Community management

Last updated April 08, 2024

Community management or common-pool resource management is the management of a common resource or issue by a community through the collective action of volunteers and stakeholders. The resource managed can be either material or informational. Examples include the management of common grazing and water rights,^[1] fisheries,^[2] and open-source software.^[3] In the case of physical resources, community management strategies are frequently employed to avoid the tragedy of the commons and to encourage sustainability.

It is expected that community management allows for the management, usually of natural resources, to come from members of the community that these decisions will affect.^[4] This should allow for a better way of finding solutions that the community will find most effective since management styles are not always transferable across different regions; and this could be because of cultural, economic, or geographical differences.^[5] It is expected that the group members within this setting have the incentive to do the best they can for the community because they live in the community that benefits or suffers from the management they provide.^[6] By decentralizing the management of resources, it is also expected that the upkeep that occurs within the services provided is streamlined due to the direct link between the areas that need improvement or regular maintenance and the authority overseeing them.^[7] However, these expected benefits of community management are not what we see unfolding within communities that follow this management style.

Common pool problem

Without proper management, a community's material resources may be depleted or rendered unusable.^[8] The common pool problem is an economic situation which exists when goods are rival, but non-exclusive (See common-pool resource). Since these resources are owned in common, individuals have no private incentive to preserve them, but rather will seek to exploit them before others can derive benefit. The classic example is of fish in the ocean; anybody can harvest fish, but a fish that has been caught cannot be caught by another fisherman. Therefore, fishermen will seek to maximize their personal profit by catching as many fish as possible, which will ultimately lead to the stock being depleted. It is similar to the free rider problem in that those who do not contribute to the resource may use it without penalty, but the common pool problem is usually considered an economic "problem" since it will eventually lead to the exhausting of a resource.^[9]^{[ additional citation(s) needed ]} Another example of the common pool problem involves the shared use of limited internet bandwidth, such as in a university network, when the connectivity of all users is slowed by the heavy usage of a few.^{[ citation needed ]}

Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson won the 2009 Nobel prize in economic science for work in this area, where they suggested that with good community management of shared resources, as found in successful firms, the "tragedy of the commons" can be avoided.^[10]

Shared information resources

Developing open-source software or other collaborative projects such as Wikipedia generally requires some form of community management, whether it involves leadership or egalitarianism. Unlike as is the case with physical resources, the sharing of information does not necessarily deplete the resource. Nonetheless, proper management may be necessary to encourage a network effect, where collaborative use actually enriches the resource, and to avoid conflict.

More generally, community management designates the activity of maintaining communication, motivation, efficiency, and engagement among a group of remote individuals often only linked together by the Internet. Typically, it will contribute to the success of an open-source initiative by keeping forums alive with information, questions, and challenges, by organizing real-life events for virtual communities, or by organizing contests or hackathons to focus all efforts on a common goal. It may also be used to improve motivation and synergy in a large organization (such as a company or a public organization) by creating a sense of belonging and ensuring that members are aware of each other's work. Community management requires human skills (a community manager) and the use of tools (e.g., social networks, instant messaging, resource sharing, etc.).

Problems with Community Management

Community management has been a popular strategy utilized in African water management, but research has shown that Africans often don't prefer this management style.^[11] Main problems of community management, specifically related to water management, consist of potential maintenance issues, population issues, money collecting issues, and a lack of community engagement.

