Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Communities'

What makes a community sustainable? Is it the effective management of local environmental resources? Or meeting the social, economic and health needs of its population? For the five UBC researchers in the following pages, the answer is unequivocally both. From tackling water scarcity to environmental health and planning, these researchers are individually working to ensure local communities are equipped with the necessary knowledge to remain sustainable for generations to come.

Community is an integrative motif and the central message of the Bible. The divine goal of history is God's establishment of community. The Triune God is the origin of community and community is the mode of existence of God. Christian community is derived from God's community. The church is a community restored by the Triune God, and so the essence of the church is Christian community. The Bible is the history of community involving the beginning of community, the destruction of community, the restoration of community, and the completion of community. Christian community is a channel of realization of the kingdom of God. As a restored community, the early church was a loving, sharing, praying, and witnessing community. The early church's common possession and sharing of materials in brotherly love had continuously been practiced throughout the churches as indicated in the books of Acts and the Epistles. The early church is a model of Christian community that believers must always strive for and constantly return to. It is possible to live the life of the early church community even now. This is proven by the history of the Protestant community and contemporary Protestant communities. Christian community is not just a conceptual, but also a practical community. Christian community can be practiced in various forms. Protestant community includes the four modes: intentional Christian community, monastic community, church community, and cell group community. These four modes have an equal value in a sense that they exert the communal spirit in diverse ways. These four modes of Protestant community have appeared throughout the history of Protestant community. Protestant communities influenced the renewal of the established church through their devoted community life of love. They have been the wellsprings of renewal in Protestantism. Protestant communities also become a place of reconciliation between divided Christians and denominations. The communities have a role as mediator of reconciliation among divided churches and denominations. Community movements have also acted as the main mission movement in the history of Protestant mission. The main missions such as the Anabaptists, Moravians, and modern mission societies all exerted a powerful mission in a communal basis. The contribution of the Moravian missionaries of the Herrnhut community, beginning half a century before William Carey, brought about a shift of emphasis in missionary awareness within Protestantism. The Herrnhut community included the centripetal mission and centrifugal mission by living an intentional community and sending Moravian missionaries. Mission should be exerted from a community dimension, not an individual level. The history of Protestant mission and contemporary Protestantism testifies that mission through community is the most effective and powerful method of mission. Up to now mission has usually been confined to centrifugal mission at an individual level, which emphasized preaching the gospel to foreign regions. It is a phenomenon of unbalanced mission. A balanced mission includes both centripetal and centrifugal mission. Mission is not only a matter of the scope of preaching the gospel to the ends of earth, but also a matter of content. The content of mission is a radical discipleship and whole gospel in all–inclusiveness, containing centripetal and centrifugal mission, Christian presence and Christian proclamation, and the New Commandment and the Great Commission. Community is an essence of church and an essence of mission.
Thesis (Ph.D. (Missiology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The objective of this thesis is to explore the procedural and substantive changes that are required to create communities that are sustainable in ecological and social terms, both on a global and local level. Current environmental problems such as global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain and deforestation indicate that human activity is changing the biosphere at an unprecedented rate. While the western world celebrates the apparent triumph of the capitalist industrial free market system, the by-products of industrialization, including the deteriorating health of the biosphere and the increasing demands of developing nations, appear to pose serious threats to the long term sustainability of biological communities including human communities. A community is defined geographically by its physical structure, socially by its shared values, and politically by its capacity for self-determination. Creating a sustainable community requires that fundamental change occurs physically, to minimize a community's impact on ecological systems; socially, to establish a consensus on ecological and social values for the community; and, politically, to improve the capability of communities to implement appropriate locally-based solutions to environmental and social problems. The fact that western society has allowed life-threatening global environmental and social problems to emerge indicates that there may be a serious flaw in the way the dominant society perceives reality and humanity's place in the world. Consequently, this thesis begins with an analysis of the flaws in the dominant world view and the potential for an emerging ecological world view to form the basis for defining a sustainable community and establishing principles for ecological and social sustainability to guide community development. A sustainable community is defined as a community that is responsible, caring, empowered, healthy, and most importantly, in balance with nature. While there are numerous approaches to creating sustainable communities, the choices that a community should make are clearer if the community has a set of values or principles to define the goals they are trying to achieve. The principles for ecological sustainability presented in this thesis are based on current ecological theories and reflect the need for communities to preserve biological diversity, maintain the productive capacity of ecosystems, integrate human activity with nutrient cycles, minimize resource and energy consumption, and establish a dynamic equilibrium between human and natural systems. The principles for social sustainability are based on current literature and emphasize the need for communities to change societal values, meet basic needs, achieve equity, promote self-determination, and create a sustainable economy. This thesis proposes that creating a sustainable community involves both designing procedural mechanisms to support social transformation, and implementing substantive changes to ensure the long-term sustainability of the community. A process for change must include mechanisms to build community consensus on the need and direction of change, and to co-ordinate actions both within the community and with other levels of government. Specific examples of necessary substantive changes are provided based on the application of the principles for ecological and social sustainability to many aspects of community activity including land use planning, economic development, waste management, resource use, and transportation. A short examination of various models of sustainable community initiatives are provided to illustrate a variety of experiments in new institutions, processes and policy proposals currently being undertaken in North America that can be drawn upon by communities trying to implement local solutions to environmental and social problems.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of
Graduate

