Community Engagement

Some political scientists have argued that 'countrymindedness', a set of tenets about the importance of agriculture and rural life, is of decreasing political and social importance. There has been little empirical research to test this, so the authors conducted an exploratory survey of attitudes to rural industries and people. The results reveal ....

In recent decades we have witnessed a diversification of rural communities, where the agricultural sector has had to increasingly compete with other interests and demands on rural land. Land management agencies have recognised that in order to resolve sustainability dilemmas, it is important to bring the diverse stakeholders togeth ....

Rural communities need to move beyond their market remoteness and limitations by engaging in innovation and entrepreneurship that will enhance rural economic growth and strength. Self-development efforts provide opportunities for remote regions to increase their entrepreneurship activities, strengthen the rural economy, and enhance soci ....

One of the most important objectives of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) is to support informed debate on key policy issues. We recognise that many councils and other local government organisations are not always able to undertake sufficient background research to underpin and develop sound, evidence-based po ....

This paper addresses social enterprises as strategies for engaging community resources for sustainable change. In this context, the negotiation of indicators of change in communities and agreement on the indirect and cumulative signs of sustainable progress become critical components for effective risk management as well as for sus ....

Presents examples of the many community relationships and projects in which Rio Tinto has invested during 2007 and 2008; includes information on Indigenous projects such as Indij Readers; Opening the Doors Foundation; Aboriginal training initiative; The Aurora Project (building capacity in Native Title Representative Bodies); Paren ....

In developed countries a social learning approach has been shown to support Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) by fostering stakeholders' understanding of system complexity, recognition of mutual dependence, appreciation of others' perspectives, and development of the capacity to work together and to create mutual trust. ....

A systems framework has been developed to understand the performance of regional natural resource management (NRM). The framework recognises that regional bodies move through three key life cycle stages: foundation, NRM plan development and NRM plan implementation. The performance of regional bodies has been defined in terms of man ....

Annual report by Southern Rural Water. Overview of governance, customers, stakeholders and financial report.  Report LocationClick here to view the full report ....

Using the example of the regional Victorian city of Bendigo, this paper discusses new drivers for change in planning for regional cities. Key challenges are associated with environment, global relationships, urban amorphism, water security, sustainable growth, application of new planning policy, the clash between heritage and moder ....

This publication contains three papers: The first paper, by Professor Paul Lawless of Sheffield Hallam University, looks at the impact of the New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme. The programme evaluation has shown more signs of positive change in relation to place outcomes (community, crime, and housing and the physical environment), than p ....

To what extent does social organisation and local 'culture' have a bearing on social outcomes in rural communities? This project adopts a social capital perspective in examining how rural families adjust to changes in the social and economic landscape. It seeks to understand how rural families participate in the accumulation and ut ....

Why do people in some places experience far higher levels of social development than others? In a world in which millions of people, particularly in developing countries, continue to lead lives plagued by illiteracy and ill-health, understanding the conditions under which social development does or does not occur is of critical importance to poli ....

Recent concerns over a crisis of identity and legitimacy in community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) have emerged following several decades of documented failure. A substantial literature has developed on the reasons for failure in CBNRM. In this paper, we complement this literature by considering these factors in relation to two succe ....