The Leeds Anchor Network (or system) was established in 2017 with eight founder organizations. In 2024, membership was 14 and represented 1 in 7 of the Leeds city workforce. Leeds Beckett University is a founding member. This paper explains how the system originated and developed, the role Leeds Beckett University has played in that process, and…

The study of the sociopedagogical resources of the countryside, the village ["selo"], is of vital importance both for science and for the revival of the Russian countryside; for the upbringing, education, and social protection of the new generation of citizens; and for the creation of a socially safe environment in which the population…

"In areas like ours, everything we've ever had we fought for. It wasn't just handed to us," says Anna Hutchison, a community activist and one of the founders of the North Edinburgh Social History Group. For decades, Anna tells the author, the community has had to struggle for the basic amenities others in the city take for granted,…

All corners of the media are scrutinising David Cameron's "Big Society", from every conceivable angle. While the concept has caught the public's imagination, the greater challenge of fleshing out what the Big Society will actually offer and require of communities is unfinished business. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations…

Hardly anyone can have failed to pick up on the recent flurry of stories in the national press about the Big Society, sparked off by Dame Elisabeth Hoodless's remarks that funds for volunteers are disappearing at an alarming rate, and that this is undermining the very idea of a "Big Society". At the same time, under the government's…

This article discusses the Women Making a Difference programme that has provided hundreds of women in Wales the skills they need to become decision-makers in their communities. The project is all about tapping into women's desire to make a difference in their communities, and getting women who, in most cases, are already active at grassroots level…

Through cross-disciplinary and participatory processes involving key stakeholders from the Zambian education sector, as well as from the traditional leadership structure, a localized HIV/AIDS-prevention strategy, Interactive School and Community Approach (ISACA), was developed and implemented throughout one province between 2002 and 2006. The…

The experience in developing a student-led academic journal, the Lincoln Planning Review, to provide experiential learning that links undergraduates in a small professional planning programme directly to research publication is described. A combination of circumstances, including an impending review of the programme by the external professional…

Six community builders in Edmonton, Alberta, planned, developed, and implemented Listen and Learn II, a reflective research project in asset-based community building, over a 6-month period in 1998. They met regularly over 2 months to plan the research and design a method that was open to participation at any stage, encouraged exchange of…

This paper describes the use of a range of Web 2.0 technologies to support the development of community for a newly formed Land Trust on the Isle of Lewis, in NW Scotland. The application of social networking tools in text, audio and video has several purposes: informal learning about the area to increase tourism, community interaction,…

This report describes s a study that examined how seven groups in Edmonton, Alberta, used a community development model called Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping. The first three sections discuss the model's development and purpose and the methodology used to examine its application in community planning. Presented next are the results…

The main objective of this Handbook is to build the capacities of facilitators and other literacy and non-formal education personnel to promote learning and development at the community level. It aims at developing their skills and knowledge in literacy training, while sensitising them to issues that are at the very heart of adult literacy and…

This report describes a project initiated at Westlawn Junior High School, Edmonton (Canada), in which the Community Development Office of Capital Health (CDO) worked with students using the asset-based community building approach. Focus was on the discovery, connection, and mobilization of the students' assets and gifts and connecting these with…

This document presents a step-by-step approach to a community development process for addressing child care needs in rural Canada. Part 1 of the document introduces the need for child care in rural areas in Canada and describes challenges to meetings those needs. This section also presents the principles underlying community development and…

Describes Catholic priest's founding and operation of Servol, grassroots community assistance and development center in Trinidad. Describes Servol's low-profile service-oriented approach to creating education and health services, programs, and facilities. Describes Servol's difficult transition from quixotic neighborhood project to national and…