Offers a case study that examines the methodological problems of evaluating a community relations program in Northern Ireland. Recommends a quantitative and qualitative approach to evaluation and raises issues that must be addressed when evaluating community development programs. (Author/JOW)

Coastal communities face difficult choices regarding the use if their waterfront resources. The complexity of issues, contradictory scientific evidence, different visions of the future, and uncertainty regarding community interests add to the difficulty of reaching consensus. The community of Oconto, Wisconsin, attempted to integrate technical and…

In conflict-torn Afghanistan, international nongovernmental organizations are attempting to build indigenous capacity for development. Strategies include support for women, involvement of local elders, and integration of internal and external value systems. (SK)

Traces the evolution of the concept of gender in feminist scholarship from biological sex to multidimensional gender. Discusses the reemergence of essentialist perspectives and the shift in policy from focus on "women in development" to "gender and development." (Contains 110 references.) (SK)

A diagnostic model for evaluating community-based organizations takes into account the political, legal, social, economic, and cultural environment and the organization's structure, membership, goals, resources, philosophy, leadership styles, and rewards/sanctions. The ways in which both sets of variables either facilitate or inhibit the…

Strategic development planning encompasses the setting of communitywide objectives; appraisal of external forces; analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and development of a community-owned strategic plan. As an appropriate method transferred from business, it overcomes criticisms of other community participatory planning…

Describes how, backed by a wealthy alumna, Wells College's efforts to spruce up Aurora, New York have angered residents. (EV)

Defines transparent research as a strategy in which the subjects of the research are fully involved in the entire process. Presents case studies of the emergency medical department of a medium-sized hospital and of a congregational development project developed in partnership with an Episcopal diocese. (JOW)

While universities can play a major role in advancing research-based community development, academic discourses of rigor, quality and ethics often conflict with the participatory and collaborative approaches required by community development principles. While experienced academics often have difficulty negotiating these issues, they present…

Raymond J. Young (1923-2007) played a key role in the post-World War II development of community colleges in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and elsewhere. This article describes his scholarly and professional contributions in developing "bottom-up," grassroots citizen's participatory studies that led to the establishment of 60 community…

This field study reports on a cross-site evaluation of dependency courts in communities receiving federal funding to implement the "Greenbook" initiative, a multisite demonstration for community improvement of coordinated responses to families victimized by domestic violence and child maltreatment. This article focuses on the dependency court,…

The inauguration of a new president is a typically a time of great hope, and this year is certainly no exception. But the advent of the Obama administration offers residents of New York and other city-dwellers special grounds for optimism: that the period of years, if not decades, when the federal government all but turned its back on the needs of…

Beginning in the 1970s, low-wage manufacturing areas in advanced industrialized countries experienced deindustrialization and worker dislocation as transnational corporations left for sites of lower-cost labor. In response, communities sought to rebuild their economies and pursue new employment opportunities in the restructured labor markets of…

The Alberta SuperNet, a very high speed, broadband network, was built to bring high-speed connectivity to every school, library, and municipal office in Alberta. This CDN $294 million investment was made based on the perceived need for high-speed connectivity to stimulate economic and community development and to enhance government services,…

The recent hype and ascendancy in the discourse of community capacity-building has generated a lot of heated debate among development and policy experts on its applicability in various contexts. In particular, questions have been raised on the presuppositions inherent in the discourse and, more so, the tension that exists between theory and…