Kentucky's SOS (Sharing Our Selves) Learning Networks are community-owned, volunteer-run, informal learning/development programs incorporating community needs and the skills/knowledge/experience of individuals regardless of academic credentials. The Cooperative Extension Service administers the programs. Interested community members list subjects…

Rural community development is undergoing changing visions, activities, and methodologies. Factors impacting this change include decentralization, budget reduction in the public sector, and globalization and downsizing in the private sector. Community "building" (community-generated change and emphasis on capacities rather than…

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…

Rural and economic development efforts are inadequate responses to changing rural conditions. They fail because they are often top-down driven and few influential people are involved. Minnesota's Project Future is designed to help distressed communities take charge of their own direction. Developed on the principle of collective empowerment, this…