Five case studies of individual and collective learning projects in India demonstrate that (1) the impetus for civic action arises from local conditions; (2) transformative action requires sustained adult learning; and (3) civil society is a complex concept reflecting diverse priorities and perspectives. (SK)

Individualism may hinder or enable community action, depending on whether adult education is offered in a liberal or liberating mode. It also depends on whether adult educators view learning and action as inseparable and decide to emphasize or not behavior geared toward community transformation and development. (SK)

Four main resources for creating a sense of community are city government, media, schools, and civic infrastructure. A school that is itself a healthy community can make an important contribution to community building. (SK)

Discusses the history and problems of the Community Action Program and the War on Poverty from the 1960s-1980s, highlighting San Antonio, Texas, and the San Antonio Neighborhood Youth Organization. Suggests that the War on Poverty's historical significance was more political than economic, and it emerged as a program that Hispanic and Black San…

The Institute for Community Peace has conducted two demonstration projects to determine whether communities can be engaged to prevent violence as it is identified and defined locally and link primary prevention across multiple forms of violence. The projects present evidence that community engagement can effect primary violence prevention; the…

Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) has worked for over ten years to improve educational opportunities in low-income neighborhoods in Oakland, California. The work of thousands of parent, teacher, youth, and community leaders has resulted in the formation of nearly fifty new small schools and more than ten charters, creating settings for…

This study examines the role that community networks can take in fulfilling McQuail's call for a more democratic-participant form of mass media. Community networks, which are online grassroots organizations designed to promote local community initiatives, increased their Internet presence in the 1990s. However, their number has declined in recent…

This guide suggests that public awareness campaigns can be an important part of a community's strategy to fight substance abuse. They can call attention to problems, and they can be a mobilizing force to unite different groups. The numerous public awareness campaigns that other communities use can be models for local efforts. This Action Kit lists…

A case study of a voter's referendum on charter revision of the Hartford, Connecticut, City Council in 1972 is presented as a basis for analyzing forces operating in a community referendum as it relates to educational policy-making and to identify some effective strategies employed in the campaign. (EH)

This paper describes a grassroots effort by one mid-sized midwestern community which led to the development of a voluntary cooperative network of community service providers offering court-referred divorce mediation services to highly conflicted divorcing families. Issues addressed in this paper are: (1) the difference between a court-referred…

Reviews the activities of the National Campaign for Nursery Education designed to press for increased provision of educational and play facilities for children under five in England and Wales. (CS)

The need for personnel trained in understanding environmental impact statements has become apparent. In an attempt to fill this need, the University of California developed a program designed to produce a select number of graduates qualified to assess environmental impact statements. (MA)

After identifying the mosquito as the Venezuelan equine encephalitis vector, health officials worked with the community to eliminate mosquito breeding sites. By educating the public first, cooperation was received in opening drainage areas and stocking water collection areas with mosquito eating fish to interrupt the host-vector-recipient cycle.…

Healthy and successful cities are built out of blocks and neighborhoods. Cities are too large and varied to be regarded or run as uniform entities. Block associations are proposed to be one of the major tools that are available for stabilizing and maintaining urban neighborhoods in a fashion that is both inexpensive and responsive to the needs of…