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.
AENGLISH ABSTRACT: With the advent of the internet a few years ago many online communities have been formed from traditional communities. The ability of a traditional community to transform into an online community depends on the type of interaction that is required by that particular community. Based on the arguments of various critics of the online community, this study will focus on the feasibility of transforming the golfing fraternity from a traditional to an online community. The study project therefore proposes to understand online communities as a subset within the general concept of community. It will be determined if the golfing community that currently falls into the traditional framework is open to create itself into a modern online community. The characteristics of traditional communities include bonding, sharing of information and other items of common interest which is similar for online communities. It is within this objective that the characteristics of online communities and the relationship between traditional and modern communities will be discussed. The first phase was to develop a questionnaire based on desirability and expectations of an online golfing community and for the purposes of this study, the research population comprised of the registered golf members of golf clubs in the Western Province Golf Union (WPGU) in the Western Cape. Furthermore there is within the Western Cape golfing community, possibly scope for a universal understanding of this community as a whole. Golfing communities can be defined through their unique characteristics. Golf communities are traditional communities that have evolved over time. Since modern communities are no longer constrained by geography the question arises whether, golf which has all the characteristics of a traditional community would be able to migrate to a modern online community. From the empirical study it became evident that the current golf community is open to using the internet to gain information on golf. The potential for the success of an online golfing community especially an interactive one in the future is great as the survey results show that the current membership are open to the idea of an online community.FRIKAANSE OPSOMMING:
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Met die koms van die internet 'n paar jaar gelede, is baie aanlyn gemeenskappe vanaf tradisionele gemeenskappe ontwikkel. Die vermoe van tradisionele gemeenskappe om na aanlyn gemeenskappe te verander, is afhanklik van die tipe interaksie wat in daardie spesifieke gemeenskap benodig word. In die lig van 'n literatuurstudie oor die verskillende standpunte oor aanlyn gemeenskappe, is 'n ondersoek gedoen na die aanneemlikheid van die verandering van 'n tradisionele gemeenskap, naamlik die gholf gemeenskap, na 'n aanlyn gemeenskap. Die studie het daarom ten doel om aanlyn gemeenskappe te ondersoek as 'n sub-afdeling van die algemene gemeenskap konsep. Deel van die ondersoek behels die openheid van die gholf gemeenskap, 'n tipiese tradisionele gemeenskap, om 'n moderne virtuele gemeenskap te vorm. Die samestelling van 'n tradisionele gemeenskap beskik oor soortgelyke eienskappe as die van 'n aanlyn gemeenskap soos verbondenheid, die deel van inligting en ander items van gemeenskaplike belang. Dit is die doelwit van hierdie studie om die eienskappe van die aanlyn gemeenskap en die verwantskap tussen tradisionele en aanlyn gemeenskap te bespreek. Die eerste fase, was die ontwikkeling van 'n vraelys met klem op die wenslikheid en behoeftes van 'n aanlyn gholf gemeenskap. Die populasie vir die studie was lede van die Westelike Provinsie Gholf Vereniging (WPGU) in die Wes Kaap. Die data wat ontgin is uit die navorsing van die WPGU kan ook moontlik bydra tot 'n verstaan van die universele gholf gemeenskap in Suid Afrika. Gholf gemeenskappe kan gedefinieer word deur hulle unieke eienskappe. Hulle is tradisionele gemeenskappe wat ontwikkel het deur die jare. Sedert moderne gemeenskappe nie langer geografies beperk is nie moet die vraag gestel word of 'n tradisionele gholf gemeenskap tot 'n moderne aanlyn gemeenskap kan ontwikkel? Uit die literatuurstudie het die duidelik geword dat die huidige gholf gemeenskap oop is vir die gebruik van die internet om inligting oor gholf in te win. In die lig van huidige lede se aanvaarding van aanlyn gemeenskappe lyk die potensiaal en moontlikheid vir die sukses van 'n aanlyn gholf gemeenskap in die toekoms belowend.

Most of the research done on microblogging services, such as Twitter, has focused on how the individual communicates with their community at a micro and macro level; less research has been done on how the community affects the individual. We present in this thesis some ideas about this phenomenon. We do this by collecting data of Twitter users at a conference. We collected 21,150 tweets from approximately 400 users during a five week period and additionally collected survey data from a small subset of the tweeters. By observing users of Twitter, before, during, after a specific event we discovered a pattern in postings. Specifically, we found that tweets increased the week of the conference and that by the end of the conference the network was strong. These findings lead us to conclude that collocation of communities, like conferences, has a substantial effect on online microblogging behaviors.
Master of Science

The methodology of the thesis guided the research focus. It endeavoured to use a community psychology approach, collaboratively working with Mothers Against Violence (MAV) - a volunteer group based in Moss Side, Manchester. The research question evolved through attendance at MAV meetings, where members expressed concern with how they felt their community was being perceived. Members believed that negative stereotypes had impacted on investment, employment, public services, and opportunities for young people. Five members of MAV were interviewed using semi-structured re-authoring questions from narrative practice. Interviews were evaluated using narrative and thematic analysis techniques. As well as highlighting concerns about perceptions, MAV relayed their community’s attributes including the diverse activities, facilities, volunteers and community groups locally available. They also gave richer descriptions of problematic issues with helpful guidance towards future change. This thesis is introduced with a review of government agendas over the last two administrations, particularly in relation to communities and young people. The discussion considers misrepresentations and dominant narratives circulated about communities facing challenges. These are analysed alongside structural issues such as inequality. The discussion also raises questions about the effectiveness of current government agendas in promoting genuine community consultation. As a developing educational psychologist it is important to be aware of dominant discourses, and how these could impact on judgements being made about the people we work with. Being sensitive to how children, families and communities feel they are storied might encourage more authentic engagement. It is also likely to result in more relevant, collaboratively designed goals and strategies.

Changes in the proportion of children vulnerable on the Early Development Instrument (EDI) over time can be used to identify communities with an improvement or decline in its ability to foster healthy children. Positive change communities had a significant reduction in the proportion of children in a community deemed vulnerable. Negative change communities had a significant increase in the proportion of children in a community deemed vulnerable. Communities exhibiting positive change fell above the 83rd percentile on a composite of those SES variables found to correlate with EDI vulnerability, while negative change communities all fell below the 83rd percentile. Stable communities were those with no significant change in the proportion of children deemed vulnerable, and meaningful differences were found between stable high and stable low vulnerability communities. This community typology provides a priority setting lens for where early child interventions may be most effective. A methodology for identifying and analyzing a group of Early Child Development (ECD) communities is presented. A heat map tool is created to synthesize all data relevant to community ECD. Community stakeholders have to choose and evaluate best practices for providing a stimulating cognitive and social environment for all children before they reach kindergarten. This includes universally targeted variations of pre-kindergarten programs. New Investments would be required, but there would be a financial return to governments in future health, labor, and crime outcomes.

Eine Online-Community oder auch virtuelle Gemeinschaft ist ein Bereich im Internet, in der Personen sich zu bestimmten Themen treffen, sich unterhalten, sich selbst darstellen oder um zu konsumieren. Der Erfolg einer Online-Community ist durch die Usability des User Interfaces einer Online-Community nicht angemessen zu beschreiben. Daher wird in diesem Beitrag analysiert, welche weiteren Faktoren neben der Usability bei der Evaluation von Online-Communities berücksichtigt werden müssen. Online-Communities unterstützen kooperatives Verhalten, wie die Kommunikation zwischen Teilnehmern und das Arbeiten in Gruppen. Daher spielen soziale Eigenschaften der Anwendung eine zentrale Rolle. Hierzu wird das Konzept der Sociability eingeführt und es werden Kriterien abgeleitet, die bei der Bewertung von Online-Communities berücksichtigt werden sollten. Neben Usability und Sociability werden Eigenschaften der Online-Communities bewertet, die den Nutzer bei der Anwendung sowohl stimulieren als auch ihn dabei unterstützen, sich mit der Gemeinschaft zu identifizieren und ihm helfen, sich innerhalb der Umgebung seiner gewünschten Identität angemessen auszudrücken.

