Purpose: Why do farmers not take better care of their soils? This article aims to give insight into how farmers look at soil quality management. Design/methodology/approach: It analyses diverse land management practices and visions on soils and soil quality of ten agroecological and 14 conventional smallholder farmers in Araponga, Minas Gerais,…

Within Australia's tropical savanna zone, the northernmost frontier regions have experienced the swiftest transition towards multifunctional occupance, as a formerly flimsy productivist mode is readily displaced by more complex modes, with greater prominence given to consumption, protection and Indigenous values. Of these frontier regions, Cape…

Biofuels may contribute to both rural economic development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Gota Verde Project in Yoro, Honduras, attempts to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of small-scale biofuel production for local use by implementing a distinctive approach to feedstock production that encourages small farm…

This concluding volume in the series presents the work of faculty who have been moved to make sustainability the focus of their work, and to use service learning as one method of teaching sustainability to their students. The chapters in the opening section of this book-- Environmental Awareness--offer models for opening students to the awareness…

Traces the struggle of southern Mexican communities to resist established outside exploitation and gain control of local rainforest resources. Discusses the role of local politics in resolving the conflict between economic development and conservation adherents and pursuing the goal of sustainable production. (SV)

Economic growth increases the amount of money in a community but does not increase the community's capacity to steer its own direction as economic development can. The accomplishments of Rio Arriba County (New Mexico) offer a rare example of successful economic development. Sustainable environmentalism, instead of conservation, considers people as…

Describes 1999 federal funding to large general-assistance programs affecting small towns and rural areas (including Housing and Urban Development, federal disaster relief, rural extension activities, and Bureau of Indian Affairs assistance programs); increased funding for Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities; reauthorization of the Economic…

The incompatibility between educating for "sustainable development" and the broader concept of education is discussed, pointing out the imprecision of the term "sustainable development." Alternative, and more educationally justifiable, approaches to studying environmental education and development are explored. (SLD)

This annual report of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) highlights the Center's activities, programs, projects, and publications for fiscal year 1998. NERCRD receives modest funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other funds from private foundations. Funds are used to link rural development efforts of the 15…

This proceedings contains 11 papers that focus on issues and problems of rural communities in the Southwest. Papers include: (1) "Dilemmas of a New Age: A Half-Millennium of Landscape Change in New Mexico and the Southwest," by Paul F. Starrs; (2) "American Indians Today," by C. Matthew Snipp; (3) "The Southwest: Global…

This source book provides guidance and technical assistance material on utilizing forest, agricultural, and scenic and wildlife resources for rural economic development. The document focuses on the uniqueness of existing rural resources for new enterprise opportunities. Natural resource-based economic development strategies are a means to…

The purposes of the National Rural Studies Committee (NRSC) are to develop a comprehensive and coherent framework for viewing rural area problems, and to provide legitimacy for rural studies as an academic field of specialization. This first NRSC meeting focused on the picture of rural America drawn in American literature, the nature of employment…

Designed to facilitate rural development efforts, this pamphlet presents a grading key for ranking community factors in each of four key areas of progress as follows: (1) People Building (education, health services, cultural satisfaction, outreach to the disadvantaged, and leadership); (2) Community Facilities (housing, transportation, utilities,…

In six parts, this paper highlights the significance of environmental education (EE) and its contributions to national development in developing countries and in Kenya in particular. Sections 1 and 2 provide an overview of environmental problems and the history of worldwide environmental education, respectively. Sections 3 and 4 review the basic…

Current rural policies at both the federal and state levels do not meet the needs of rural people and communities; they are designed for the past, not the future. Agricultural subsidies absorb most federal resources directed to rural areas, with no evidence of benefits for rural communities. The continuing state-level pursuit of low-wage,…