Real-time DNA barcoding in a rainforest using nanopore sequencing: opportunities for rapid biodiversity assessments and local capacity building

Diversifying genotype-phenotype databases is essential to understanding complex trait and disease etiology across different environments and genetic ancestries. The rise of biobanks across the world is helping reveal the genetic and environmental architecture of multiple disease traits but the diversity they capture remains limited. To help close this gap, the Mexican Biobank (MXB) Project was recently generated, and has already revealed fine-scale genetic ancestries and demographic histories across the country, and their impact on trait-relevant genetic variation. This will help guide future genetic epidemiology and public health efforts, and has also improved polygenic prediction for several traits in Mexican populations compared with using data from other genome-wide association studies, such as the UK Biobank. The MXB illustrates the importance of transnational initiatives and funding calls that prioritize local leadership and capacity building to move towards inclusive genomic science.

Nonprofit organizations have emerged as being indispensable in promoting community development, advocating for citizens’ rights, and improving citizens’ well-being. Local government leaders have demonstrated an investment in the role nonprofits play in strengthening civil society and have pursued nonprofit capacity building as a tool to both engage and develop nonprofit organizations. In an effort to both increase the capacity of nonprofit organizations and decrease the adverse effects of resource dependence, the City of San Diego, in 2016, partnered with the University of San Diego to design a nonprofit capacity building program titled The Nonprofit Academy. Over a period of three years, 735 organizations participated in the program, and a sample of these organizations was used to examine the prevalence of the internal and external factors that contribute to local government nonprofit capacity building and, concomitantly, their impact on nonprofit dependency. This study used an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design. Data collection and analysis occurred over three phases: qualitative interviews of program participants selected through purposeful sampling; the development and distribution of a new survey instrument; and data collection and interpretation of findings. The results of this study indicate that local government nonprofit capacity building in the City of San Diego has a positive impact on the number and the diversity of applications being submitted for funding. The diversity of applications included age range, size, service type, and new geographic locations. Among the four core dimensions of nonprofit capacity identified by the Marguerite Casey Foundation: leadership capacity, adaptive capacity, management capacity, and technical capacity, there was a strong positive correlation found between technical capacity and adaptive capacity within a core group of participants, and also a strong negative correlation between management capacity and technical capacity. This study identified an actionable typology of local government nonprofit capacity building that serves as a framework to guide local governments in the design of capacity building initiatives to both engage and develop nonprofit organizations to expand services and build a better society. Local government nonprofit capacity building can contribute to financial growth and increased partnerships for small and emerging nonprofit organizations.

SUMMARYEcotourism has been promoted to reconcile seemingly conflicting goals of tourism development and nature conservation. Given its importance, how has ecotourism fared in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) and how resilient was it to the Maoist insurgency in Nepal (1996–2006)? Drawing upon more than 10 months of field research, participant observation, semi-structured surveys and content analysis of 21 annual reports, ecotourism was evaluated by organizing ACA's programmes and activities under the four major emerging themes, namely local capacity building, waste management, education and infrastructure development; the most prominent theme was local capacity building. Annual visitor numbers declined during the insurgency, but ecotourism managed to survive, mainly due to self-organization of local tourism entrepreneurs. Local tourism entrepreneurs facilitated self-organization through capacity building and diversification of livelihoods. In the aftermath of the insurgency, visitor numbers rebounded and ecotourism continued to develop and evolve; ecotourism was thus resilient to the insurgency. Building local capacity, facilitating self-organization and diversifying livelihoods can enhance the resilience of ecotourism, sustaining stability and helping to deal with uncertainty.

