UNDERSTADNING COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT

Community Development improves the situation of a community not just economically, but also as a strong functioning community in itself.

Give an example of a strong functioning and a weak functioning community in our local context.

WHY WE NEED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT?

PHYSICAL: manufactured assets such as machinery.

FINANCIAL: liquid assets, like money , bank accounts and stock or bonds.

HUMAN: the set of skills which an employee acquires on job, through training and experience, and which increase that employee’s value in the market place.

SOCIAL: institution relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society’s social interactions.

ENVIRONMENT: Resources of the Earth.

THE FIVE CAPITALS OF A COMMUNITY

Community development combines the idea of ‘community’ with ‘ development’.

Development is a process which increases choices. It means:

New options.Diversifications.Thinking about issues with diff erent angles.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNITY AND DEVELOPMENT.

Development involves change, improvement and vitality. A direct attempt to improve:

Participation

Flexibility.

Equity.

Attitudes.

The functions of institutions.

Quality of life.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNITY AND DEVELOPMENT

Putti ng the two together, Development means that a community itself engages in

a process aimed at improving the social, economic and environmental situati ons of the community

The community on the other hand : Takes acti on and parti cipates together. It is through

this acti on that the community becomes more vital, not just economically, but as a strong functi oning community in itself.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNITY AND DEVELOPMENT

In brief CD improves the ability of communities to collectively make better decisions about the use of resources such as infrastructure, labor and knowledge.

Decisions making

Natural Resources

Labor

Financial capital

Living environmen

t

Infrastructure

Knowledge awareness

SO WHAT IS YOUR DESCRIPTION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT?

KEY DESCRIPTION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

For community development to occur, people in a community

must believe working together can make a diff erence and

organize to address their needs collectively.

Community development is a group of people in a community

reaching a decision to initiate a social action process to

change their economic, social, cultural and environmental

situation.

Community development is a process that increases choices,

it creates an environment where people can exercise their

full potential to lead productive , creative lives.

Community capacity is the combined infl uence of a

community’s commitment.

Community development is not just ‘growth’. Growth means more jobs and more investments. But it does not increase choices, networks or the ability to manage change.

development can occur without growth and growth can occur without development.

DEVELOPMENT JUST NOT GROWTH.

Community development often is associated with terms such as

Community capacity building. Collective action.

Community vitality.Ownership

Empowerment. Improved- circumstance

Rural development or self reliance.

CLARIFYING TERMS

Economic development is part of community development.

Economic development involves many of the elements of community development such as:

Participation.Re-thinking.Action learning.

However economic development does not lead to collective agency or improved quality of life.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Community development

Economic development

Local industry development.

The relationship between industry development, economic development and community development.

Start where grass root people are. Why?

Community development creates a vehicle for people to act on existing concerns.

Community involvement , leadership is a source of change.

People build motivation and community capacity through participation and active involvement in decision making & implementation.

Inclusiveness; all cit izens should be given an equal opportunity to be involved.

External facil itators and resource people are “ invited in” to work with rural people, rather than working for them.

Changed attitudes and networks are as important as material outcomes.

PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

1. Community Preparedness. Communities need to have some of the key ingredients for a development process.

Motivation.Local leadership.S sense of ownership.

Not all communities are interested in or prepared for, undertaking a process of community development.

THE GENERAL STAGES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

2. ‘ Bubbling’ concerns.Community development processes develop from a

situation where issues and concerns are ‘ bubbling’ around.

People are: Concerned.enthusiastic,.Motivated.Frustrated.

Private ‘trouble’ becomes public concerns as people share issues that matter to them individually. People may begin to see some advantage for them in community development.

THE GENERAL STAGES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

3. Stimulus.Stimulus brings the ‘ bubbling’ situation to a head. A local crisis, sparks community action.

THE GENERAL STAGES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

4. Initial Organization and Involvement.

After a stimulus often the fi rst step is an event that brings the community together.

Usually at a public meeting or forum.

At this point, community representatives may invite a facilitator or a resource person into the community to help with suggestions, information and process itself.

Some communities may have a clear idea of what is needed, others may simply want to do ‘ something ‘ to improve their community but are not sure what.

