Asset mapping is an effective tool for understanding the wealth of talent and resources that exists in each community--even those with small populations or suffering from poverty and economic distress. The long-term development of a community rests on its ability to uncover and build on the strengths and assets of its people, institutions, and…

Decentralization and budget reduction in the public sector, and globalization and downsizing in the private sector have placed more responsibility on localities to address challenges to the health of their economies, ecosystems, and people. Community development theory and practice are also changing, evidenced by changes in vocabulary. Community…

This Caribbean Regional Workshop was organized to bring together representatives of private, voluntary, and community development organizations, governmental agencies, and other non-governmental organizations in the Eastern Caribbean who were concerned with environmental quality. The conference was intended to improve the level of citizen…

Asset mapping involves documenting tangible and intangible resources of a community viewed as a place with assets to be preserved and enhanced, not deficits to be remedied. Kretzmann and McKnight (1993) are credited with developing the concept of asset-based community development (ABCD) that draws on appreciative inquiry; recognition of social…

The traditional economic development strategy of the South--concentrating on low-skill, low-wage labor--no longer works; the region cannot compete with other areas of the world that offer low-cost, high-skill labor. The challenges facing rural and central-city communities in the South are immense, and only a comprehensive approach to economic…

Intended for community development professionals and volunteers who work with preliterate communities, this illustrated handbook accompanies a library of visual aids that allow rural people to formulate their own projects. (The curriculum, called Pictorial Apprenticeship, transfers the process of project design into visual forms that literate and…

This manual contains materials for a 2-week workshop to train extension staff and community leaders working at the village level in the Solomon Islands. The aim of the course is to improve participants' skills so they are better able to help communities and community groups design and manage community projects. An introduction addresses the team…

A conference on economic development, education, and rural community engagement brought representatives from higher education, government agencies, and education research together with experts in community revitalization and activism to discuss how efforts might be coordinated across disciplines to accomplish lasting reforms in poor, rural…

This document, which was developed to assist Peace Corps volunteers and those responsible for training them, presents an introductory booklet and six toolkits for use in the training provided to and by volunteers involved in community development. All the materials emphasize long-term participatory approaches to sustainable development and a…