Das Internet ist zur mächtigsten Triebkraft für Innovationen in der heutigen Zeit geworden. Dennoch ist das Internet keine Erfindung der 90er Jahre, viele Ideen und Ansätze zum Internet gehen bis in die späten 60er Jahre zurück. In der jüngeren Zeit zeigt die Entwicklung des Internets eine hohe Dynamik. Das Jahr 1989 gilt als das Jahr der Erfindung des World Wide Web, mit der Tim Bemers-Lee das akademische ’’schwarze Brett” in ein Medium verwandelte, das die Darstellung von multimedialen Inhalten und eine Interaktion auf Basis von Hypertext-Strukturen ermöglicht. 1991 wurden von Bemers-Lee die drei das World Wide Web tragenden Software-Module auf dem Internet zur Verfügung gestellt: HTML für die Erzeugung und die Formatierung von Dokumenten, URL-Adressierung zum Finden von Dokumenten und HTTP zum Transport von Dokumenten zwischen unterschiedlichen Typen von Computern und Netzwerken. Die Erfindung von Mosaic, einem multimedialen Web Browser, im Jahr 1993 durch Marc Andreessen setzte den Startpunkt für eine expotentielle Verbreitung des Internets und seiner Nutzung und bildete die Basis für die Gründung des Unternehmens Netscape. [... aus dem Text]

Eine Online-Community oder auch virtuelle Gemeinschaft ist ein Bereich im Internet, in der Personen sich zu bestimmten Themen treffen, sich unterhalten, sich selbst darstellen oder um zu konsumieren. Der Erfolg einer Online-Community ist durch die Usability des User Interfaces einer Online-Community nicht angemessen zu beschreiben. Daher wird in diesem Beitrag analysiert, welche weiteren Faktoren neben der Usability bei der Evaluation von Online-Communities berücksichtigt werden müssen. Online-Communities unterstützen kooperatives Verhalten, wie die Kommunikation zwischen Teilnehmern und das Arbeiten in Gruppen. Daher spielen soziale Eigenschaften der Anwendung eine zentrale Rolle. Hierzu wird das Konzept der Sociability eingeführt und es werden Kriterien abgeleitet, die bei der Bewertung von Online-Communities berücksichtigt werden sollten. Neben Usability und Sociability werden Eigenschaften der Online-Communities bewertet, die den Nutzer bei der Anwendung sowohl stimulieren als auch ihn dabei unterstützen, sich mit der Gemeinschaft zu identifizieren und ihm helfen, sich innerhalb der Umgebung seiner gewünschten Identität angemessen auszudrücken.

Citizens are expected to have a great role in the future global energy transition toward a low-carbon economy and climate neutrality. The creation of energy communities can empower citizens, who become prosumers, providing flexibility and ancillary services, reducing losses and grid investment deferral. It also brings environmental and social benefits, activating virtuous circles in the local economy. The purpose of this work is to analyze the current regulatory framework energy community; a deeper analysis is performed on renewable energy community whose regulation has been already transposed in the Italian regulation. Moreover, a realistic business-case is presented in order to verify the feasibility of a renewable energy community and a collective self-consumption schemes in the CAAB-FICO area. The final part of the work seeks to present an overview of the possible future perspectives regarding energy community and their possible contribution to smart-cities development. Particular attention has been given to the role of the energy management system in an energy community and a how it can be designed to improve the community’s energy efficiency through the implementation of production and load forecasts.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone
The goal of this research is to define self sufficiency for mountain communities, understand the resources that make up a mountain community, and describe how current and future mountain communities can take steps toward self sufficiency. What the report explores and finds is that most mountain communities have all the resources available to become autonomous, sustainable areas able to support human, wildlife, and environmental health. This conclusion came from an extensive literature review on the resources of mountain communities, followed by analysis of the resources held in the mountain community of Summerhaven, Arizona. A list of prescriptive steps based on Summerhaven’s current needs is discussed, giving the community a ranked order of how they can utilize their resources to full potential and become autonomous to any outside resources. While further research into other communities is needed to more effectively understand the different scope of resource issues mountain communities are facing, this report has a general view of what effects all mountain communities. No two mountain communities will be the same in their resource needs, but the analysis on Summerhaven can be repeated in all existing communities. Self sufficiency in mountain communities is entirely possible and should be explored in order to make the mountain a healthy, sustainable, and beautiful landscape to be enjoyed by people for the rest of the time that they will be occupying Earth.

The main aim of this dissertation is to examine in depth some aspects of the participation process to a virtual community. We used the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB, Perugini & Bagozzi, 2001) to investigate the role of motivational factors in the processes of active contribution and use of web community resources in online communities. Given the social dimension of a virtual community, similar to other authors (Dholakia and Bagozzi 2002, 2006a, 2006b; Bagozzi, 2011) we introduced the concept of we-intentions from Toumela‟s work (1995) in addition to individual intentions. Nielsen (2006) analyzed the contribution process defining the inequality in the contribution as the tendency for most web community users to participate modestly, while only some community members represent the active part of content production (1% as active content producers, 9% as content modifiers). Drawing from this idea, our research question was to better understand what are the factors that may inhibit a user from participating in a virtual community. The first study, a longitudinal research, aimed at identifying the processes underlying the willingness to actively contribute to a virtual community. Users from a virtual community of practice (N = 263), namely HTCBLOG.com, were considered for this study. A first plus of the present study is that we used a measure of an actual behavior of contribution. We tested the MGB considering the we-intentions to contribute but the first model tested did not predict the observed behavior. The introduction of greed and anonymity constructs to the MGB led to an increase in the explained variance in the observed behavior. In the second study, which was longitudinal, following the suggestions offered by Antin & Cheshire (2010), we decided to deepen the meaning of participation to a virtual community considering the idea of participation not necessarily identified with active contribution. Indeed, an individual can feel as a part of the community, simply because as a member he/she may access and read community contents. Drawing from this assumption we hypothesized that participation might be divided in two distinctive behaviors: active contribution and the individual use of contents by reading. Respondent to our survey were members of a virtual discussion forum (N = 428), namely PIPAM.org. Also in this second study we used a measure of an actual behavior of contribution. Using the MGB rationale plus collective intentions, we focused our attention on the distinction of the three processes of contribution, use of community contents and participation. We found that the we-intentions to participate were promoted by the we-intentions to contribute and by the we-intentions to use community contents by reading. Moreover, the participation behavior was predicted by we-intentions to participate as well as by the behaviors of contribution but negatively by the community contents usage behavior. Greed confirmed the negative significant effects on contribution process, whereas it showed a positive effect on the use of contents by reading instrumental behavior.