Community management can create potential maintenance issues that are resolved with less expediency and with less efficiency. This often stems as a result of having a lack of a qualified person to perform the repair or lacking a reliable way to collect money in order to hire someone to do the repair.^[4]
Money collecting issues are a main problem in poorer areas. If not, everyone is paying a fee to use the resources in question, then there won't be any money to make repairs when needed. This includes not paying and a lack of an efficient way to pay fees. People will not go out of their way to pay fees so a solid collection strategy is needed.^[11]
General user fees within community managed water supply systems have been found to be not enough to keep the service operational let alone make repairs when needed.^[7] Even if citizens have the capacity to pay fees it has been found that many people simply don't want to. It is suggested that health concerns about clean drinking water are not enough to create a population of users who are willing to pay user fees let alone maintenance fees when needed.^[7]
Population issues can also cause problems because community management is often more effective on a smaller scale. In other words, communities with smaller populations have an easier time developing effective systems like citizen participation, money collection, or maintenance repairs simply because it is easier to combat the problems that arrive within those areas when there is a smaller group of people affected that need help.^[12]
A lack of community engagement is a chronic issue that arises within community management, as well. In order for community management to be an effective strategy of management style the community must be engaged within the management system in order to reap the community benefits. Despite this, most citizens are not interested in the issues community management organizations are looking to improve, meaning these organizations are getting less input from the community which negates the point of community management.^[4]^[5]

Methods of management

A community may itself be actively developed and managed in order to promote communal activity and welfare.

In some cases, the task of managing a physical resource may be delegated to a specialist professional called a community manager.^[13] Meaning members of the community are involved in the development and follow through of community development projects, which can involve acquiring the funding for projects as well as deciding what plans would be beneficial for the community and which ones would not.^[12]

Malawi is an example of the utilization of community management to provide water access to citizens. Malawi is a poor area that with recent governmental pushes for decentralization has led to water management becoming a community responsibility.^[7] Within Malawi boreholes are used to access water and each of these boreholes is under the control of a committee which delegates a manager for each borehole.^[7] These managers receive initial training from an official district water officer but are then left to make their own decisions regarding the upkeep of the borehole. This training has been found to be ineffective in many cases so the work of area mechanics, who are more knowledgeable about these boreholes, are often utilized to perform repairs. However, these area mechanics are not accessible everywhere and require additional payments. Payment is also something that is irregularly collected which has created a lack of funds for repairs.^[7]

In the case of internet resources, the privileging of certain kinds of data transfer may ensure a better overall quality of service for most users, as opposed to the doctrine of network neutrality.

Related Research Articles

Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. On Earth, it includes sunlight, atmosphere, water, land, all minerals along with all vegetation, and wildlife.

The tragedy of the commons is a metaphoric label for a concept that is widely discussed in economics, ecology and other sciences. According to the concept, should a number of people enjoy unfettered access to a finite, valuable resource such as a pasture, they will tend to over-use it, and may end up destroying its value altogether. Even if some users exercised voluntary restraint, the other users would merely supplant them, the predictable result being a tragedy for all.

A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following:

A drainage basin
A raw water collection point where the water accumulates, such as a lake, a river, or groundwater from an underground aquifer. Raw water may be transferred using uncovered ground-level aqueducts, covered tunnels, or underground water pipes to water purification facilities.
Water purification facilities. Treated water is transferred using water pipes.
Water storage facilities such as reservoirs, water tanks, or water towers. Smaller water systems may store the water in cisterns or pressure vessels. Tall buildings may also need to store water locally in pressure vessels in order for the water to reach the upper floors.
Additional water pressurizing components such as pumping stations may need to be situated at the outlet of underground or aboveground reservoirs or cisterns.
A pipe network for distribution of water to consumers and other usage points
Connections to the sewers are generally found downstream of the water consumers, but the sewer system is considered to be a separate system, rather than part of the water supply system.

Environmental resource management or environmental management is the management of the interaction and impact of human societies on the environment. It is not, as the phrase might suggest, the management of the environment itself. Environmental resources management aims to ensure that ecosystem services are protected and maintained for future human generations, and also maintain ecosystem integrity through considering ethical, economic, and scientific (ecological) variables. Environmental resource management tries to identify factors affecteconflicts thatd bconflicts thaty conflictthattheorists thaariset arise between meeting needs and protecting resources. It is thus linked to environmental protection, resource management, sustainability, integrated landscape management, natural resource management, fisheries management, forest management, wildlife management, environmental management systems, and others.

