Part 1.

Concepts of Community Development

A. Community Development: Conceptual components

Community development is a process that entails organization, facilitation, and action, which
allows people to establish ways to create the community they want to live in. It is a process
that provides vision, planning, direction, and coordinated action towards desired goals
associated with the promotion of efforts aimed at improving the conditions in which local
resources operate. As a result, community developers harness local economic, human, and
physical resources to secure daily requirements and respond to changing needs and
conditions.

Community
1. Human ecology defines community as the structure of relationships through which a
localized population meets its daily requirements. Human ecology is concerned with
community structure, which is comprised of the mechanisms by which the population
organizes itself for survival in a particular habitat

2. Systems theory defines community as the combination of social units and systems that perform
major social functions. From this perspective, a social system is a highly organized set of
socially significant relationships between two or more persons or groups. According to this
approach, the community can be viewed as a system comprised of statuses and roles, and
groups and institutions that are closely articulated with one another.

3. Field theory posits social interaction as the most critical feature of community. From this
perspective, a community’s existence, structure, and functioning are possible through local
social relationships emerging from the interaction of its residents. Such social interaction
consists of the extent and nature of relationships among the different stakeholders within a
geographical area.

Community then is a locality comprised by people residing in a geographical area; the

resources such people require to subsist and progress; and the processes in which such
individuals engage to distribute and exchange such resources to fulfill local needs and wants.

B. Elements of Community
1. Human Resources- these include the different stakeholders in the community. Community
stakeholders (or groups of organizations often found in a community). It consists of
families/residents (households), government, businesses (for profit), and the
voluntary/non-profit sector (volunteer and grassroots). Such entities are, in different
situations and at different levels, part of the decision-making processes leading to specific
community goals (as defined by a community’s needs and wants).

2. Physical Resources - consists of the built and natural assets of the community that, taken
together, conform its character. Physical resources are important for functional, aesthetic,
and symbolic reasons.

3. Economic Resources - are the established market values of goods and services that are
produced as a result of the interrelations of human and physical resources. Thus, economic
resources are the productive and financial assets that respond to the distribution of resources
destined to fulfill the wants and needs of a local population.
C. Process within the community
From a community development perspective, processes at the local level are concerned with
the provision and management of resources that seek to improve a community’s living
conditions.

Community development processes focused on economic development pertains the

establishment of local efforts aimed at improving the community’s economic and financial
resources. These processes are often directly related to poverty reduction; development,
retention, and expansion of local businesses; reduction of economic leakages; jobs creation,
and income generation

Community development processes focused on human development are concerned with

personal development reflecting people’s (including youth, adults, and elders) individual
conditions (e.g. improvements to physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health, literacy
and education levels, and skills for particular tasks; intrapersonal development reflecting
internal sociopsychological conditions (e.g. attachment to and satisfaction with the
community; and interpersonal development reflecting the conditions of social relationships
(e.g. reduction of criminal and deviant behaviors, promotion of broad involvement, power
distribution, tolerance and equality, cooperation, self-empowerment, leader- ship, and
capacity-building. Thus, community development, through human development processes,
seeks to improve the characteristics of human conditions within and between individuals. As
a result, human development processes seek healthier and more educated individuals, with
stronger bonds amongst each other, and with the capacity to lead local efforts through
established purposive collective action.

Community development through physical development entails efforts aimed at creating and
managing local built and natural resources. Among the former, community development is
often associated with infrastructure development processes including downtown
revitalization, real-estate and commercial development, construction and maintenance of
roads, streets, and sidewalks, and the promotion of communities through branding and
marketing practices. Among the physical natural environment, community development is
concerned with the ways in which natural resources are distributed and used locally. This
requires processes of resource management balancing for human consumption,
conservation, and sustainability.

D. Community Development Steps and Strategies

1. Learn about the community – Whether you want to be an active member of the
community, an effective service provider or a community leader, you will have to be
familiar with its issues, resources, needs, power structure and decision-making
processes. Your initial orientation could include reading your local newspaper regularly,
attending community events, reading reports and familiarizing with available services as
well as community projects and activities. Close observation of the community as you
interact with it will also provide significant insights into the strengths and weaknesses of
the community.

