Academic literature on the topic 'Community development Victoria Melbourne Case studies'

In Australia and across the globe music participation by older people active in the community has the potential to enhance quality of life. A recent review of the literature found clear evidence of numerous benefits from participation in active music making that encompass the social, physical and psychological. This article reports on five phenomenological case studies of community singing groups comprised of older people active in the community in Melbourne, Victoria. These studies are part of a research project, Well-being and Ageing: Community, Diversity and the Arts in Victoria that began in 2008. Interview data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis and are reported under three overarching themes: Social connection, A sense of well-being, and Musical engagement. For older people in these studies singing in community choirs offered opportunities for social cohesion, positive ageing, and music learning that provided a sense of personal and group fulfilment, community engagement and resilience.

Sistren Theatre Collective has been producing theatre and working with community groups in Jamaica for the last thirty-five years. Over the last decade the company has changed its profile to include male drama specialists and social workers in its team. This has come about due to new funding arrangement with the Jamaican Ministry of National Security, which won a large grant from the Inter-American Development Bank to establish the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP). The CSJP has a community outreach component in which Sistren has been employed to run socio-drama workshops and provide counselling to residents in Kingston's ‘garrison’ communities. In this article Karina Smith compares Sistren's theatre and outreach work under the CSJP programme with the group's previous theatre productions and workshops, devised when it was the leading women's popular theatre company and Women in Development non-government organization in the Caribbean region. Karina Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Literary and Gender Studies in the College of the Arts at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia. She has published on Sistren Theatre Collective's work in Modern Drama, Theatre Research International, and in Suzanne Diamond's Compelling Confessions: the Politics of Personal Disclosure (2011). Her monograph on the Caribbean community's oral histories of migration to Victoria is forthcoming from Breakdown Press.

The care of people living with HIV/AIDS in the home and community can be complex and challenging, requiring high levels of knowledge, skill, preparedness and, importantly, the ability to engage with people belonging to marginalised groups. In 2003, the Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS) HIV/AIDS Team in Victoria, Australia, developed the new role of HIV Resource Nurse at two RDNS centres in Melbourne serving high numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS. Drawing from two case studies and interviews with two HIV Resource Nurses from one of the centres, this paper describes this practice innovation. Benefits (including a positive impact on client engagement with services, client care, relationships with other health care workers and job satisfaction) are outlined, along with challenges in the implementation and evolution of the role. Strategies to sustain and develop the HIV Resource Nurse role are proposed.

Young people from refugee backgrounds face a number of challenges in adjusting to life in a new country. Recently, there have been more studies documenting some of these challenges and experiences, and offering recommendations for the health and education sector to appropriately respond to their needs. This study sought to investigate some of the experiences and challenges faced by female Afghan Hazara refugee adolescents as a precursor to program development occurring within a community health service in the outer southeastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. This paper reports on a cross-sectional participatory qualitative research study undertaken with young Afghan female adolescents aged 14–17 years of Hazara ethnicity. The results document some of the key contested gender and cultural challenges facing these young women, their aspirations for their lives in Australia, and how this research has informed community health practice.

Abstract The Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV) encourages local churches to give priority to contributing to the well-being of their local neighbourhoods through community engagement and advocacy. This commitment to holistic mission and local community development is an integral part of the public theology of local churches, given Elaine Graham’s argument that ‘practical care and service constitutes the essential praxis of public theology’. But to what extent does the reality of BUV local church mission match this rhetoric? The 2016 National Church Life Survey (NCLS) helps identify what community service BUV churches and their members are involved in. This article discusses the statistical state-wide responses of Victorian Baptists from NCLS 2016, together with interview responses from church leaders. It explores aspects of community development most valued by attenders, where church members are volunteering, and how and where churches are providing social services, prophetic advocacy and environmental care. This denominational case study illustrates that churches offering social services and fostering advocacy and creation care are functioning as the local praxis of public theology.