The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons can also be understood as natural resources that groups of people manage for individual and collective benefit. Characteristically, this involves a variety of informal norms and values employed for a governance mechanism. Commons can also be defined as a social practice of governing a resource not by state or market but by a community of users that self-governs the resource through institutions that it creates.

In economics, a common-pool resource (CPR) is a type of good consisting of a natural or human-made resource system, whose size or characteristics makes it costly, but not impossible, to exclude potential beneficiaries from obtaining benefits from its use. Unlike pure public goods, common pool resources face problems of congestion or overuse, because they are subtractable. A common-pool resource typically consists of a core resource, which defines the stock variable, while providing a limited quantity of extractable fringe units, which defines the flow variable. While the core resource is to be protected or nurtured in order to allow for its continuous exploitation, the fringe units can be harvested or consumed.

Green development is a real estate development concept that considers social and environmental impacts of development. It is defined by three sub-categories: environmental responsiveness, resource efficiency, and community and cultural sensitivity. Environmental responsiveness respects the intrinsic value of nature, and minimizes damage to an ecosystem. Resource efficiency refers to the use of fewer resources to conserve energy and the environment. Community and cultural sensitivity recognizes the unique cultural values that each community hosts and considers them in real estate development, unlike more discernable signs of sustainability, like solar energy,. Green development manifests itself in various forms, however it is generally based on solution multipliers: features of a project that provide additional benefits, which ultimately reduce the projects' environmental impacts.

Hand pumps are manually operated pumps; they use human power and mechanical advantage to move fluids or air from one place to another. They are widely used in every country in the world for a variety of industrial, marine, irrigation and leisure activities. There are many different types of hand pump available, mainly operating on a piston, diaphragm or rotary vane principle with a check valve on the entry and exit ports to the chamber operating in opposing directions. Most hand pumps are either piston pumps or plunger pumps, and are positive displacement.

Village Level Operation and Maintenance (VLOM) is an unofficial classification given to handpumps used in developing countries that require minimal maintenance or that can be done "at the village level." Not all maintenance and repair needs to be done by the villagers for a pump to be classed as a VLOM pump. VLOMM, or Village Level Operation and Management of Maintenance is often used synonymously. This addition emphasizes the role of users as the managers of maintenance able choose to use someone from outside the village to assist with more complicated repairs.

Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), integrated coastal management (ICM), or integrated coastal planning is a coastal management process for the management of the coast using an integrated approach, regarding all aspects of the coastal zone, including geographical and political boundaries, in an attempt to achieve sustainability. This concept was born in 1992 during the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro. The specifics regarding ICZM is set out in the proceedings of the summit within Agenda 21, Chapter 17.

Global commons is a term typically used to describe international, supranational, and global resource domains in which common-pool resources are found. Global commons include the earth's shared natural resources, such as the high oceans, the atmosphere and outer space and the Antarctic in particular. Cyberspace may also meet the definition of a global commons.

Common goods are defined in economics as goods that are rivalrous and non-excludable. Thus, they constitute one of the four main types based on the criteria:

Water trading is the process of buying and selling water access entitlements, also often called water rights. The terms of the trade can be either permanent or temporary, depending on the legal status of the water rights. Some of the western states of the United States, Chile, South Africa, Australia, Iran and Spain's Canary Islands have water trading schemes. Some consider Australia's to be the most sophisticated and effective in the world. Some other countries, especially in South Asia, also have informal water trading schemes. Water markets tend to be local and informal, as opposed to more formal schemes.

The Commonize Costs–Privatize Profits Game is a concept developed by the ecologist Garrett Hardin to describe a "game" widely played in matters of resource allocation. The concept is Hardin's interpretation of the closely related phenomenon known as the tragedy of the commons, and is referred to in political discourse as "privatizing profits and socializing losses."

Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified according to their availability as renewable or non-renewable. They can also be classified as actual or potential based on the level of development and use; based on origin they can be classified as biotic or abiotic; and based on their distribution, as ubiquitous or localised. An item may become a resource with time and development of technology. The benefits of resource utilization may include increased wealth, proper functioning of a system, or enhanced well-being. From a human perspective, a natural resource is anything obtained from the environment to satisfy human needs and wants. From a broader biological or ecological perspective, a resource satisfies the needs of a living organism.

Natural resource management (NRM) is the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations (stewardship).

Access to water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia is amongst the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa and the entire world. While access has increased substantially with funding from foreign aid, much still remains to be done. Some factors inhibiting the achievement of these goals are the limited capacity of water bureaus in the country's nine regions, two city administrations and water desks in the 770 districts of Ethiopia (woredas); insufficient cost recovery for proper operation and maintenance; and different policies and procedures used by various donors, notwithstanding the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

Bangladesh is faced with multiple water quality and quantity problems along with regular natural disasters, such as cyclones and floods. Available options for providing safe drinking water include tubewells, traditionally dug wells, treatment of surface water, desalination of groundwater with high salinity levels and rainwater harvesting.

Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightly over two-thirds of this is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. The remaining unfrozen freshwater is found mainly as groundwater, with only a small fraction present above ground or in the air. Natural sources of fresh water include surface water, under river flow, groundwater and frozen water. Artificial sources of fresh water can include treated wastewater and desalinated seawater. Human uses of water resources include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities.

Failures of water supply and sanitation systems describe situations where water supply and sanitation systems have been put in place (for example by the government or by non-government organizations but have failed to meet the expected outcomes. Often this is due to poor planning, lack of choice of appropriate technology depending upon the context, insufficient stakeholder involvement at the various stages of the project and lack of maintenance. While Hygiene Behavior Change is important in achieving the health benefits of improved WASH systems, the achievement of sustainability of WASH infrastructure depends on creation of demand for sanitation services.

References

↑ R Wade (1987), "The management of common property resources", Cambridge Journal of Economics, 11 (2): 95–106, doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.cje.a035024, archived from the original on 2016-04-10
↑ R. S. Pomeroy (1994), Community management and common property of coastal fisheries in Asia and the Pacific, WorldFish, ISBN 9789718709566
↑ SO'Mahony (2007), "The governance of open source initiatives: what does it mean to be community managed?", Journal of Management and Governance, 11 (2): 139–150, doi:10.1007/s10997-007-9024-7, S2CID 153958344 (subscription required)
1 2 3 Whaley, Luke; Cleaver, Frances; Mwathunga, Evance (2021). "Flesh and bones: Working with the grain to improve community management of water". World Development. 138: 105286. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105286 . ISSN 0305-750X. S2CID 228849402.
1 2 Sobelson, Robyn; Wigington, Corinne; Harp, Victoria (2015). "A whole community approach to emergency management: Strategies and best practices of seven community programs". Journal of Emergency Management. 13 (4): 349–357. doi:10.5055/jem.2015.0247. ISSN 1543-5865. PMC 5582971 . PMID 26312659.
↑ Distaso, Alba; Ciervo, Margherita (2011). "Water and Common Goods: Community Management as a Possible Alternative to the Public-Private Model". Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali. 119 (2): 143–165. ISSN 0035-676X. JSTOR 41624981.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Chowns, Ellie (2015). "Is Community Management an Efficient and Effective Model of Public Service Delivery? Lessons from the Rural Water Supply Sector in Malawi: Is Community Management Efficient and Effective?". Public Administration and Development. 35 (4): 263–276. doi: 10.1002/pad.1737 . S2CID 155716055.
↑ Camille Antinori and Gustavo A. Garcia-Lopez Cross-Scale Linkages in Common-Pool Resource Management: The Evolution of Forest Associations in the Mexican Forest Commons Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine . Prepared for the 12th IASC 2008 Biennial Conference, University of Gloucester, Cheltenham, England, U.K.
↑ Holahan, William L., Schug, Mark C.; Conservation of resources and the common pool problem; Social Studies; Nov/Dec97, Vol. 88 Issue 6, p264, 4p, 1 chart;
↑ Editorial (2009-10-12). "Nobel insights". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
1 2 Hope, Rob (2014-12-22). "Is community water management the community's choice? Implications for water and development policy in Africa". Water Policy. 17 (4): 664–678. doi:10.2166/wp.2014.170. ISSN 1366-7017.
1 2 Doe, Steve R.; Khan, M. Sohail (2004). "The boundaries and limits of community management: Lessons from the water sector in Ghana". Community Development Journal. 39 (4): 360–371. doi:10.1093/cdj/bsh032. hdl: 10919/65512 . ISSN 0010-3802. JSTOR 44257835.
↑ Stephen R. Barber (2008), Community Associations: A Guide to Successful Management, Institute of Real Estate Ma, ISBN 9781572031326