Low‐income markets have attracted the interest of academics, politicians, and business leaders alike. In recent years, numerous companies such as Unilever, Cemex, Tetrapak, and Vodafone have provided evidence that low‐income markets offer commercial business opportunities and that private companies can realize profitable business activities while simultaneously contributing to the alleviation of poverty. However, companies are challenged by constraining conditions such as poor infrastructure, nonexistent distribution channels, illiteracy, corruption, lack of enforceable legal frameworks, and violent conflicts when entering those markets.In order to succeed, companies develop new strategies, introduce innovative business models, and develop novel capabilities. Three innovative practices are commonly named in the literature that should enable companies to operate successfully in low‐income markets: (1) integrating the local population and local entrepreneurs to cocreate products; (2) cooperating with nontraditional or fringe stakeholders; and (3) building local capacity, which means improving the market conditions of low‐income markets.This study applies a resource dependence perspective as it provides valuable explanations on the interaction between companies and their environment, how companies cope with environmental constraints, and how the environment and different strategies affect business outcomes. By integrating a resource dependence perspective, the study theoretically frames the strategic recommendations of the literature and answers the underlying research question of whether environmental conditions of low‐income markets cause the execution of innovative practices and whether such practices influence the outcome of companies operating in low‐income markets.The research hypotheses are tested in a structural equation model against data of 103 firms operating in low‐income markets. The study reveals that companies integrate local actors to cocreate products and cooperate with nontraditional and fringe stakeholders to reduce resource dependency. Local capacity building, which means improving the local environment, is only applied by companies when strong partnerships with nontraditional and fringe stakeholders are established. Finally, the study shows that partnerships with nontraditional and fringe stakeholders as well as local capacity building have a positive effect on organizational performance. Thus, when companies aim to enter low‐income markets, they should not follow the recommendation of the transaction cost theory and internalize resources, but rather cooperate with nontraditional partners and invest in the local environment. Moreover, the study shows that market entries into low‐income markets require long‐term commitments to engage in partnerships with regional authorities, local community groups, and nongovernmental organizations. Without these partnerships, it is not possible to reduce high resource dependencies and to establish successful businesses in low‐income markets. Thus, governments should create general conditions that facilitate the creation of partnerships between nontraditional actors and companies, and assist them to improve environmental conditions in these markets.

A discussion of the use of structured group process techniques to enhance local legislative policy development and leadership is presented. Three group process techniques-Nominal Group Technique, Delphi, and Interpretive Structural Modeling—are presented in some detail and related to local legislative capacity building. Finally, the techniques are placed in the context of a case study in which group process techniques are used to assist a local legislative council in developing a policy-action strategy for several substantive local issues.

This article aims to contribute to effective climate change adaptation (CCA) in Indonesia. Located in a volatile extreme weather region, it is the largest archipelagic country, and is among the five countries with the highest number of natural disasters. Although Indonesia signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1998 and ratified it in 2004, CCA remains embryonic despite recent changes to facilitate climate policy. Problematic areas include inadequate sectoral policy coordination across government agencies and jurisdictional levels, and inadequate local capacity building. This article addresses these areas both because Indonesia has to date paid little attention to them and because of their significance to other developing countries. To achieve a better understanding of the inadequacies to inform learning and development on CCA policy, a policy analysis was conducted that included 25 interviews with Indonesian policy actors. Key findings are that for effective adaptation, sectoral coordination needs to first address a number of inadequacies in governance and practice inadequacies to facilitate local mainstreaming of adaptation. In turn, local capacity building needs to address inadequacies of resource support, leadership, climate change awareness, government–community partnerships, vulnerability assessment, and inclusion of local knowledge and communities in decision-making.

Fiscal vertical imbalance is a key feature of the relationship between the central government and local authorities. This paper first provides a theoretical interpretation of the mechanism by which fiscal vertical imbalance affects local government fiscal capacity building, and then systematically introduces the process by which fiscal vertical imbalance influences the intensity of local fiscal capacity building. This process simultaneously exhibits both enhancing and weakening mechanisms. On the one hand, fiscal vertical imbalance may reinforce local governments’ efforts to enhance their own fiscal resources through mechanisms such as reliance on transfer payments and policy incentives. Conversely, fiscal vertical imbalance may also undermine local governments’ fiscal autonomy and sustainability by creating mismatches between fiscal authority and responsibilities and transmitting fiscal pressures. Based on this analysis, the paper proposes relevant policy implications.

