Lightspeed Expands Network With Squire Technologies Products and Services

SVI MG 8000

London, UK (PRWEB UK) 19 April 2012

Lightspeed Communications, Bahrain’s leading fixed line telecommunications operator and an affiliate of France Telecom, have recently completed the expansion of their network by deploying Squire Technologies Session Border Controller and Media Gateway. This extension comes on the back of Squire’s report of record sales for the past 12 months across their entire range of products and services.

Lightspeed Bahrain initially began working with Squire in 2010 when they deployed an SS7 Media Gateway (SVI_MG) in a dual redundant architecture.

Abdulrahman Ghazal, Technical Manager of Lightspeed, reflected upon the experiences of working with Squire, “We first deployed the SS7 Media Gateway from Squire utilising their technical expertise in cooperation with our own to establish the service. Having had a positive experience, we approached Squire again when we were seeking a Session Border Controller. Our network required a solution which could support the industry standard protocols alongside a high level of customisation which would enable the ongoing use of our legacy infrastructure. Once again, Squire provided an exceptional service, delivering the required customisation at no additional cost, which reaffirmed our view that they are committed to customer service. Throughout our time with Squire we’ve benefitted from their exemplary support service; their expertise and attention to detail being key reasons why our relationship continues to grow.”

Squire’s Managing Director, Andy cooper, noted that the increasingly central role that Squire’s products and services are playing in customers’ infrastructure has directly contributed to their recently reported record sales figures, “With the development of our new solutions, such as the Next Generation Switch, and indeed the continued evolution of products such as the Media Gateway Controller and Session Border Controller, customers are now trusting us to provide the central ised point of their networks. This in turn has boosted sales of our support services, as customers want to be assured that help is on hand should they need it.”

Squire offers a range of support services to enable their customers to choose the most suitable level for their company, with the Platinum support package offering the customer direct phone access to the Product Engineers round the clock. Andy continues, “When we established our support packages, we decided that the best team to handle specific product questions were the product engineers themselves. By giving customers direct access to the team we save them a great deal of time and effort, and ensure that their requests are handled in the shortest time possible.”

About Squire Technologies

Squire Technologies is a leading global provider of NGN, TDM and IP telecommunications products and solutions with world class installation and support services. Squire enables telecommunications companies who have previously been restricted to legacy SS7 and ISDN platforms to access VoIP networks, as well as providing signalling transfer points and protocol converters to further extend their customers’ network reach.

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Telax Releases Tenth Version of Call Center Software

North America’s leader in hosted call center solutions

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) March 30, 2012

Telax, a leader in hosted contact center solutions, today announced the release of their Telax Call Center Agent (CCA) version 10.2. Significant changes to the software include integration with Microsoft Lync and a redesign of the user interface.

“Some of these updates are requested by our customers and some are updates we decided to include ourselves,” said Mario Perez, President of Telax. “With collaboration programs such as Lync becoming more and more popular, we wanted to be sure that our customers are ready to leverage this trend within their contact center.”

Integration with Lync was a major upgrade for Telax’s Call Center Agent. The software now supports single sign on (SSO); identifies Lync users’ presence; and delivers advanced IVR, ACD, and reporting capabilities to Microsoft’s flagship communication product. Version ten also includes audible alerts for chat sessions so that agents are immediately aware of an incoming chat message.

Integrating with Lync and putting more focus on chat sessions allow agents to interact with other employees, customers, and partners in a quick and efficient manner, saving time and resources for both customers and employees.

Another feature new to Telax’s CCA is the Click-To-Dial add-on. It allows agents to dial a number directly from an Internet Explorer window. These calls are placed, reported, and recorded as any other outbound call would be, but without the need to input the numbers manually.

“Technology is always evolving, so our solution is too. And of course as it gets used, our customer’s have specific requests,” said Perez. “We’re always looking at ways to improve our customers’ operations. And there are no upgrade fees for these new capabilities, because really, we’re just delivering on the promise of cloud computing.”

About Telax Hosted Call Center:

Telax Hosted Call Center is North America’s leader in hosted call center solutions. Based in Toronto, Canada, Telax has been providing cloud-based business solutions to prominent public and private sector organizations since 1999. The simplicity delivered by Telax services enables clients like Best Buy, Northrop Grumman, Johnson & Johnson, CI Investments, the Globalive Group of Companies, Health Canada and the GSA, to reduce costs and improve efficiency, so that they can do more with their most critical resource: people. For more information, visit http://www.telax.com. For the latest Telax news, visit http://www.telax.com/category/news.

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Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

McCann E-Investigations Houston Computer Forensics Division Releases White Paper titled Catching the Cheater in the Online Affair, a Private Investigator’s View

Computer Forensics | Digital Debugging | Network Security | Private Investigations

Houston, TX (PRWEB) March 10, 2012

McCann E-Investigations (McCann EI), a Texas-based computer forensics firm released a white paper titled Catching the Cheater in an Online Affair, a Private Investigator’s View. This paper explores the complex issues of online communications which have given rise to the “online” or “digital” affair. The ease at which communication occurs has contributed to the rise of the online affair. Private Investigators are often hired to help gather evidence of infidelity. Because of the shift from physical evidence to digital evidence, it is imperative that the private investigator evolve to meet this demand. Todays’ Private Investigator must be skilled and knowledgeable in tracking the suspected cheater’s digital footprint. Computer Forensics has become a key tool in gathering and documenting the digital evidence of an affair. While investigations often still require the traditional tools such as surveillance and undercover work, Private Investigators must integrate other investigative techniques including computer forensics and social media mapping and monitoring.

