President's Update

Hello CDS Family,

Every day we grow closer to spring and its promises of rebirth and renewal. The last few years could be a described as a time of global economic winter. Deep have been the drifts of social and economic upheaval. As with the warming of spring sun promising the return of life, so too does the hope of global economic and social stability.

Recovery and ultimate stability will come from the development of effective policy and practice developed at the local, regional, and national levels. Examples of policy promoting recovery are those that support innovation and entrepreneurship. Such is the focus of the 2012 Annual Conference of the Community Development Society to be held in Cincinnati, OH, July 21-25.

I am excited to announce that we have received over 140 submissions for presentations at the conference. These submissions will enable the program committee to put together one of the largest and most dynamic conferences in CDS history. The conference promises to be an exciting four days of reuniting with colleagues, sharing and learning tactics and strategies of community development, and fun for attendees and families alike.

As part of the conference, Don Macke from the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) will serve as one of the keynote speakers. Don is a Director with the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. The Center works throughout the United States and supports research, outreach, education and policy development related to rural entrepreneurship. RUPRI

is a national research and policy center focusing in multiple areas including economic development, poverty, health care, telecommunications, informatics, policy analysis and community impact analysis.

Don has nearly 30 years of experience in the field of rural community economic development. He has served in the Nebraska Legislature, the Cabinet of the Nelson Administration in Nebraska, served as a consultant in nearly 40 states, Canada and the Caribbean. He has served as Co-Director for the RUPRI Center for the last five years. During this time Don and the RUPRI team have logged over 1 million miles throughout North America discovering and documenting rural entrepreneurship initiatives.

Don has a B.S. in Environmental Science and a MA in Regional Economics from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

I am excited to learn from Don and all of the speakers at this year's conference.  To learn how to get involved or to volunteer at the conference, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  I look forward to seeing everyone at this year's conference.

Respectfully,

Brent Hales

News from CDS

CDS 2012 Conference: Cincinnati, Here We Come!

CDS has a long tradition of dynamic and enlightening conferences.  We are excited to travel to Cincinnati, Ohio for our annual conference July 23-25, 2012. With 143 abstract submissions to be reviewed, rest assured that the conference schedule will include some wonderful presentations. In addition, the meeting will include plenary speakers and mobile learning workshops. Cincinnati is a lively "City of Seven Hills" located on the Ohio River. The local host committee has been busy planning a great local event for your enjoyment.

The conference will focus on ways to strengthen communities and provide a high quality of life for all residents. We will work toward defining sustainable community development, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

The program will include many issues and areas of community development practice:
*    Comprehensive Community Initiatives and Processes
*    Community Learning Centers
*    Community Cultural Arts
*    Healthy Communities
*    Community Engagement in Higher Education
*    Community Development Policy

More information

See you in July!

2012 Community Development Society Awards--Submit your nominations now!
Recognize the exceptional work of your mentor, colleague, or student by nominating them for a prestigious CDS Award!

More information, including nomination forms, is available on the CDS website. Questions?  Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Awards Committee Co-Chairperson, Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, 859.583.6786. The deadline to submit a nomination is March 15, 2012.

CD Practice

CD Practice is a web-based publication of the Community Development Society. It presents innovative approaches, tools, and techniques that can be readily applied by community development practitioners.

Vanguard: A Major CDS Marketing Tool - Please Share It with Others

For the love of CDS, share it with your friends and encourage them to subscribe! Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Puh-lease!

CDS Website: Blog and Other Social Networking Features

A new blog has been installed on the CDS website. Click on the tab "Easyblog" to get started.  To learn more about how the blog works, and all of the feature and functions, you can view a video tutorial. If you have suggestions or ideas, please do not hesitate to contact Communications Committee Co-Chair This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Compiled by Timothy Collins, Assistant Director, Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs

Big Rural Brainstorm Focuses on Reviving Kansas Towns

The goal of a recent gathering in Newton, KS, recently was nothing short of this: to revive rural Kansas. And to do it with mostly volunteers.

Foundations, others discuss ideas for increasing philanthropy in rural America

The full conversation of the recent Twitter Chat is archived here.