Purpose: This study aimed at establishing the role of community capacity building in the recovery of the hirola antelope. Materials and Methods: A Pragmatic research design was used to assess how community capacity building in the recovery of the hirola antelope. A total of 357 respondents were targeted by this study. A chi-square test was done to establish the effect of community capacity building for conservation and the recovery of endangered Hirola antelope. Moreover, logistic regression was used to establish the relationship between community capacity building and the recovery of the hirola antelope. The collected data was presented in form of Figures and Tables. Findings: Half (55.5%) of the respondents reported coexisting harmoniously between the community and the Hirola in the area. Similarly, half (52.4%) of the respondents reported a high extent of Hirola poaching cases in the area. Half (52.70%) of the respondents reported a high extent of the conservancy engaging in education on wildlife conservation. Moreover, the results revealed a statistically significant relationship between Harmonious co-existence between the community, predation on Hirola, Hirola poaching cases, the extent of low deforestation, capacity building, awareness creation on community conservation and sensitization and awareness on anti-poaching and Hirola recovery (p=<0.05). In addition the study observed harmonious coexistence (COR= 2.66, C.I= 1.151-6.188, p-value = 0.022), predation of hirola (COR= 4.31, C.I= 1.277-14.567, p-value = 0.019), hirola poaching cases (COR= 3.205, C.I= 1.091-9.416, p-value = 0.034), extent of deforestation (COR= 2.46, C.I= 0.995-6.105, p-value = 0.050), awareness creation on community conservation approaches (COR= 1.764, C.I= 1.124-2.769, p-value=0.014) and sensitization and awareness on antipoaching (COR= 1.764, C.I= 1.124-2.769, p-value=0.014) were significantly associated with the recovery of the hirola antelope. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: The decline of the Hirola antelope population is attributed to a complex interplay of factors including disease, habitat loss, and predation, exacerbated by increased tree cover that diminishes their grazing space and heightens predation risks. However, community capacity building showed a significant association with the recovery of the endangered hirola antelopes. Policy implications of these findings necessitate multifaceted conservation strategies such as reducing tree encroachment through controlled deforestation, enhancing habitat management to maintain open grazing areas, and implementing comprehensive disease monitoring to prevent outbreaks. Additionally, community-based conservation efforts, such as anti-poaching initiatives and local capacity building, which have shown effectiveness should be sustained and expanded. Policymakers must prioritize integrated approaches that address both ecological and socio-economic dimensions to ensure the long-term recovery and survival of Hirola antelopes.

Progress on local capacity development in Indonesia for the provision of certified Calibration Gas Mixtures (CGM) is reported and discussed. Several aspects are taken into consideration in identifying this local capacity, namely aspects of metrology, standardization, and conformity assessment. Related to scientific metrology, BSN has been appointed as a government agency that manages, maintains, and disseminates national standards of measurement units (one of which is in the field of gas measurement) to stakeholders to ensure quality assurance and traceability of the measurements results. In addition, in the development of standard documents, Technical Committee 71-06 Gas Analysis has been established to formulate standard documents related to gas analysis including the national standard for the manufacturing of CGM. In terms of conformity assessment, specialty gas industries with their ability to standardize CGM are required to be able to meet the requirements stipulated in SNI ISO 17034:2016 regarding producers of raw materials and SNI ISO/IEC 17025:2017 regarding competency requirements for testing/calibration laboratories. From the results of this identification, it shows that the development of local capacity in supporting the provision of Certified CGM has been in promising progress.

Nuancing the commercial counterurbanisation debate: job creation and capacity building in an island setting

To what extent are international business connections useful to facilitate technological upgrading, and to what extent are they essential? And what types of international business connections are most appropriate in supporting firms' capacity development? The most successful examples of upgrading in the recent era, the Asian Tigers, were all outward-looking in their orientation, although the specific development strategies of the economic regions differed. Although some type of international business connection was important for all of them, they all invested in local capacity building. This article investigates the co-evolution of firm capacity and international linkages by looking at the South African chemicals firm Sasol.

Subnational debt markets can be a powerful force in a country's development. Through delegated monitoring by financial intermediaries and through debt placed directly with investors, subnational debt markets account for about 5 percent of GDP in Argentina and Brazil. But they remain embryonic in most developing and transition economies. To resolve a potential clash between the increased financing needs of subnational entities and the limited development of domestic subnational debt markets, it is critical to support the orderly, efficient emergence of such debt markets. As a framework for policy reform, the following steps (mirroring typical weaknesses) are prerequisites for developing a country's subnational debt market: reducing moral hazard, improving market transparency, strengthening market governance, establishing a level playing field, and developing local capacity for accounting, budgeting, and financial management. In countries where the government shows a clear commitment to market development, says the author, the World Bank should support the framework needed for policy-based operations that establish hard budget constraints. In doing so, the Bank should concentrate on 1) supporting national and local capacity building in those areas essential for developing a subnational debt market; and 2) financing specific subnational projects with strictly nonrecourse loans. At the same time, the Bank should offer a variety of lending and guarantee instruments that encourage private financing for investments by subnational entities-including, for example, equity participation in (or lines of credit or partial credit guarantees to) financial intermediaries specializing in subnational investment finance or in funds for financing local infrastructure.