“As Private Investigators, we have seen a paradigm shift in the industry moving from private investigations in the traditional sense, such as surveillance and undercover work to hybrid investigations that involve computer forensics and the gathering of digital evidence.” said Daniel Weiss, Partner at McCann E-Investigations. “Most of the evidence of an affair is found in digital communications. We can often get more evidence from a laptop or smart phone than we can in a full month of surveillance.” continued Weiss.

McCann Investigations provides a complete range of investigative services – from forensic examination to live monitoring to traditional surveillance and undercover investigations – all of which are performed in complete accordance with state laws. An expert investigator can be a huge advantage in litigation. McCann experts have provided testimony at hundreds of trials and have the necessary poise and expertise to handle intense cross-examinations and scrutiny from the bench. McCann Investigations help clients to ask the right questions, and their experts will deliver the answers that needed to win a case.

About McCann EI:

http://www.einvestigations.com

Twitter: @McCannEI or https://twitter.com/#!/McCannEI

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/McCann-Investigations/203760582969139

Call us toll-free at 800-713-7670

About McCann EI: McCann EI’s Texas-based digital forensics team provides a one stop solution for your Electronically Stored Information (ESI) investigative needs. McCann EI’s computer forensics, digital forensics, mobile forensics, and electronic discovery investigators serve law firms, private industry, and government with the same dedication and expertise that has had clients turning to McCann for over 25 years.

Regardless whether your ESI is trapped in personal, corporate, mobile, or network drives, McCann EI’s computer forensics team is experienced in electronic discovery and recovering your digital files. Our investigators have the experience to provide expert witness computer forensic testimony in courts across Texas. McCann EI services Companies, Law Firms, and Individuals Statewide. Call us toll-free at 800-713-7670 or our Local Offices Austin Computer Forensics: 512-377-6142 Houston Computer Forensics: 832-628-4904 Dallas Computer Forensics: 214-329-9059 Lubbock Computer Forensics: 806-589-0320 Lufkin Computer Forensics: 936-585-4070 Brownsville Computer Forensics: 956-465-0849

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AM Communications the Internet Digital Marketing Agency Launches a Series of Marketing Courses to Help Small Business Owners Understand Internet Marketing

internet marketing courses

(PRWEB) February 27, 2012

Several changes have been made at the internet marketing company AM Communications to cope with additional demand in website design and mobile website development.

A new full time graphic designer and a software programmer specialising in mobile and app development were taken on at the end of 2011.

The changes have been necessary so that we can continue to grow as an internet services business providing predominately website design and internet marketing services direct to our clients.

New businesses are much more aware that the internet is no longer a fleeting fancy compared to older businesses. New businesses see opportunities to win new business 24/7 through their website but just need to know how to market efficiently.

Because businesses have woken up to the fact that their business can grow inline with a strong internet presence they are prepared to invest more time into the right internet marketing and that doesn’t mean just having a good website design.

A good combination of internet marketing with the use of additional social networking platforms can transform a business’ fortunes in a relatively short period of time.

As a celebration of success over the last 12 years AM Communications will launch a new service for business owners who want to know more about internet marketing but pay less.

A series of short courses aimed at small business owners and start up internet marketers will be introduced through a sister company SEC1 Search Engine Competition 1.

The course will take subscribers through the fundamental basics to the core principles of how to succeed with their internet business, businesses competing on the search engines for the same keywords has become a very sophisticated profession but still presented as an industry operating with smoke and mirrors.

Being seen is one thing, being found on the search engines is another. The mission for all businesses with a website should be to be found and convert website traffic into customers.

AM Communication actively promotes the use of Google. For example, Google Adwords is a very powerful advertising and internet marketing tool combined with Google Analytics.

Every business with a great product and service should understand how to leverage traffic for their business by using Google. But then, any business should also be aware there are at least 2 other channels for considerations, Yahoo and Facebook.

The short course from AM Communications will be subscription based.

The course has been designed and developed around the extensive working knowledge during the last 12 years. The rules haven’t changed too much during the last 12 years but the playing field has increased considerably with the goal posts now much wider.

In the very beginning everyone wanted to know what ecommerce was all about so they could sell products.

Then everyone wanted to know the best products to sell on the internet.

With the pitfalls covered and the ecommerce website in place, the success wasn’t always guaranteed for most people trying to dabble with the internet.

Around 2005, big business had joined in the big internet ecommerce party and after numerous attempts they got their online shops working efficiently enough to create satisfied customer experiences. The internet was steadily taking shape and gaining trust which made other businesses pay more attention.

AM Communications provided guest lectures on ‘Formation of Strategy – Design and Implementation’ to under-graduate business students in 2000. The same principles underlying these strategies still hold true today and are often echoed by big names in communications at large internet industry conferences.

Back then the under graduates were people who had ideas but not real businesses. At the time real businesses failed to pick up the tools technology was developing to use for selling and marketing. Now the tools are maturing and getting better. Yet new businesses are still finding if difficult to understand how to use these tool.

The first of a series of new short courses is broken into 8 How to SEO modules and all are bite sized stop / pause and move forward at any pace.

The fact is, anyone taking up the course will be armed with the core principles to succeed with internet marketing and is a great way to take 12 years of experience and master the understanding of Internet Marketing in less than a week.

The result will allow business owners to make decisions with confidence, whether that is by deploying an internet marketing strategy on their own or commissioning an experienced digital marketing agency to carry out the necessary work to see results from their website.

AM Communications is a digital marketing agency providing website design, hosting and internet marketing for small businesses.

