As experiments and models of participatory, sustainable living, ecovillages demonstrate how to enact just, cooperative, and regenerative economic and social constructs, as alternatives to 'unsustainable' capitalist economies and consumerist/individualistic lifestyles. Work is central to these enactments, which provides an opportunity to examine…

This study explores the impact of residential environment (urban vs. kibbutz community) and use of information and communication technology (ICT) on loneliness among the elderly in Israel. The quantitative study surveys four sub-populations of people above the age of 65: (a) kibbutz residents who use ICT, (b) kibbutz residents who do not use ICT,…

This paper attempts to analyze the educational work of Stanislav Shatskii which was aimed at the formation and development of pupil government. His first pedagogical experiments were carried out in the early twentieth century. He made a great contribution to the development of pedagogical theory and practice. The Russian educator Stanislav…

This article examines the need rural teachers felt for solitude and the place it took in their emotional world. Solitude was not seen by the teachers as a substitute for social life but, rather, considered as enriching it. Unlike loneliness, solitude was sought after and craved as it represented voluntary self-fulfilment in an environment that was…

This paper examines the attempts made by the renewing kibbutzim to maintain their way of life as much as possible through the adjustment of their gating mechanisms. In this type of a rural gated community, sorting procedures and admittance criteria of nonmembers are the most notable elements. Background material and interviews with informants at…

With the likelihood of future changes in climate and climate variability, it is important to understand how human systems may be vulnerable. Rural communities in Saskatchewan having agricultural-based economies are particularly dependent on climate and could be among the most vulnerable human systems in Canada. Future changes in climate are likely…

Indicates that where collectivization is accompanied by (1) state commitment to sex equity, (2) activities of a strong women's union, and (3) willingness to recognize problems and experiment with new forms of organization, the implications of collective agriculture for women are positive and contribute to the liberation of rural women and their…

A study demonstrating how religious ideology influences Hutterian attitudes toward farming and the agricultural environment. The Hutterian Brethren are Anabaptist pacifists who live mostly on communal farms in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta, Canada. The responses of both Hutterian and non-Hutterian farmers to an attitudinal questionnaire were…

Examines four methods of identifying Amish-Mennonite settlement: local population data on religious affiliation; location of Amish church districts and Mennonite churches; topographic maps; and surnames and cadastral maps. Topographic maps proved unsuitable. Other methods produced reasonable approximations of Amish and Mennonite settlement. (TES)

One in a series of 12 documents devoted to the priority themes of International Education Year, this document provides basic information and suggests directions for study, discussion, and action in adapting education to the needs of the modern world in rural areas. The main emphasis in this essay revolves around the hypothesis that no effective…

Between 1973-1979, the elementary educational system in rural areas of Poland has been reorganized into a system of collective commune schools; students commute or are bused to the schools. Since September 1973, 944 new collective commune schools have been set up. A study of the data indicates that the process of setting up collective commune…

The Great Leap Forward disaster, characterized by a collapse in grain production and a widespread famine in China between 1959 and 1961, is found attributable to a systemic failure in central planning. Wishfully expecting a great leap in agricultural productivity from collectivization, the Chinese government accelerated its aggressive…

Sparetime education has been developed in the Shanyang People's Commune to accomplish three major tasks. These are to wipe out illiteracy among the young and middle-aged, to disseminate knowledge about society and about agricultural technology, and to train personnel with knowledge in various social, economic, and technological fields. To meet the…

Reviews one of the little-known failures of the New Deal social programs. The Subsistence Homestead Division and the Resettlement Administration attempted to resettle urban slum dwellers in autonomous garden cities and submarginal farmers in new farm villages. Discusses the reasons these communal efforts failed and provides suggested teaching…