Focus and Scope

Focus and Scope

EJCEE publishes multidisciplinary community engagement and empowerment articles. Submissions are welcome from any field of knowledge, provided they report an actual intervention carried out together with community partners, using a documented method and producing measurable outcomes.

Scope

  • Economic empowerment and MSMEs — micro-enterprise mentoring, cooperatives, creative economy, digital marketing adoption, financial literacy, social entrepreneurship.
  • Education and literacy — teacher training, non-formal education, digital and numeracy literacy, inclusive education, community reading centres.
  • Public health — health promotion, stunting reduction, maternal and child health, mental health, sanitation, integrated health posts (posyandu), care for older people.
  • Environment and food security — waste management, community-scale renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, conservation, urban farming.
  • Appropriate technology and digital transformation — production tool engineering, village information systems, simple automation, digital safety for citizens.
  • Rural development and governance — participatory planning, village-owned enterprises (BUMDes), village administration, mapping of local potential.
  • Social, legal and policy outreach — community legal aid, rights education, conflict resolution, protection of vulnerable groups.
  • Tourism, arts, culture and local wisdom — tourism villages, cultural revitalisation, tradition-based creative economy.
  • Disaster mitigation and sustainable development — community preparedness, climate adaptation, SDG-oriented programmes.

Sections

  • Community Engagement Articles — a full scholarly account of a programme: situation analysis, implementation method, results, impact evaluation and sustainability. (3,000–6,000 words)
  • Partnership Case Studies — an in-depth account of a single partner case, with critical reflection on process, social dynamics and the obstacles encountered. (3,000–5,000 words)
  • Best Practice Reviews — a synthesis of several comparable programmes, drawing out lessons that others can replicate. (4,000–7,000 words)
  • Field Notes — short accounts of an innovation in method, tool or facilitation approach that has not yet reached full scale but deserves to be shared. (1,500–3,000 words)
  • Lessons from Failure — see below. (3,000–5,000 words)

A Distinctive Section: Lessons from Failure

EJCEE explicitly invites manuscripts reporting programmes that did not meet their targets — partners withdrew, equipment fell into disuse once the team left, initial assumptions proved wrong, local politics intervened — provided the analysis is honest and systematic.

Such a section is rare among community engagement journals, yet it is precisely where the most expensive lessons are kept. A programme that failed for a reason others can recognise is more useful to the field than a successful programme whose success is never explained. Manuscripts in this section are reviewed against exactly the same methodological standard as any other: baseline evidence, clear method, measurable observation, and reasoned analysis.

Out of Scope

  • Activity reports without a method, baseline data, or measurable outcomes.
  • Pure research with no intervention component involving a community.
  • Ceremonial activities — handovers of aid, official visits, one-off seminars — with no facilitation process or follow-up.
  • Manuscripts without evidence of partner consent or partner involvement.
  • Conceptual or theoretical papers about community engagement that report no field activity of the authors' own.