Malcolm Moseley makes an impressive job of "cutting through the cackle" and has produced a definitive catch-all volume to inform students, practitioners, community activists and local decision makers alike.... The book is transparently and logically laid out.... From a personal perspective as community activist and local authority member, I found the book invaluable. Here were satisfying definitions of terms I have grappled with for years - "rural," "community," "sustainable," "social capital," "capacity building," "the leaky bucket." Here also were some outstanding examples of good practice... In sum, this is a rural community development painting by numbers in the hands of an old master, well worth around 20 of investment' - "The Rural Digest

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Advocating the fundamental need for an innovative and holistic approach to rural development, Rural Development: Principles and Practice demonstrates and explains, whilst seeking to improve, the mechanisms for planning, managing and financing rural development at the local level.

This book is structured in terms of the key concepts of this field: sustainability, innovation, adding value, entrepreneurship, community, social inclusion, accessibility, partnership, community involvement, diagnosis, strategic planning, implementation and evaluation. Each is then placed into a practical context by two illustrative case studies related to development in rural Europe, the initiatives of which the author was either personally involved in or had personal knowledge.

The first director of ACRE (the national voluntary organisation committed to promoting the vitality of England's villages and small towns and to improving the quality of life of their disadvantaged residents), Malcolm Moseley is a researcher, teacher and consultant in the European Union's LEADER Rural Development Programme' and the Countryside and Community Research Unit of the University of Gloucestershire. The author draws from this wealth of personal experience with the aim of providing activists, practitioners and specialists, as well as students, a concise and operational text which links the theory and practice of undertaking locally focused rural development. As such, Rural Development: Principles and Practice is essential reading for all interested or actively involved in local rural development issues.

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Planning Canadian Regions is the first book to consolidate the history, evolution, current practice, and future prospects for regional planning in Canada. As planners grapple with challenges wrought by globalization, the evolution of massive new city-regions, and the pressures of sustainable and community development, a deeper understanding of Canada's approaches is invaluable. Hodge and Robinson identify the conceptual and historical foundations of regional planning and propose a new planning paradigm that emphasizes regional governance and greater inclusiveness and integration of physical planning with planning for economic sustainability and natural ecosystems.

Contemporary processes of economic, social, political and cultural restructuring are having profound impacts on the form and function of rural areas within the countries of the European Union and beyond. Furthermore, rural development policies and programmes at EU and national levels have been critical in shaping the responses of different rural areas across Europe to these wider processes of restructuring. Contrasting empirical studies of ten European countries, this volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the restructuring processes and the various national, regional and local rural development programmes. Adopting a different national perspective in each chapter, it focuses particularly on issues of power and leadership in the evolution and administration of these programmes. Five broad issues are examined in each case: socio-economic changes in rural areas, the administrative context in which rural development and political activities take place, the sociological context, the political control of rural development, and the use of different discourses of rurality in shaping the development process.

Planning Canadian Regions is the first book to consolidate the history, evolution, current practice, and future prospects for regional planning in Canada. As planners grapple with challenges wrought by globalization, the evolution of massive new city-regions, and the pressures of sustainable and community development, a deeper understanding of Canada’s approaches is invaluable. Hodge and Robinson identify the conceptual and historical foundations of regional planning and propose a new planning paradigm that emphasizes regional governance and greater inclusiveness and integration of physical planning with planning for economic sustainability and natural ecosystems.

Around the fringe of Europe lies a green ring of countries which have followed different pathways into modernity from the industrial core of the continent and have, until recently, been characterized by a strong agrarian presence in their politics, economy and culture. This book brings together case studies from both the post-socialist countries and EU member states which make up the green ring to compare experiences of rural and agricultural groups. It provides a fascinating opportunity to identify similarities and contrasts in the ways in which these countries have managed their rural areas when faced with the challenges set by industrialization, political integration and globalization. The book focuses on agrarian transformation as de- (and sometimes re- ) peasantization - referring to the changing economic, social, cultural and political positions of farmers and food production workers. It also problematizes the standard rural models and opens up discussion of the problems these models pose for the farmers of the green ring countries.

This collection offers a comprehensive selection of journal articles and book chapters that provide readers with an historical overview of rural planning, collating the canonical writings on the subject in one essential reference work. Each volume begins with an editorial introduction by the editor explaining the context and choice of contents, with the set organised thematically, from the concept of the rural, to the policy and governance aspects, through to the considerations of environmental change. Sections will consider the key concepts of rural development with a broad range of representative published sources included. Reflecting various approaches in the best scholarship, this will be of major assistance for students of planning and geography quickly locating the best information on the built environment in rural locations.

In 1987 Frank and Deborah Popper proposed a bold solution to the decline of America's Great Plains: create a vast nature preserve by returning 139,000 square miles in ten states to prairie and reintroducing the buffalo that once roamed there. In "Where the Buffalo Roam," Anne Matthews follows the Poppers from Montana to Texas as they try to sell their idea called the Buffalo Commons; in the process, she introduces us to the people who love these arid windswept lands.
This edition includes a new foreword by environmental historian Donald Worster. Matthews's new afterword describes how with growing support from Native Americans and private groups like the Nature Conservancy, the Poppers' dream of a Buffalo Commons is becoming a reality.
"An admirably crafted book, as poignant and entertaining as it is informative."--"Seattle Times
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"A priceless piece of Americana."--"The Boston Globe"
"Matthew's delightful account of the Poppers, their proposal and the controversy surrounding it does focus new attention on the region and its problems."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer
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"Bright, active, effective journalism. . . . An extremely savvy overlook of the dilemmas of the Great Plains."--Wallace Stegner