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New Assistant Vice President for For Rent Media Solutions™

Norfolk, VA (PRWEB) February 03, 2012

For Rent Media Solutions™ (FRMS), a division of Dominion Enterprises, announces the promotion of Harvey Rosenberg to the position of assistant vice president of sales effective January 1, 2012. For the past 10 years, Rosenberg has worked as the general sales manager for the New Jersey and New England markets and most recently as the company’s regional sales manager for the Mid Atlantic Region that includes New England, Washington DC, Philadelphia and the Greater New York City Area. As assistant vice president of sales, Rosenberg will now manage those areas as well as the Great Lakes Region in addition to overseeing two regional managers.

“Harvey is an eight-time President’s Club member and has demonstrated great leadership and strategic direction in all positions he has held,” says Terry Slattery, president of For Rent Media Solutions. “His hard work and dedication to this company coupled with his desire to always achieve the goals he sets for his team make Harvey the natural fit for this important new role.”

Harvey went to the University of Rhode Island where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in business management. He has been actively involved in multiple New England apartment associations over the years including his current membership in the New Jersey Apartment Association as well as the Rental Housing Association, Apartment Association of New Hampshire and Rhode Island Apartment Association.

About For Rent Media Solutions™

Founded in 1982 as For Rent Magazine®, For Rent Media Solutions™ is headquartered in Norfolk, Va., and provides multifamily housing solutions for apartment seekers, property/apartment managers and owners through integrated marketing techniques, including print and Internet, mobile media, custom video, and social media solutions. For Rent Media Solutions operates For Rent Magazine, as well as Apartamentos Para Rentar®, and publishes 100 magazines covering more than 190 markets nationwide, including After 55™ Housing & Resource Guide, and ForRent.com™-The Magazine. For Rent Media Solutions operates four additional websites: ForRent.com®, SeniorOutlook.com™, CorporateHousing.com®, and ParaRentar.com™. Visit ForRent.com for more, or visit us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

About Dominion Enterprises

Dominion Enterprises is a leading marketing services and publishing company serving the automotive, recreational and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, employment, parenting, travel and daily deals industries. The company’s businesses provide a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, website design and hosting, and data management services. The company has more than 60 market-leading websites reaching more than 20.9 million unique visitors monthly, and more than 280 magazines with a weekly circulation of 2.4 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has 3,300 employees in more than 186 offices in the United States, Canada, England and Italy. For more information, visit http://www.DominionEnterprises.com.

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CEDAR Announces Webinar with TowerGroup on Insurance Customer Communications

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) August 30, 2011

CEDAR Document Technologies, provider of turnkey solutions to manage multi-channel customer communications, will be featured in the upcoming TowerGroup webinar, “Insurance Customer Communications: Three Areas Where Innovation Trumps Tradition”.

Contact centers and the surge in social media represent unique openings for insurers to gain insight into customer preferences. TowerGroup data shows that consumers expect to switch seamlessly between sales and service channels but most carriers face difficulty in maintaining quality, personalized communication in this environment. Proactive customer outreach will be the hallmark of future industry leaders.

In this event, Karen Pauli, Research Director at TowerGroup, and Lee Nagel, CEDAR’s Vice President Insurance Practice, will discuss:

    How to improve customer communications as call centers evolve into strategic contact centers
    The ways in which social media will alter communication in the insurance industry
    How you can optimize communications within multi-channel sales and service initiatives

When: Thursday, September 15 at 1:00 p.m. EDT

Registration: Insurance Customer Communications: Three Areas Where Innovation Trump Tradition

About CEDAR: CEDAR Document Technologies, Inc. is an enterprise communications management company that solves the communications challenges of many Fortune 2000 companies. CEDAR’s Agile Communications Platform™ enables companies to communicate with customers across multiple distribution channels including email, website, interactive PDF, SMS, Fax, IVR, and traditional print/post. CEDAR’s Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings address the requirements of both regulators and customers for personally relevant communications and increased self-service. CEDAR’s platform integrates with clients’ core systems to unlock the communications potential of the data inside. CEDAR’s technology is highly scalable and flexible, delivering integrated services for complex multi-channel communications.

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, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Messages: The Communication Skills Book

• ISBN13: 9781572245921
• Condition: New
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Many people assume that good communicators possess an intrinsic talent for speaking and listening to others, a “gift of gab” that cannot be taught. The reality is that communication skills are developed slowly and with deliberate effort, and even the most gifted speakers may feel that there is at least one communication skill–say, public speaking–that they just can’t master.

Messages is a best-selling classic that has already helped more than 100,000 readers develop communication skills in all areas of life. Now in its third edition, this comprehensive and endlessly practical guide includes a new chapter on couples communication and new information on using validation strategies during conflicts. Topics covered in this book include: active listening, reading body language, developing conflict resolution skills, talking to children, communicating with family members, public speaking, handling group interactions, being interviewed for jobs, and being the interviewer. This book is an invaluable resource that can help any reader develop one of the most important skill sets they have.

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Introduction

Development can be defined as a change that is desirable and contains a list of attributes which a society strives / seeks to achieve. It embraces growth in quality of life, increase in real income per capita, it should lead to improved educational, health and nutritional status. Development at a national level can be seen through increased economic growth and expanded productive capacity as it is usually indicated by Gross National Product (GNP). It should give basic access to freedom, spiritual welfare and fair distribution of wealth. In simple terms, development refers to a change leading to improvement or progress. These developmental achievements should last into the future rather than being short lived, that is sustainable development.