Sustainable Is Not Enough: A Call for Regenerative Cities

Because so much damage has already been done to the world's ecosystems, and solutions need to be found to reverse it, we need to start thinking of regenerative rather than just sustainable urban development.

Innovative State and City Government Solutions to Watch in 2012

As the nation inches toward economic recovery, it's become increasingly apparent that restoring prosperity is not just a matter of bouncing back and returning to business as usual.

Pay for Success: How a New Kind of Bond Could Save Taxpayer Money and Improve Social Services

Two federal agencies will steer tax money for social programs through a new for-profit investing tool tested in the United Kingdom and Australia, according to "Pay for Success: Investing in What Works," co-authored by the White House and the Nonprofit Finance Fund.

The Economic Value of Opportunity Youth

Many of America's youth are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor

market - they are not investing in their human capital or earning income. Their disconnection represents a significant loss of economic opportunity for the nation, according to a report on"opportunity youth."

Thirsty City: Understanding the Water-Energy Nexus

The nexus between the need to increase water resources and decrease energy use are both exacerbated by, and exacerbate, climate change.

"Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing"

A new United Nations report formulates a new blueprint for sustainable development and low-carbon prosperity.

Local Economies for a Global Future

Yes, we need to relocalize-but that doesn't mean we're headed for provincialism. Anticipating our near-heavy, far-light future.

The Worth of the Rural 'Creative Economy'

From the Blues Trail through the Delta to the Walter Anderson Museum on the Gulf Coast, rural Mississippi's economy is buoyed by what we call the "creative economy."

If It Works in Sangudo, AB, CA, Why Not In Your Community?

Sangudo Opportunity Development Co-operative (SODC) is a unique investment co-op working to revitalize the economic viability of the small rural community of Sangudo, Alberta. It is a one-of-a-kind co-op model in Canada, where members stimulate community business growth and sustainability through a collective investment of their capital.

The New Geography of Trade: Globalization's Decline May Stimulate Local Recovery

It is an article of faith that global trade will be an ever-growing presence in the world. Yet this belief rests on shaky foundations.

Getting Workers to Columbus, Nebraska

Columbus, Nebraska, has a problem. The rural town has jobs, but it can't find workers to fill them. Columbus officials have gone on recruiting missions to find new residents, but they've discovered that there are reasons people can't move.

Algae May Be Slime to You, But...

A new futuristic exhibition called HORTUS (Latin for 'garden,' but in this case "Hydro Organisms Responsive to Urban Stimuli) at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London is educating the public with an urban algae farm that relies on humans and technology to help the plants grow.

My Prices Are Not Too High: A Farmer Fires Back

Why are my prices higher than those at the super market? Glad you asked.

Retaining Neighborhood Supermarkets in New York City The New York Healthy Communities Fund is providing $50 million in seed money to increase access to food in underserved communities.

Beyond "Free" or "Fair" Trade: Mexican Farmers Go Local

We usually think of the demand for local, organic foods as coming from the North. But in southern Mexico, the growing localist movement is a strategy for survival

Popuphood: How to Revitalize a Struggling Neighborhood in Six Months

Many cities in America are facing the slow decline of their main streets and shopping areas. But a new program in Oakland, CA, might be the key to reviving vibrant, local commercial centers. All it takes is a little free rent and some entrepreneurial spirit.

Youth-Powered Hopes Drive Howard, SD Ahead

A small town in South Dakota has become a model of community planning, thanks to an inspired high school assignment and continued leadership of local youth.

The Best and Worst Run Cities in America

Many qualities separate the best-run and worst-run cities. But perhaps the most important is access to jobs.

The Evolution of England's First Planned Community

At the turn of the twentieth century, there was an antidote to the moral and physical degradations of the metropolis, a new urban model that would be healthier for body and soul: the Garden City.

Converted Textile Mills Spinning New Community Economic Development
Textile mill buildings that once supported the city of Lawrence, MA, are again the key to its economic future.

The Rural America Contemporary Art Group

Rapid changes in new media have enabled rural artists to not only share their work, but to create networks and movements that transcend the easy boundaries that might define "rural arts and culture."