The Minerva gas field is situated approximately 10 km offshore Port Campbell, Victoria, in the Southern Ocean in water depth of approximately 60 m. The development involves the drilling and completion of two wells, offshore pipelines to the coast, subterranean shore crossing and onshore pipelines to a gas treatment plant where liquids will be removed prior to exporting the gas.From the outset, the project attracted the interest of the local and wider community due to its proximity to the highly regarded Port Campbell National Park. The National Park is known for its unique geomorphological features, its fauna and flora and aboriginal heritage sites.The development has been subject to a dual jurisdiction, State and Federal, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. The process included the formation of a Community Consultative Committee consisting of representatives from government agencies, local community groups, environmental groups, industry associations and the proponent. The Committee provided input to the scope of the EIA and reviewed and endorsed the studies and report prior to public exhibition. An independent panel hearing and ministerial assessments followed public exhibition.A phased process was adopted in the selection of routes, sites and technologies to achieve the lowest practicable environmental impact. Each phase was supported by studies of environmental aspects, fauna, flora, heritage, visual and social impacts. The process commenced on a regional scale and progressively refined the concept and the study area. Detailed studies of key environmental aspects were conducted for the selected development options.The final development concept addressed the key findings of the baseline and subsequent environmental studies and was largely supported by an independent panel. However, there still remained concerns by sectors of the community on the issue of precedent and integrity of the National Park. The Ministerial assessment reflected the issues of community value above technical, environmental, archaeological and heritage considerations.

Urban Development refers to many topics such as: increased population density, city size, and individual’s production, distribution of technology and the growth of commercial, industrial and service professions. Such development is linked to the coordination of social and cultural trends in order to achieve social progress and economical prosperity. Knowledge as a topic now is known as intellectual capital wich led to upgrae the concept of urban development to be extended into many fields of knowledge, for example, cultural, social and human development to move the level of community culture into a new better standard. The research adopted the urban transformation based on knowledge as an important factor in growth and development of contemporary cities. T he lack of studies regarding this was the research problem which led to a hypothesis set as (Knowledge-based urban development is an important tool in contemporary cities growth). Research aimed (to build a knowledge frame-work related to knowledge-based urban development impact on contemporary cities growth) through the following sequence: Creating a knowledge-based urban development literature review. Clarifying the relationship between the knowledge-based urban development and knowledge workers. Determining the theoretical framework to recognize level of impact of knowledge-based urban development on the city growth. Testing the hypothesis according to the theoretical framework in selecting designated cities such as Sydney & Melbourne were selected as a case study, since they represent good examples for knowledge cities. The research concluded that: knowledge-based urban development in cities depend on technical economic and community directories as a mechanism to achieve knowledge-based economy and build a new spatial relationship (Knowledge City). Keywords: knowledge-based urban development, knowledge, knowledge workers, knowledge-based economy, Knowledge City. Urban Development refers to many topics such as: increased population density, city size, and individual’s production, distribution of technology and the growth of commercial, industrial and service professions. Such development is linked to the coordination of social and cultural trends in order to achieve social progress and economical prosperity. Knowledge as a topic now is known as intellectual capital wich led to upgrae the concept of urban development to be extended into many fields of knowledge, for example, cultural, social and human development to move the level of community culture into a new better standard. The research adopted the urban transformation based on knowledge as an important factor in growth and development of contemporary cities. T he lack of studies regarding this was the research problem which led to a hypothesis set as (Knowledge-based urban development is an important tool in contemporary cities growth). Research aimed (to build a knowledge frame-work related to knowledge-based urban development impact on contemporary cities growth) through the following sequence: Creating a knowledge-based urban development literature review. Clarifying the relationship between the knowledge-based urban development and knowledge workers. Determining the theoretical framework to recognize level of impact of knowledge-based urban development on the city growth. Testing the hypothesis according to the theoretical framework in selecting designated cities such as Sydney & Melbourne were selected as a case study, since they represent good examples for knowledge cities. The research concluded that: knowledge-based urban development in cities depend on technical economic and community directories as a mechanism to achieve knowledge-based economy and build a new spatial relationship (Knowledge City).

This article uses an empirically grounded historical case study of The Salvation Army’s charity shops in Melbourne, Australia to review recent debates around the position and function of ‘cultural intermediaries’ beyond its traditional meaning and application to aesthetic sectors within cultural industries. Drawing on archival research, cultural observation and interviews with staff members, the article focuses on the stores’ specific cultural identity engendered by the organization’s history of remaking the value of discarded objects, alongside its development of individual human agency and context-based community links. Secondhand ‘Salvos Stores’ form a network of hybrid commercial and social enterprises that serves as a basis for developing a wider conceptualization of the notion ‘cultural intermediary’. Following Cronin, Howells and McFall, we argue for an understanding which emphasizes their embedded, contextually reliant qualities, informed by the discourses, practices and networks of sociality.

