Synergizing the community means the process of complete utilization of the potential human and material energy in the community for the common good. Community education provides evidence for the premises of synergistics. (Author/IRT)

Throughout the history of the development of the concept of community, human delivery systems have, with the consent of the community members, been combined for efficiency. Current societal pressures would seem to indicate that successful planning and implementation of the cultural-educational cluster concept will probably begin in a nonpolitical,…

This manual provides communities with a listing of resources designed to help communities plan and develop school-community partnerships and community-development projects and processes. The main purpose of the manual is to supply a "ready-made" listing and description of resources so that models and topics are easily located. The list of…

The possibility of converting a vacated school building into a useful resource presents a community with an interesting situation. During a 5-year period ending in 1997, over 100 rural Illinois communities encountered this situation. This report explores what happens to vacant school buildings and offers case studies of various re-uses, new…

This document lists 248 federal funding programs available to rural areas. The programs were selected from the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, 1995, which is available online from the Federal Assistance Programs Retrieval System (FAPRS). Entries are listed under the following federal departments or agencies: Department of Agriculture,…

This "issue report" contains three articles centered around the concept of "social capital", and the role of the schools in community revitalization. "Social captial" consists of organizational networks of communication and shared values that provide collective support for adults and youth in a community. In "Social Capital and the Rebuilding of…

Professionalism as a force for reform may succumb to growing pressures that place the locus for educational improvement in the community itself and that work toward economic empowerment of families within schools. The article compares two contrasting strategies for educational improvement in urban neighborhoods (service versus empowerment),…

Describes Catholic priest's founding and operation of Servol, grassroots community assistance and development center in Trinidad. Describes Servol's low-profile service-oriented approach to creating education and health services, programs, and facilities. Describes Servol's difficult transition from quixotic neighborhood project to national and…

Impact fees significantly reduce the burden on small town governments to pay for capital facilities necessitated by new development. Describes how an impact fee program in St. Albans, Vermont, helped offset costs in providing additional facilities and services related to parks and recreation, law enforcement, the library, fire protection, road…

This publication presents the proceedings of a conference that brought together local leaders who are working for change in distressed communities in 16 cities. An overview discusses the background for the conference and describes common themes that emerged during its proceedings. The next section contains the keynote address, "Race, Class, and…

This annual report of the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) describes the agency's extension and research activities from October, 1996, to September 30, 1997. SRDC is one of four regional centers coordinating rural development research and extension education programs cooperatively with the land-grant institutions. SRDC cooperates with 29…

An exploratory study designed to analyze the evolution of neighborhood movements in Rio de Janeiro City (Brazil) focuses on actions related to the struggle for public schools. The effort seeks to determine the degree of political autonomy of the neighborhood associations and the nature of the educational demands and their relationship with the…

This report summarizes the Humboldt State University (California) Center for Community Development's activities for fiscal year 1985-86. A chronological compilation of 33 selected projects that have yielded durable or permanent functional and organizational consequences is provided, giving the year of initiation (between 1967 and 1985), the name…

In 1994, a 2-day symposium was conducted on a broadened, more inclusive mission for rural schools--rural schools functioning as community learning and service centers. The symposium aimed to enhance the knowledge base related to five key dimensions that must be planned, implemented, and evaluated when designing rural schools in this fashion:…

A variety of information is included in this 1984-85 annual report of Humboldt State University's Center for Community Development (California), which has been instrumental in establishing a wide range of community services and has worked extensively to preserve the language and culture of four northwestern California tribes--Hupa, Karuk, Tolowa,…