title: Is Community-Based Tourism  beneficial to local communities?  The case of Naduang Village,  Vang Vieng District, Vientiane Province, Laos

authors: Singbandith, Saysamone

subjects: Community-Based Tourism in Laos

abstract: Tourism plays a critical role in social-economic development in both developed and developing countries. Recently, Laos, a developing country, has embraced tourism as a tool for socio-economic development and launched a number of tourism projects, one of which is the Sustainable Tourism Development Project (STDP). This project was aimed at contributing towards the sustainable socio-economic development of the country, focusing especially on poverty reduction, sustainable development and protection of natural and cultural heritage. However, do such initiatives result in the long-term benefits for the host community? 
This research employs a qualitative approach to examine this question. The study focuses on four overarching themes: community participation in CBT, supply chain in CBT, benefits of CBT, and assessment of the effects of the STDP in a case study community: Naduang Village, Vang Vieng District, Vientiane Province. Participant observation and in-depth interviews with 20 participants who are involved in community-based tourism activities were used.
The findings of this study reveal that local residents understand the nature of community-based tourism well. They recognise what they should contribute to and can gain from their participation in tourism. However, the involvement in the decision-making process of villagers in community-based tourism is limited, other than the Village Authority. This research also finds that the tourism supply chain in Naduang Village is largely informal, formed by internal and external stakeholders. The internal stakeholders comprise CBT groups, whose tasks make up the key components of CBT activities, while the external stakeholders consist of tourists, private tourism companies, traders, and suppliers whose activities play a part in CBT in Naduang Village and the Lao government. 
Further, the findings suggest that community-based tourism has considerable advantages to not only internal stakeholders who are directly involved but also to those in the village who are not directly involved in CBT activities. Additionally, tourism benefits the external stakeholders. More importantly, participants have claimed that the CBT activities will continue to grow even though the aid funding has stopped since they have more experience and awareness of the importance of tourism to their community. The income and other benefits from tourism are not central to their livelihoods but are a secondary source.
Nonetheless, three main points need to be addressed in order to improve CBT activities in Naduang Village, namely amenities improvement, CBT activities diversification, and improvement of financial management. 
The key contribution to literature of this research is the exploration of the gaps in literature regarding the informal economy and the supply chain for community-based tourism. The research reconceptualises community-based tourism as one element of a sustainable development system which cannot be separated from either the goods and services or the informal economy, which interfaces with the external, formal tourism industry. All are held together by the strength and power of relationships within social networks.

text: Is Community-Based Tourism  beneficial to local communities?  The case of Naduang Village,  Vang Vieng District, Vientiane Province, Laos Tourism plays a critical role in social-economic development in both developed and developing countries. Recently, Laos, a developing country, has embraced tourism as a tool for socio-economic development and launched a number of tourism projects, one of which is the Sustainable Tourism Development Project (STDP). This project was aimed at contributing towards the sustainable socio-economic development of the country, focusing especially on poverty reduction, sustainable development and protection of natural and cultural heritage. However, do such initiatives result in the long-term benefits for the host community? 
This research employs a qualitative approach to examine this question. The study focuses on four overarching themes: community participation in CBT, supply chain in CBT, benefits of CBT, and assessment of the effects of the STDP in a case study community: Naduang Village, Vang Vieng District, Vientiane Province. Participant observation and in-depth interviews with 20 participants who are involved in community-based tourism activities were used.
The findings of this study reveal that local residents understand the nature of community-based tourism well. They recognise what they should contribute to and can gain from their participation in tourism. However, the involvement in the decision-making process of villagers in community-based tourism is limited, other than the Village Authority. This research also finds that the tourism supply chain in Naduang Village is largely informal, formed by internal and external stakeholders. The internal stakeholders comprise CBT groups, whose tasks make up the key components of CBT activities, while the external stakeholders consist of tourists, private tourism companies, traders, and suppliers whose activities play a part in CBT in Naduang Village and the Lao government. 
Further, the findings suggest that community-based tourism has considerable advantages to not only internal stakeholders who are directly involved but also to those in the village who are not directly involved in CBT activities. Additionally, tourism benefits the external stakeholders. More importantly, participants have claimed that the CBT activities will continue to grow even though the aid funding has stopped since they have more experience and awareness of the importance of tourism to their community. The income and other benefits from tourism are not central to their livelihoods but are a secondary source.
Nonetheless, three main points need to be addressed in order to improve CBT activities in Naduang Village, namely amenities improvement, CBT activities diversification, and improvement of financial management. 
The key contribution to literature of this research is the exploration of the gaps in literature regarding the informal economy and the supply chain for community-based tourism. The research reconceptualises community-based tourism as one element of a sustainable development system which cannot be separated from either the goods and services or the informal economy, which interfaces with the external, formal tourism industry. All are held together by the strength and power of relationships within social networks.

year: 2016

title: Marks of conscious engagement when performing a motor task with or without a robotic arm

authors: Wright, Madison

subjects: conscious control

abstract: Utilizing prosthetic limbs effectively and alleviating the conscious burden through
minimizing conscious control is important to address and understand in the ever-changing
world of technology. Prosthetics can be difficult to learn how to use effectively and using them
increases conscious awareness which is termed a burden. The conscious burden prosthetics
have on users is consistently addressed by a multitude of studies and garners for more in depth
research to understand and identify solutions to alleviate this burden. Conscious motor control
is defined as the level of awareness of an individual performing a movement related skill or
task, where the higher the conscious control the more an individual is thinking of their
movements while executing them. The aim of this thesis was to measure conscious burden
objectively by examining the marks of conscious engagement when performing a reaction time
task with and without a robotic arm.