Considering the challenges and threats currently facing water management and the exacerbation of uncertainty by climate change, the need for flexible yet robust and legitimate environmental regulation is evident. The European Union took a novel approach toward sustainable water resource management with the passage of the EU Water Framework Directive in 2000. The Directive promotes sustainable water use through long-term protection of available water resources, progressively reduces discharges of hazardous substances in ground and surface waters, and mitigates the effects of floods and droughts. The lofty goal of achieving good status of all waters requires strong adaptive capacity, given the large amounts of uncertainty in water management. Striking the right balance between flexibility in local implementation and robust and enforceable standards is essential to promoting adaptive capacity in water governance, yet achieving these goals simultaneously poses unique difficulty. Applied resilience science reveals a conceptual framework for analyzing the adaptive capacity of governance structures that includes multiple overlapping levels of control or coordination, information flow horizontally and vertically, meaningful public participation, local capacity building, authority to respond to changed circumstances, and robust monitoring, system feedback, and enforcement. Analyzing the Directive through the lens of resilience science, we highlight key elements of modern European water management and their contribution to the resilience of the system and conclude that the potential lack of enforcement and adequate feedback of monitoring results does not promote managing for resilience. However, the scale-appropriate governance aspects of the EU approach promotes adaptive capacity by enabling vertical and horizontal information flow, building local capacity, and delegating control at multiple relevant scales.

This article explores the emergence of formal and informal bridging organizations to facilitate solutions to water conflict at the scale of the water resource. This new approach to governance is of particular importance on rivers within or shared by countries in which water management is fragmented among national and sub-national levels of government as well as among governmental sectors. This article focuses on the Columbia River Basin, in the United States and Canada. Review of the Columbia River Treaty governing shared management of the river has opened a public dialogue on river governance. Treaty review coincides with change in both the biophysical setting and the values and capacity of basin residents. Climate change is altering the timing of flow relied on by the management of developed river infrastructure and the annual runs of the basins’ salmonid species. River development increased economic development in the basin, but at the cost of ecosystem function. Assertion of legal rights by indigenous communities has brought an alternative world view to the review—one that seeks to maintain the benefits of river development while reconciling that development with ecosystem function. This article identifies the governance mechanisms needed to achieve reconciliation and describes their emergence in the Columbia River Basin through an analytical framework focused on local capacity building and network formation across jurisdictions, sectors, and scales of governance. Both countries fragment water management authority among jurisdictions and sectors, but bridging organizations have emerged to link interests and government at the watershed and basin scale. Emergence of new governance is facilitated by increases in local, regional, and indigenous governance capacity. This networked governance emerging at the biophysical scale while embedded in and linked to a hierarchy of formal international, national, state, and local government is characterized as the ecology of governance.

BackgroundHealth managers play a key role in ensuring that health services are responsive to the needs of the population. Participatory action research (PAR) is one of the approaches that have been used to strengthen managers’ capacity. However, collated knowledge on elements for harnessing PAR to strengthen managers’ capacity is missing. This paper bridges this gap by reviewing existing literature on the subject matter.MethodsA critical interpretive synthesis method was used to interrogate eight selected articles. These articles reported the use of PAR to strengthen health managers’ capacity. The critical interpretive synthesis method’s approach to analysis guided the synthesis. Here, the authors interpretively made connections and linkages between different elements identified in the literature. Finally, the Atun et al. (Heal Pol Plann, 25:104–111, 2010) framework on integration was used to model the elements synthesised in the literature into five main domains.ResultsFive elements with intricate bi-directional interactions were identified in the literature reviewed. These included a shared purpose, skilled facilitation and psychological safety, activity integration into organisational procedures, organisational support, and external supportive monitoring. A shared purpose of the managers’ capacity strengthening initiative created commitment and motivation to learn. This purpose was built upon a set of facilitation skills that included promoting participation, self-efficacy and reflection, thereby creating a safe psychological space within which the managers interacted and learnt from each other and their actions. Additionally, an integrated intervention strengthened local capacity and harnessed organisational support for learning. Finally, supportive monitoring from external partners, such as researchers, ensured quality, building of local capacity and professional safety networks essential for continued learning.ConclusionsThe five elements identified in this synthesis provide a basis upon which the use of PAR can be harnessed, not only to strengthen health managers’ capacity, but also to foster other health systems strengthening initiatives involving implementation research. In addition, the findings demonstrated the intricate and complex relations between the elements, which further affirms the need for a systems thinking approach to tackling health systems challenges.