ABSTRACT In Minnesota, historic preservation efforts leveraged by state historic tax credits have been used to achieve local economic development goals. This analysis explores how developers used three approaches to turn historic buildings into housing. The approaches include 1) leveraging private investment, 2) developing private-public partnerships, and 3) creating community partnerships. Using a mixed methods approach, the analysis lends insight into the role of public versus private investment in historic preservation. It provides an overview of federal historic tax credits and reviews the structure of state historic tax credits. From there, it contains a summary of eight projects in Minnesota that transformed underutilized historic properties into housing, including a history of the building, a description of the rehabilitation project, and the project’s economic contribution. Finally, it explores the implications for communities desiring to utilize historic tax credits to address community economic development goals.

ABSTRACT Land degradation neutrality frames global restoration commitments, yet degradation threatens climate-vulnerable communities’ livelihoods, health, and security. Sustainable land management (SLM) offers a key pathway to climate resilience and reversing degradation. Namibia, facing severe climate impacts, requires strategies that integrate land restoration with adaptation. This review examines synergies between SLM and climate adaptation, identifying practices that boost productivity, biodiversity, ecosystem restoration, and enhances resilience. A search of 3 databases yielded 347 papers, with 111 screened for analysis. Findings highlight conservation agriculture, agroforestry, rotational grazing, and community-based natural resource management as vital for sustainable resource use and local empowerment. SLM-aligned policy frameworks are essential to improve monitoring, private sector engagement, and renewable energy integration. The review calls for policy integration, active community engagement, and increased financial support for SLM. We recommend formal integration of SLM into national adaptation policies, backed by community governance, targeted climate finance, robust monitoring, and private sector engagement.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the influence of seven livelihood assets: cultural, psychological, natural, social, financial, human, and physical on the productivity of Papuan nutmeg farmers in Fakfak, West Papua. Based on a survey of 151 farmers from both coastal and mountainous districts, the analysis employs descriptive statistics, The Kruskal–Wallis Test, and structural equation modeling (SEM-PLS). The results reveal that social, human, and psychological assets significantly and positively influence productivity, with social assets showing the strongest effect. Coastal farmers benefit from better access to land, resources, and traditional practices, resulting in higher productivity, while mountainous farmers face challenges such as limited resources and weaker community cooperation. Interestingly, financial and physical assets do not significantly affect productivity. The study recommends interventions focused on strengthening social networks, improving labor skills, and enhancing psychological resilience, as these strategies are likely to be more effective in improving productivity than financial or physical assistance alone.

ABSTRACT Top-down planning and failed engagement are barriers to city renewal worldwide. Tactical urbanism and DIY have potential, but their effect remains potentialized, especially in Iran. This study probes a DIY method for renewing Tehran’s Deh Vanak district by exploring its socio-spatial characteristics, proposing a citizen-led process, and assessing strategic viability. The study used a mixed-method research design which included a survey of the inhabitants (n = 364), statistically analyzed and tested for reliability. High social capital and capacity for community action (e.g. green spaces, facade upgrading) exist, but high levels of distrust in municipal institutions. Strategies of top priority are the establishment of neighborhood associations, the running of tactical urbanism pilots, and the updating of regulations. Success is contingent upon the municipality shifting its role from controller to facilitator. This study delivers a replicable model for participatory regeneration of Global South cities.

ABSTRACT Local resource mobilization is explored as facilitated by a faith-based NGO in rural Bangladesh communities. The study aimed to understand the organization’s impact on community development through local resource mobilization. Employing a mixed-method approach, data were gathered through face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, in-depth case interviews, and key information interviews. The study revealed positive outcomes among participants, with 70% reporting favorable learning experiences from the NGO’s training programs. The program significantly contributed to increase income generation, evidenced by loan repayments and grant utilization for income-generating activities. The research also identified limitations and external factors that affected community income enhancement, emphasizing the importance of comprehending the local context. These findings have policy implications, guiding rural development experts, practitioners, development organizations, and policymakers. Understanding faith-based NGOs’ strategies and their impact on local resource mobilization will enable stakeholders to design initiatives fostering sustainable community development in rural Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT This paper centers local processes for co-creating transitions toward more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient coastal community development. We have conceptualized a path for change processes with phases of transition including 1. Reasons to convene; 2. Governance and participation “rules”; 3. Building knowledge together; 4. Implementing and experimenting; 5. Post-hoc reflections and assessment; 6. Transfer/reproduction of practices. Here, we focus on the first three stepping stones, which form the foundation of the collaborative process, focusing on the challenges and opportunities encountered as a pilot intervention is planned. We use a framework informed by partnership-, co-creation-, transition-, and justice literatures, to analyze data focused on establishing partnerships for ongoing co-creation of knowledge, empowering actors in the local communities, and selecting options for an intervention pilot. Conclusions relate to (a) trust and preexisting relationships, (b) what inclusion means, (c) internal power differentials, (d) preexisting tensions in the community, (e) challenges to co-creation.

ABSTRACT This study explores the livelihood challenges faced by workers in the closed tea estates of Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, focusing on Chamurchi, Kathalguri, Redbank, and Surendranagar estates. Fieldwork conducted in July–August 2023, including structured interviews and secondary data analysis, reveals significant socio-economic difficulties due to estate closures. A key issue is the income-expenditure gap, leading to widespread debt and instability. Workers’ attempts to diversify income are often unsuccessful, and exploitative contractual labor conditions are common. The lack of land ownership, alternative income, and skills further deepens poverty. The study recommends securing land rights, implementing skill development programs, and improving access to resources to promote sustainable livelihoods and economic resilience in these communities.

ABSTRACT Purpose This study investigates healthcare practice emerging through a co-creative outreach initiative with a social housing association to foster community engagement for residents with illness and disability. Using a collaborative writing methodology, we conducted two workshops with healthcare professionals and researchers to explore this practice. Findings We develop the concept of Caring Local Community Practice, a co-creative care approach aimed at inclusive participation. However, we argue that co-creation does not automatically ensure inclusivity. Rather than focusing on including “the marginalized other” into fixed settings, we propose the concept of inclusiveness as an ongoing, relational engagement that builds communities through diverse ways of being. Originality/value While highlighting the health-promoting and equity-enhancing potential of this practice, we stress the need for institutional and policy changes to fully realize it. This study contributes insights into relational approaches in healthcare engagement and the use of collaborative writing workshops as a transformative research method.

ABSTRACT In 2010, San Antonio leaders sought to leverage networks and collective action to create a future in which each resident was responsible to the whole community in helping to reach a shared vision for 2020 to become a world-class city. In doing so, city administrators applied social capital theories to utilize the active networks in a social capital-rich community, which creates a wider capacity for dynamic actions and more opportunity for community practitioners to meet development goals. This case study compiles secondary sources from publicly distributed data sets, utilizing data mining techniques and social network analysis to describe community capacity building outcomes. This case study examines community development outcomes through a social-network analysis of organizational leadership, combined with an examination of diversity, civic engagement, and participation within the decade-long initiative, to provide insights for other leaders seeking to utilize a social capital theory approach to capacity building.