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[1] R Wade (1987), "The management of common property resources", Cambridge Journal of Economics, 11 (2): 95–106, doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.cje.a035024, archived from the original on 2016-04-10

[2] R. S. Pomeroy (1994), Community management and common property of coastal fisheries in Asia and the Pacific, WorldFish, ISBN 9789718709566

[3] SO'Mahony (2007), "The governance of open source initiatives: what does it mean to be community managed?", Journal of Management and Governance, 11 (2): 139–150, doi:10.1007/s10997-007-9024-7, S2CID 153958344 (subscription required)

[:0-4] 1 2 3 Whaley, Luke; Cleaver, Frances; Mwathunga, Evance (2021). "Flesh and bones: Working with the grain to improve community management of water". World Development. 138: 105286. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105286 . ISSN 0305-750X. S2CID 228849402.

[:1-5] 1 2 Sobelson, Robyn; Wigington, Corinne; Harp, Victoria (2015). "A whole community approach to emergency management: Strategies and best practices of seven community programs". Journal of Emergency Management. 13 (4): 349–357. doi:10.5055/jem.2015.0247. ISSN 1543-5865. PMC 5582971 . PMID 26312659.

[6] Distaso, Alba; Ciervo, Margherita (2011). "Water and Common Goods: Community Management as a Possible Alternative to the Public-Private Model". Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali. 119 (2): 143–165. ISSN 0035-676X. JSTOR 41624981.

[:2-7] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Chowns, Ellie (2015). "Is Community Management an Efficient and Effective Model of Public Service Delivery? Lessons from the Rural Water Supply Sector in Malawi: Is Community Management Efficient and Effective?". Public Administration and Development. 35 (4): 263–276. doi: 10.1002/pad.1737 . S2CID 155716055.

[8] Camille Antinori and Gustavo A. Garcia-Lopez Cross-Scale Linkages in Common-Pool Resource Management: The Evolution of Forest Associations in the Mexican Forest Commons Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine . Prepared for the 12th IASC 2008 Biennial Conference, University of Gloucester, Cheltenham, England, U.K.

[9] Holahan, William L., Schug, Mark C.; Conservation of resources and the common pool problem; Social Studies; Nov/Dec97, Vol. 88 Issue 6, p264, 4p, 1 chart;

[10] Editorial (2009-10-12). "Nobel insights". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2010-09-12.

[:3-11] 1 2 Hope, Rob (2014-12-22). "Is community water management the community's choice? Implications for water and development policy in Africa". Water Policy. 17 (4): 664–678. doi:10.2166/wp.2014.170. ISSN 1366-7017.

[:4-12] 1 2 Doe, Steve R.; Khan, M. Sohail (2004). "The boundaries and limits of community management: Lessons from the water sector in Ghana". Community Development Journal. 39 (4): 360–371. doi:10.1093/cdj/bsh032. hdl: 10919/65512 . ISSN 0010-3802. JSTOR 44257835.

[13] Stephen R. Barber (2008), Community Associations: A Guide to Successful Management, Institute of Real Estate Ma, ISBN 9781572031326

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