2. Listen to community members - You won't be able to learn everything you need to know
by reading and observation. You will need to talk to others about their interests and
perceptions to put it into context. You can contact community members through formal
channels, such as joining a local organization, or informally by chatting with people that
visit the library or that you encounter in other situations, such as shopping at local stores
 or attending school activities. By listening to the community, you may identify an area in
which there seems to be a common interest in making a change.

3. Bring people together to develop a shared vision - In some circumstances it may be

appropriate to invite representatives of specific organizations or sector to attend, but
more often it would be a public event for a neighborhood or, for other types of
communities, for all the identified members. The purpose of this gathering would be to
develop a shared "community vision"; i.e., through imagining their ideal community and
discussing their ideas together they will determine arrive at a common vision and some
broad strategic directions that all are committed to working towards. You may also use
this gathering to ask for support for the initiative, elicit community input or invite
members to join a steering committee or help in other ways.

4. Assess community assets and resources, needs and issues - It is extremely helpful to
undertake a comprehensive community assessment which will collect both qualitative
and quantitative data on a wide range of community features.

5. Help community members to recognize and articulate areas of concern and their causes –
It is the community members that are most familiar with the situation and, in many cases,
have knowledge and wisdom that an “external” experts lacks. By providing tools,
resources, meeting space, and facilitation, community developer empowers the
community to start take ownership of the issues and the development of solutions.

6. Establish a “vehicle for change” – In most circumstances it will be necessary to create a

"vehicle for change" for an organizational change, which in most cases will start as a
steering committee. A group of people ranging from a few unaffiliated individuals or a
coalition of organizations and institutions. There is a wide range of activities that the
steering committee will need to undertake to ensure that it will be able to plan, organize,
implement and evaluate the initiative effectively, including developing a charter or terms
of reference, establishing governance policies, obtaining sufficient resources to carry out
the work and identifying potential partners who can contribute to its success.

7. Develop an action plan - a well thought out plan that is easily comprehended by
community members, clearly links activities with objectives and indicates
responsibilities, time frames and resources required.

8. Implement action plan – mobilization of all resources to take actions such as but not
limited to: working with community workers to identify needs and appropriate services;
developing informational brochures;
eliciting support from targeted
organizations;
distributing the brochures to the organizations; and meeting with
organizational representatives to provide further information.

9. Evaluate results of action – so check whether you have not caused any harm to others
through your actions. Other reasons to evaluate may be to demonstrate the effectiveness
of the initiative so that it will be continued, to satisfy funder requirements and to provide
information that will be useful to others or to subsequent initiatives.
 10. Reflect and regroup - Allow time for the group to catch its breath before embarking on the
next initiative. Thank everyone that contributed. Celebrate success. Reflect on
disappointments.

E. Values and Principles of Community Development

Community development is sometimes confused with community-based programs,
community research and other forms of community interventions. The most significant
feature that distinguishes community development from other community work is its values
and principles:

1. Democratic: The will of the majority must be carried out, but only after all voices are heard
and considered and minority rights are protected.

2. Inclusive: There are many barriers to participation in society; poverty, disability, age, race
and ethnicity are some other characteristics that often marginalize people. A healthy
community embraces diversity and recognizes that all community members have a right
to be heard and participate in processes that affect their lives.

3. Non-authoritarian: Organizational structures are as flat as possible, with all participants

being seen as equally important and having equal input.

4. Community self-determination: Community members come together to discuss their

concerns, assess options and arrive at their own conclusions. They may seek advice from
"experts", but consider it along with other sources of information and their own
experience and make their own decisions that are right for them.

5. Community Ownership: Communities thrive when they develop their own assets, but also
when they "own" their problems and issues. When communities accept that it is "their"
problem, then they are more likely to work together to develop a solution, and the
solution will be better than one provided solely by an external "expert".

6. Enhance natural capacities and networks: There are sources of strength in every
community; for example, informal networks and social support systems, or certain
individuals that have particular talents or are able to help others in need. A community
developer identifies these existing community assets and works with them. It is
important not to duplicate existing structures and functions as that may weaken rather
than strengthen the community.

7. Social justice and equity: This is fundamental to community development and is at least
implicit in all CD work, if not an explicit goal of a CD program.

8. Universality: Services are available to everyone, without requiring means or needs

testing.

9. Service Integration: Often services provided to persons in need are fragmented, so that
one service provider doesn't know what other services are available or being used,
resulting in gaps, duplications and sometimes conflicting advice or treatments.

Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0I3KEPxPqY

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