Community, Rural

The results of the Sustainable Development Commission's work on enabling local communities to lead neighbourhood renewal projects has been published as 'The Future is Local: Empowering communities to improve their neighbourhoods'.

Community Development Exchange, the membership organisation for community development, has a new e-membership category "for the princely sum of nowt". This provides a monthly e-zine, policy updates and occasional CDX news.

See http://www.cdx.org.uk/news/become-e-member-cdx.

A joint publication from bassac and Urban Forum, 'Local Action: The Handy Guide to Communities Working with Councillors', shows how councillor involvement is key to the success of local community projects, with case studies and top tips from activists.

Research by the Young Foundation for Local Government Improvement and Development (previously the IDeA) has examined the role the voluntary and community sector plays in fostering and promoting strong community cohesion.

'Cohesive communities - the benefits of effective partnership working between local government and the voluntary and community sector' is in pdf, 1.65MB, at http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/aio/20528985.

New from Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 'Community and mutual ownership: a historical review' and the implications for policy and practice in this area, http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/community-mutual-ownership.

A collection of items which try to flesh out the government's slightly fuzzy Big Society concept.

A new government consultation is on draft guidance to water and sewerage companies on concessionary schemes for community groups, which would protect them from unaffordable surface water drainage charges.

A guide to help organisations get ready for working in collaboration has been produced as part of the Collaboration Benefits Programme run by the community organisations body Bassac.