The Neighborhood Jobs Initiative (NJI) began in 1998 in five cities (Chicago, Fort Worth, Hartford, New York, and Washington, D.C.) in 1998. The NJI targets high-poverty urban neighborhoods, attempting to connect residents to employment opportunities nearby and in the urban periphery by providing training, supporting interpersonal networks, and…

Describes the formation of local organizations for adult and literacy education created all over Portugal after the end of the fascist regime in 1974, the coordination and certification plan of the Ministry of Education's Division of Continuing Education, and the ensuing legal status of the local "popular" educational associations. (MF)

Offers four themes in the scaffolding of a critical education that advance grassroots activism in learning communities of praxis (scale, ownership, connection, and enterprise). Presents an example of a youth development project that affirms democracy via shared decision making, group motivation, self-esteem, and agenda setting opportunities…

The Fundacion Social, a grassroots organization in Colombia, uses profits from its 14 companies to fund community self-help initiatives aimed at eliminating poverty. Social programs focus on community integration, microbusinesses, recycling, education, and communication. The organization seeks to eliminate structural poverty and is currently…

This 25-year index contains annotations of feature articles by subject and by author. Representative subjects include basic education, development education, empowerment, human rights, lifelong education, peace education, popular education, rural development, social/political action, technological advancement, and transformative research. Articles…

Asserts that, although research can be a powerful resource in guiding and fueling grass-roots social change, the community-based research enterprise often is contentious. Recommends collaborative research studies in which the researchers and practitioners work together from the project's inception. (CFR)

Common sense proposals for school restructuring suggest promising directions, but issues of the content needed to give educational direction and show how to link the factors that influence this content must be addressed. An agenda of content for teacher commitment and competence is proposed. Problems of linkage are addressed. (SLD)

Describes the evolution during 1992-97 of the Urban Cyberspace Initiative (UCSI), a conceptual model for placing technology-rich environments in urban centers that will support educational, economic, and community development. Discusses characteristics of technology projects, planning, education, collaboration, and legislative issues related to…

Instead of accentuating differences among agendas through competition for scarce resources, community members, educational planners, and community development planners cooperated in renovating a high school building in Hinesburg, Vermont, to include community spaces for recreation, social services, and nontraditional education. Design elements…

When a fire breaks out in the twin cities of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine, the firefighter response time is just a bit quicker these days, thanks to student research at Bates College. When the alarm sounds, firefighters click on a computer map that tells them the size of the burning structure, the quickest route to the fire, the closest hydrant and…

This report identifies barriers to developing livable communities and sheds light on potential methods for overcoming these barriers. It identifies and highlights multiple strategies that may be applied to the design and support of livable community principles. The identified strategies have been initiated by federal and state government agencies…

Rural areas in both developed and developing countries are being increasingly marginalized through structural changes. Furthermore, the disinvestment in state-provided supports and services means that rural people are left to their own devices to cope with these changes. Numerous authors argue that the most effective way of dealing with these…

Current research on the relationship between home, school, and community is reviewed and juxtaposed to perspectives on communities developed by scholars of families and child development, community developers, and urban sociologists. Research findings suggest the importance of learning more about the communities in which family involvement…

This paper analyzes principles of knowledge diffusion and provides a framework for applying new ideas or innovations, particularly in relation to rural community development. As new knowledge is created or old knowledge is found to have new applications, the art of spreading knowledge and managing innovation has become more crucial in both urban…

This proceedings contains 13 papers on the role of distance education in sustainable community development, particularly in Canada's remote northern communities. Four sections cover theoretical issues such as the meaning of "community" in international distance programs and the influence of students' immediate community on their survival…