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Crowdfunding has become a popular and achievable means of funding projects worldwide. The purpose of this study is to determine which personal and social traits can increase individuals’ intention to participate in crowdfunding.

This study examines innovativeness, attitudes toward helping others and interpersonal connectivity as determinants of consumers’ intention to participate in crowdfunding. Social identification with the crowdfunding community is proposed as a mediator in the model.

The results show that both social identification with the crowdfunding community and innovativeness have a positive effect on intention to participate. In addition, attitudes toward helping others and interpersonal connectivity indirectly affect intention to participate in crowdfunding through social identification with the crowdfunding community.

This study analyzes a general audience of potential crowdfunders; therefore, the results identify just the indications for potential intentions to participate in crowdfunding activities.

Companies or fund-seekers currently using or expecting to use crowdfunding have to develop strategies focused on promoting social identification with the crowdfunding community. More effort should be devoted for developing consumers’ social relationships and ties within the crowdfunding community.

This study contributes to the literature by clarifying the characteristics that potential crowdfunders should have to be more prone to participate in these types of projects.

El crowdfunding se ha convertido en un medio popular y factible de financiar proyectos en todo el mundo. El objetivo principal de este estudio es determinar qué características personales y sociales pueden aumentar la intención de los individuos de participar en el crowdfunding.

Esta investigación examina la capacidad de innovación, las actitudes hacia ayudar a los demás y la conectividad interpersonal como determinantes de la intención de los consumidores de participar en el crowdfunding. La identificación social con la comunidad de crowdfunding se propone como un mediador en el modelo.

Los resultados muestran que tanto la identificación social con la comunidad de crowdfunding y la capacidad de innovación tienen un efecto positivo en la intención de participar en proyectos de crowdfunding. Además, las actitudes hacia ayudar a los demás y la conectividad interpersonal afectan indirectamente la intención de participar en el crowdfunding a través de la identificación social con la comunidad de crowdfunding.

Esta investigación analiza una audiencia general de posibles “crowdfunders”, por lo tanto, los resultados identificaron solo indicaciones de intenciones potenciales para participar en actividades de crowdfunding.

Las empresas o emprendedores que actualmente usan o esperan usar el crowdfunding como método de financiación, deben desarrollar estrategias enfocadas en promover la identificación social con la comunidad de crowdfunding; así como fomentar el desarrollo de las relaciones y las relaciones sociales de los consumidores dentro de la comunidad de crowdfunding.

Esta investigación contribuye a la literatura explicando las características sociales y personales de los individuos que con más propensión participarían en este tipo de proyectos.

As conviviality can nurture community social capital, this paper aims to investigate how such capital can give rise to economic behaviour in terms of developing business relationships.

The empirical analysis was based on case studies of Italian businesses recognised as active communities that periodically organise convivial activities to fuel reciprocal collaboration. The case studies were constructed by combining a collection of secondary data, in-depth interviews and participant observations.

This paper shows how: community social capital in convivium emerges from self-narrative stimulated by ritual practices; social trust mobilising a convivial social capital is fuelled by knowledge generated through sharing and empathic relationships; community-based social relations embed business relations and if mediated, community-based business relations can also embed a community business.

The originality of the paper is twofold as it contributes: to understanding how conviviality can be used as a strategic tool for entrepreneurs to develop business relationships from convivial relations; and to finding intersection points between studies on business relationships from social capital and studies on entrepreneurship from community social capital.

There are many ways for young people to get involved with their communities, but Community participation is one of the most important ways. As a way of expressing their commitment, young people form political and social action groups, devise educational initiatives tailored to their interests, and serve as community activists. This study was carried out in Myanmar prior to the military takeover in 2021. A military coup protest was organized by CEC (Chief Executive Committees). In addition, the majority of the committee members advocate for democratic values in this era. For the purpose of this study, researchers looked into which factors had the greatest impact on the participation of youth affairs committee members in their communities. Mon State was chosen as the study site because the median age of the population there is 26.7 years old. The 2014 Census revealed a range of median ages that is lower than this one. It shows that the median age of Mon state's youth affairs committee members is lower than the state's overall median age. In addition, the state of Mon was home to three major ethnicities: the Mon, the Kayan, and the Burmese. This situation demonstrates that young people have settled in Mon state with a wide range of viewpoints and ideas. The 131 members of Mon state's youth affairs committee were selected from each of the state's three levels of youth affairs committee. The data collected was analyzed using linear regression and descriptive methods. It was discovered that the community involvement of young leaders is positively influenced by social, political & legal factors.