Sustainable development as a new concept for natural resource and environmental management has been defined in different ways by numerous advocates. However the most widely quoted definition is that of the Brundtland Report, World Commission of Environment and Development (WCED, 1987, pg. which states that “sustainable development is that development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The concept has also been defined by agencies such as the UNEP, as “improving the quality of human life while still living within the carrying capacity of supporting system”.

The concept of sustainable development aims at striking a balance between economic development of a certain country and its natural resources. For the IUCN, the concern on the need for sustainable development lies in the serious consequences of the mishandling of the environment can have on the human beings. These consequences include; air pollution leading to global warming, acid rain and the depletion of the ozone layer; irreplaceable damage to biological resources including deforestation water depletion, species extinction (loss of bio diversity) and adulteration and poisoning of soil and water by pesticides, herbicides and toxic wastes. It is vital therefore to balance the way resources are used for development of humankind and the value of the environment to sustain present life and future ones.

Achieving sustainable development:

Sustainable development as a principle entered the development circles around the time of the UN conference on the human environment, 1972 (Stockholm Conference).

Since then, several important principles of environmental management of sustainable development have been put forward. Aspects that characterize any process of sustainable development include: Value for the environment, that is, if development is to be sustainable it must call for the increased emphasis or recognition of the value of the natural, built and cultural environment; extending the time horizon, that is, sustainable development policies should embrace concern for the future; and Equity, which means providing for the needs of the disadvantaged in the society (intra- generational equity) and a realistic concern for the future generation (inter-generational equity). Intra-generational equity calls for addressing the widening gap between the rich and poor and ensure that all those living have a fair share of the process of development. Inter-generational equity is concerned with meeting obligations and being fair to the next generation by leaving them an inheritance of wealth not less than what we inherited.

To achieve sustainable development calls for the avoidance of irreversible destruction of the environment. Irreversible damage to the environment becomes a permanent loss than can not be regressed, thus depriving future generations of the wealth which we inherited. Several approaches for environmental resource use programmes have been designed that allow for sustainable development. Community participation approach is one among the many.

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

A community in simple terms refers to a group of people bound together with a common purpose, for example a rural community, cultural community, social community, economic community or it can be the entire global community. The activities of people in communities have greater impacts to the environment. People have developed unlimited power to alter the environment due to the need for development. Communities of people engage in different kinds of economic, social and cultural activities. Some of these activities have detrimental effects to the environment. Forinstance, deforestation, overgrazing, poaching, over fishing and destruction of habitats of living things are among the many impacts of communities on the environment. Also, any development process or project is directed toward improving the welfare of people in their communities. It follows therefore that if sustainability is to be achieved, public participation in any development process is vital.

The origins of the principles of community participation can be traced back from Rio Declaration (principle 19) and through the world charter for Nature (Article 16 and 23).

These emphasizes the need for government to accord an opportunity to all persons participate either individually or otherwise, in formulation of environment decisions and grant access to means of replacement when the environment has suffered damage or degradation.

The principle has been re-affirmed by Rio-Declaration (principle 10) to include three basic elements: These are participation in decision making process; public awareness through provision of information, and access to judicial and administrative proceedings including re-dress and remedy.

Fundamental issues of natural resource management are the allocation of resources, the setting of priorities and the making of choice. The nature and significance of the public interest in resource appraisal were usually assumed or imposed but not specifically considered by governments in developing countries (top-down approach).Ecological, economic and technological considerations tended to be more dominant and aspects of the social worth of resource inputs and outputs were often ignored. Hence Firey (1960) suggested that public consent be incorporated in resource allocation and management everywhere.

Inorder to achieve sustainability, natural resource management in developing countries must call for the development of resources on the basis of community guidelines and priorities. Environmental deterioration in many developing countries is sometimes blamed on inappropriate management methods designed by outsiders rather than the local community in mind. This is because politics tend to play a major part in resource allocation and as a result, some communities tend to have greater political influence than the less fortunate counterparts.

Community participation in the promotion of sustainable development requires analysis of complex issues and large volumes of data. The content analysis techniques has been recommended: it involves identifying opinions offered for, against and about the issue along with reasons given to support these views.

To achieve community participation, environmental education must be provided to the entire community. The purpose of environmental education to communities of people is to create an environment conscious population. This will help to serve two purposes; to limit or reduce the extent of people’s impact to the environment because of ignorance- backed activities such as deforestation, overgrazing, poaching overfishing, bad methods of cultivation and destruction of habitats of living things such as wetlands. The other purpose of environmental education is to create a community which can make informed decisions on environment and natural resource use. Providing incentives to support environmentally friendly projects by local people in communities can motivate people positively toward engaging in sustainable development activities. Eradication of poaching, overfishing and dynamite fishing, charcoal burning and deforestation and other threats to the environmental resources sustainability can be well addressed if backed by providing alternative activities which saves the environment thereby meeting people’s needs.

The bottom-up approach is required in community participation so as not to impose policies on communities. To meet this objective, there is a need to include environmental education in school curriculum so that students can understand the environment and teach other people at large. There is a need also to have environmental officers up to the grass-root level (parishes). Radio programmes, seminars and workshops are among the many methods to avail environmental knowledge, awareness and skills to people aimed at sustainable development.

RELEVANCE OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Community participation is a contemporary strategy in development that has been acknowledged for its capacity to spread benefits of development to a wider community while promoting sustainability.

Among the more important reasons to use this strategy of community participation includes the following:-

The community participation strategy ensures an equitable distribution of benefits gotten from development projects to which the community at large was involved and participated fully. This equitable distribution of benefits from community projects will inturn elicit an extrinsic motivation for the people to take care of the project so that is continue benefiting them for along time. This is said to be a sense of sustainable development.

