIDS to maintain human dignity.     

加强大学生心理健康教育的途径

加强大学生心理健康教育的基本途径包括把心理健康教育纳入学校教育的规划、开展多种社会性文体及实践活动、建设校园文化创造良好育人环境、加强大学生创新能力培养、建立一支高水平的心理健康工作队伍等     

社区安全与环境设计--在"可防卫空间"之后

社区犯罪历来都被认为与社区实质环境之间存在直接的关系,本文回顾了近40年来与社区安全有关的环境行为研究后发现,可防卫空间、建筑规模、土地使用和空间结构等实体要素与犯罪和居民的安全感之间有密切联系,它们的关系是复杂的多层次的,而且还受到了社区的社会结构、认知和管理等多方面的影响。     

试论长征中红军"南下"行动的积极作用及其原因

“南下”行动是红军长征中的一次重大曲折。但是,“南下”行动在军事上和政治上仍然发挥了重要作用:它在客观上支持和掩护了党中央单独北上;在战略上配合了党中央开创陕北革命大本营的艰苦斗争;接应了长征中艰苦转战的红二、六军团,为红军三大主力胜利会师创造了条件;“南下”红军还在经过的路途广播了革命火种,充分发挥了人民军队的“工作队”的职能。这些积极作用是多方面因素共同作用的结果。共产党作为“南下”红军的灵魂和核心是其中最基本的原因。     

Re-evaluating the Community Question from a German perspective

The far-reaching effects of the social systemic division of labor on the organization and contents of primary ties make the Community Question an important issue for many sociologists. This paper looks at the personal embeddedness of families in three German cities (Berlin, Hamburg, and Stuttgart) and examines the Community Question with data collected at the end of 2003. It is based on the theoretical views of Wellman [Wellman, B., 1979. The community question. The intimate networks of East Yorkers. American Journal of Sociology 84, 1201–1231], who used a network analysis perspective to conceptualize “the Community Question”. The results of this German study generally support the results of Wellman's second East York Study. However, the network structures analyzed in my study vary from the three ideal-type models. Cluster analysis shows that Wellman's typology can be replicated relatively well in Germany. In contrast to traditional discourse related to the Community Question, particular network types are not associated with low levels of social relations. Moreover, structural factors do not explain the existence of different network types. Thus, the networks are not a product of only one community model. They suggest that it is less helpful to talk about “Saved”, “Lost”, or “Liberated” communities than it is to regard communities as a mixture of strongly-knit nuclear clusters and of broader, sparsely-knit relations that provide access to different groups and their resources.     

浅谈后勤社会化条件下的学生思想政治工作

通过分析高校后勤社会化后的新情况,探讨新形势下学生思想政治工作的新特点,并结合管理实践,提出了在后勤社会化新条件下提高教育管理工作主动性和实效性的系列措施。     

国际合作计划生育结合项目与社区发展——云南罗平县结合项目实践的分析

根据云南省罗平县结合项目实施情况的实地考察,从社区发展方法的视角,对项目实施过程中的社区宣传、社区组织、资金筹措、效果评估和基层总体项目管理能力等方面进行了分析.     

高校贫困新生心理障碍探析

本文对以SCL—90(Symptom Checklist 90)筛查出来的82名具有不同程度心理障碍的大学贫困新生进行了面谈和追踪访问,发现经济压力夹杂在各种生活事件中,增加了大学贫困新生适应大学生活的难度,贫困新生的心理障碍主要表现在强迫、人际关系敏感、偏执、抑郁,并且性别之间存在差异,需要加强有针对性的心理健康教育和辅导。     

古代蒙古社会的成吉思汗崇拜

英雄崇拜体现了一个民族的审美文化传统,作为蒙古族的缔造者,曾经创下震惊世界伟业的一代天骄成吉思汗,是广大蒙古族民众引以骄傲和自豪的英雄,成吉思汗崇拜无疑成了蒙古族社会的流行。成吉思汗崇拜是在蒙古族特殊的发展进程中形成,它对早期蒙古国家、民族的发展以及统一元朝的建立都产生了重大而深远的影响。