In 2015, the United Nations' (UN's) Sustainable Development Summit adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform the world by 2030 through solving urgent social issues, including: poverty, hunger, health and well-being, gender equality, and climate action. We used the UN's SDGs as an analytical framework to review the literature on…

Over the last decade, there have been rapid developments in field methodologies within participatory approaches to rural and agricultural development. At the same time, the use of "soft systems" methodologies for bringing potentially conflictual or disparate actors together for action has spread from the business world to other applications. These…

Social capital helps communities respond positively to change. Research into managing change through learning in communities and in small businesses, particularly farm businesses, has highlighted the importance of relationships between people and the formal and informal structure of communities to the quality of outcomes experienced by…

A study explored the ways that front-line community development workers across Canada gained information needed to work with women participants in community economic development initiatives. Data were gathered through focus groups, a preliminary study with 15 key informants employed in community development organizations, and structured telephone…