Learning outcomes This trio of cases is appropriate for upper-level undergraduate classes or for postgraduate programs in non-profit management, leadership and community development, international development, global studies, women’s and gender studies and social entrepreneurship. It allows the instructors and students to engage with classical leadership tenets and emerging social entrepreneurship literature. Upon completion of the case study discussion and assignments, students will be able to: identify diverse obstacles that African women face in starting social enterprises; understand the ways that African women leaders build a social dimension to their enterprise; and identify characteristics of women’s leadership and critique the value of women’s leadership for establishing sustainable social enterprises. Case overview/synopsis The case stories of the three African social enterprises portray how female leaders have fostered sustainable organisations through prioritising social, over economic and governance investments. Martha Letsoalo, a former domestic worker, founded the Heartfelt Project in South Africa, which now employs fifteen women, ships products all around the world and enriches the community of Makapanstad with its workshop, training and education centre. Victoria Nalongo Namusisi, daughter of a fisherman in rural Uganda, founded Bright Kids Uganda, a thriving care facility, school and community centre that educates vulnerable children, empowers victims of gender-based violence and distributes micro-loans to female entrepreneurs. Gertrude, abandoned in Lusaka, Zambia, founded Chikumbuso, a home of resilience and remembrance to educate children and offer women employment in a cooperative business. Each case documents the founding years of the social enterprise and outlines some of the shared women’s leadership approaches. The case dilemma focuses on why and how women start social enterprises in socially and economically difficult contexts. Complexity academic level This trio of cases is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate-level programs in non-profit management, leadership and community development, international development, global studies and social entrepreneurship. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only.

By drawing on community development values and principles as well as a social constructivist theoretical perspective, this study aims to understand how people who are homeless and the volunteers who serve them perceive their roles in terms of empowerment and disempowerment. Twenty-nine individuals have participated in this study: 18 had personal experiences of homelessness and 11 volunteered in the homelessness sector. This study collects data through informal in-depth interviews, and it thematically examines a research diary. Research outcomes suggest that volunteers feel elements of perceived and actual power in their volunteerism. The study argues that such power stems from a belief that volunteering benefits the volunteer, people experiencing homelessness and broader society. These findings are consistent with existing literature and popular discourse; however, my research discovers that volunteers also express guilt and a reluctance to self-identify as a volunteer. This reticence, which accompanies volunteers’ scrutiny of the role’s characterisation as superior, runs contrary to how scholarship and popular discourse often understand volunteers. Participants with first-hand experiences of homelessness characterise the role of the Australian ‘homeless person’ through notions of disempowerment and empowerment. They perceive disempowerment in the various ways they experience social disconnection: family rejection, a lack of companionship through friends and low-quality or precarious relationships within the home-less community. They also connect socially expected behaviours, rights, obligations, beliefs and norms to the disempowerment of welfare users. Nevertheless, through topics of public space, safety and protection, these participants express a sense of belonging and perceived empowerment. Crucially, this study finds that 13 of the 18 ‘homeless’ participants had volunteered in the homelessness sector. This unanticipated observation expands the study’s analytical focus beyond an oppression-privilege binary in order to explore the nuances of participants’ complex social positions. As a result, the study tracks the ways by which volunteering challenges what it means to be ‘homeless’ in Australia and how it helps some ‘homeless people’ overcome aspects of the power inequalities encountered in mainstream society and welfare contexts. Overall, the study submits that volunteering signals the personal resources, abilities, skills, knowledge and potential that home-less people possess to improve their own lives and determine their own future. Finally, the process of research challenges the student researcher’s expectations of what it means to perform as an effective scholar. The willingness and ability to listen - to offer kindness, sympathy and compassion – reconfigures how the student understands himself, others and good social work.