Kansas City Fed Joins with Partners to Address Workforce Needs

The latest issue of Community Connections tells how the Kansas City Fed is joining with other Reserve Banks to facilitate the development of more workforce training programs.

When a Socialist's Book Swayed the Nation

Michael Harrington wrote The Other America 50 years ago, part of what inspired the War on Poverty.

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President's Update

Happy New Year!

2012 promises to be a banner year for the Community Development Society and its partners.  Being a new year and as tradition holds, goals are set outlining potential growth opportunities for the next year. The Board of Directors has set some high goals in membership growth, conference planning and attendance, and partnerships with other societies. It is expected that each of these goals will increase the Societies' bottom line and ability to reach out to communities and regions.

The Board of Directors has undertaken an aggressive membership campaign designed to promote involvement of past members and to create partnerships with other societies. The Board expects these moves to produce increased memberships and therefore increased revenue and sustainability of CDS. Specifically, CDS is reaching out to past members in an effort to encourage them to renew their memberships. CDS is also adjusting its marketing strategy to include past members in its marketing efforts.

The Board is seeking to identify the locations of the conferences and potential partners for conferences through 2016. In an effort to do so, strategic partnerships have been explored by the Board. It is expected that the identification of the upcoming sites will enable CDS to make more effective plans, raise funds for the conferences, increase the capacity of members to attend, and work with potential partnering associations to co-host conferences.

2012 will see five issues of the Journal, new leadership, a dynamic conference, and programs designed to enhance the membership's ability to practice community development. Please do not hesitate to make recommendations to the Board or to participate in the conference. We look forward to a successful year and the promise of more effective community development practice and research.

Respectfully,

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President, Community Development Society

News from CDS

CDS 2012 Conference Call for Abstracts

More information and the call

Click here to submit

The CDS annual conference focuses on ways to strengthen communities and provide a high quality of life for all residents. At this conference we will work toward defining sustainable community development, innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovation in community development refers not only to the new ideas being developed within community systems, but also the adoption process, speed, and performance of the innovative activity. Entrepreneurship speaks to the venturesome ideas which stimulate economic progress by finding new and better ways of doing things.

The program includes many issues and areas of community development practice such as:

*    Comprehensive Community Initiatives and

Processes

For a description of each track, please review the full Call for Abstracts.

We invite your presentations, workshops and discussions of successful and innovative approaches to solving development issues in communities, large and small, in the US or internationally to share with your colleagues, new and emerging scholars, students and others in Cincinnati.

Award Recipients from the 2011 Annual Meeting in Boise

Duane L. Gibson Distinguished Service Award - Alan Kirk

Ted K. Bradshaw Outstanding Research Award - Thomas S. Lyons, Ph.D.; Baruch College, City University of New York

Community Development Achievement Award - Mark Peterson; University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service

Current Research Award - David Ivan; Michigan State University Extension

Donald W. Littrell New Professional Award - Paul Lachapelle; Montana State University

CD Practice

CD Practice is a web-based publication of the Community Development Society. It presents innovative approaches, tools, and techniques that can be readily applied by community development practitioners.

Vanguard: A Major CDS Marketing Tool - Please Share It with Others

As part of its commitment to serve CDS members more effectively, the board increased the number of Vanguard issues and changed the format to make it more timely and useful. In addition, the board decided to open subscriptions to nonmembers. So, for the love of CDS, share it with your friends and encourage them to subscribe! Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Puh-lease!

CDS Website: Blog and Other Social Networking Features

A new blog has been installed on the CDS website. Click on the tab "Easyblog" to get started.  To learn more about how the blog works, and all of the feature and functions, you can view a video tutorial. If you have suggestions or ideas, please do not hesitate to contact Communications Committee Co-Chair This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Compiled by Timothy Collins, Assistant Director, Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs

How Twitter Proves That Place Matters

A new study, "The Geography of Twitter Networks," takes a detailed look at the geography of Twitter and what it can tell us about the nature of interaction and proximity in the Internet age.

