In Brittany, a project that integrates training and social development was designed to meet local labor market needs. Key features are innovative uses of training (pretraining, alternating training and work) and strong company involvement in local regeneration. (SK)

Notes that connecting the teachers' stories and experiences presented in this themed issue are such themes as using real life issues as the curriculum, risk taking, student ownership, and community building. Discusses how these teachers believe in the importance of making curriculum relevant and meaningful to the lives of the children by…

Since the passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1914, Cooperative Extension has worked with faith-based organizations, such as congregations, to promote community renewal. Both Extension and congregations share a deep commitment to building community and social capital. (23 references) (SK)

Extension educators can extend and accelerate the community-shaping process by using action research processes like Appreciative Inquiry, which helps a community design and work toward an ideal future. One adaptation, the Porch Cookie Project, helped a community create new knowledge and shape its culture. (SK)

An Irish community organization's experience of partnering with a government agency led to the following recommendations: train staff to understand the partnership process; refine structures for effective consultation and interaction; develop a code of practice and standards; improve communication; and adapt to new methods of working. (SK)

Interviews with 28 community coalitions in the Healthy Communities initiative should that:(1) communities must recognize their interdependence; (2) ownership of community agendas should be shared; (3) coalitions should broaden representation; and (4) sustainability may be enhanced by support infrastructures and a bottom-up perspective. (SK)

The Citizens Changing Communities program trained advisory boards in time and meeting management, conflict management, problem solving, goal setting, action planning, and decision making. Although evaluations revealed high interest in program content and delivery methods, actual participation did not match responses. A holistic approach focused on…

During the 80s and 90s in Mexico there was a boost in participatory strategies developed, in order to solve serious deficiencies in community development programmes and projects. The mere existence of such methodologies, "per se," does not guarantee the conscious and voluntary participation of rural inhabitants. The social energy…

This support document accompanies the NCVER report, "A Review of Indigenous Employment Programs," hereafter the "Report" [ED499667]. It contains explanatory notes on evaluation methodology, plus additional details on developments in labor market assistance and reviews of the literature relating to the evaluation of such…

The Emory-Obed Watershed in Tennessee, like many other rural areas throughout the United States, is experiencing changes in economic activities and social values associated with natural resources. Informed by the interactional approach to community development, this effort strove to build community capacity so community members could more fully…

This book includes a range of community peacebuilding experiences from across the Commonwealth that have been applying open and distance learning (ODL) approaches. The case studies offer insights into the challenges as well as the kinds of interventions that have worked and how they can be built upon. They show that ODL can be an effective and…

This article reports the findings of a case study of social capital and economic development conducted in two towns in regional Australia between 2001 and 2002. The hypothesis driving the research states that a town displaying a high level of social capital will also display a high level of economic development, while a town with a low level of…

Based on ten months of ethnographic fieldwork, including more than 65 in-depth interviews with Chinese university students and higher education administrators, this study examines the roots of an emerging community service learning movement in mainland China. The dissertation focuses on a case study of a pioneering Chinese Party State-sponsored…

Rural communities such as Stanthorpe on Queensland's Southern Downs, in Australia, are familiar with turbulent environmental, social, technological and economic change and the adversity that frequently accompanies such changes. The capacity of individuals and communities to bounce back from adversity is referred to as resilience. Participation in…

This article discusses a three-tiered process of collective experiences of various artistic and cultural forms that fosters the healing and transformation of individuals, families, and communities of the African Diaspora. Ifetayo Cultural Arts, located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, espouses and practices a three-tiered model of community…