This paper reports on an international collaborative study that investigated how students from rural contexts negotiate the transition to university, and how prior cultural and educational experiences influence their higher education trajectories. A qualitative, participatory methodology was adopted, centred on co-researcher narratives, digital…

Rural social work education and practice in North America underwent a revival in recent decades and remains a valid praxis and pedagogic model for the 21st Century. The paper posits through rigorous literature review and analysis there are numerous elements central to North American (U.S. and Canadian) and Commonwealth of Nations (U.K., Australia,…

This article is essentially written as two linked parts. The first part considers how space, spatiality and history can contribute to understanding and "doing something about" the sustainability of rural communities. This is done by extensive reference to Soja's (1989 & 1996) space and spatial theorising and selective perspectives of…

This article examines a programme of work produced by community-based theatre company, Manaton and East Dartmoor (MED) Theatre, addressing issues of climate change as they impact on life in rural Devon, UK. After some discussion of MED Theatre's constitution as a community-based company and the group's long-term engagement with the place, history,…

Adult learning offers people choice, a means to achieve personal goals, a role in determining their own futures and those of their families and communities. An effective model of adult learning--one that is emerging in Hampshire--is one that is broad and offers residents wide choice of learning opportunities at a range of levels. Currently,…

Drawing from 81 interviews with practitioners in social care and housing with care services in the United Kingdom, this paper explores practice issues in rural areas when supporting the mental health and well-being of older people from Black and minority ethnic groups. The paper begins with a review of the literature which provides evidence that…

Rural poverty and wide-ranging environmental concerns are some of the problems driving a growing public debate on rural issues across the United Kingdom. This briefing paper assesses the contribution that a community development approach can make to these issues. Rural areas have a long history of collective action, from farm families helping each…

There was a notable transition in the nature, content, and administration of rural policies in many developed nations in the 1980s and 1990s. These changes concerned issues of governance and institutional framework, the definition of "development," and policy goals and content. A key question, however, concerns the extent to which shifts…

Articles collected in this issue of UNICEF News deal with different aspects of the theme of communication in development programs. Specifically, topics covered include (1) communication as a total process and the role of communication in overcoming obstacles to social change; (2) a village education and resource center, in Bangladesh, committed to…

The following conference papers cover a wide spectrum of issues in continuing education: "Introduction" (Katherine Leni Oglesby); "Footprints in the Sand?--The Legacy of the University Funding Council's Support for Research in Continuing Education" (Chris Duke); "Thinking Fragments: Learning, Life Histories and the…

A 1976-78 Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, Centre of Educational Research and Innovation, Sparsely-Populated Areas project produced 14 case studies from 11 member countries. Fifteen basic conclusions of international relevance were identified. Conclusions were as follows: there is no single definition of rural or sparsely…