Capacity Building and Governance in El CenizoAbstractA service-learning course at the University of Texas at Austin (UT), with the support of HUD’s Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) program, created an opportunity to explore issues of local governance in a colonia of South Texas. The Urban Issues Program at UT organized a graduate course in collaboration with the community of El Cenizo to improve the performance of its local government. Following a description of the unique development challenges of the colonias, the article describes the participatory action research model adopted in this project and explains how youth development became the mechanism adopted to promote community change and to enhance government performance. In drawing lessons from this experience, the article reflects on issues of governance and community capacity building as well as power and reciprocity in university-community relations.Capacity Building and Governance in El Cenizo (*.pdf)
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