The discussion on and development of a holistic evaluation approach for rural development will be indispensable to improving and enriching the lives of rural people. This approach can be developed by considering the conceptualization of community policy structure in rural areas, the localization of policy structure in the rural community, and the…

To guide future work, to provide an overall view of the program of technical cooperation in regional planning, and to form a basis for a Conference Ministerial Resolution, the report outlines the activities of the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) of the Council of Europe's Conference of Ministers Responsible for Regional Planning during…

Texts of 12 research papers are presented in this proceedings of a 1985 conference specifically focusing on the interdependence of agriculture and rural communities. Titles of Session I papers providing information on the current situation and trends in agriculture and rural communities are "An Overview of the Nonmetro Economy and the Role of…

Appendix I presents national inventories and analyses of the problems, objectives, and instruments pertinent to the rural areas of 21 countries. Data, including land area, agricultural ratio, and report and map sources, are provided for Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland,…

American rural communities are decaying, the underlying causes being chronic unemployment and inadequate infrastructure. The information age can cause the ultimate demise of rural America by further eroding local institutions or it can be its savior by revitalizing the sense of community. The link between community development and the information…

Over 250 rural leaders attended the conference "Beyond Agriculture: New Policies for Rural America," held in Kansas City (Missouri) in April 2000. The conference began with an assessment of where the rural economy and rural policy are headed in the new century. Speakers suggested that the rural economy is likely to remain a mix of…

Rural regional planning that will satisfy man's real needs, and not merely those of an economic nature, must take into consideration all factors, all possible interactions, and most important of all, those values which cannot be expressed in terms of money. The report details the functions and problems of rural areas revealed by analyses of rural…

This report describes the activities of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Iowa State University, for the year ending June 30, 1987. During this fiscal year, CARD conducted numerous projects including the following: (1) a policy evaluation on agricultural applications of pesticides and ground water quality for the…

As Ethiopia has designed and implemented numerous intensive (geographically concentrated) and minimum-package rural development programs between 1967-75, the purpose of this monograph is to: (1) trace the evolution of these package projects; (2) analyze package performances; and (3) identify the implications for Ethiopian planners and policy…

This paper discusses the use of gender analysis to ensure that economic development policy has equitable consequences for women and men, and describes the role of nonprofit community organizations in promoting such analysis. Gender analysis assumes that role differences between men and women are socially defined and therefore open to change.…

In October 1999, the Regional Australia Summit was held in Canberra to allow people from regional, rural, and remote areas to contribute their perspectives on the challenges facing rural Australia. The Summit aimed to develop a national appreciation of those challenges, gather ideas on meeting the challenges, establish goals, and identify roles…

Effective rural development planning depends on facts and analysis based, not on rural averages, but on the diverse social and economic structure of rural America. Programs tailored to particular types of rural economies may be more effective than generalized programs. Because of their unique characteristics, government policies and economic…

The role of education in the human development of rural areas is considered by some to be the single most important thing that can be done to raise rural standards of living. Recognizing this need, the Federal government has sponsored three types of training programs relative to rural development; each is the responsibility of a different agency.…

Four major concerns are currently shaping national rural development policy: (1) rural population and employment are increasingly diverse but physical isolation and low population density limit essential public services; (2) many geographically concentrated rural communities continue to have high rates of very low income; (3) rural governments are…

Women's vulnerability to increased landlessness and other economic factors has created a need in most developing nations for year-round, rural, non-agricultural employment opportunities for women. Census data from 56 Third World countries reveal that women are generally underrepresented in the paid labor force and overrepresented in the…