THE GENERAL STAGES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

5. Engagement and Issues Identification. After some initial organization, a key step is activities

to engage local people and give as diverse range of citizens the opportunity to be involved.

Engagement of people occurs throughout the community developmental process.

THE GENERAL STAGES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Aspects of Engagement.

THE GENERAL STAGES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Understanding the existing concerns of community members.

Citizen participation.

Acting on the idea

As a community begins to organize, some questions are crucial for the community to answer:

Where are we at?How de we want our community to be?How do we get there?Who can help us? What are our concerns.These questions provide the framework of a community developmental process.

It is important for people to elect community development activities that address their concerns.

1. INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS.

From initial engagement and considerations, communities need to develop a purpose and goals for development effort.

Goals need to be specific, measurable, and achievable.

2. PURPOSE AND GOALS

A period of self examination and community analysis helps people to appreciate their community’s situation and existing capacity, to rethink problems and issues, and to identify new options.

The purpose is not just data gathering, but awareness-raising , involvement and reframing.

3. SELF EXAMINATION.

Study of past achievements and projects.Listing of community assets and mapping

relationships between different aspects of the community such as youth, elderly , community groups or local government.

Community surveys.Community economic analysis. Calculations

of several indicators such as population/employment ratios.

SWOT analysis. Listing community strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats.

Photographs taken by the community members of how they want their community to be, and not to be.

SELF EXAMINATION.

A period of exploration often accompanies or follows self examination. This involves gathering new information and ideas.

Ways of exploring issues: Environmental scan- a forward looking view of what

outside influences are aff ecting the community. Community swaps-members of similar towns or

districts visit each other’s community and compare their impression and ideas for development.

What others have done-reading, attending conferences and visiting other communities.

Expert advisory and consultancy.Brainstorming.Rethinking and creativity exercises.

4. EXPLORATIONS

Data gathered and ideas developed during the engagement , self examination and exploration phases need to be ‘ analyzed’ and debated.

Communities need to ask themselves whether a proposal is:

Politically feasible.Financially feasible.Logistically feasible.Able to be implemented. ( do the community

members have the skills, money and time to implement the proposal?)

5. INTERPRETATION AND PRIOTISATION

This involves the development of a strategy to progress particular issues. Strategies are a plan of action-patterns of actions, decisions and resource allocations to achieve an outcome.

OPTIONS OPTIONS

ACTION ACTION

COMMUNITY STRATEGIES INVOLVE SELECTING ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS.

6. PLANNING AND ACTION PRIORITIES.

Organization: communities need to be well organized to follow

through an action

Steering committee.Maintaining community interest.Celebrating success.

KEY ISSUES FOR COMMUINITIES IN THIS PLANNING AND ACTION

PHASES ARE:

Reinvestment.

Community development NEVER ends. Particular development initiatives have a lifecycle of initiation, expansion, maturity and conclusion.

Communities need to constantly be seeking to expand their resource base and their ability to manage change. This mean ongoing reinvestments of time and eff ort in the community and the fostering of new leaders and community motivation.

KEY ISSUES FOR COMMUINITIES IN THIS PLANNING AND ACTION

PHASES ARE:

Action

Observe

/reflect

Ideas

Plan

THE ACTION LEARNING CYCLE.

The outcomes of successful community development is communities that are more able to generate wealth, maintain or improve their competitive position, preserve and use community resources and adapt to change.

Specific outcomes are: An expanded , diverse , inclusive citizen participation

base.An expanded leadership base.Strengthened individual skills.A widely shared , understood and agreed local or

regional vision for the future.A strategic community agenda.More eff ective community organizations.Better use of resources.

OUTCOMES

It isn’t service delivery. Community development is more than a delivering services. It involves rethinking, network formation, leadership.

It isn’t social work or welfare. Community development is a self-directed process aimed at a broad range of economic , social and environmental community benefits.

It isn’t a ‘ feel good’ exercise. Community development involves lot of action and work. It is far more than a moral boosting exercise.

WHAT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IS NOT

In your groups, discuss a particular issues of concern to our community. Develop a strategy to address this issue of concern.

GROUP WORK