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Examines the notion that total quality can do for communities what it has done for businesses worldwide and describes ongoing community‐wide quality projects in the USA. Shows how respected organizations such as the Association for Quality and Participation (AQP), the World Center for Community Excellence, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and The W. Edwards Deming Institute have launched successful community‐wide quality initiatives.

Outlines ideas for a well‐designed crisis plan applicable to many corporations, institutions or government agencies. In the light of numerous community‐wide disasters, as well as the singular disasters that corporations, institutions, municipalities and government agencies have suffered in the last few years, details disaster recovery needs. Also discusses issues of site assessment – whether or not a building is occupied, repairs, fire and water cleanup.

Tucson, Arizona, experienced two large‐scale floods in October 1983 and January 1993. In comparing these floods, examines both the natural events and the response of public safety organizations. A summary of the natural events compares the weather, flooding and damages. In consideration of the human response to the 1983 event, finds that the community′s emergency co‐ordination centre was ineffective and isolated from the public safety response network. Furthermore, an organizational structure, suited to the management of large‐scale, multi‐organizational response, failed to emerge. Concludes that local government mitigated these deficiencies before the January 1993 flood. This was accomplished in two ways. First, the community′s emergency management agency merged into the Sheriff′s Department and second, through consensus building and training, the community institutionalized an effective disaster response organizational structure.

The European Commission’s competence to vet mergers at the Community level is primarily derived from the Merger Control Regulation (MCR) 1989, amended 1997, which established a concentration architecture based on separate, non‐overlapping jurisdictional spheres for member states and the Commission, with the Commission alone having jurisdiction over concentrations with a competition concern which potentially have a Community impact. Under the MCR, Community impact is determined by the two Community Dimension (CD) tests employing a numerical form‐based approach. The paper examines the Commission’s 2000 report on aspects of the MCR, particularly the appropriateness of the key CD tests in guaranteeing that all concentrations with a Community impact are centralised to the Commission, while those which are national in impact are dealt with at the member state level. It reveals that the tests are ineffective and undermine the goal of the concentration architecture. A streamlined single CD test is advanced and a radical alternative is put forward – based not on separate jurisdictional spheres but where the Commission and member states competition authorities form a network of co‐operation to regulate concentrations.

The building sector contributes one-third of the energy-related carbon dioxide globally. Therefore, framing appropriate energy-related policies for the next decades becomes essential in this scenario to realize the global net-zero goals. The purpose of the proposed study is to evaluate the impact of the widespread adoption of such guidelines in a building community in the context of mixed-mode buildings.

This study decentralizes the theme of improving the energy efficiency of the national building stock in parcels by proposing a community-based hybrid bottom-up modelling approach using urban building energy modelling (UBEM) techniques to analyze the effectiveness of the community-wide implementation of energy conservation guidelines.

In this study, the UBEM is developed and validated for the 14-building residential community in Mumbai, India, adopting the framework. Employing Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) compliance on the UBEM shows an energy use reduction potential of up to 15%. The results also reveal that ECBC compliance is more advantageous considering the effects of climate change.

In developing countries where the availability of existing building stock information is minimal, the proposed study formulates a holistic framework for developing a detailed UBEM for the residential building stock from scratch. A unique method of assessing the actual cooling load of the developed UBEM is presented. A thorough sensitivity analysis approach to investigate the effect of cooling space fraction on the energy consumption of the building stock is presented, which would assist in choosing the appropriate retrofit strategies. The proposed study's outcomes can significantly transform the formulation and validation of appropriate energy policies.

This paper describes several approaches for implementing quality improvement initiatives to improve patient satisfaction, which enables health‐care organizations to position themselves for success in today's global and increasingly competitive environment. Specifically, measuring the views of patients, improving patient satisfaction through a community‐wide effort, and using a Six Sigma program are discussed. Each of these programs can be an effective mechanism for quality improvement. A key component to quality improvement techniques involves collaborative efforts by all health‐care professionals and managers as they seek to increase patient satisfaction.

This research describes and evaluates the co-creation of a programme called “A Healthy Choice”. Underpinned by design thinking (DT), this study aims to improve the healthfulness of food choices in supermarkets among consumers to promote their well-being.

The research features two studies. Study 1 included five co-design workshops with consumers and staff (n = 32) to develop a consumer-centred programme. The findings supported the design and implementation of a programme evaluated in Study 2 (an ecological trial). The programme modified a supermarket environment to increase the prominence of healthier products (shelf-talkers and no discount), ran positive food experiences (cooking and label reading workshops) and was supported by a community-wide information campaign in social and local print media.

A total of 15 new strategies were developed by consumers and staff to support health and well-being in supermarkets. Feasibility discussions and staff voting contributed to the development and storewide implementation of the programme. Evaluation showed that the programme was effective in increasing consumer knowledge of healthier food choices (measured via public survey). Sales analysis showed mixed results; sales increased for promoted products in some categories, but there was no effect in others.

Given the real-world setting in which this programme and its evaluation were conducted, there were several innate limitations. The co-design process generated many more ideas than could be implemented, thus creating a healthy “pipe line” for the next iterations of the programme.

The key contribution of this work to supermarket intervention literature is the recommendation to change the paradigm of engagement between the key stakeholders who are typically involved in supermarket programs. Using the co-design and DT frameworks, the authors offer an example of stakeholders working together in close partnership to co-design and collaboratively implement a programme that promotes healthier choices.

This project contributes to the emerging body of empirical work using DT principles in the area of healthy food choices in supermarkets. A rigorously designed evaluation of a co-designed supermarket programme contributes to scholarly evidence on food well-being programs in supermarkets.

In this article, the aim is to explore the rise of the role of the social enterprise as a “force for good” in the context of social and economic regeneration. Building on the growing importance of the third sector to central government as part of its agenda to diversify the delivery of public services, the paper seeks to question the veracity of the view that social enterprises invariably enable the communities in which they operate.

The authors have developed this conceptual paper by building on the application of Amartya Sen's capabilities approach.

It is concluded that where social enterprises are contracted to provide services to communities, including those that would previously have been provided by the public sector (within a carefully crafted statutory framework), should have a demonstrable remit for community wide action, as this, it is argued, is more likely to facilitate community wide benefits. Part of any assessment should include, first, the sustainability of the contribution; and second, the extent to which they enable community members to exercise the choice to participate in the mainstream economy and society.

This theoretical account would benefit from empirical assessment.

The article is of potential value to policy makers and researchers of social enterprise in urban, multicultural environments.

The article has attempted to use the capabilities approach to reconcile some of the tensions between the rhetoric and reality of social enterprise activity and its value in the context of the regeneration of communities.

Historically, citizen input into the capital budgeting planning and project selection process has been sporadic and often limited to the most politically-attentive, “connected” individuals and groups. The near-sightedness of such an approach has become apparent as the public’s cynicism toward government has intensified, along with its reticence to support bond referenda, and its propensity to file equity-oriented lawsuits criticizing capital project decisions. To combat these problems, local governments across the U.S. are broadening constituent involvement in their capital budget process, especially at the front-end where possible projects are identified and selected for inclusion in the capital improvement plan. This article examines the four major approaches that are being utilized: decentralizing public hearings; using community-wide public opinion surveys to gauge public support for various projects and revenue-raising options; expanding citizen access and input to, and feedback from, government interactive data bases; and creating more formalized roles for citizens on capital budget planning committees. Each of these approaches has its own assets and liabilities which are delineated.