Chapter 1 is an introduction to this thesis including a literature review of relevant topics
such as prosthetic limbs, conscious movement control, subjective and objective measurements
of conscious movement control and electroencephalography (EEG). Prosthetic rejection rates,
conscious burden and prosthetic limb learning are also addressed. The outline of the experiment
for this thesis is included and discussed more in depth in Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 is the experiment in full examining the level of conscious control while
participating in a reaction time based motor learning task using a robotic arm versus own arm.
There were two conditions, the complex condition (multi-choice) and simple condition (single
choice). A secondary task of tone counting was included in half the trials to examine whether
more conscious processing is involved when working with the robotic arm versus normal arm
while doing the reaction time task. It was expected that there would be higher conscious control
and slower reaction times when participants used the robotic arm compared to their own arm.

EEG was used to assess the connectivity between the left temporal verbal-analytical (T7) site
and the motor planning mid-frontal (Fz) site of the brain. Connectivity of T7-Fz is used to
measure the verbal-analytical engagement in motor planning which is then used to measure
conscious control. The results revealed the complex condition had a significantly higher
reaction time dual-task cost for arm compared to robotic arm and a higher T7-Fz connectivity
dual-cost (difference in performance for single versus dual task) for the robotic arm in the
complex condition compared to simple condition. We concluded that use of a robotic arm
increases verbal-analytical engagement when performing a motor task compared to using the
own arm.

Chapter 3 is the overall discussion of the experimental findings for the use of robotic
arms in reaction time tasks measuring conscious control and what it may mean for future
research. Implicit motor learning is discussed as well as implicit motor learning interventions
such as dual-task learning, analogy learning and errorless learning. There are also other
learning interventions to promote intuitive control in prosthetic limb learning such as gaze
training and neurofeedback.

text: Marks of conscious engagement when performing a motor task with or without a robotic arm Utilizing prosthetic limbs effectively and alleviating the conscious burden through
minimizing conscious control is important to address and understand in the ever-changing
world of technology. Prosthetics can be difficult to learn how to use effectively and using them
increases conscious awareness which is termed a burden. The conscious burden prosthetics
have on users is consistently addressed by a multitude of studies and garners for more in depth
research to understand and identify solutions to alleviate this burden. Conscious motor control
is defined as the level of awareness of an individual performing a movement related skill or
task, where the higher the conscious control the more an individual is thinking of their
movements while executing them. The aim of this thesis was to measure conscious burden
objectively by examining the marks of conscious engagement when performing a reaction time
task with and without a robotic arm.

Chapter 1 is an introduction to this thesis including a literature review of relevant topics
such as prosthetic limbs, conscious movement control, subjective and objective measurements
of conscious movement control and electroencephalography (EEG). Prosthetic rejection rates,
conscious burden and prosthetic limb learning are also addressed. The outline of the experiment
for this thesis is included and discussed more in depth in Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 is the experiment in full examining the level of conscious control while
participating in a reaction time based motor learning task using a robotic arm versus own arm.
There were two conditions, the complex condition (multi-choice) and simple condition (single
choice). A secondary task of tone counting was included in half the trials to examine whether
more conscious processing is involved when working with the robotic arm versus normal arm
while doing the reaction time task. It was expected that there would be higher conscious control
and slower reaction times when participants used the robotic arm compared to their own arm.

EEG was used to assess the connectivity between the left temporal verbal-analytical (T7) site
and the motor planning mid-frontal (Fz) site of the brain. Connectivity of T7-Fz is used to
measure the verbal-analytical engagement in motor planning which is then used to measure
conscious control. The results revealed the complex condition had a significantly higher
reaction time dual-task cost for arm compared to robotic arm and a higher T7-Fz connectivity
dual-cost (difference in performance for single versus dual task) for the robotic arm in the
complex condition compared to simple condition. We concluded that use of a robotic arm
increases verbal-analytical engagement when performing a motor task compared to using the
own arm.

Chapter 3 is the overall discussion of the experimental findings for the use of robotic
arms in reaction time tasks measuring conscious control and what it may mean for future
research. Implicit motor learning is discussed as well as implicit motor learning interventions
such as dual-task learning, analogy learning and errorless learning. There are also other
learning interventions to promote intuitive control in prosthetic limb learning such as gaze
training and neurofeedback.

year: 2024

title: Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Report on the thirteenth session (12-23 May 2014)

authors: Toki, Valmaine

abstract: The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues recommends to the Economic and Social Council the adoption of the following draft decisions:
Draft decision I
International expert group meeting on the theme “Dialogue on an optional protocol to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”
Draft decision II 
Venue and dates of the fourteenth session of the Permanent Forum 
Draft decision III
Report of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on its thirteenth session and provisional agenda for its fourteenth session 
Draft decision IV
Change of name of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 
Draft decision V
Additional one-day meeting

text: Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Report on the thirteenth session (12-23 May 2014) The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues recommends to the Economic and Social Council the adoption of the following draft decisions:
Draft decision I
International expert group meeting on the theme “Dialogue on an optional protocol to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”
Draft decision II 
Venue and dates of the fourteenth session of the Permanent Forum 
Draft decision III
Report of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on its thirteenth session and provisional agenda for its fourteenth session 
Draft decision IV
Change of name of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 
Draft decision V
Additional one-day meeting

year: 2014