By John Burbidge
Approaches That Work In Rural Development
Emerging trends, participatory methods and local initiatives that transformed rural development, showcased by the International Exposition of Rural Development (IERD) 1982-86.
International Exposition
of Rural Development
(IERD) 1982-86
The IERD was a watershed. It highlighted that bottom-up, grassroots processes are an indispensable part of any serious long-term effort to improve the quality of rural life. The underlying culture of local people, their sense of identity, and their confidence to take initiatives related to their expressed needs are of paramount importance.
— Sir James Lindsay, Former President, ICA International
Other Books
Beyond Prince and Merchant
A seminal publication on the rise of civil society as a pivotal force for social change in today’s global society.
Dare Me!
The acclaimed biography of an author whose audacious life and provocative writing pushed the boundaries of acceptability in 20th century Australia.
Please Forward:
The Life of Liza Tod
An extraordinary woman whose peripatetic life went from being a memsahib in British India to a celebrated fundraiser for an international NGO.
The IERD was unique as a broad-based rural development ‘movement’ where rural practitioners occupied center stage. It proved that a new people-oriented approach to rural development is not only a dream but increasingly a reality.
— GORAN HYDEN
DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
UNIVersity OF FLORIDA
Approaches That Work In Rural Development
Following WW II, newly emerging nations called for restructuring global society around a set of fundamental rights and universally felt needs. This ‘New International Economic Order’ or ‘Fairness Revolution’ was as profound in its implications as the concept of democratic government two centuries before. It involved:
— basic human needs (food, shelter, health care, education, employment, personal security)
— a sense of human dignity
— a sense of becoming, being able to attain a better life
— a sense of justice or equity
— a sense of achievement
— a sense of solidarity in belonging to a worthy group
— participation in decisions that affect the group’s and one’s own destiny
From “Development for What? Emerging Trends of Promise and Concern” — the opening chapter by Willis W. Harman.
My Writing Blog
Musings from a Writer’s Life
How I Almost Didn’t Become a Writer
In the summer of 1987 I took a break from my NGO in Brussels to spend a week with an Australian friend in Exeter, England. A few months before, I had made contact with a young gay Gujarati guy who had grown up in East Africa and now lived in the UK, but had never been...
A Writer by Default Rather Than Design
When I was ten years old my father gave me a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. It soon became my close friend and constant companion. I would look up a word, then get sidetracked by others, revealing words and worlds I never knew existed. I didn’t know it then...