The rate of urbanisation in China has accelerated community heterogeneity, and yet it has also led to challenges and problems in community governance. This trend has been accompanied by the rapid expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) and online activities. Based on the example of Jiangqiao Township in Shanghai, this paper aims to probe the link between online participation using the internet and its impacts on social capital formation and community development.

A literature review was conducted, and a case study method based on quantitative data was applied to test the theoretical framework in the interactions of users’ online participation and perceptions of community governance.

Participation in an online community through the internet was found to foster new social capital. Distributed social capital had a positive impact on perceptions of governance at the community level, which was due to the resulting network density and social trust of the locality.

This study offers an expanded perspective on the impact of the internet on the behaviour of netizens in China in the context of community governance in new settlements and townships. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is interesting to investigate how the use of mass communication channels, such as the internet and other digital platforms, affects social behaviour and generates new social norms. This study offers quantitative evidence from China to support the theory of Putnam (1993; 1995a). It thus extends beyond the field of sociology to the fields of public administration and urban development.

This study aims to discuss how an online community interacts with a local community during the entrepreneurial process. By having a contextualized view of entrepreneurship, this study acknowledges the social and spatial dynamics of the process.

The inductive approach used in this study is empirically anchored in the case “the library revolt”. This paper analysed interviews conducted in a selected region in Sweden and followed a netnographic method to capture the social interactions online. By using qualitative modes of inquiry, this study attempts to illuminate the social aspects of the entrepreneurial process.

This study shows how social media works as a contextual element in entrepreneurship. By presenting interactions between an online community and a rural community, it is shown how entrepreneurial processes in rural areas can be shaped not only through local community relations but also by online interaction. It illustrates how an online context, where actors are located with their own unique set of resources, contributes to rural development. By being a part of an ongoing process of structuration, we can view the actors are gaining access to the resources online, which contributes to the change happening in a local community.

This study adds to the conversation of the role of context in entrepreneurship studies. Rural entrepreneurship largely discusses the local social bonds and actions, while this study includes the online social bonds as a part of the reality in which entrepreneurship is developed.

Small social entrepreneurs (SSEs) who operate in resource-constrained environments frequently use entrepreneurial bricolage (EB) to overcome such limitations. Research in social entrepreneurship mainly focuses on the outcomes of bricolage, with little knowledge about individual mechanisms that lead SSEs to use this approach. The authors fill this gap by investigating the role of entrepreneurial passion in fostering bricolage and the mediating effect of the sense of community.

To validate the theoretical model, the authors surveyed 279 SSEs operating in 7 African countries. The authors assessed the risk of common method bias, internal reliability and the validity of constructs and tested the hypotheses by performing linear regression analysis.

This study’s results demonstrate that passionate SSEs operating in resource-constrained contexts develop a sense of community by perceiving it as a valuable resource provider and that sense of community moves them to engage with EB.

Within the field of social entrepreneurship, this study examines the importance of a sense of community among SSEs; this evidence opens new avenues for research on drivers of small businesses operating in developing economies.

This study has practical implications for SSEs on implementing bricolage, and guidelines for governments, policymakers and NGOs in better developing their policies and programs considering the role of communities.

This study contributes to the literature by highlighting individual-level drivers of bricolage for SSEs operating in resource constraints, and revealing the relevance of the subjective view of the role of the community.

The purpose of this paper is to describe Karen refugee women’s experience of resettlement and the factors which structured community capacity to support their mental health and well-being.

