Describes a functional literacy program successfully carried out in a very remote district in the mountains of Nepal. Describes the program's successes in increasing literacy, self-confidence, community awareness, and social awareness among Nepali women. Discusses keys to this success. (SR)

Brooks Farm is an independent Black farming community unique in the Mississippi Delta. A community case study shows that, despite declining population and resources, Brooks Farm has drawn on the strength of its traditional institutions (family, churches, civic groups) to sustain community life and to continue to provide services to the elderly,…

A case study of the evaluation of urban policy in Northern Ireland showed how two forms of policy evaluation--instrumental, which is concerned with performance measures and efficiency, and interpretive, which is concerned with power relationships--can be reconciled using community audits and participatory action research. (SK)

A strategy that integrates community service learning with community needs assessment keeps costs low and local involvement high. An example using agriculture students shows how it provides opportunities for experiential learning and leadership in community development. (SK)

Interviewed women leaders of community development organizations in low income neighborhoods, investigating their attributes, motivations, leadership styles, and the barriers they faced. Respondents felt tremendous urgency for meeting human needs and improving neighborhoods. Their activities were political in nature. They created social capital…

A survey of over 200 residents of a largely Hispanic census tract in Perth Amboy, NJ found that residents preferred recreation, cultural, and other community facilities be the aim of brownfield re-development. They were less interested in industry and business, the promoted aim of such re-development. Three-quarters of respondents indicated a…

Case study of a community and youth leadership development program in Rural Georgia illustrates a blend of traditional and participatory strategies, including participatory action research. Evaluation demonstrates the importance of working with community culture, forming cohesive groups, choosing facilities carefully, and reconciling community and…

Describes an effective process for strategic planning of telecommunications in rural areas that includes a needs assessment and an action plan as well as input from businesses, public agencies, and households. Lists elements of a telecommunications needs assessment. Describes the planning processes used in Northeast Wyoming Economic Development…

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…

This paper is based on research that sought to investigate the procedures of theatre for community development in Kenya. This article was stimulated by this larger research and is particularly an interrogation of the ethics of practice in the enterprise of theatre for community development. It critically interrogates the roles of the different…

A contemporary vision for a democracy is that it involves those who wish to be involved; the highest expression of human rationality becomes reality when ordinary people speak and reason together on issues of common concern. Public deliberation is a structured dialogue around a challenging public problem. It is a means through which citizens can…

This paper analyses a community theatre project initiated in 1991 in Ratones, a community in Southern Brazil. It began as an extension project of the State University of Santa Catarina and became an independent project coordinated by former participants, still in collaboration with the university. Aiming to evaluate the benefits of this theatre…

Rural communities have fewer financial resources, making the community colleges located in these regions central to economic development. This chapter reviews the importance of recognizing the rural differential via policy changes and offers strategies to close the resource gap between rural and nonrural community colleges.

Education in schools that serve nationalities consisting of comparatively small populations is currently a focal topic in relation to academia and international organizations. The issue of cultural choice in the schools--whether the function of education in these schools is ultimately dissemination of modern mainstream culture or transmission of…

Community schools are organized around two common goals: helping students learn and succeed and strengthening families and communities. Full-service community schools extend these guiding principles. They are centers of their communities, providing high-quality after-school opportunities, comprehensive early childhood education, real-world…