Large infrastructure projects are seldom completed on time or on budget. Unlike many other projects of this type, the construction of the Øresund Bridge was considered to be a successful infrastructure project. Since no plan can foresee all events, deviations from plans arise, and these have to be managed as they appear during construction. How deviations are managed is of strategic importance. This dissertation investigates the ability of the contractor organization, constructing the Øresund Bridge, to manage deviations from prescribed requirements. Deviations can be detected and corrected through formal routines (ISO 9000, a quality standard), or informal groups (communities of practice). The findings show that deviations were managed through both communities of practice as well as through formal routines. The development of communities of practice was both impeded and enhanced by the built-in surveillance and disciplining processes embedded in ISO 9000, as well as the ability to communicate using rich media. The performance of the communities studied was variable, and moreover, it can be concluded that some communities of practice are more important than others. The implications of this dissertation is that when knowledge-based capability of managing deviations is included as a metric of project performance several actions could have been taken to enhance the management of deviations.
Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2002

Master of Science
Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics
Carol W. Shanklin
Abstract Aging has become a focal point for several segments of the foodservice industry with the forecasted trends. Due to the link between quality of life and satisfaction with food in this population, many Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) and retirement communities are employing individuals who have experience in the hotel/restaurant industry. The purpose of the study was to assess residents’ overall satisfaction with quality of food and quality of service in Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) and retirement communities when the facility employs a foodservice director or chef with culinary training or expertise. The research compared satisfaction based on types of foodservices provided (restaurants and café/bistros); resident characteristics such as gender and length of time residing at a facility; frequency of interaction with the chef or foodservice director; and meal plan requirement. The study was conducted in the Midwest region and included a convenience sample of Retirement Communities and CCRCs in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The variables analyzed were quality of food, quality of service, atmosphere, dining venues, meal plans, and frequency of dining with overall satisfaction. Atmosphere, food quality, dining venues, and meal plans significantly influenced overall satisfaction. Residents in facilities that provided more than one dining option had a slightly lower satisfaction ratings compared to the group who had one dining option. Overall satisfaction ratings for meal plan indicated that the respondents were neutral relative to the affect of meal plan and their overall satisfaction. The frequency of dining in one of the venues was positively influenced by meal plan requirements in the facilities. Residents who had lived in the facilities less than two years rated satisfaction higher. The more frequent the chef and foodservice manager interacted with the residents the higher the rate of overall satisfaction. Foodservice directors and administrators in these facilities can use the results to understand what the customers are looking for and how to improve overall services for their residents.

Datum:         2008-11-13

 

Nivå:             Kandidatuppsats i Företagsekonomi, 15 Högskolepoäng

 

Författare:  Amina Ahmed Ibrahim                 Carol Nakajugo Basudde

 

Handledare: Mats Viimne

 

Titel:             Communities – en marknadsföringskanal med effekt?

 

Syfte:            Att beskriva communities som marknadsföringskanal och dess kommunikationseffekt.

 

Metod:          Primärdatainsamlingen för denna uppsats har skett via intervjuer som utförts på tre olika sätt, personligt möte, telefonintervjun samt e-post intervju. Uppsatsen har baserats på fältstudier av fyra communities i Sverige, nämligen Lunarstorm, Glife, Nightlife och Nattstad. Sekundärdata har använts i form av böcker, artiklar och Internet.

 

Slutsats:        Fördelen av att företag använder sig av communities är bl.a. träffsäkerheten och att företag ska enklare kunna nå ut till målgruppen som deras reklamannonser riktar sig till. En nackdel är att det råder fortfarande en stor kunskapsbrist hos de olika företagen och de förlitar sig mest på dem traditionella marknadsföringssätt som TV, tidningar och radio. Den ökande publiciteten av communities i media har bidragit till att allt fler får upp ögonen för detta marknadsföringssätt och väljer att lära sig om de olika communities och vad de går ut på.

 

Date:             2008-11-13

 

Level:           Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15 ECTS

 

Authors:      Amina Ahmed Ibrahim               Carol Nakajugo Basudde

 

Tutor:           Mats Viimne

 

Title:             Communities – A marketing channel with effect?

 

Purpose:       To describe communities as a marketing channel and its communication effect. 

 

Method:       Primary data was collected through face-to-face, telephone and e-mail interviews. These interviews were used to gather information on the case studies used in this thesis. Four Swedish online communities namely Lunarstorm, Glife, Nightlife and Nattstad were used. Secondary data used in this thesis has consisted of books, articles and online sources.

 

Conclusion:  Companies using communities as marketing channels have the added advantage of a higher segmentation which means that they can easier find and reach their target audience. One of the problems associated with this medium is that today many companies still suffer from a lack of knowledge when it comes to communities due to the fact that this medium has not been paid the attention that it needs. Companies prefer to rely more on the traditional marketing channels like TV, newspapers and radio. With this new found interest in communities and the attention being paid to them in the media, more and more companies are opening their eyes to these new marketing channels and are choosing to learn more about them.

 

Online communities are growing at a phenomenal rate and with the large number of users these communities contain, attackers are drawn to exploit these users. Denial of information (DoI) attacks and information leakage attacks are two popular attacks that target users on online communities. These information based attacks are linked by their opposing views on low-quality information. On the one hand denial of information attacks which primarily use low-quality information (such as spam and phishing) are a nuisance for information consumers. On the other hand information leakage attacks, which use inadvertently leaked information, are less effective when low-quality information is used, and thus leakage of low-quality information is prefered by private information producers. In this dissertation, I introduce techniques for preventing abuse against these attacks in online communities using meta-model classification and information unification approaches, respectively. The meta-model classification approach involves classifying the ``connected payload" associated with the information and using the classification result for the determination. This approach allows for detection of DoI attacks in emerging domains where the amount of information may be constrained. My information unification approach allows for modeling and mitigating information leakage attacks. Unifying information across domains followed by a quantificiation of the information leaked, provides one of the first studies on users' susceptibality to information leakage attacks. Further, the modeling introduced allows me to quantify the reduced threat of information leakage attacks after applying information cloaking.