A postcolonial and feminist standpoint was used to bring Karen women’s voice to the knowledge production process. Data were collected through ethnographic field observation, in-depth semi-structured individual and focus group interviews with Karen women as well as healthcare and social service providers.

Three interrelated themes emerged from the data: Karen women’s construction of mental health as “stress and worry”; gender, language and health literacy intersected, shaping Karen women’s access to health care and social resources; flexible partnerships between settlement agencies, primary care and public health promoted community capacity but were challenged by neoliberalism.

Karen women and families are a diverse group with a unique historical context. Not all the findings are applicable across refugee women.

This paper highlights the social determinants of mental health for Karen women and community responses for mitigating psychological distress during resettlement.

Public health policy requires a contextualized understanding of refugee women’s mental health. Health promotion in resettlement must include culturally safe provision of health care to mitigate sources of psychological distress during resettlement.

This research brings a postcolonial and feminist analysis to community capacity as a public health strategy.

Although knowledge sharing in online communities has been studied for many years, little is known about the determinants for individuals' knowledge sharing in online health communities (OHCs) surrounding smoking cessation. Examining the determinants of knowledge sharing in such OHCs from the social capital perspective may prove particularly enlightening.

A questionnaire-based online user survey of two smoking cessation OHCs, one based in Finland and one based in China, was performed. Performing data analysis with partial least squares (SmartPLS 3.0), the authors developed a model conceptualizing the structural, cognitive and relational dimensions of social capital as drivers for knowledge sharing in smoking cessation OHCs, with users' stage in giving up smoking as a moderator.

The results show that structural capital (social ties) and relational capital (reciprocity) are important motivators behind knowledge sharing in smoking cessation OHCs, and the authors found a moderating effect of the stage in quitting on the antecedents' relationship with knowledge sharing in these OHCs.

The study enriches understanding of knowledge sharing in smoking cessation OHCs, contributing to theory and identifying practical implications for such groups' administration.

The place of festivals in national economic development has received increased attention from researchers globally. However, there appears to be a relatively small and disparate literature on the subject especially within the Ghanaian context. The study seeks to contribute to the global recognition of festivals as developmental tools and thus presents the effects of festival tourism on socio-economic capital of the people of Kwahu traditional area (Ghana) and how festival tourism in the region engenders economic benefits to businesses and the community.

This study is guided by the social development theory. A quantitative cross-sectional survey utilizing convenience technique was used to gather data from a sample of 398 residents of the selected towns and the regression model was used to analyse the data.

The findings revealed festival tourism to have a positive effect on community cohesiveness but not statistically significant. Further, the festival brought economic gains but had negative social effects on development of the selected towns.

This research is destination-specific. The application of the findings to other festivals would demand a bigger sample size for generalisation to be made.

The findings suggest that for growth of festival tourism in Ghana to be actualised, the Ghana Tourism Authority needs to ensure festivals do not erode entrenched traditional values and negate efforts at developing social structures and systems by putting measures to reduce the negative effect of commoditisation of festivals on the communities' cultural authenticity. Law enforcement agents should also be massively beefed up to curtail crime and social vices.

The study's findings extend earlier studies to extend the scope in festival tourism literature. This study found that festival tourism has effect on both community cohesion and economic development of the people of Kwahu traditional area.

The purpose of this study is to address the challenges faced by rural areas and promote their sustainable development. It emphasizes the importance of re-establishing connections and cultivating a sense of belonging within rural communities, while safeguarding their cultural heritage. The study explores the potential of digital and creative tools in enhancing learning, supporting food production and tourism, facilitating research and providing engaging experiences. It also examines the economic condition of rural areas and the potential for their contribution to the national economy. Additionally, the study highlights the significance of sustainable community development, the role of rural areas in resilience and climate change adaptation and the complexities surrounding rural migration. The aim is to provide insights and recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders involved in rural development initiatives, focusing on the Mediterranean region.

