subject: Community Development And Its Major Principles [print this page] Community Development And Its Major Principles
Community Development changing the relationships between ordinary people and people in positions of power, so that everyone can take part in the issues that affect their lives. It starts from the principle that within any community there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channeled into collective action to achieve the communities' desired goals.
Community Development is about developing the power, skills, knowledge and experience of people as individuals and in groups, thus enabling them to undertake initiatives of their own to combat social, economic, political and environmental problems, and enabling them to fully participate in a truly democratic process.
Community Development must take the a lead in confronting the attitudes of individuals and the practices of institutions and society as a whole which discriminates unfairly against black people, women, people with disabilities and different abilities, religious groups, elderly people, lesbians and gay men, and other groups who are disadvantaged by society. It also must take a lead in countering the destruction of the natural environment on which we all depend. Community Development is well placed to involve people equally on these issues which affect all of us.
Community development (CD) is the process of helping a community strengthen itself and develop towards its full potential. As facilitators, we work in partnership with local people and organizations to meet identified needs.
Community Development should seek to develop structures which enable the active involvement of people from disadvantaged groups, and in particular people from Black and Minority Ethnic groups.
Ten principles:-
Over the years, ten principles have been formulated of a healthy process of Community Devlopment.
1. Start where the people are.
2. Build relationships; then introduce new ideas, showing how they meet identified needs.
3. Keep projects simple.
4. Involve as many community people as possible in all activities from the start.
5. Train people close to their home communities.
6. Train in locally acceptable ways (e.g. methods, facilities).
7. Train trainers who can train others.
8. Involve local leadership.
9. Cooperate with governments.
10. Encourage interdependent relationships vs. dependent or totally independent relationships.
To "start where the people are" requires an understanding of the existing interests, the ideology, and the perceived needs of the people.
It takes a long time to establish good solid trust bonds with people, and one must take risks all along the way to establish these bonds. However, if the people in the community know you and know you are trustworthy in small matters, they will be much more likely to trust you when you introduce a new idea.
It is usually difficult to bring about group or community action even on simple, well-defined issues. With complicated issues, it is much more difficult and may be impossible. Most people can effectively assimilate only a limited number of new skills, attitudes, or information bits at one time.
