In recent years, museums have recognized the urgent need to address several challenging issues. These topics include gender equality, racism, and environmental issues, just to name a few. As museums embrace the role of community-building change-makers, how can we include our audiences in the mission of making positive change? How can our…

By the early years of this new century it was evident that increasing numbers of colleges and universities had undertaken numerous innovative efforts to reinvigorate and prioritize students' civic and community engagement in their surrounding communities. However, a number of individuals involved with these movements had noticed that much of the…

Based on a request for information (RFI) submitted to The University Community Next Generation Innovation Project (Gig.U), the paper describes a model for universities to develop next generation broadband infrastructure in their communities. In the our view universities can play a critical role in spurring next generation networks into their…

In many American communities today, the methods of construction, as well as the almost exclusive orientation to the convenience of the automobile, limit the functioning and independence of the aging population, and offer little opportunity for human interaction. Sarah Susanka's "Not So Big" series of books points toward a new way of…

Education involves socialization so that individuals become productive members of society. At present, in the United States, educational transitions are primarily viewed in terms of their location in an outcomes-oriented process and framed as helping people achieve the American Dream, but in terms of the status quo national economic interest. But…

Digital inclusion is the ability of individuals and groups to access and use information and communication technologies. Not all members of a community benefit equally, and some communities have been left out altogether. This paper is a guide for fostering digital inclusion throughout the United States so that everyone can take advantage of…

Faith ethos education has subjective elements in it that are elusive to planners and administrators of national and international systems. This paper looks at how Sikhs, a minority group both in India and in other countries to which they have migrated manage to retain their faith-based education programmes successfully and yet relate to the…

This article focuses on the potential of free tools, particularly inquiry tools for influencing participation in twenty-first-century learning in science, as well as influencing the development of communities around tools. Two examples are presented: one on the development of an open source tool for structured inquiry learning that can bridge the…

Today, the U.S. Department of Education joins the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, the American Commonwealth Partnership, and the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools in a new national call to action to infuse and enhance civic learning and democratic engagement for all students throughout the American…

The Cultural Immersion Projects at Indiana University offer teacher education majors the opportunity to be placed in culturally-diverse settings, where full-time student teaching, required community participation, ongoing reflection, and academic reporting combine to provide experiences that go well beyond the common foci of conventional student…

Sustainability is a contested concept. Whilst the "triple bottom line" is sometimes used to describe the economic, social and ecological dimensions of sustainability, there are differing conceptions of what this notion implies. There are nevertheless some recurring themes that are outlined in this paper. There has also been some…

Asserting that exploration of the role of higher education in community building is not unique to the United States, describes examples of collaborative efforts involving universities and communities working together in the United States, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, and Mexico. (EV)

Includes "Community Work in the U.K.: Reflections on the 1980s" (Miller, Bryant); "Multiplication and Divisions: Trends in Community Development in Ireland since the 1960s" (Cinneide, Walsh); "Reconstruction to Deconstruction: The Transformation of Community Work in Australia" (Meekosha; Mowbray): "Community…

Compares social reform strategies in Britain and America. Illustrates how programs in both countries had similar difficulties, including diffusion of research findings, clarification of objectives, and political manipulation of social research. (SK)

That preservation and recycling of unused school buildings to other community uses is both economically and socially sound is illustrated by several examples. Information on federal grants for conversion of unused school buildings to community education and activities centers is included. (MF)