The concept of community is receiving increasing attentionacross organizations and throughout the entire society.Voluntary association, creation of value, and solidarity incommunity contexts get more and more appreciated and nurturedwithin companies and other organizations. At the same time,lack of community is raised lately by Western sociologists as amajor source of alarm while the large participationpossibilities provided by the Internet are seen as a hope forremedy. This thesis aims to contribute in the area of technologydesign for communities by seeking to gain understanding ofvoluntary community work and to design artefacts in support forsuch work. Community work is studied through anethnographically-inspired approach for empirical observation ofcommunity activity and the artefacts that support it. Fieldstudy of‘voluntary working order’was conducted inseveral voluntary communities: amateur radio and three studentorganisations. In studying such working order, one mustrenounce a set of assumptions that are commonly made aboutwork, starting with the very idea of remuneration as a basicmotivation. Instead, challenge as a major motivation isproposed for work in voluntary communities. To draw inspirationfor future design, an examination is made of the way thismotivation is reflected in the features of technology createdby the communities for their own use, in the working contextsof the field settings. Lessons learned about amateur work are then used and refinedwhile reflecting on amateur-work-oriented design of ITartefacts conducted within a student organisation, with aparticular interest in self-sustainability of participatorydesign practices in such settings. Practices of participatorydesign are re-considered in the context of voluntary work, theabsence of the employer-employee conflict, the challenges andlearning trajectories of the members. As development is done bymembers of the student community, design interventions forself-sustainability of amateur software development aredescribed and reflected upon. A generic approach is proposedfor action aimed at self-sustainability in amateur settings.The socio-technical features that resemble across thecommunities studied and practices experienced are then groupedunder the generic name of the perspective developed in thisthesis:“Amateur Community”. The perspective isproposed as a point of departure for further study and designintervention in similar communities. Comparisons are madebetween Amateur Community and other approaches such asCommunity of Practice. Keywords:amateur, volunteer, community, work, amateurwork, participatory design, software development, challenge,contingency, pioneering, public, personal development,learning, hands-on learning, selfsustainability
QC 20100420

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are an evolving technology built around the idea of treating waste water while simultaneously generating a sustained power output. A large focus has been placed on known electrogens such as Shewanella oneidensis and Geobacter sulfurreducens, while very little is understood about how species interact together in a microbial community. While inoculating MFCs with naturally occurring communities is one method of studying fuel cells, this work took a different approach and attempted to build a synthetic community based upon a naturally occurring community. This will be important in the future of MFCs since being able to tailor a community to the influent feed will theoretically allow a more efficient use of the substrates and a higher level of treatment to be achieved. The synthetic community was made up of 5 different species, modelled on a naturally occurring microbial community. This was carried out through a number of single species, dual-species and 5-species MFC experiments. This will allow the electrogenic ability and the community’s ability to treat wastewater to be compared between single species and communities. The single-species MFCs demonstrated the electrogenic potential of three previously unstudied species. It was also observed that the single species MFCs produced higher power than the dual-species and 5-species communities. This contradicts the commonly held view that as biodiversity increases, power output increases. In the dual-community MFCs, a trend emerged where the species which produced the highest power outputs were associated with MFCs containing a fermentative species and an anaerobic respirator, while the lowest powers were observed in dual-cultures made up of two fermentative species. Cyclic voltammetry showed that the studied species did not produce extracellular mediators and the electrogenic activity occurred in the biofilm. It was also shown that as the biodiversity of the community increased, so did the level of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, with the 5-species community achieving the highest COD removal of 90% compared to the 70% of the single species. Metabolic experiments were carried out using a Biolog Omnilog on the individual species and 10 dual species combinations to try and understand the different substrates utilised by individual species. This was done by comparing respiration rates and lag times for the individual substrates which are relevant to MFC experiments. It was observed that faster growth rates but longer lag times were generally observed when two species tried to utilise the same substrate, but the results did not correlate with the results generated from the MFC experiments.

The purpose of this research paper was to conduct a literature review to explore both the physical and historical aspects of schools and their communities in order to ascertain the nature of the disconnect that exists today between schools and communities. This paper reviews the purpose of the public school, from the origin of the one-room schoolhouse to today's urban schools; the impact of immigration, segregation, technology and industrialization on the public school and the forces behind public school reform. The reform processes and the programs developed to stimulate the public school including the transformation of the learning environment in the communities they serve was discussed. The research indicates that the return to a community school with small learning environments that involves communities and residents in the planning of schools as communities, is the most promising form of public school reform.

This thesis will divide the concept of member feedback in online communities into three types, namely conversational-, behavioural feedback and content analysis. During this thesis we will argue for the advantages with user involvement in design and how the three types of feedback listed above together with members could be introduced into the design process. We argue that by combining traditional methods such as personas and focus groups with the different kinds of feedback in the design and evaluation process supports usability in online communities.
Denna uppsats kommer att dela på konceptet medlems-feedback i online communities i tre olika typer, nämligen feedback genom konversation, beteende och community innehåll. Vi kommer att argumentera för fördelarna med att involvera användarna i design processen och hur de tre olika typerna av feedback kan användas i denna process. Genom att kombinera traditionella metoder som tex. personas och fokus grupper med dessa typer av feedback kan ett användbarhets mål uppnås.
Hannes Persson 0702-229542 Christian Toft 070-7981770

The structure of phytoplankton communities was examined seasonally across five rivers with a focus on small cells and their relative importance. Picophytoplankton (0.2-2 μm), previously considered insignificant in rivers, reached densities as high as those observed in lakes and oceans (~ 10e4-10e5 cells/mL). Their relative importance was not a function of trophic state with the highest contribution to algal biomass found in the most eutrophic river. Body size distributions were analyzed from both chlorophyll-a size fractions and taxonomic enumerations; no significant effect of river or season was detected, suggesting that phytoplankton size distribution is not a useful metric of change in rivers. Unlike lake ecosystems, the rivers were uniformly dominated by small cells (< 20 μm). Taxonomic analyses of the seasonal succession did not reveal a common periodicity of particular divisions (e.g. diatoms). However, strong dominance was more typical of eutrophic rivers even though taxa richness was similar.

