Research in extension education is a serious and challenging task facing Nigeria today because of new trends that keeps on emerging continuously. This paper seeks to examine some of the common research techniques used in extension education and describe their applicability and workability in helping people to help themselves. Most of the…

Many rural North Dakota communities struggle with the loss of services, schools, and population due to a changing landscape, but does a strong sense of community help anchor residents to their town? The purpose of this study was to describe sense of community and its relationship to actions promoting social capital in rural North Dakota towns.…

Created to fill a need for low-cost Internet access in rural Washington County, Ohio, the nonprofit Information Technology Group teamed up with a local college to provide technical assistance and free seminars on basic computing and technology use for local residents. The group regards residents' technological literacy as a building block of…

Focusing state and federal dollars on targeted areas, the Kentucky Appalachian Community Development Initiative helps communities in eastern Kentucky fund their own strategies for economic growth. In Hindman, the project focuses on creating the Kentucky School of Crafts, to train master artisans; supporting the Kentucky Appalachian Artisan Center;…

West Virginia University's Recruitable Community Project provides rural communities with community education on recruiting physicians and health personnel, as well as planning assistance, assessments, and recommendations on broad-based community development to enhance recruitment potential. This model of community training and development has…

Through the Appalachian Community Learning Project, community teams tackle a range of economic and community-development problems. After participating in leadership forums, teams set modest six-month goals and later report on results and lessons learned. By "chipping away" at local problems, teams have fostered individuals'…

In the 1940s, the Montana Study focused on engaging the University of Montana in outreach efforts in small towns, developing mechanisms to stabilize the family and small communities and improve the quality of small-town life. Its most popular activity was the creation of over a dozen community study groups aimed at community cultural renewal. (SV)

Colonias--unincorporated, low-income settlements endemic to the U.S. borderlands--have inadequate infrastructure and dismal living conditions, but also provide a creative solution to the housing dilemma faced by many border families. Colonias are most common in Texas and New Mexico, primarily as a result of weak rural planning laws, and are…

Debunks common myths about rurality and rural Australia. Calls for a change in perspective, putting person and place at the center of learning. Local involvement is key to the proposed Centre for Rural Communities, which would promote community sustainability through networking and training. Describes the Rural Women's Programme in Victoria and a…

The community education concept is defined in terms of increased school-community relations and use of facilities, integrated k-12 curriculum, community involvement, programs and services for all age groups, and interagency coordination. The possibilities for community education centers and programs in rural areas are discussed in this article.…

The closing of local mines and factories collapsed the economic and social structure of Ivanhoe, Virginia, a small rural town once considered a dying community. This book is a case study that tells how the people of Ivanhoe organized to revitalize their town. It documents the community development process--a process that included hard work, a…

This book contains 10 case studies of rural community development in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Catalonia, as seen from the perspective of community-work practitioners. Development projects encompassed such activities as promotion of tourism, establishment of community centers, vocational training for school dropouts, adult community…

Rural poverty and wide-ranging environmental concerns are some of the problems driving a growing public debate on rural issues across the United Kingdom. This briefing paper assesses the contribution that a community development approach can make to these issues. Rural areas have a long history of collective action, from farm families helping each…

The maximization of productivity and labor efficiency has been a hallmark of the American agriculture and food system. The result of these twin processes is an industrial, concentrated, and consolidated provisioning system that produces cheap and plentiful food. Many view this model as a panacea for providing food to a modern industrial workforce,…

Pathways from Poverty is a public policy education and research initiative organized by the Rural Sociological Society's Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty and the four regional rural development centers. This publication focuses on project efforts in the Northeast and includes three sections. The first section describes the Pathways from…