Over 250 rural leaders attended the conference "Beyond Agriculture: New Policies for Rural America," held in Kansas City (Missouri) in April 2000. The conference began with an assessment of where the rural economy and rural policy are headed in the new century. Speakers suggested that the rural economy is likely to remain a mix of…

Under New Mexico's constitution, the State Land Office administers 9 million acres of surface and 13 million acres of mineral rights for its beneficiaries. Each acre of land or mineral rights is designated to a specific beneficiary, with public schools receiving most of revenues. This annual report for fiscal year 1999-2000 details these revenues…

The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) is one of four regional rural development centers in the nation. SRDC coordinates rural development research and extension education programs cooperatively with the 29 land-grant institutions in 13 Southern states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. This annual report outlines activities undertaken by…

Describes two Tanzanian reform programs: Education for Self-Reliance and Decentralization. The first supports programs to make education relevant to rural life, correct elitist biases, and improve students' attitudes toward rural living. The second, already instituted in primary and adult education, seeks to promote community participation in…

In a question-and-answer format Henry H. Krevor, Executive Director of the Appalachian Regional Commission, reports on the present status of the commission and the region and comments on prospects for the future. (Author/DS)

Highlights the role that innovative rural public library services can play in the development process of Nigeria to improve rural users' literacy and education and enhance their ability to use practical information relevant to their daily lives. Discusses information needs in rural Nigeria and the role of the rural librarian. (Author/LRW)

The Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development (COAD), a coalition of community action agencies, takes a regional approach to serving rural communities. Its programs focus on community and leadership development, early education and child care, and services and housing for seniors. Through COAD's Foster Grandparent Program, seniors mentor young…

A naturalistic approach to evaluation is illustrated through the description of the evaluation of a small-scale agricultural project in a village in Mali, West Africa. The evaluation considered program impact as well as the quality of the conclusions drawn using the illuminative model of evaluation. (SLD)

The South's recent rapid growth has not erased its widespread poverty and low levels of human capital. The rural South remains the nation's low-income and high-poverty region, and low education levels may limit the rural South's prospects for development. Underlying social and economic conditions that depend on and reinforce a low-skill population…

The Northwest Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center's "wood cluster initiative" illustrates the benefits of rural business clusters. The initiative is turning a loose grouping of timber and forest-product firms into a competitive system by providing technical assistance, helping businesses plan and conduct job training programs,…

Programmes of education for farmers in the form of Winter Schools, in the early 19th century, were gradually broadened into agricultural education for employment in farming or as preparation for higher education. In the 20th century, vocational education was developed at Apprenticeship and Secondary Schools to meet the needs of large-scale state…

In rural coastal communities, trade-offs between conserving and developing environmentally sensitive resources are acute. At the community level, part-time volunteers and citizen officials are asked to make complex decisions based on ambiguous and frequently contradictory "scientific" evidence of economic and environmental relationships.…

This document reports on a training workshop on educating adults and on the birth of a new professional association. Section A describes the workshop's rationale, purpose, participants, environment, atmosphere, field trips, study groups, inauguration of the Commonwealth Association for the Education and Training of Adults (CAETA), speeches, and…

The report presents summaries of presentations given at a December 1986 University Forum in which leaders from government, higher education, and the private sector examined trends behind the current decline in the rural economy and identified areas offering potential for revitalization. An introductory paper by William H. Gray is titled,…

In New York, as in many states, "rural" is not synonymous with "agricultural." The Commission on Rural Resources (CRR) supports preservation of agrarian New York State, but also seeks to assist rural citizens with many other challenges: in education, transportation, forestry development, housing, health care, viable business…