This thesis focuses on one of the most controversial and ambitious urban regeneration policies of recent years – the plan to create sustainable communities via Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders (HMRP). Announced as a ‘step change’ in urban policy to overcome problems of low demand and abandonment experienced most acutely in nine former industrial towns and cities in the north and midlands of England, the Sustainable Communities Plan (SCP) (ODPM, 2003a) involves the demolition and relocation of mainly white, working class inner-urban communities. This thesis focuses on a year long moment in the process of regeneration in one such HMRP in North East England, known as ‘Bridging NewcastleGateshead’ (BNG) and draws from rich, detailed ethnographic case studies of three former industrial communities. Originally, the thesis draws together critical engagements with the concepts of space, governance, community, sustainability and materiality to develop a relational understanding of urban regeneration. Starting with an understanding of ‘spaces of regeneration’ as spaces in the process of becoming this perspective moves beyond normative, prescriptive understandings of spaces as static and contained and subject to the process of spatial regulation from above i.e. power over. Rather than a straightforward process of spatial regulation to transform people and places, the process of regeneration involves uncertainties, negotiations, contestations and emotions between the multiple social, material, economic and environmental networks. The thesis has drawn together urban theories and empirical evidence (including historical and contemporary policy analysis as well as a range of qualitative methods) to illustrate the relational transformation of people and places. Governmentality provides the main conceptual framework. This leads to an in-depth exploration of the rationalities and technologies of urban regeneration from three perspectives in the empirical chapters - governing communities, demolishing communities and transforming communities.

