Purpose: The article reflects on transition management in rural areas and the possible implications for extension services able to support social innovation and rural change, starting from experiences on social farming in different areas of Italy. Design/methodology/approach: By presenting three case studies we investigate the role of social…

The modernist project foresaw no role for small farms, but this can no longer be regarded as axiomatic as neoliberalism enters what Peck et al. call its "zombie phase". This paper asks what contribution small farms in the uplands can make to societies' goals, what role they might play in the sustainability of rural communities in such…

This paper presents a vertical case study of the history of universalizing education in postcolonial Sierra Leone from the early 1950s to 1990 to highlight how there has never been a universal conception of universal education. In order to unite a nation behind a universal ideal of schooling, education needed to be adapted to different…

The Illinois Rural Recreation Development Project seeks to develop diversified funding and community partnerships for long-term recreation services in rural areas. The project relies on professionally trained recreation directors and citizen support and participation in planning. (SK)

Public officials in all towns and cities--especially those in smaller communities that participate less frequently in the bond market-- need information to assist them in answering questions concerning bond financing. One in a series developed by the Western Rural Development Center, this booklet introduces three general approaches to financing…

The purpose of this guidebook is to help elected leaders of small towns and communities stretch their investments when matching funds are required to compete for a grant or to pay for development costs above the grant award itself. The federal "small cities" Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is used as an example throughout the…

Public officials in smaller communities that participate less frequently in the bond market need information to assist them in answering questions concerning bond financing. This booklet, developed as a part of a Western Rural Development Center series, outlines seven steps in debt management, identifies types of professional services available,…

A bibliography for both practitioners and scholars interested in industrialization of rural areas, this document is one of a series of bibliographies prepared by research Functional Networks for the Southern Rural Development Center. The more than 750 entries, many annotated, cover available research, extension, and action agency literature…

This theme issue includes 13 articles that discuss rural library concerns in Illinois. Topics addressed include strengthening library services; rural trends and their impact on libraries; partnerships; Cooperative Extension Service revitalization; financing; economic development; resource sharing in school libraries; and public libraries and user…

This guide was written for small and rural government officials who have limited experience with the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and with federal grants in general. The use of outside expertise is often necessary in projects involving public facilities, housing, and economic development, some of the principal activities which…

Presenting testimony on bills that would amend the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965, this volume contains the texts of H.E. 8777 and H.R. 8374 and the statements of numerous representatives from Appalachian states. The amendments are proposed to extend the period of assistance for the Appalachia Regional Commission (ARC) child…

Describes Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation (KHIC), a nonprofit community development organization that creates jobs and helps small manufacturing businesses succeed in nine "perpetually poor" rural Kentucky counties. Outlines KHIC services: loans for both expansion and working capital; equity and real estate investments;…

Commentators tend to agree that the rural resource is becoming increasingly subject to pressures arising from an ever wider range of economic, social, political and environmental influences. This paper focuses on the case of rural tourism in illustrating the advantages of adopting a sustainable development approach to identifying suitable policies…

"Where the money is and what you'll need to do to get it," form the central theme of this citizen's guide to rural development. Designed to assist a community leader interested in implementing a development project, the guide concentrates on the sources which most frequently fund rural community development projects, i.e., the grant and…

Nineteen Wisconsin counties were the site of the four-year Rural Development Demonstration Project, one of five such projects in the nation. Among the project's objectives were to accelerate sound economic, social, cultural and environmental development and to provide alternatives for living in non-metropolitan areas while providing greater…