Purpose: To reflect on the opportunities that a systems understanding of innovation provides for addressing gender issues relevant to women, and to provide some insight on how these might be tackled. Approach: Review of literature relating to gender issues and how they relate to achieving, on the one hand, equity and efficiency goals, and on the…

Research on rural youth in Russia shows that keeping qualified and ambitious young people in the rural economy will require creating conditions for young people to exercise initiative in the rural economy and diminishing the gap in quality of life between rural and urban environments. Only in this way can the pessimism of rural youth be overcome.

Purpose: Agricultural advisory services are perceived by many actors involved in rural development as a key driver behind innovation processes in agriculture. However, changes in national and global contexts cause dramatic changes in the orientation of advisory services, their organisation and their methods of intervention. This article aims to…

Purpose: To examine the role of power in interactive policymaking settings. Design/Methodology/Approach: A literature study is combined with four case studies relating to citizen participation in natural resource management and rural development in the Netherlands. Findings: Many of the identified problems and dilemmas of interactive policymaking…

Introduction: Sharing of information across cultural boundaries does not always live up to expectations. Information behaviour is an underlying factor, which can contribute to poor use or non-use of the information or information services at the disposal of indigenous people in a development context. Method: A literature study of information…

Focuses on how India's economic planning and development efforts since 1950 have affected rural areas and small towns, which comprise nearly 80% of India's population. Presents several case studies of rural development and concludes that the major keys to the stability of India as a democracy are population control, a unifying language, and…

The institutions and practices of agricultural extension in Australia are changing to meet the changing needs of rural people and communities. Issues and challenges facing rural people include the declining relative economic importance of agriculture; the declining agricultural workforce; and the shift in agriculture from a purely production…

Examines changes over a 21-year period in 1 area of highland Bolivia to show how people and their activities and livelihoods have changed as a response to increasing commercial opportunities and new needs. Analyzes the extent to which these changes imply a restructuring similar to that which is taking place in the First World. (KS)

Reviews local, national, and European Community influences on the formation of "integrated" rural development policy in Northern Ireland. Suggests three key issues on the policy formation agenda: agricultural versus more diversified programs as the basis of development, implementation problems, and education and training needs. Contains…

Summarizes Chinese studies of the impact of the rural responsibility system (rural development reforms) on rural primary education in China. Examines effects on elementary school enrollment and retention, curriculum content, teacher salaries and status, and teacher supply and demand. Discusses policies moving away from state support of rural…

The literature suggests that growth of rural industries in developing nations indicates rural poverty and lack of farm employment rather than rural development. A survey of 115 small producers of various goods in rural West Java (Indonesia) confirms that most are poor, have little education, and undertake production for survival reasons. Contains…

Examines how information technology (IT) might be exploited to promote rural development. Considers how IT impacts on the rural periphery. Implies that using IT for rural development may lead to greater decentralization. Describes the Nordic telecottage experiments in which 65 centers for telecommunications were established. (KS)

Describes rise of rural industries in People's Republic of China following 1978 reforms. Discusses government's emphasis on urban industrialization, role of rural agricultural production, rural incomes, and policy changes. Describes new industrialization, combining peasant and modern economies, and resulting increases in rural employment and…

A summary of educational planning methodologies tested in Argentina, Guatemala, Brazil, Ecuador, and Bolivia, the document offers opinions and proposals about integrated rural development. Integrated rural development is seen as a social, economic, political, and cultural process in rural areas, designed to improve living conditions. Chapters…

This discussion of satellite technology focuses on its use for educational and rural development programs and includes cost estimates from several different projects in developed and developing countries. Educational television costs are described, including reception equipment and programing. Support services are also discussed. (LRW)