ABSTRACT
Rural Action is a non-profit, membership-based Non-Governmental Organization which promotes social, economic, and environmental justice in Appalachian Ohio. Headquartered in Athens County, Ohio, it currently has projects in 14 counties and makes an impact in most of Ohio's 29 Appalachian counties. Rural Action's vision, which, as we shall later see, grew out of the participatory work of citizens who helped found the organization, is to develop model strategies that involve a broad base of citizens in building environmental, economic, and social sustainability in the region. Contrary to earlier approaches to rural development in Appalachia, such as the War on Poverty of the 1960s, which were focused on the political, social, and economic deficiencies of the region, Rural Action's work in Southeast Ohio is assetbased. Following the principles of community development advocated by planners such as Kretzmann and McKnight (1993) and Shuman (1998), Rural Action's principles focus on the region's assets to: (1) promote economic and social development; (2) restore and protect the environment for future generations, and; (3) revitalize each community in its own unique way.
