This document is part of a special issue of “À lire en ligne,” a journal published annually by the Fédération canadienne pour l’alphabétisation en français (FCAF). The author served as guest editor for the 2010 issue, which was devoted exclusively to place-based learning communities.

In the issue’s opening editorial, the author explains that a community includes five sectors: the civic or governance sector; the economic sector; the public sector, made up of such institutions as libraries and museums, as well as social and health agencies; the education sector, which includes formal education from kindergarten to graduate studies; and the voluntary/community sector, made up of faith communities, service clubs, and leisure associations.

A conventional community relies on the education sector as the chief source of learning opportunities, the author says, while a place-based learning community mobilizes the resources of all five sectors. In short, a place‐based learning community is a village, town, city or region that explicitly uses that concept as an organizing principle and social/cultural goal.