Community participation develops a sense of responsibility and stewardship ethic among community members toward development projects and natural resources of the environment because they are a result of their own needs and efforts. When people are involved fully from planning stage to the implementation and benefits of a project, they will feel as stakeholders and therefore they are ought to ensure that the project succeeds well for the longest time. In this way sustainable development can be achieved.

Effective participation of communities of people in development programmes requires that people are provided with environmental education. This environmental literacy enables people to acquire knowledge, attain skills, change attitude and gain a sense of participation toward proper utilization of the environment and natural resources. It is this environmental literacy that will encourage all sections of society especially the poor and under privileged to participate in the project hence increasing wise use and management of resources for sustainable development.

Community input is important in undertaking social impact assessment in developing countries for establishment of any development project. For instance social impacts of man-made lakes (dams) have revealed the need to incorporate social variables of the community in the planning and management of development projects. For example, during the construction of Kariba dam, the social impacts included social disruption during resettlement of large number of families, loss of agricultural land, loss of fishing prospects and problems of adjusting to the new areas for settlement. The only solution to avoiding such problems is effective participation of the community from planning stage to implementation and management of any project.

Environmental literacy provided to people to make them participate in development projects and the knowledge and skills they acquire during the process promotes self reliance among the poor and underprivileged people in the community. Self reliance skills will enable these people to try carrying out environmentally friendly development activities/ projects which saves the environment and improves their life. This is very important for sustainability.

Community participation strategy in promotion of sustainable development is relevant because it encourages the sharing of responsibilities for project identification, design, management and execution.

This also helps the community feel a sense of ownership of the project and hence will be enthusiastic to see that it succeeds. This is important if sustainable development is to be achieved.

Both indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge and technology are important in solving environmental problems. There is a need therefore to integrate indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge toward conservation of soil fertility, avoiding erosion and better methods of farming in steep slopes with scientific knowledge. Indigenous people posses this indigenous knowledge. The effective strategy to make indigenous knowledge applicable is community participation.

The strategy of community participation toward sustainable development works to lessen the hostile attitude that people often have towards certain development projects such as urban renewal projects. Overcoming this hostility is a very important gear to sustainable development as people will be cooperative with optimistic mind (positive attitude).

The strategy also promotes transparency in financial management when development project are funded by the government or donor agencies which will bring about stakeholder (community) satisfaction. This will help to reduce conflicts and thus lead to sustainable development.

Community participation is essential in the promotion of sustainable development, because both the causes of and solutions to environmental problems are often linked to individual and societal choice. It makes people understand how human society is influencing the environment, as well as the economic, legal and political mechanisms that provide avenues for addressing issues and situations. This is a vital concern for sustainable development.

Community participation provides social groups and individuals with an opportunity to be actively involved at all levels in working towards resolution of environmental problems. This involves ensuring environmental citizenship among the people where everybody should be a member of the environment. A number or a citizen is supposed to take care of the environment than a non member. This attitude converges at enabling sustainable development.

This strategy is important in environmental management since it helps to identify leadership skills among some members of the community who are actively involved in the process. This is important in bringing together other people for the course of proper environmental management and development.

LIMITATIONS FACED IN IMPLEMENTING COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION STRATEGY OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.

It should be noted however that, in developing countries, community participation in development initiatives is still rare and demanding and not widely practiced. The limitations of this method include time involved, limited resources to effect the method, commitment, tolerance and the difficulty in ensuring that public input is relevant to the issue in question. One has to balance between urgency of the problem and participation by the larger community. In terms of financial resources, it demands steady uninterrupted flow such that participants are not frustrated by inconsistencies.

Conclusion

Despite of the above limitations, sustainable development will be effectively attained if an only if the users of the resources and the consumers of the goods and services resulting from environmental resources are actively involved in the planning, management and the execution of development projects, that is the community at large. It is the people (community) who eventually make choices on how they are going to use the resources to meet their economic, social and cultural development. Environmental deterioration in many countries is sometimes blamed on inappropriate management methods designed by outsiders rather than the local community in mind. To achieve community participation where policies are not imposed on people but people becomes part of the project (shareholders), environmental education should be provided to people.

References

Enger and Smith (2006) Environmental science:

A study of interrelationships (10th Ed)

McGraw-Hill companies Inc. New York.

United Nations conference on environment and

Development (1992). The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Gineva, Switzerland, UNCED Secretariat.

Michael L. Mckinney, Schoch R.M (1998). Environmental

Science, Systems and Solutions, Web Enhanced edition, West Pub, USA.

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Introduction

The context of construction for this paper is relatively simple and focuses on a personal need to bring one area of life to a close while opening the door to another. Three years of academic study of Youth & Community work – often related to a Northern Irish context – in England is concluding, while a career in that profession combined with further study beckons. Therefore  a need for the author to fully understand the circumstances in which Northern Ireland resides in 2010. It is also intended that this paper will form the basis of the next period of academic study, further pursuing the issues and history which are touched on briefly in this paper.

To achieve the above, the important historical events which created and shaped the secular communities of Northern Ireland will be analysed and critically discussed. Using arguably the most important document of Anglo-Irish politics, it will be seen how secular has become singular, however is still challenged by the socio-religio-cultural web of influence which has been present. This paper is not placed to answer the questions of what went on previously, perhaps that is a discussion for the future. It will however, analyse key events, people and organisations in respect to the culture, politics and religions of Northern Ireland in order to link it to Community Work’s past failings. Once this has been achieved, recommendations will be drawn out, set out for all interested and engaged parties to see what a viable pathway for development is.

