Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Blending Diverse Community Capability For Regional Development: The Case Of An E-Commerce Initiative For Local Indigenous Artists, Ann Hodgkinson, Helen M. Hasan

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Regional communities often encompass the variety of skills and knowledge needed to take advantage of the Internet in order to open up their products and services to the global market place. They can, however, lack the foresight to identify opportunities to bring this diverse capability together and then manage it to carry out projects to successful outcomes. This paper presents a case where economic and technical expertise from a regional university has joined with exceptional artists, working in a struggling local indigenous community, to conduct a project to develop an e-commerce website both to sell their art-works and to promote …

Gateway Gardens Site Analysis, Chris Gage, Rory Renfro, Jessica Sarver, Ben Sturtz, Nicole Wolters

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Gateway Gardens Site Analysis takes a comprehensive look at a largely-vacant land area in Portland’s Gateway District. Currently owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), the 38-acre site currently serves as right-of-way for surrounding freeways, namely Interstates 84 and 205.

The project team developed a sequential process for completing this report. To gain an understanding of the project site, the initial step consisted of identifying key historical events and land uses that formed the site into what it is today. The team then conducted an in-depth existing conditions analysis, covering a wide range of elements including natural and …

Community-Based Learning And Social Justice, Karen Gibson

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is a reflective essay on the ways in which community-based learning (CBL) enriches the work life of a faculty member who retains working-class roots and an interest in social justice. Using examples from courses and applied research on community development, housing, ,:and poverty, the essay explains how meaningful relationships with community organizations act as a counter-balance to the isolation of an academic career. It also discusses the value of community-based learning when teaching about social justice themes.

From "Poor" To "Not Poor": Improved Understandings And The Advantage Of The Qualitative Approach, Eleanor Wint, Christine Frank

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Re-analysis of qualitative data generated in six Country Poverty Assessments in the Caribbean, suggests that traditional ways of seeing the poor might well lead to unfair categorisation of a people who are unwilling to be seen as living in poverty. Use of qualitative data software was able to bring out new understandings of the conceptual difference between being poor and living in poverty. Wint and Frank suggest that this is a distinction which those responsible for designing and implementing poverty intervention strategies would be wise to bear in mind as it would allow for creative and timely use of community-based …

Environmental Justice And The Role Of Social Capital In An Underserved Urban Community, Lorraine Ann Dillon

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate a community's beliefs, attitudes, and experiences regarding their neighborhood's environmental health issues and the ways in which individuals utilize social capital (the degree to which a community collaborates and cooperates) to improve their environmental health. Research correlating social capital with health status shows that the higher the level of social capital in a community, the better the health. An understanding of why some groups exhibit more social capital than others is important in improving the public health system. The study was accomplished by comparing a convenience sample of two specific groups …

The Market For Change: Community Economic Development On A Wider Stage, Peter R. Pitegoff

Faculty Publications

Community economic development (CED) is distinguished by a specific agenda for broader development and accountability - for building local resources, economic capacity and political clout in lower- and moderate-income communities. Organizing and development of low-income communities must take account of microenterprise as the locus of substantial economic activity.