Role of social media for civic participation, drawing on Swedish volunteer initiatives that emerged in the context of the migration crisis in 2015 as a case study.
Butler, James R.A. (author), Darbas, Toni (author), Addison, Jane (author), Bohensky, Erin L. (author), Carter, Lucy (author), Cosijn, Michaela (author), Maru, Yiheyis T. (author), Stone-Jovicich, Samantha (author), Williams, Liana J. (author), and Rodriguez, Luis C. (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2017
Published:
International: CSIRO Publishing, Clayton South, Victoria, Australia
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 18 Document Number: D10513
Notes:
217 pages., Pages 109-129 in Heinz Schandl and Lain Walker (eds.), Social science and sustainability. CSIRO Publishing, Clayton South, Victoria,Australia. 2017. 217 pages.
23 pages., Online via open access., How is bilateral development cooperation communicated about in the news? How does a donor agency communicate for and about development? And what are the links between one and the other? This article focuses on a 2016 expose reported on Swedish public television about alleged corruption in aid to Zambia, reflecting failure of both donor and recipient. Authors focus on the news media as mediator of the donor's communication with its tax-paying audiences and demonstrated potentials of an integrated conceptual approach to communication for and about development. Findings reveal greater media coverage of financial accountability than on doing good for Zambian citizens.
2 pages., Via UI online subscription., Purpose: This paper examines extension practises of agricultural workers within the Egyptian government and the perceived barriers they face in implementing participatory approaches, identifying improvements required in research and extension processes to meet the real needs of Egyptian farming communities.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Key barriers for engaging in participatory extension were identified using content analysis of semi-structured interviews, surveys and focus group discussion of 37 government agricultural workers along with participant observation and review of existing literature.
Findings: The majority of workers surveyed understood basic participatory extension principles and desired to use these approaches. Changing from traditional ‘top down’ extension to systems that engage with farmers' needs at the community level is made difficult due to the aging and poorly functioning Village Extension Worker (VEW) network. Thus, it is far easier for the research driven extension programmes to use technology transfer models.
Practical Implications: Participatory extension relies on strong relationship building and open communication between farmers, extension workers, researchers, interest groups and policy-makers. The Egyptian government must properly establish and resource the pivotal role of VEWs within the extension system to meet its strategic aims of modernising agriculture, developing food security and improving the livelihoods of rural inhabitants.
Originality/Value: This paper captures the unique perspectives of government research, extension and education workers involved in agricultural development at a time directly after the 2010 revolution, when they were able to more openly reflect on the past and present situations.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D09317
Notes:
Online from Goldman Environmental Foundation. 2 pages., "In a country with growing socioeconomic inequality and human rights violations, Berta Caceres (d. 2016) rallied the indigenous Lenca people of Honduras and waged a grassroots campaign that successfully pressured the world's largest dam builder to pull out of the Agua Zarca Dam."
