Data from Shiloh County's effort to improve quality of life for its residents lead to three conclusions: political intervention can convert private sector growth into a platform for rural development, exchanges between community and schools are not difficult to understand, and the ethnographer has a function in discovering local contexts to which…

The Idaho Rural Partnership (IRP) was created within the Idaho Department of Labor to join diverse public and private resources in innovative collaborations to strengthen communities and improve life in rural Idaho. The IRP is an accessible organization that listens to local problems and collaborates to develop systemwide solutions. The board of…

In the last decade, a technological revolution has touched all aspects of business and society in Australia, the Western world, and to a lesser extent, the developing world. This revolution has occurred against a backdrop of long-term fundamental changes in rural Australian communities. The decline in traditional agriculture's terms of trade and…

A switchover by any government to a more integrated, community-based approach to rural development will inevitably require the recruitment, training, and effective "backstopping" of large numbers of front-line workers. (SSH)

Two-hundred and seventy-five service providers in a rural location with a high concentration of older people (age 60+) were queried about types of needs, obstacles to learning, and program development. While instrumental needs are generally recognized, need perception is based on occupational orientation, though age and number of contact hours are…

Describes a problem-solving instructional unit which utilizes a simulation gaming method to help students in an introductory college-level geography course understand rural community development in a developing nation. (DB)

Describes attitudes and strategies used by two small rural towns to foster economic development and improve local housing, schools, professional facilities, and recreational programs for youth and adults. Emphasizes individual leadership qualities useful in creating a vision for community survival, communicating the vision through town meetings,…

Sponsored by Rural Action, an Ohio multicounty community development corporation, artist Geoff Schenkel involves Appalachian Ohio communities and schools in the creation of community murals. The projects counter Appalachian stereotypes and boost self-esteem and community revitalization. Includes photographs. (SAS)

Debunks common myths about rurality and rural Australia. Calls for a change in perspective, putting person and place at the center of learning. Local involvement is key to the proposed Centre for Rural Communities, which would promote community sustainability through networking and training. Describes the Rural Women's Programme in Victoria and a…

A Televillage is a virtual community of people, businesses, government agencies, schools, libraries, health care providers, and others that have common goals or needs and are linked through telecommunications, information resources, and shared services. A Televillage can develop a strategic focus for community and regional development; organize,…

The author describes an Indonesian program for village development: graduate students in any discipline at State universities must spend six months working at community development in a village in order to receive their master's degrees. Results have been varied; the author raises several questions and warns against unexpected negative results.…

A discussion of regional community development through self-help programs in rural developing areas presents the need for a diversified system of institutions to ensure a developmental process based on qualitative rather than quantitative criteria. Available from: Editorial and Business Offices, Piazza Cavalieri di Malta, 2, 00153 Rome, Italy. (EA)

This manual describes an educational program for helping rural, small community leaders, decision-makers, and residents analyze their communities, think about alternatives, and plan economic development action strategies. The program is an effort to help communities explore short- and long-term development strategies, gain a vision of their…

Emergence of a dual agricultural system, need for sophisticated knowledge and equipment, declining importance of labor, and geographic and organizational concentration of the production and processing of certain commodities are creating changes in rural communities. While some changes will have negative social/economic impacts, the importance of…

Reporting on a rural planning and development program that proposes to develop, install, and evaluate alternative models for more effective collaboration and integration of the complex bureaucracies with responsibility for rural regions, this paper describes "Partnership for Rural Improvement" (PRI). Focusing on 11 counties in…