Community Engagement

Many rural communities across America face several obstacles in the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) initiatives and struggle with the best approaches for leveraging these elements into an economic development strategy. These obstacles include: lack of quality local ICTs infrastructure, funding, inabil ....

While links between rurality and health are clearly established, there continues to be interest in the resources that can make a difference to rural, often underserved, small communities. This research investigated how collective features of communities of place and industry communities of common purpose, influence farmer and fisher strategies to ....

In Australia access to health services is influenced by various factors, including geography, availability of expertise, and a range of cultural, social and economic factors. This paper describes the establishment of Bila Muuji, a network of autonomous Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in the Bourke-Walgett region tha ....

Local government in Australia ought to be aware of specific community needs and goals, and be willing to initiate and facilitate practices that will encourage cooperation and interaction within communities and between communities, service providers and all levels of government. Social capital theory is discussed as a technique that ....

In many Indigenous territories, continuing processes of primitive accumulation driven by governments' claims to resources and territory simultaneously deny Indigenous rights and insist on market forces as the foundation for economic and social futures in Indigenous domains. Drawing on research in North Australia, this paper identifies the erasure ....

The mining and petroleum industries are a vital part of Queensland’s economy, contributing over $16 billion to Queensland’s Gross State Product and employing over 30,000 people. This economic activity is underpinned by a titling and registration framework, which is administered by the Queensland Government, with over 6,700 tenures issued and ....

Resilience, of individuals, is a well-established concept in the psychology/mental health literatures, but has been little explored in relation to communities. Related theory in the community development and social impact assessment literature provides insight into qualities and assets of communities that enable them to develop effectively or to ....

The research presented in this article employed a deliberate intervention to mobilize social capital and then studied the dynamics of the way in which it influenced community development. Whether or not social capital is able to facilitate development depends on the specific context in which it occurs. Although the general context of this study w ....

Since the early 1990s, Saudi Arabia has placed great emphasis on political and administrative reforms in order to strengthen local authorities and create more opportunities for citizen participation in decision-making. Therefore, it is important to inquire to what extent the intended goals and objectives of these reforms have been achie ....

The author examines the elements essential to the successful rejuvenation and survival of country towns and communities. He refers to the effects of rural development in North America and Europe over recent decades and suggests that in order to successfully maintain and develop rural areas government policy, regional planners and t ....

The Internet has been seized on by many as the potential saviour for rural Australia and this study looks at some of the reasons and examples of where this may be becoming a reality. The Internet however also poses a significant threat, further opening communities up to global forces outside their control with potentially damaging ....

The project involved a review of the effectiveness of community skills, knowledge and engagement (CSKE) in natural resource management under the Australian Government's Caring for Our Country program. The program involves significant investments of public funds. Organisations in 56 NRM regions across Australia receive an annual base-level alloca ....

This paper reports further analysis from a study investigating service providers' perspectives on factors influencing frequent hospital admission in older patients with chronic disease, and explores the perceived role of social isolation. Semi-structured interviews with 15 purposively sampled community-based service providers in rural New South W ....

The Reach Out! Rural and Regional Tour (RORRT) was launched in April 1999. The project aims to work with communities to promote positive mental health for young people living in rural and regional Australia. This paper discusses the objectives of the tour and includes: evaluation design; sources of data; demographics of participant ....