Since its establishment in 2003, the Japan Council on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD-J) has paid close attention to informal learning processes in community-based efforts to promote local sustainable development. ESD-J carried out two projects to collect information on and visualise community-based ESD practice: the…

One of the most significant recent elements of restructuring in rural areas is the transition from an economy based on agricultural production to an economy based on the countryside as a form of commodity. In this transition process, different narratives or images of an area are produced to promote villages and other places in the countryside as…

Over the last decade, rural leadership policies and programmes have attracted substantial support from all tiers of government. These policies are promulgated as a support mechanism for enhancing the internal capacity of rural communities to adjust to changes in the social and political-economic landscape. Leadership training programmes have been…

Rural communities such as Stanthorpe on Queensland's Southern Downs, in Australia, are familiar with turbulent environmental, social, technological and economic change and the adversity that frequently accompanies such changes. The capacity of individuals and communities to bounce back from adversity is referred to as resilience. Participation in…

This paper considers the important issue of women's economic participation in rural community development and regeneration. The paper explores the economic lives and actions of women residents in ''Ilston'', a village in the Northumberland Rural Coalfield. The women's narratives illustrate the economic connections between private and public…

Influencing the location of employment opportunities should become the basic policy for rural development. (LY)

Groupware was used to survey rural development practitioners and policymakers about professional relationships, skills, and expertise. The software created an inventory of the social and knowledge capital of this community of interest but was not enough to sustain ongoing, active participation. (Contains 42 references.) (SK)

This paper explores how rural communities with limited financial resources and technical expertise can have a useful Web page along with the ability for community and business leaders to maintain this presence. The tools to be employed are not new to the Web, but they may be considered "cutting edge" when it comes to a rural community's…

This paper is an interpretation by researchers of oral and written accounts of ten development agents who have participated in various seminars and discussions since 2001, organized by researchers of INRA and of the University of Toulouse. According to the transcripts of lectures, discussions and articles written by development agents, it seems…

This article presents the findings of a study that explored the role and impact of continuing education on rural revitalization. A community development approach, academic expertise, and a university's resources were used to assist the citizens of Montmartre, Saskatchewan, to establish Centre 48, an arts and continuing education centre. Courses…

A rural development and regeneration project in Northern Ireland used community education as an important part of the community development process. Project workers' involvement with community groups necessitated skills of empathy, networking, and group facilitation above and beyond those needed in adult education. (SK)

During the 80s and 90s in Mexico there was a boost in participatory strategies developed, in order to solve serious deficiencies in community development programmes and projects. The mere existence of such methodologies, "per se," does not guarantee the conscious and voluntary participation of rural inhabitants. The social energy…

The 186 documents included in this bibliography of rural industrial development constitute nearly 30 years of research effort by scores of social scientists interested in ascertaining the measurable impact of new industry on demographic, economic, and/or social dimensions of rural community life in the U.S. Restricting the meaning of "industrial…

The principles of Gandhi are applied to the rural crisis in America with special attention to rural Iowa. Approaches to rural reconstruction and development are proposed which emphasize human-scale development, community-owned enterprises, local community development foundations, maximum feasible participation, broad-based land ownership, and…

Posits that increased communication of community leaders involving relatively short communications paths should lead to program success. However, measures of connectivity and average distance in the communications structure reveal no significant relationships. Suggests other factors which may be more important to rural community development…