2007

The Emory-Obed Watershed in Tennessee, like many other rural areas throughout the United States, is experiencing changes in economic activities and social values associated with natural resources. Informed by the interactional approach to community development, this effort strove to build community capacity so community members could mo ....

Analysis of the experiences of four farmer groups set up to learn how to jointly manage local natural resource issues shows that the groups are going though two simultaneous processes. One builds technical competency in natural resource management and the other is the underpinning social process that allows the groups to make decis ....

In recent years, carbon (C) sequestration potential of agroforestry systems has attracted attention, especially following Kyoto Protocol's recognition of agroforestry as an option for mitigating green house gasses. Although the possible benefits of agroforestry in carbon (C) sequestration have been conceptually discussed, field measurem ....

Vocational education and training (VET) in schools have been used in Australian high schools to help increase school retention. In New South Wales, student participation levels in these subjects have grown considerably, from 16% in 1996 to 44% in 2004. To examine the value of VET subjects to students, a survey was conducted of 6,32 ....

Regional economic and social development is an important public issue in most countries, yet among the least successful. In Australia, some 40 years of trial and error regional strategy appear to have had limited success in securing long-range economic and social development leading to more diversified economies, population growth and converging ....

This paper presents the reults of a survey undertaken in rural and regional Victoria in 2003 on the total costs faced by households caring for people with chronic illnesses. The impact of these costs for the households is discussed in the context of neo-liberal policy development by Australian governments and the effects of those policies on such ....

The issues surrounding climate change and its implications for human health are complex. This presentation considers climate, climate change, the possible relationships to drought and the prospects for future climatic conditions in Australia, and their likely effects on public health. The paper provides some background information ....

Many Australians are living under pressure of social change and its consequences. People in rural and regional areas often live with additional stresses particular to rural communities. This paper discusses community cohesion and its relationship to resilience and the development of health and wellbeing. To emphasise the transition ....

The Community Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) program is a model of engagement used to empower communities in various parts of Australia with respect to their consumer needs and expectations about the quality use of medicines. The CHF Community QUM Project was developed through partnerships between the Consumers' Health Forum of Aus ....

This paper provides an analysis of commuting patterns on the Sunshine Coast and from the Sunshine Coast to other Local Government Areas in south east Queensland. This is done for persons of different levels of education. Human capital theory suggests that commuting patterns may vary by level of education and this is explicitly test ....

Many nations and regions are struggling to maintain their competitive edge in the context of globalisation. The regional specialisations built up over decades are transforming rapidly. Many regions that were historically production centres in a given sector are losing out to lower-cost locations and reorienting to higher value-added niches. Yet e ....

n 2004, BHP Billiton announced it would open what has since become a US$2.2 billion nickel mine in the rural Shire of Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. The arrival of this mine exemplifies profound and rapid rural economic change. Taking the position that economic change cannot be understood separately from local social aspects and ....

One hundred and one American counties were selected randomly within predetermined strata and used to study the extent of use of e-government technologies. The study design was cross-sectional and the time period of the study was a single year, 2006. Each website was analyzed to obtain an e-government utilization score. The research obje ....

Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) in rural areas promise improved health care for many underserved populations. However, implementation in rural areas faces many challenges. One of the most rural states in the United States is in the process of creating a second comprehensive health information network and offers an ....