Moving to Florida to retire has become commonplace among American elders, though we have seldom addressed how lesbians and gay men navigate sexual identity in retirement. I undertake ethnography of three suburban, retirement-aged residential communities in Florida in which lesbians and gay men make community in order to understand how identities are produced by and within communities, the significance of suburban gay communities in the post-gay community era, and how residents from each community engage dominant discourse. Sanctuary Cove 1 is a ―gay and lesbian‖ retirement community; Bayside Park is a ―women‘s-only‖ (lesbian) community; and Heritage Estates is a heteronormative retirement community with a growing lesbian ―network.‖ Drawing from conversations with thirty lesbians and four gay men, I compare community practices to support my argument that these are respective settings for accrediting, contesting, and privileging identities. By exploring how participants collectively construct and present sexual selves in disparate communities, I attempt to uncover the co-constitutive interaction between community and identity; while attention to the ruling relations of sexuality, sex, gender, race, and class engages the politics of privilege and stigma.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
O objetivo desta tese é desenvolver uma abordagem de planejamento para atender às necessidades de pequenas comunidades que privilegiem, antes de tudo, o aprofundamento dos laços que unem seus membros. Para isso, procurou-se, inicialmente, analisar o papel do planejamento na vida humana, buscando-se avaliar as características mais adequadas para seu desenvolvimento em situações complexas e conflituosas que hoje são muito freqüentes, mesmo em pequenas comunidades. Verificou-se que, entre os principais requisitos necessários ao planejamento, estão o de objetivar modificar o ambiente (postura pró-ativa) e o de explicitar os valores partilhados pelos diversos atores, valores esses que devem orientar os critérios para a avaliação das conseqüências de longo prazo das ações. Essas características constituem o fundamento do planejamento adaptativo, que, surgindo como síntese entre concepções rígidas e abrangentes de planejamento e o não-planejamento, procura superar as principais críticas a essas abordagens. Mais especificamente, buscou-se aproveitar, no desenvolvimento desta tese, conceitos das duas principais linhas de planejamento adaptativo, denominadas de Redesenho Normativo de Sistemas e Mudança Não-Sinóptica de Sistemas. Dessa última, consideraram-se, especialmente, aspectos das abordagens de Incrementalismo Articulado, Regulação Apreciativa e Incrementalismo Normativo que são apropriados à problemática das pequenas comunidades. Em seguida, abordou-se a questão da comunidade, destacando-se seu papel como instância capaz de quebrar o isolamento do homem na sociedade, o que não é objeto nem das alternativas individualistas, nem das coletivistas. Pesquisaram-se referências à idéia de comunidade no pensamento social católico, com ênfase na Doutrina Social da Igreja, mostrando-se que a comunidade é o lugar privilegiado para a prática dos grandes princípios dessa Doutrina e que a construção de comunidades de solidariedade é um objetivo constante, sobretudo em visões cristãs mais recentes. Como metodologia para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, adotou- se a pesquisa-ação, que é a mais compatível com o planejamento adaptativo. O autor assumiu o papel de pesquisador em uma comunidade católica, em formação, denominada de Encontro da Comunicação, da qual participa. Essa comunidade busca enriquecer o relacionamento entre seus membros e transmitir esse estilo de vida, que está baseado nos valores cristãos e em uma comunicação profunda, a outras pessoas. Partiu-se do pressuposto de que a incorporação de conceitos de planejamento adaptativo e de formação de comunidades deveria contribuir para a superação de muitas das dificuldades comuns a pequenas comunidades, considerando-se, particularmente no caso da problemática do Encontro da Comunicação, as expectativas de seus integrantes. Como resultado desta pesquisa, desenvolveu-se uma abordagem de planejamento que procura equacionar os principais problemas dessas comunidades, tais como as tendências ao fechamento, à formação de facções e à resistência à mudança, estruturando-as de modo a que haja uma redução dos conflitos que possibilite a construção de relações autênticas, incentivando-se a negociação e apreciação e substituindo-se o legalismo por auto-regulação. A base para a abordagem aqui proposta, testada e aprovada pelos membros da comunidade em questão, propõe a definição e redefinição de um futuro desejado, como ponto de partida para a elaboração e revisão de um plano, a ser implementado em etapas, que serão, permanentemente, avaliadas. As principais contribuições deste trabalho decorrem da articulação dos temas planejamento e pequenas comunidades, estabelecendo bases, tanto para uma melhor sistematização e estruturação dessas comunidades, como para tornar realidade as visões de seus membros, destacando-se formas de superação dos problemas ident
The purpose of this thesis is to develop a planning approach to meet the needs of small communities that intend, first of all, to deepen the relationship among its members. The first step towards that goal was to analyse the role planning plays in human life, trying to evaluate the characteristics that are suitable to be developed in complex and conflictive situations which are vey common nowadays, even in small communities. It has been observed that among the principal requirements of planning are the intention to modify the environment (pro-active position) and the need to specify the values shared by the different actors, which will serve as a basis for the establishment of criteria to evaluate the long-term consequences of the actions. Those characteristics form the foundation of adaptative planning which aims to be a synthesis of rigid and comprehensive planning conceptions and non-planning and tries to overcome the main criticism to those approaches. During the development of this thesis, concepts of the two principal lines of adaptative planning were used, namely System Normative Redesign and System Non-synoptic Change, taking into consideration certain aspects of the approaches to Articulated Incrementalism, Appreciative Regulation and Normative Incrementalism, which are appropriate to deal with the problems of small communities. The next step was to study the concept of community as a mean to break the isolation of men and women in society, which is not the object of study of individualist or collectivist alternatives. It is shown that the idea of community in the Catholic Social Thinking, especially in the Social Doctrine of the Church, refers to the privileged place to practice the great principles of this Doctrine, and also that the construction of solidarity communities is a constant aim, especially in recent Christian perspectives. The methodology used to develop this work was action research, which is the most compatible to adaptative planning. The author was a researcher in a catholic community which is being formed, called Communication Encounter, to which he also belongs. This community aims to enrich the relationship among its members and to transmit this lifestyle, which is based on Christian values and a deep communication among people. The considered assumption was that the incorporation of adaptative planning and community formation concepts should be useful to overcome many of the common difficulties in small communities, considering the fact that the expectations of the members in the case of Communication Encounters problematique. As a result of this body of research, a planning approach was developed that intends to deal with the principal problems of these communities, such as the tendency to self-isolation, the creations of factions and the resistance to change. This approach also aims at reducing conflicts, motivating authentic relationships and encouraging negotiation and appreciation, and replacing legalism by self-regulation. The proposed approach, which was tested and approved by the members of the mentioned community, is based on the constant definition and re-definition of a desired future as the starting point to the elaboration and revision of a plan to be implemented in steps and evaluated throughout. The main contributions of this work are the result of the articulation of the concepts of planning and small communities, establishing bases that lead not only to a better systematization and structuring of these communities but also to turning its members vision into reality, by emphasizing ways of overcoming the identified problems.
Esta tesis tiene como objetivo el desarrollo de una metodología de planificación que atienda las necesidades de pequeñas comunidades y que contribuya, antes de todo, a profundizar los lazos que unen los miembros de las comunidades. Para esto, se analizó inicialmente el papel de la planificación en la vida humana, evaluando las características más adecuadas para su desarrollo en situaciones complejas y conflictivas, que son frecuentes incluso en pequeñas comunidades. Se verificó que, entre los principales requisitos de la planificación están: modificar el ambiente (postura pró activa) y explicitar los valores compartidos por los diversos actores, valores éstos que deben orientar los criterios para evaluar las consecuencias a largo plazo de las acciones. Esas características constituyen el fundamento de la planificación adaptativa, que, surgiendo como síntesis entre concepciones rígidas y amplias de planificación y no-planificación, trata de superar las principales críticas de esas abordages. Más especificamente, se buscó aprovechar, en el desarrollo de esta tesis, los conceptos de las dos principales líneas de planificación adaptativa, conocidas como: Rediseño Normativo de Sistemas y Cambio No Sinóptico de Sistemas. De ésta última, se consideraran, especialmente, aspectos de las metodologías de Incrementalismo Articulado, Regulación Apreciativa e Incrementalismo Normativo que son apropriadas a la problemática de las pequeñas comunidades. En seguida, se abordó la cuestión de la comunidad, destacando su papel como instancia capaz de romper el aislamiento del hombre en la sociedad, que no es objeto ni de las alternativas individualistas, ni de colectivistas. Se Investigaron las referencias a las ideas de comunidad en el pensamiento social católico, con énfasis en la Doctrina Social de la Iglesia, mostrando que la comunidad es el lugar privilegiado para la práctica de los grandes principios de esa Doctrina y que la construcción de comunidades de solidaridad es un objetivo constante, sobre todo en las visiones cristianas más recientes. Como metodología para el desarrollo de este trabajo, se adoptó la investigación, que resulta más compatible con la planificación adaptativa. El autor asumió el papel de investigador en una comunidad católica, en formación, denominada de Encuentro de la Comunicación, de la cuàl participa. Esa comunidad tiene como objetivo enriquecer el relacionamiento entre sus miembros y transmitir ese estilo de vida, que tiene como base los valores cristianos y lograr una comunicación profunda. Se partió del presupuesto de que la incorporación de conceptos de planificación adaptativo y de formación de comunidades debería contribuir a superar las dificuldades comunes a la pequeñas comunidades, considerando, particularmente en el caso de la problemática del Encuentro de la Comunicación, las expectativas de sus integrantes. Como resultado de esta investigación, se desarrolló una abordaje de planificación que procura equacionar los principales problemas de esas comunidades, tales como las tendencias al aislamiento, a las formación de facciones y la resistencia a los cambios, extructurándolas de modo que haya una reducción de los conflictos, que haga posible la construcción de relaciones auténticas, incentivando la negociación y apreciación y substituyendo la legalidad por auto-regulación. La base para esta abordaje, testada y aprobada por los miembros de la comunidad, propone la definición y redefinición de un futuro deseado, como punto de partida para la elaboración y revisión de un plano, a ser implementado en etapas, que serán, permanentemente, evaluadas. Las principales contribuciones de este trabajo son: la articulación de los temas planificación y pequeñas comunidades, estableciendo bases, tanto para una mejor sistematización y extructuración de esas comunidades, como para convertir en realid

Deciphering the structure and dynamics of communities containing a multitude of species is a topic of great interest to many microbial ecologists. Species interactions have been observed to alter the evolutionary trajectories of communities when subjected to different evolutionary processes. Thus far, many of the studies focused on gaining insight into these processes, do so through the manipulation of pre-existing functions and mechanisms. Though few develop the field of multi-species experimentation in bacterial community knowledge via the implementation of more general and broad theoretical applications. In this thesis I develop a better understanding regarding the evolutionary dynamics of bacterial communities by combining both ecological and evolutionary techniques. By employing the use of a bottom-up approach, through the construction of relatively simple artificial bacterial communities from a library of isolated naturally co-occurring bacteria, I provide insightful evidence of multiple dynamic interactions between different guilds of species. The research presented in Chapters 2, 3 and 5, highlight the impacts that choices in experimental design have when working with multi-species in an experimental setting and increase knowledge of how biotic and abiotic interactions influence community dynamics. Finally, Chapter 4 produced novel insights into previously unexplored areas of community complexity and dynamics; describing the important interplay between intraspecific and interspecific dynamics on community progression.

Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
This thesis explores the notion of communities of practice, and in particular how they make sense of their environment in order to create knowledge and enable learning. Traditionally communities of practice are viewed as stewards of expert knowledge, but this thesis argues that they are better understood as sensemaking phenomena. Chapter one introduces the theory of sensemaking as developed by Karl Weick. This chapter introduces the seven properties of sensemaking. It also explores organisational sensemaking by taking the intersubjective and generic subjective levels of sensemaking into account. Chapter two focuses on the literature on communities of practice as self-organising knowledge structures. Three structural aspects of communities of this kind are introduced, namely domain, community and practice. Following Etienne Wenger two additional aspects of communities of practice—namely meaning and identity—are analyzed as these provide the basis for a link to sensemaking theory. In the final part of this chapter the downside of communities of practice is reviewed as they do not only present opportunities but also unique challenges for organisations. Chapter three combines the conclusions from the previous two chapters by interpreting communities of practice from a sensemaking perspective. The seven properties of sensemaking are applied to communities of practice and the role of meaning in communities of practice is viewed through the lens of sensemaking. Furthermore the role communities of practice might play in enhancing the phases of organisational sensemaking is indicated. Chapter four concludes that communities of practice indeed function as sensemaking phenomena in their environments. It is argued that nurturing communities of practice as centres of sensemaking could be advantageous to organisations and recommendations are made on how to best achieve this.

Peer-to-Peer-Netzwerke (P2P) und -Communities sind in der Vergangenheit nicht nur durch die Popularität von File-Sharing Systemen wie Gnutella [4] oder Freenet [1] zum Gegenstand umfangreicherer Forschungen geworden. In einem P2P-System ist jeder Computer zugleich Anbieter und Konsument von Informationen aller Art. Es existiert kein zentraler Server mehr, der Nutzinformationen oder Informationen über die Netzwerkstruktur bereithält. Es können jederzeit Teilnehmer hinzukommen oder entfernt werden, ohne daß die Funktionalität des Gesamtsystems beeinträchtigt wird. In solchen Netzwerken finden sich Nutzer zusammen, die gleiche Interessen, wie z.B. den Austausch bestimmter Daten, haben (Communities). Trotz oder gerade wegen dieser dynamischen, dezentralen Architektur haben solche System einige signifikante Vorteile gegenüber den erkömmlichen Client-Server-Lösungen [5]. Eine zentrale Instanz ist z.B. eine Schwachstelle, wenn es um Sicherheit und Zuverlässigkeit geht. Nicht nur mögliche technische Probleme können mit dem Server alle von diesem angebotenen Dienste unerreichbar machen, sondern auch böswillige Angriffe von außen. Zentrale Datenbestände sind zudem meistens auch sehr umfangreich und somit nur mit großen Aufwand zu pflegen.

Analysiert man Strukturen, z.B. in der menschlichen Gesellschaft, so stellt man fest, daß i.a. zwei grundlegende Strukturprinzipien unterschieden werden können: 1. Hierarchische Strukturen, bei denen meist eine baumförmige Informationsweiterleitung von unten nach oben und eine Entscheidungsausführung von oben nach unten charakteristisch ist und somit Leitungs- bzw. Entscheidungsinstanzen mehr oder weniger zentralistische Strukturen sind 1 sowie 2. Nachbarschaftsstrukturen, bei denen sich Informationsverteilung und Entscheidungsfindungsprozesse unmittelbar in einer Gruppe von sich untereinander kennender Nachbarn vollzieht, wobei eine Informationsweiterleitung auch rekursiv an weiter entfernte Nachbarn erfolgen kann 2. [... aus dem Text]

This thesis examines how Wordsworth interacted with non-literary communities within Cumbria, his impact on these communities, and their impact on his work. Analysing texts from across Wordsworth’s lifetime, including published poetry and prose, manuscripts, and personal writing, my study charts how his engagement with Cumbrian communities changed and his portrayals of local life developed. It argues that there are three phases to his writing about local communities: ‘remembering’ (1790s), ‘experiencing’ (1800-8), and ‘determining’ (1808 onwards). In the first phase, his writing about communities is defined by a sense of nostalgia and detachment; in the second phase he is immersed in the locale, writing with a vivid sense of exploration and discovery; in the third phase he writes from a more authoritative position, seeking to prescribe the ideal model for Cumbrian communities. The study reveals that although he was drawn to an attractive ideal of community cohesion, he also responded to local tensions and divisions, and ambivalence can also be read within his portrayals of the locale. The unresolved disjunctions between ideal and reality, cohesion and division, provide a significant motivation for his creativity.

Ecological communities are collections of species bound together by their influences on one another. Community structure, therefore, refers to the way in which these influences are organised. As a result, ecologists are mainly interested in the factors driving the structure, functioning, and persistence of communities. The traditional focus, however, has been on the feeding relationships among species (direct trophic interactions), whereas relationships mediated by a third species or the environment (indirect interactions) have been largely overlooked. I investigated the role of indirect interactions in structuring communities through a series of field experiments in a diverse assemblage of arthropods living on a Brazilian shrub species. I experimentally reduced the abundance of the commonest galler on the shrub and found that the perturbation resonated across the food web, affecting its structure and robustness. Since there was no potential for these effects to be propagated directly or indirectly via the documented trophic links, the effects must have spread non-trophically and/or through trophic links not included in the web. Thus, I investigated non-trophic propagation of effects in the system. I demonstrate that hatched galls of the commonest galler, which serve as habitat for other species, can mediate non-trophic interactions that feedback to the galler modifying its interactions with parasitoids and inquiline aphids. I performed further manipulative experiments, excluding ants, live galls and hatched galls, to reveal mechanisms for the non-trophic interaction modifications observed in this system. Finally, I explored how non-trophic interaction modification could affect the structure and stability of a discrete ecological community in the field. I investigated how the densities of certain pairs of groups relate to each other, and how their relationship changes in relation to a third group. Then, I assembled an "effect network" revealing, for the first time in an empirical community, a hidden web of non-trophic indirect interactions modifying the direct interactions and modifying each other. Overall, the thesis presents evidence that communities are strongly interconnected through non-trophic indirect interactions. This is one of the first empirical demonstrations of the context-dependent modification of interactions via non-trophic interactions. However, determining the mechanisms behind such interaction modifications may be unfeasible. Understanding how the observed effects relate to community structuring requires shifting our focus from bipartite interaction networks to a more holistic approach.