The Northern Ireland Context & Community Power

The history of Northern Ireland since it’s conception in 1921 is laden with key events, both positive but often negative. Such is the complexities of the community framework; these historical events have been instigated on very different but interrelated realms, including the influences of; political parties; religious sects; cultural organisations; community & residents groups; the British & Irish governments; international leaders and paramilitary organisations.

When attempting to analyse where our current facet of community has come from, it’s important to look at more recent key events rather than delving into the deep rooted past of over twenty years ago. This said, context remains important, and will be primarily called into question to understand developments of the society.

On the 30th of January, 1972 (Museum of Free Derry; 2005), thirteen men were shot dead by the British Army in Londonderry while taking part in Civil Rights Movement march which had been banned. While many believe these actions – and others relating to the social mobilisation of Catholics in this period – by the British Army to be the conception of thirty years of violence in Northern Ireland (Probert; 1978), the march itself was part of a wider series of events organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) (Widgery, Lord; 1972) who were organising against the corruption of a majority protestant local government (Minahan, J.B; 2000 & Lydon, J; 1998) lead by Faulkner. Prior to this in 1970, born out of the uprising of ill-feelings from the nationalist community, the Provisional IRA was created, a ruthless band of militants preparing to take the British State to account with the use of force (McCreary; 1975, Probert; 1978). There has indeed been a number of positive examples of community power coming into action within the country such as The Peace People led by 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winners Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan (Nobel Web AB; 2010 & Peacepeople.com; no date). As the example of the NICRA shows, it can often be overshadowed by the violent acts surrounding it. The NICRA movement and that key march in Londonderry, in personal opinion, must be accredited massively with being the catalyst of change against a corrupt Protestant majority oppressing a Catholic minority. Instead, it is memorialised – and rightly so – by many due to the losses and violence it suffered, and accused by some in the loyalist community as being trouble makers who deserved what they got. Wilson (1998) We will never know if NICRA’s peaceful means could have brought down the Northern Ireland government, rather than it being dissolved into direct rule due to the violent crisis in which the British Government had to be seen to be dealing with swiftly and effective. It is the opinion of this paper that it would have achieved this in a peaceful manner, however the timescale would have been much longer and the struggle against the sectarian government at Stormont much greater.

The Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement

Many believe The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) was only born out of talks taking place in Stormont from the new year of 1998 up until Easter, however this is a misconception. Many commentators (Craig, J; 2002, Morton, A; 2009) suggest the roots of the GFA where planted at the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1984. Personal feelings sugesst that the Downing Street talks of 1991 and the subsequent risks taken by John Hulme was the catalyst for change. Simply put; there can be little argument against the fact that the events of 1991 sparked a change in paramilitary circles, leading the IRA and Loyalist Ceasefires of 1994. For the first time in almost thirty years, the people of Northern Ireland faced a minimal level of conflict, albeit briefly.

The British Governments acceptance of Sinn Fein lead to a change of psyche within republican circles, and was a long way from the voice bans of the Thatcher years only three years prior (BBC News; 2005). Republicans were accepted into the political talks with British government officials, which not only angered unionists, but hard line republicans in the process as well, in the end, forcing a split which resulted in the Real IRA. It would be foolish to say that this was a cataclysmic event in republican communities, however the choices which the Loyalist and Unionist community of Northern Ireland were about to face would be much more demanding. In personal opinion, the key event which directly led to the development of the GFA was the democratically elected ‘Northern Ireland Forum’ of 1996 (Whyte, N; 2003). This was the first major step towards devolved, cross community government by getting political representatives from all sides of the divide to begin communicating with each other.

The Changing Face: Pre-GFA Community Work

In majority Catholic areas, “Concerned Resident’s Groups” received a large amount of publicity by the press surrounding their objections to Loyal Order parades through their areas. These received a lot of criticism in Loyalist circles, as often there would be a distinct connection to Sinn Fein as well as the ‘chairperson’ of many of these groups being found to be not from these areas. A well known example is that of the Garvaghy Road, were Brendan McKenna was leader of the local residents group in protesting against Portadown Orange Lodge’s demands to walk down that particular road (BBC News; 2007). While being leader of this particular residents group in Portadown, he was a resident of West Belfast, over thirty miles away.

Where community work in republican areas have always been associated closely with Sinn Fein, in loyalist areas, the links have not been with political organisations, but more with the paramilitary groups associated with the ‘policing’ of the local area. Of course there have been aligned Political parties such as The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), and to an extent historically, Ian Paisleys’ Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) were closely aligned to the loyalist workers movements of the 1980′s and was seen as the face of the Ulster Workers Council strike of 1974 due to his opposing of the Sunningdale Agreement (BBC News; no date, Probert; 1978). Indeed, Paisley is regarded as the godfather of Ulster Loyalism and the face of Northern Irish Politics, his famous speech in November 1985 cemented his legacy and outlined the depth of opposition felt towards a more extensive agreement, the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which Prime Minister Thatcher supported due to wanting to create better links between Britain and the Republic of Ireland. In this renowned speech to over 100,000 people at Belfast City Hall, Reverend Paisley stated;

“I want to ask a question today. And the question is simple. Where do the terrorists operate from? From the Irish Republic! That’s where they come from! Where do the terrorists return to for Sanctuary? To the Irish Republic! And yet Mrs. Thatcher tells us that that Republic must have some say in our province! We say NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!”

(Youtube.com; 2009).