This study develops an understanding of the role of digital and creative strategies in rural communities, highlighting their significance in preserving food heritage, culture and community capital while driving economic development. It specifically focuses on the Unesco Intangible Mediterranean Diet (UIMD) as a potential catalyst for regeneration through the integration of creative and digital tools and three cases are presented. The first is the impact of the Future Food Institute (FFI) ecosystem in the Living Lab in Pollica (Salerno, Italy); the second focuses on the digital tools provided by the CKF to support rural areas; and the third is a new identity and promotion of territorial development, co-designed in the Val di Vara (VdV) a rural region of the Ligurian inland in Italy, through digital strategies, heritage preservation and slow tourism development. The three cases highlight different ways of enhancing environmental and cultural heritage and demonstrate how collaborative creativity and digital tools contribute to the co-construction of knowledge and addressing critical issues to promote sustainable growth in rural areas.

The findings of this study indicate that re-establishing connections and fostering a sense of belonging within rural communities is crucial for their sustainable development. The use of digital and creative tools presents significant opportunities in enhancing various aspects such as learning, food production, tourism and research in rural areas. The study also reveals the potential economic contributions of rural areas to the national economy. It emphasizes the importance of sustainable community development and highlights the role of rural areas in resilience and climate change adaptation. Additionally, the study addresses the complexities surrounding rural migration and emphasizes the need for comprehensive policies to ensure the well-being and rights of migrant workers. The insights and recommendations provided in this study aim to guide policymakers and stakeholders involved in rural development initiatives, particularly in the Mediterranean region.

Nonetheless, it is imperative to acknowledge certain limitations within the scope of this study, primarily associated with the specific sample selection, potentially influencing the broader applicability of the findings. There is potential to explore a wider geographic area in future research. Additionally, the research underscores the importance of conducting further inquiries into certain aspects that have received limited attention. Living labs are a relatively recent phenomenon, warranting further in-depth scientific research. Additionally, the existing literature on this subject is often limited in scope.

The study and project aim to illustrate the feasibility of initiating a transformative process, centered on a visionary approach with a core focus on creative knowledge and the Mediterranean diet as a way of life, to revitalize marginalized communities. Furthermore, it seeks to emphasize that these neglected regions possess untapped potential for innovative ideas and opportunities. Rural communities, in their role as farmers of primary goods, are the ones who nurture the environment, and the landscape, and are the true protagonists of every era. Rurality is the place that preserves the most resources and potential in terms of biodiversity and rural knowledge. Every territory, like every human being, has its own characteristics and vocations to pursue. The existing Genius Loci is already an existing value that requires policies and governance to rediscover roots, identity and worth. The stratification of existing collective intelligence must become central and must be individually assessed and enhanced, also taking advantage of new digital technologies.

The social implications of this study are significant. By emphasizing the importance of re-establishing connections and cultivating a sense of belonging within rural communities, the study recognizes the social value of strong community ties. This can lead to increased social cohesion, a sense of identity and improved overall well-being within rural areas. The study also highlights the potential of digital and creative tools in enhancing learning, which can contribute to the empowerment and educational opportunities of individuals in rural communities. Furthermore, by promoting sustainable community development and addressing the complexities surrounding rural migration, the study acknowledges the social impact of inclusive policies that protect the rights and well-being of both local populations and migrant workers. Overall, the study's recommendations have the potential to foster social resilience, equity and a more vibrant social fabric within rural areas.

This study can offer valuable insights and recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders involved in rural development initiatives, particularly those focused on preserving food and cultural heritage in rural areas. By analyzing real-life examples, it bridges the gap between theory and practice, illustrating how these ideas have been effectively applied in specific contexts. This paper emphasizes the potential of the Mediterranean Diet as a sustainable and nutritious model with sociocultural, health, economic and environmental benefits, highlighting the importance of bottom-up approaches that empower local communities as custodians of knowledge and culture. It also provides practical strategies, such as investments in educational programs, the establishment of international campuses and the use of multichannel platforms for immersive experiences, which can be adapted for broader rural development initiatives, promoting sustainability and community engagement.