An important aspect of the urban story of many cities in the developed world is their "regeneration" after many years of long-term social, economic and environmental decline. This is especially so in cities that have sought to reverse a long-standing, negative reputation and pejorative image. Based on the context of post-industrial…

The study involved 14 volunteer facilitators, four UBC staff members, and the researcher as participant; the data collected were observation notes, questionnaires, results from focus groups, and interviews. The study revealed that the key strengths of the training workshop lay in its approach to training, its focus on confidence and capacity…

The study is situated within a national youth organisation called the Australian Air League Inc (Air League). We examine the recent progress of the Air League in South Australia, starting as a loose network of volunteers engaged in a sporadic array of activities, to become a learning community that worked collaboratively and then developed further…

The purpose of this case study was to understand the relationship between USAID and U.S. universities in the context of evolving foreign assistance policy. The formation of the partnership and the characteristics of how the partnership functions beyond the political call for this alliance was studied. My interest was to identify and study what…

The author's career experiences--as an impartial observer of community building, as an advocate working from within urban communities, and as a catalyst working from the outside--have given him a unique perspective into the dynamics of institutional/community engagement. "Basically, they have left me with three overriding convictions. First,…

In this article, the authors describe how an existing partnership between two communities, one in eastern Iowa and one in Mexico, was turned into a cross-disciplinary and international service learning course for students in the University of Iowa Colleges of Engineering, Pharmacy, and Liberal Arts and Sciences. The projects that students worked…

Under conditions of uncertainty, we predict that development will be tied to the idiosyncrasy of organizational forms represented within local regions. Our investigation applies this theory to data on 342 counties and 43,352 businesses in the U.S. South during Reconstruction, finding support for the thesis that organizational idiosyncrasy…

The context of leadership in the public school has become increasingly complex with the pressures of high stakes testing and accountability, changing student demographics, and financial challenges. Stakeholders must work together to develop effective strategies to increase student academic performance. Successful superintendents must optimize…

This leaflet illustrates the many ways in which universities impact on the local area. Universities are a major contributor to the economy in their own right, both as employers and purchasers of goods. Their social and cultural influence is also felt through their provision of: (1) art galleries, museums and exhibitions; (2) cinemas and theatres;…

This article tells a story of practice, a story of theory, and how each informs and transforms the other through a two-way flow of people and knowledge from a city to a campus and back again. By reflecting with fellow participants on the events and outcomes of a sustained city campus partnership, the author introduces a theory of engagement from…

The role of land-grant university Extension specialist originates in a community of place, enters into communities of interest to leverage resources or partnership opportunities, and returns to the local level with more effective outcomes than possible by operating solely within the community of place. A case study describes synergistic specialist…

In this article, the author features Ben Gurion University of the Negev, which was established in 1969 in Beersheba, the south's largest city, with a self-proclaimed double mission: to educate students and to help solve the many problems that have plagued the communities that surround it. While it is clear that one university cannot solve the…

Through cross-disciplinary and participatory processes involving key stakeholders from the Zambian education sector, as well as from the traditional leadership structure, a localized HIV/AIDS-prevention strategy, Interactive School and Community Approach (ISACA), was developed and implemented throughout one province between 2002 and 2006. The…

This article describes the role of psychosocial support programs in American Red Cross-sponsored humanitarian assistance efforts in international disasters. The American Red Cross psychosocial support program consists of four specific components: participatory crisis assessment, dealing with survivors' root shock, community mobilization, and…

This article explores the idea of community as it relates to the concept of resilience. It focuses on community both as context (local environments providing a set of risk and protective factors that have an influence on the well-being of community members) and as collective actors that can exhibit resilience in themselves by organizing and acting…