Community change approaches have increasingly involved participatory practices in which community members directly impacted by an issue participate in implementing change efforts. However, community participation as a practice and approach does not always include youth participation. Within the field of youth organizing, young people are…

A program initiated by Simpson College and assisted by a committee of representatives from Warren County, Iowa, to assist the population of the County to understand their community and its problems and set priorities in meeting these problems is reported. Two hundred key leaders, representative of the geographic, educational, economic, religious,…

An open system model is applied to assess individual experience of community life. It was predicted that the racial composition of the community and the involvement of individuals in the community would affect perceptions of community culture (community strengths, deficits, support, and satisfaction) and community processes (problem solving,…

Presented are six modules designed to help junior high school students develop the skills needed to study and take action with respect to environmental problems. The first five modules cover basic investigation skills: identifying environmental problems, using secondary sources, conducting surveys, interpreting data, and studying environmental…

Discusses the application of participatory research to a study of rural Filipino women to identify living conditions and to raise consciousness. Conditions include (1) unemployment and underemployment, (2) limitations of homemaking and child rearing tasks, (3) nonrecognition of reproductive rights, and (4) discrimination in political life and…

This training model and accompanying a handbook (see related note) are based on the University of Georgia Rural Women Project, a two-year leadership training project which tested the model in Morgan County, Georgia, and had some success in developing effective community problem solving with the rural black community in that county. The following…

Rural and economic development efforts are inadequate responses to changing rural conditions. They fail because they are often top-down driven and few influential people are involved. Minnesota's Project Future is designed to help distressed communities take charge of their own direction. Developed on the principle of collective empowerment, this…

As the issues with which individuals and communities struggle on a daily basis have become more urgent (e.g., unemployment, increasing crime, and overburdened health care), the tensions inherent in the relationship between college and community have become more apparent. Despite criticism that their missions are already overextended, some…

Organized around the theme of community service, this booklet provides teachers and lawyers with classroom materials for elementary grades K-3 (Level A), intermediate grades 4-6 (Level B), middle school grades 6-8 (Level C), and high school grades 9-12 (Level D). In addition, each level contains pages for the lawyer (marked by the scales of…

THIS NATIONAL TRAINING LABORATORIES (NTL) CONFERENCE, DEPARTING SOMEWHAT FROM ITS USUAL EXPERIENCE-BASED LEARNING PROGRAMS, FOCUSED LABORATORY TRAINING METHODS ON THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN URBAN COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING. THE CONFERENCE PRESENTED THEORY, INFORMATION, AND OPINION ON THE NATURE OF CITIES AND THEIR DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES.…

This facilitator's guide explains how to lead a series of five sessions (study circles) designed to foster public dialogue and problem solving among citizens interested in meeting the challenges of community growth and development. The document begins with an introduction to the concept of study circles that examines the following: definition of…

The booklet maintains that the key to meeting basic human needs is the participation of individuals and communities in local problem solving. Some of the most important achievements in providing food, upgrading housing, improving human health, and tapping new energy sources, comes through local self-help projects. Proponents of local efforts at…