Pocomoke, MD's municipal leaders are building a 145-seat restaurant and bar completely on spec.

Spurred by an insult, led by a strong mayor and grounded in volunteerism,  Scottsburg, Indiana, has replenished itself as both a community and a regional economic force.

When you think of art, what do you think of? Paintings, sculptures, performances?  What about community revitalization and development?

A new culture of small, local companies could still use the Rust Belt's ingenuity and know-how, and the Rust Belt could use their energy and cachet. If they figured out how to work together, they might change the way things are made in America.

"Unless we make a distinction between jobs and work we are going to be like Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times, appendages to a machine," Boggs says. "How do we do the kind of daily activity that grows our souls so that we don't have to make up for the indignities of our labor? Jobs are not the answer; jobs are the problem. Now we've reached a stage where creating things can be done by robots. So what we have to do is create ourselves. That's what The Next American Revolution is all about, creating better selves."

For decades, city fathers and academics have studied economic development, searching diligently for ways to make urban economies prosper.

People looking for information about local restaurants and other businesses say they

Last year's gathering of the National Rural Assembly in St. Paul focused on building a more inclusive nation where all the people and all the places can make a difference.

More information about the event may be found on the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme website.

More than 1,600 participants from 62 countries took part in the International Forum on the Social and Solidarity Economy in Montréal last October.

Like it or not, the megacity is coming. Will it be urban dystopia, or ordered, smart, green and secure? As a billion rural dwellers vote with their feet, will numbers overwhelm us?

Seasteading: Libertarians dream of creating self-ruling floating cities. But can the many obstacles, not least the engineering ones, be overcome?

A new study by the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration confirms that business incubation contributes to entrepreneurial success, demonstrates that the most successful incubators employ best practices and shows that incubator programming and management have the greatest impact on client success.

More than just including the voices of civil society actors and coalitions, the green economy debate must take into account the diversity of understandings, interactions and values that characterize the struggle for a unified civil society response.

Realizing Local Development in the Carbon Commodity Chain

This paper provides an analysis of how local community development is connected to the global carbon economy through the creation of carbon commodities (offset credits) and the role of premium credit certification in assisting in local development.  The paper shows that information on local conditions should be focused on political-economic processes and the interactions between actors to nuance the social benefits of carbon credit generation in developing country contexts.

Series Explores Income Inequality

Part 1: Overview

Part 2: The Loss of Shared Prosperity

Part 3: Widening Inequality Since the 1970s

Part 4: More on the Widening of Inequality Since the 1970s

Part 5: The Concentration of Income and Wealth

The Recession's Ongoing Impact on America's Children

Children throughout the United States continue to be negatively impacted by the lingering effects of the Great Recession, with children in some states more hard hit than others.

Rural Family Incomes Drop 2007-2010

With the recession, rural incomes have declined in seven out of ten counties. And incomes remain highest in metropolitan areas.

Generations Bookend Rural Great Plains and Midwest

A new  Center for Rural Affairs report released finds that rural areas in the Great Plains and Midwest continue to lose population and are caught between "bookend generations" - the youngest and the oldest - with a demographic valley in between.

South Toward Home

After the community outpouring that followed his sister's death, a brother decides to move back to his small-town birthplace.

Rural Small Business Trends 2012

Rural and small town small business trends are always different from the general trends driving small business nationally. This year, the most dramatic difference is in the economic outlook.

How Kite Photography Can Empower Local Communities

Attach a digital camera to a balloon or kite, and what do you get? An easy tool for public participation in land use decisions.

New FAO Report Profiles World's Land and Water Resources

Widespread degradation and deepening scarcity of land and water resources have placed a number of key food production systems around the globe at risk, posing a profound challenge to the task of feeding a world population expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050, according to a  new FAO report.

Ecosystem Services Come of Age

Ecosystems are humanity's life-support systems. And the services they provide, such as carbon sequestration, flood control, water purification, and storm protection, have tremendous value (monetary and otherwise) to people. This special issue of Solutions explores how a new generation of environmentalists, from the Pacific Northwest to South Africa, is using the ecosystem services concept to protect both nature and people.

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