This book chapter seeks to: (i) explore 'the community' as a vital context for health promotion; (ii) explore different meanings of community participation, engagement, community involvement and community development; (iii) discuss the importance of social capital; (iv) explore the role of lay...

The theory of participatory action research recommends finding tools for community participation in analysis of the situation and development of community programmes. Two case studies, from KwaZulu-Natal and from Philippi near Cape Town, are examined. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques...

Africa is urbanizing rapidly, and many unemployed or poor people are trying to produce food in urban and peri-urban areas. Many local authorities see this as high-risk food production, mainly because of the risk of use of contaminated water. However, with good planning, urban gardens can supply...

This chapter describes how the Char Development and Settlement Project in Bangladesh is involving and empowering the char communities in different ways to continue the development of their area. The roles of local government institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and field-level...

The first part of this chapter looks at how the concepts of local communities and local people are defined as well as the role of tourism as a community development tool. The next section examines local people's attitudes towards tourism or changes initiated or facilitated by tourism in World...

Asian Paints Limited and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) collaborated to improve rural livelihoods through integrated watershed development programme. Six villages in Patancheru mandal of Medak district, Telangana, India covering an area of 7143 ha were...

This chapter uses the recent case of land reform in Scotland (in which large private estates are being transferred to community ownership) to reconsider the role of land reform in rural development and, more broadly, the role of property rights. In contrast to reforms that redistribute land (or...

This chapter examines empowerment and sustainability through Yoruba women's professional pursuits in Nigeria. It analyses the manifestation of empowerment indices in the lives of women in education, health, business and other sectors. The impact and roles of women's professional pursuits to the...

Applying a feminist political ecology framework, this chapter presents evidence of glocal networking among rural women from case studies in rural India, Tanzania and Italy. The three cases look at: gender and sustainable livelihoods in rural India; women mobilizing for sustainable community...

This chapter uses the lens of social-ecological resilience to understand community gardens in three very different locations, and how they may represent the rapidly growing community garden movement in different urban contexts in the Global North. The first case focuses on the burgeoning community...