This is not to say that the paramilitary’s themselves were openly the face of community work, rather it was well known names of the organisations or ex-members being seen in the press as ‘community workers’ (BBC News; 2009). Grass-roots, front line community workers have a great deal of scepticism surrounding them due to this, and it will take a lot before the general public will be won over by the profession.

The Good Friday Agreement and Community Work

Although not totally explicit in its intentions, The Good Friday Agreement does make quite a number of references to Community Work, particularly in respect to reconciliation initiatives (Northern Ireland Office; 1998). In respect to institutions which would be established; The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission would have a “…membership from Northern Ireland reflecting the community balance…” (Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity –  Human Rights -Section 5); Equality Commission to replace four sub-commissions (Section 6) and discussions to further consider a dedicated Department of Equality (Section 7).

Critically, it is Section Twelve of The Agreement which made the most impact for community provisions in Northern Ireland by stating:

“…Young people from areas affected by the troubles face particular difficulties and will support the development of special community-based initiatives based on international best practice… will need to be channelled through both statutory and community based voluntary organisations facilitating locally-based self-help and support networks.” (Section 12).

Further comment is made under sub-section “Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity – Human Rights”, where social inclusion is pinpointed as needing to prioritise “Community Development and the advancement of women in public life” (Section 1). A further key mention is given to the Irish language speaking community of Northern Ireland and the need for inclusion and liaising with said community.

The Changing Face: Post-GFA Community Work

Since The Good Friday Agreement, the political structures have been a situation of constant stopping and starting, being under a constant strain of tension. In contrast however, while not without issue, the implementations of The Agreement in terms of Community Work have proceeded in a more steady and progressive manner.  In 21st Century Northern Ireland, community organisations are becoming more and more mainstream and recognised entities. Many ‘Community Workers’ are still often recognisable names to locals as men who have been associated paramilitary’s, and while I feel strongly that to command more respect and rid the scepticism from the general public surrounding the profession we need to have a strong uniformed qualification programme and an understand of what a community worker is and isn’t, we cannot afford to write these hard working people off anymore. It is personally felt that often when local media seek the views of a ‘community worker’, it is a about a singular issue. It is to state that, “the police used heavy handed tactics”, or perhaps, “the local community has been provoked to this reaction”, but always feeling the need to, “appeal for calm.” Of course I am not so ignorant to suggest that a worker in a 95% protestant housing estate is not going to represent those people and their views, but is it really their role to carry this out in such a public way?

We need to gain an understanding of this, we need to draw these protocols up and this needs to be down immediately. It is not enough for the University of Ulster to change it’s Community Youth Work course to bring it in line with the rest of the UK, we need to remember we are a regional area with very unique regional issues. You don’t go around to a friends house stating, “Come and look at my new kitchen, I think it’s as nice as yours”, when your friends’ kitchen is near perfect whereas yours has the door off its’ hinges and tiles are missing from your floor. There is absolutely no point in Northern Ireland trying to act the equal of the rest of the UK in terms of Youth & Community Work when we haven’t got our grassroots challenges sorted out. It’s not going to be easy, as new protocols, policy and procedure will not fix these issues overnight, as it is more than a issue with the profession itself. It would be my argument that we are in a paradox, where to fix the profession we have to use the profession at its best to change the mindset of communities to accept the changes, and this will not be simple in carrying out.

Two Become One: A More United Community

Of course there is one key difference for Northern Irish people to their country compared to that of 20 years ago and that is the simple fact that violence is almost completely vanished, or at least is certainly not comparable to what it was. It is maybe this fact which is most important in defining what changes have been made in terms of other aspects of the culture such as; sports; arts; leisure; economic investment and so on. It has been observed that in recent years, the pluralisation of the term community has become used in decreasing amounts, with politicians in particular showing willingness to promote the steps which I have been taken by them by uniting the sects of Northern Ireland, finally, as one community.

Compared to those of people in other parts of the UK, Northern Irelands’ cultural scene was heavily neglected for the most part of the troubles. Particularly in music, many acts would not announce Northern Irish dates on tours, or often cancelled due to violence. The change since the progress of the peace process began cannot be understated and can be shown with basic examples of concert arenas year of construction and dates of the provinces music festivals:

The Waterfront Hall, opened 1997 (Belfast Waterfront; no date)
Glasgowbury Music Festival, ongoing since 2000 (Glasgowbury Music Group; no date)
The Odyssey Arena and Pavilion, opened 2000 (Odysseyarena.com; 2009)
Tennants ViTAL Music Festival, 2002 – 2007, citing over-saturation in the music festival market (tennantsvital.com; no date).

Case Study: Feile an Phobail

With these examples aside, there is one, community based festival ongoing since 1988; ‘Feile an Phobail’, colloquially referred to in English as ‘The West Belfast Festival’, however directly translated from Irish Gaelic as being ‘The Community Festival’ (Feile and Phobail West Belfast: 2010). This festival has been constantly at the receiving end of criticism (culturenorthernireland.org; no date), particularly by unionist circles as being an ‘un-true’ community festival, due to the connections with Republicanism and Sinn Fein it holds. We must ask ourselves; however, is this fair criticism? After all, the area of West Belfast is predominately a republican stronghold. While it could be argued that unionist criticisms were to score a political point or two, it would be personal opinion that Feile an Phobail is not a totally inclusive community festival, particularly through the use of Gaelic as its main title. Yes, West Belfast is, as stated, a predominately catholic area, however, it also includes the famous protestant stronghold of the Shankill Road. So for the past twenty two years, has Feile an Phobail been a festival for Belfast; a festival for West Belfast; or a festival for the Catholic community? While it may not have been the intentions of the organisers, it has, rightly or wrongly, become simply a festival for the catholic community of the area, with outsiders feeling unwelcome.

