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While much has been written about the curricular content and outcomes of capacity-building programs in community development, we know less about how theories of learning inform program design. This article presents a descriptive case study of the Chicago Peace Fellows, a capacity-building program for community leaders that was guided by a community of practice approach to learning. The case highlights four priorities to guide design of the tools, spaces, activities, and social arrangements of capacity building: 1) nurture participants' identification as members of a community of practice; 2) offer participants opportunities to jointly negotiate meaning and expand their knowledgeability; 3) provide avenues for communities to persist and expand; and 4) commit to equity. The analysis describes how each priority was enacted in the Chicago Peace Fellows program and how participants responded, with an aim to provide useful guidance for designers of capacity-building programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To articulate community perspectives on maternal, newborn, and child health issues, challenges, and preferred visions, the Mama Kwanza Socioeconomic Health Initiative (MKSHI), a Canadian-Tanzanian partnership, undertook a multimethod needs assessment using a community development approach. This paper reports on dialog with a cross-section of 12 health care providers and 15 stakeholders. The findings provided rich narratives on the health care context in the MKSHI Arusha and Ngorongoro service areas. Barriers to quality health care included complex socioeconomic needs, poor accessibility, providers requiring continuing education, inadequately staffed and resourced clinics, lack of service integration, and poor quality work life for providers. Ongoing community participation in MKSHI planning is required to attain preferred visions of equitable and accessible health services, knowledgeable and caring providers, and well-resourced programs. The assessment highlighted the importance of international development projects facilitating community consciousness-raising and dialog to create community partnerships that will enhance project effectiveness and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the joint development efforts of two neighborhoods in Cincinnati, Ohio, US. Focusing on the initial stages of the joint development process, this article analyzes the first three collaborative meetings linking the two communities together. This study demonstrates short-term outcomes from each meeting, as well as longer term data - both quantitative and qualitative - from a survey of nearly 60 participants. Findings demonstrate that the meetings resulted in the identification of assets and challenges in both neighborhoods, as well as strategies and ideas for improving them. In addition, the survey found that the inter-neighborhood meetings enhanced not only participants’ interest in community engagement, but also their actual behavior in terms of attending community events, shopping local, and informing friends and neighbors about the community. Further, many survey respondents observed improvements in the overall relationship between the two neighborhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through creating avenues for authentic civic engagement of individuals living in vulnerable communities, the Food & Fitness community partnerships have actualized innovative ways to change the trajectory of health outcomes in neighborhoods across the United States. Working to increase the availability of healthy, locally grown food and opportunities for physical activity in communities that have suffered from years of disinvestment, the partnerships have moved toward and beyond merely bridging the equity gap. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This special issue ofCommunity Developmentintroduces the Food and Fitness community partnerships and their work to increase access to healthy, locally grown food, and opportunities for physical activity, in vulnerable communities across the country. Established in 2007 and funded by the WK Kellogg Foundation, the partnerships are increasing the capacity of communities to participate in policy and systems change to positively affect their health and well-being. These articles together provide an illustration of how funders, grantees, and partners can work together to create sustainable change at the neighborhood level to ensure that all children and families are able to thrive. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Community development organizations, including grassroots social service organizations, are being looked to increasingly address community needs in the face of shrinking government programs. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which leaders of some of these grassroots social service organizations use transactional and transformational leadership styles, and whether these styles were related to leadership outcomes. Grassroots organizations were defined as those providing services to meet basic human needs in the immediate community and with annual budgets under $200,000. Twenty-three leaders were rated using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Form 5X . It was hypothesized that the leaders would be transformational in nature and transformational leadership would be related to positive outcomes. Findings confirmed the hypothesis and implications are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little written about the link between community development training and community development practice in the context of Australian Indigenous community development. Wontulp Bi-Buya College (WBBC), in Queensland, Australia, is a training organization providing explicit training in community development to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders. A framework for understanding the complex nature of community development training and its impact on Indigenous community development is theorized through the lenses of (1) empowerment as a modeled strategy, (2) pedagogy, and (3) the importance of social capital ties, through the work being delivered at WBBC. Insights from this work have an important bearing on actions needed to achieve the Australian “Close the Gap” policy on Indigenous disadvantage, and in particular, appropriate program monitoring and evaluation frameworks used to assess interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact and benefits that Internet access has provided for residents of a social housing estate focusing on: education and training, community and culture, citizenship and democracy, health and well-being, economic equity and opportunity, and information and communication. The majority of survey respondents indicated first-time use of computer representing a significant outcome in bridging the digital divide, with initial usage patterns centered on email, news and information services, and entertainment. The research reveals the impact on resident behavior and capability: ability to do their job, employment search, ability to learn new things, to communicate with friends and family, and on pursuing hobbies and interests. These results reveal considerable success in improving information and communication technology access and intensity, while usage patterns reveal improvement in both the social and economic dimensions of residents’ lives. These short-term outcomes are indicative of potentially larger and more significant long-term impacts and benefits. Digital divide policies that focus on the most disadvantaged in our community should be applauded and deserve the full attention of government to ensure its ongoing implementation in other communities. This policy is now inextricably connected to the broader social goal of building social capital and a socially inclusive society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This Special Issue of the Journal is designed to help community development practitioners and scholars in the important roles they play – both directly and indirectly – to foster community betterment. The body of work articulated in this volume builds on a long history of important community development programs and efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contrasting Hezbollah's local community development projects and engagement in armed struggle, this study seeks to understand how the local community emerged from a history of neglect and discrimination to acquire notably high levels of pride in the areas under Hezbollah's de facto control. Research for this topic involved over a dozen first-hand interviews with Hezbollah officials to understand how Hezbollah impacted the local identity of a demoralized community. Standing at the crossroads of local community development and armed struggle, Hezbollah reveals how an endogenous development strategy enables the implementation of creative solutions to further the community's development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we describe a six-year effort to create a university-community partnership in a disadvantaged neighborhood bordering Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. We discuss the traditional community research and development (TCR&D) model employed by universities and how assumptions made by the university about the capacities of community brokering agents can significantly influence both the time and trajectory of partnership building activities and the implementation of research and planning recommendations. We present a strategy of targeted mutual interests which can advance both university TCR&D and a community's social capital formation in an environment where initial social capital levels are low. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For new social movement theorists, changes in Western capitalist societies brought about by the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial era are fundamental to understanding the formation, structure, and operation of new social movements. Using observational and interview data from a 2008 World Water Day rally, this article draws on and examines theoretical contributions of New Social Movement theorists Alain Touraine, Alberto Melucci, and Claus Offe to inform an exploration and analysis of growing collective action on water issues in Guelph, Ontario. The authors argue that growing citizen engagement in water issues in Guelph and area, operating primarily through loosely organized informal social networks, represents growing collective action that constitutes a vibrant New Social Movement. So conceptualized, the authors discuss implications for theoretical understandings of citizen mobilization in general and for the strengthening of collective action on water itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]