An urban renewal program in preunification Berlin involved self-help projects and a community school. The program demonstrated a holistic approach to urban regeneration and showed that the success of participatory community processes depends on community education. (SK)

A community water supply project in Cameroon illustrates the following constraints on community participation in development: paternalistic authorities, prescriptive role of the state, selective participation, bias toward "hard" issues, inattention to negative results, group conflicts, gatekeeping, pressure for immediate results,…

Outlines data on the socioeconomic, health, and educational status of Blacks in Georgia. Calls for the maximization of internal resources for internal development, self-sufficiency, and self-determination. (GC)

Presents a case study of participatory evaluation which suggests an evaluation method which not only provides meaningful data for decision makers but also provides important feedback to the community. Shows the steps leading to self-evaluation workshops and reviews the evaluation methods that were utilized. (Author/CT)

Since 1970, the Servicio National de Desarrollo de la Comunidad (SNDC) has been in existence as an autonomous decentralized government agency. Its main effort has been to integrate Bolivia's 3.4 million rural inhabitants, the "campesinos," into the mainstream of national socioeconomic programs through self-help development projects at…

The development of Arctic Canada's resources has historically been guided by two contrasting administrative approaches: one favoring the free play of profit motives in a laissez-faire market economy and the other the coordination of development through formalized government planning. In both approaches, Eurocanadians are the dominant figures,…

A combined report of the four Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs) and their partners focuses on selected outreach and research activities, projects, and accomplishments in fiscal year 1997. The report is organized around five topics identified as key issues for the mid 1990s: (1) improving economic competitiveness, diversity, and…

In recent decades, rural Mayan women in Guatemala have been working to overcome long-standing disadvantages: illiteracy, poverty, lack of basic community services, and lack of respect for women's abilities and contributions. Profiles of 10 Mayan women describe their educational experiences and their community development work, particularly in the…

NativeSUN, an enterprise to install solar energy systems on Hopi and Navajo reservations, is the star project of the Hopi Foundation, a home-grown nonprofit organization that fosters self-sufficiency and culturally compatible development in Hopi communities. Other projects include preservation of ceremonial Clan houses, support for indigenous…

Examines how Inter-American Foundation's grantees in Argentina are coping with the country's economic crisis of 2001. Describes community development projects in Indigenous regions, the role of urban schools as the only functioning public institution providing human services, literacy education in Patagonia, job training and support for…

The Citizens' Campaign Against Hunger and Poverty and For Life is a nongovernmental organization in Brazil that recruited and organized more than three million volunteers to distribute food baskets, support gardening and water projects, provide basic health care, create jobs, assist homeless children, and encourage local and state governments to…

This report summarizes 1997 activities of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), an independent agency of the U.S. government. The IAF promotes equitable, participatory, and sustainable self-help development in Latin America and the Caribbean by awarding grants directly to local organizations, as well as by entering into partnerships with public-…

This report summarizes 1998 activities of the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), an independent agency of the U.S. government. The IAF promotes equitable, participatory, and sustainable self-help development in Latin America and the Caribbean by awarding grants directly to local organizations, as well as by entering into partnerships with public-…

The Fundacion Social, a grassroots organization in Colombia, uses profits from its 14 companies to fund community self-help initiatives aimed at eliminating poverty. Social programs focus on community integration, microbusinesses, recycling, education, and communication. The organization seeks to eliminate structural poverty and is currently…

A participatory action research process was used to support an Aboriginal men's group in Queensland (Australia). Using a reflective approach, the men's group defined principles and values to which they aspired, then identified four strategies to enable them to become constructive members of the community: personal development, employment,…