The vast majority of objects and subjects prior to 1998 would often have been found to be ‘owned’ by one section of the community or the other. For example, even particular musical acts came into the debate of the politico-religious divide, an obvious case being punk band ‘Stiff Little Fingers’, particularly for their hit rebellious song, ‘Alternative Ulster’ which included the following lyrics referring to the Royal Ulster Constabulary;

“Get an Alternative Ulster,

Be an anti-security force,

Alter your native Ulster,

Alter your native land…

… Take a look where you’re livin’,

You got the Army on your street,

And the RUC dog of repression,

Is barking at your feet,

Is this the kind of place you wanna live?,

Is this where you wanna be?,

Is this the only life we’re gonna have?”

(Stiff Little Fingers; 1978)

Another example which is less obvious would be ‘The Undertones’, famous for their hit, ‘Teenage Kicks’, who were associated with a more catholic fan base due to being from the republican majority city of Londonderry (theundertones.com; no date)

It is important, however, to outline and celebrate the existence of certain enigma’s, in which, in times of trouble where a source of healing and unity for a country so deeply divided. The most famous example is of course the footballer, George Best. Even though he played for the Northern Ireland International team, a team with a vastly protestant support, his fame and reputation for being one of the worlds greatest, automatically made the him the country’s most famous son. In turn, his achievements gripped publics imagination and support, regardless of religious or political background. A less widely known example, but equally important to the country, was Joey Dunlop, World Road Racing champion. His soft spoken personality, extraordinary efforts for charities at home and abroad and his disregard for political and religious discussion in public made him very much a people’s man. Both these men have now deceased, and while I accept that their achievements as successful sportsmen take prominence, it can only argue that the large gatherings of people and tributes at their funerals can be also attributed to the regard in which they were held by the people of all communities in Northern Ireland.

Help or Hindrance: The Current Political Climate

A number of sceptics (Walker, B; 2010) have stated that they believe that the parties have semi-manufactured or at least used these scandals to their advantage, particularly to buy time or bargaining power in the run up to the talks on the devolution of Policing & Justice at Hillsborough. It would be personal opinion that at the very least, these scandals have been used in some way to buy more time however have engaged both the media and public with Politics in this country like never before.

There have been some much publicised developments in Northern Irish politics within the past 6 months, particularly the scandals surrounding Gerry Adams, Peter Robinson and Irish Robinson. As well as this, we have had the recent developments of the ‘Hillsborough Agreement’ on policing and justice, which has received mixed public and political opinion (Traditional Unionist Voice; 2010, The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland; 2010[a], The Ulster Unionist Party; 2010). The Hillsborough Agreement consists of eight main points, with the highest profile of those being the Parades issue (BBC News[a]; 2010).

Immediately following analysing the Hillsborough Agreement and relevant additional information, it came to personal opinion that certain aspects of the plans may have implications for modern community work in the country. Primarily, it could be said that the resolving of the parades issue, and the hope for local people being organised to work these local issues out, must be seen as a possible new task for Community Workers. This task can not fall into the hands of politicians. It is not a party political task to seek the views and organisation of people to solve delicate issues such as parades, particularly when partisan in a climate like Northern Ireland will almost ultimately lead to an alignment of one side of the relgio-cultural divide or the other.

The transfer of Policing and Justice powers did not go without problem on Monday 12th April 2010, as a Real IRA car bomb was detonated to coincide with the time of transfer just after midnight (BBC News; 2010[b]). An important step however, must be the selection of David Ford, Leader of The Alliance Party as Justice Manager, due to the parties stance on ridding Northern Ireland of tribal politics (The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland; 2010[b]).

Recommendations for Change

During the course of this paper, a number of suggestions and recommendations for change have been made so it’s natural that before concluding that we compile these recommendations.

Community WorkChallenge the scepticism of Community Work by the general public by; i.      Uniforming the qualification that makes one a “Community Worker” and not allowing the abuse of the term
ii.      Writing new policy & procedure which states what is within a the remit of a Community Worker and what is the responsibility of a local political representative
iii.      Challenging local communities to actively seek out cross-community organisation and engage more with local political representatives.

Ensuring that the more recent political agreements of St. Andrews and Hillsborough do not get in the way of progressing the will of The Good Friday Agreement, the only document of the three which was backed democratically by all the people of the Island of Ireland.
PoliticsPoliticians need to remain out of the business and actions of the Community Sector. All should wish to encourage community work to become non-partisan and understanding of the increasingly diverse and mixed culture of the province.
Members of the Legislative Assembly should work in close partnership with the Community Sector in order to progress the aims of the Hillsborough Agreement. This is particularly necessary in respect to resolving the parades issue, as Community Workers are often perfectly placed to mediate the discussions and conflicts which can arise.

Conclusion

In summing up, it is important for us to understand that Northern Ireland has always been an extremely complex society and will remain this way for the foreseeable future. The socio-religio-cultural web which has intertwined all aspects of Northern Irish society is slowly being shielded by a more modern, cosmopolitan region, however the inherent conservative values of the nations older generations, and their remembrance of the vicious violent assault will remain.

What has been shown in this document is that there is a methodology set out, ready and waiting to push community work forward in a sensitive and respectful manner. While Community Development Work will become a more modern, respected, and efficient profession, in turn our communities and our political sphere of influence will benefit from this. While the recommendations within this paper may never be taken on board at a higher level of governance engaged by policy-makers of the Community Sector, it is hoped that those who come in to contact with it will be motivated to understand and accept the changes which need to be made.

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