How do popular communities self-represent and engage in resistance against unfavourable situations? This chapter explores the relationship between visual artistic experiences of popular sectors, their disputes in and about the community, and the possibilities of activating imaginaries of community resistance. In so doing, it draws on two experiences: the political muralism of the población (shantytown) La Victoria in Santiago de Chile, an emblematic neighbourhood known for its organized takeover of land (1957) and for its resistance against the Chilean dictatorship (1973-1989); and the murals and graffiti produced by the inhabitants of the Favela Santa Marta, the shantytown-laboratory of the pacification process (2008) that preceded the sports mega-events in Rio de Janeiro. We highlight how both neighbourhoods are exemplars in terms of their paths of struggle, and in terms of being epicentres for popular occupation strategies that have been fundamental to the configuration of both cities. Muralism, in this way, appears not only as an indigenous form of expression of and by the community, but also as an aesthetic space or form that reflects ongoing disputes about what should be portrayed as reflecting that community.

The Australian Catholic University (ACU National at www.acu.edu.au) is a public university funded by the Australian Government. There are six campuses across the country, located in Brisbane, Queensland; North Sydney, New South Wales; Strathfield, New South Wales; Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT); Ballarat, Victoria; and Melbourne, Victoria. The university serves a total of approximately 27,000 students, including both full- and part-time students, and those enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Through fostering and advancing knowledge in education, health, commerce, the humanities, science and technology, and the creative arts, ACU National seeks to make specific and targeted contributions to its local, national, and international communities. The university explicitly engages the social, ethical, and religious dimensions of the questions it faces in teaching, research, and service. In its endeavors, it is guided by a fundamental concern for social justice, equity, and inclusivity. The university is open to all, irrespective of religious belief or background. ACU National opened its doors in 1991 following the amalgamation of four Catholic tertiary institutions in eastern Australia. The institutions that merged to form the university had their origins in the mid-17th century when religious orders and institutes became involved in the preparation of teachers for Catholic schools and, later, nurses for Catholic hospitals. As a result of a series of amalgamations, relocations, transfers of responsibilities, and diocesan initiatives, more than twenty historical entities have contributed to the creation of ACU National. Today, ACU National operates within a rapidly changing educational and industrial context. Student numbers are increasing, areas of teaching and learning have changed and expanded, e-learning plays an important role, and there is greater emphasis on research. In its 2005–2009 Strategic Plan, the university commits to the adoption of quality teaching, an internationalized curriculum, as well as the cultivation of generic skills in students, to meet the challenges of the dynamic university and information environment (ACU National, 2008). The Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) Program at ACU Canberra Situated in Australia’s capital city, the Canberra campus is one of the smallest campuses of ACU National, where there are approximately 800 undergraduate and 200 postgraduate students studying to be primary or secondary school teachers through the School of Education (ACT). Other programs offered at this campus include nursing, theology, social work, arts, and religious education. A new model of pre-service secondary teacher education commenced with the introduction of the Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) program at this campus in 2005. It marked an innovative collaboration between the university and a cohort of experienced secondary school teachers in the ACT and its surrounding region. This partnership was forged to allow student teachers undertaking the program to be inducted into the teaching profession with the cooperation of leading practitioners from schools in and around the ACT. In the preparation of novices for the teaching profession, an enduring challenge is to create learning experiences capable of transforming practice, and to instill in the novices an array of professional skills, attributes, and competencies (Putnam & Borko, 2000). Another dimension of the beginning teacher experience is the need to bridge theory and practice, and to apply pedagogical content knowledge in real-life classroom practice. During the one-year Graduate Diploma program, the student teachers undertake two four-week block practicum placements, during which they have the opportunity to observe exemplary lessons, as well as to commence teaching. The goals of the practicum include improving participants’ access to innovative pedagogy and educational theory, helping them situate their own prior knowledge regarding pedagogy, and assisting them in reflecting on and evaluating their own practice. Each student teacher is paired with a more experienced teacher based at the school where he/she is placed, who serves as a supervisor and mentor. In 2007, a new dimension to the teaching practicum was added to facilitate online peer mentoring among the pre-service teachers at the Canberra campus of ACU National, and provide them with opportunities to reflect on teaching prior to entering full-time employment at a school. The creation of an online community to facilitate this mentorship and professional development process forms the context for the present case study. While on their practicum, students used social software in the form of collaborative web logging (blogging) and threaded voice discussion tools that were integrated into the university’s course management system (CMS), to share and reflect on their experiences, identify critical incidents, and invite comment on their responses and reactions from peers.