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    COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

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    DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY: The term community has two

    distinct commutative meanings: 1) Community can refer toa usually small, social unit of any size that shares common

    values. The term can also refer to the nationalcommunity or international community, and 2) in biology,a community is a group of interacting livingorganisms sharing a populated environment.

    In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may bepresent and common, affecting the identity of theparticipants and their degree of cohesiveness.

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    SEVEN COMMUNITY DEFINITIONS

    Definition 1.

    Community is a way of relating to other persons asbrothers and sisters who share a common origin, acommon dignity, and a common destiny. Community

    involves learning to live in terms of an interconnected"we" more than an isolated "I'. It involves makingchoices which reinforce the experience of relatednessand foster the sense of belonging and

    interdependence. Community begins, but does notend, in our face to face relationships with thepersons who are closest to us.

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    Definition 2.

    A community is best defined as a group of peoplewho, regardless of the diversity of their backgrounds,have been able to accept and transcend their

    differences, enabling them to communicate effectivelyand openly and to work together toward goalsidentified as being for their common good.

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    Definition 3 .

    A community is a group of two or more peoplewho have been able to accept and transcend theirdifferences regardless of the diversity of theirbackgrounds (social, spiritual, educational, ethnic,

    economic, political, etc.) This enables them tocommunicate effectively and openly and to worktogether toward goals identified as being for theircommon good.

    The word community. . . can refer to a specificgroup of people (a geographical community, a churchcongregation) or it can describe a quality ofrelationship based on certain values and principles.

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    Definition 4

    Reaching community is both intentional andchallenging. The group process requires that an

    individual give up learned defenses and habitual wayof behaving. Through increased responsibility, riskand vulnerability of its members, a group developsinto a "safe place" providing an environment of

    acceptance, appreciation of human diversity, andnurturance of personal growth, healing and self-discovery.

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    Definition 5.

    Emptiness is a central to the community buildingprocess. A challenging place to enter and inhabitemptiness is fertile ground for the growth of personalinsights and deeper relationships. CommunityBuilding is a powerful process - a technology and adiscipline -which helps us learn about ourselves andrelate to others in new ways.

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    Definition 6.

    A Learning Community is a group that can live theexperience of authentic community. Competent andcapable of vulnerable and authentic communication,

    individuals have developed their capacity to attendsimultaneously to their own and the group'sconsciousness.

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    Definition 7.

    Community is the goal. When this stage isreached the full range of emotions can be expressed.

    Even though community is the goal, it is not a staticstate that once reached never changes. Communitycan be palpable to some and very subtle to others.

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    INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY

    DEVELOPMENT "Community development is a structured intervention that gives

    communities greater control over the conditions that affect theirlives. This does not solve all the problems faced by a localcommunity, but it does build up confidence to tackle such problems

    as effectively as any local action can. Community developmentworks at the level of local groups and organizations rather than withindividuals or families. The range of local groups and organizationsrepresenting communities at local level constitutes thecommunitysector.

    "Community development is a skilled process and part of itsapproach is the belief that communities cannot be helped unlessthey themselves agree to this process. Community developmenthas to look both ways: not only at how the community is working atthe grass roots, but also at how responsive key institutions are to theneeds of local communities".

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    Community development, often linked with CommunityWork or Community Planning, is often formally conducted

    by non-government organizations (NGOs), universities orgovernment agencies to progress the social well-being oflocal, regional and, sometimes, national communities. Lessformal efforts, called community building or community

    organizing, seek to empower individuals and groups ofpeople by providing them with the skills they need to effectchange in their own communities.These skills often assistin building political power through the formation of largesocial groups working for a common agenda. Community

    development practitioners must understand both how towork with individuals and how to affect communities'positions within the context of larger social institutions.

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    FOUR ELEMENTS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT:

    1. Attention to the desires of the people involved and tothe areas where they live and work.

    2. Control by community members, who become activeparticipants.

    3. The concept of self-help, which is vitally important tothe community development process.

    4. A holistic view of the community, in which groupstake into account one anothers goals and actions, asopposed to operating as if each were in a vacuum.

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    Community building and organizing:

    Conscious communitybuilding is a process ofdeliberate design basedon the knowledge andapplication of certainrules. He states that thisprocess goes through

    four stages:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Affinity_group_collateral_damage.jpg
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    Pseudo community: The beginning stage whenpeople first come together. This is the stage where

    people try to be nice, and present what they feel aretheir most personable and friendly characteristics.

    Chaos: When people move beyond the inauthenticity

    of pseudo-community and feel safe enough to presenttheir "shadow" selves. This stage places great demandsupon the facilitator for greater leadership andorganization, but Peck believes that "organizations are

    not communities", and this pressure should beresisted.

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    Emptiness: This stage moves beyond the attempts tofix, heal and convert of the chaos stage, when all

    people become capable of acknowledging their ownwoundedness and brokenness, common to us all ashuman beings. Out of this emptiness comes

    True community: the process of deep respect andtrue listening for the needs of the other people in thiscommunity. This stage Peck believes can only bedescribed as "glory" and reflects a deep yearning in

    every human soul for compassionate understandingfrom one's fellows.

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    TYPES OF COMMUNITY: Geographic

    communities: rangefrom the

    local neighboorhood, suburb, village, town or city, region, nation or eventhe planet as a whole.

    These refer tocommunities of location.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Community_Circle_at_OUR_Ecovillage.jpg
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    Communities of culture: range from the local clique,sub-culture, ethnicgroup, religious, multicultural or pluralistic civilization, orthe global community cultures of today. They may beincluded as communities of needor identity, suchas disabled persons, or frail aged people.

    Community organizations: range frominformal family or kinship networks, to moreformal incorporated associations, political decision makingstructures, economic enterprises, or professional

    associations at a small, national or international scale.Note: Communities are nested; one community can contain

    anotherfor example a geographic community maycontain a number of ethnic communities.

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    UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY

    DEVELOPMENT INCLUDES: Community Development is crucially concerned with

    the issues of powerlessness and disadvantage: as suchit should involve all members of society, and offers a

    practice that is part of a process of social change. Community Development is about the active

    involvement of people in the issues which affect theirlives. It is a process based on the sharing of power,

    skills, knowledge and experience. Community Development takes place both in

    neighboorhoods and within communities of interest,as people identify what is relevant to them.

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    The Community Development process is collective,but the experience of the process enhances the

    integrity, skills, knowledge and experience, as well asequality of power, for each individual who is involved.

    Where Community Development takes place, thereare certain principles central to it. The first priority of

    the Community Development process is theempowering and enabling of those who aretraditionally deprived of power and control over theircommon affairs. It claims as important the ability ofpeople to act together to influence the social,

    economic, political and environmental issues whichaffect them. Community Development aims toencourage sharing, and to create structures which givegenuine participation and involvement.

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    Community Development seeks to enable individualsand communities to grow and change according totheir own needs and priorities, and at their own pace,provided this does not oppress other groups andcommunities, or damage the environment.

    Community Development is about developing thepower, skills, knowledge and experience of people asindividuals and in groups, thus enabling them toundertake initiatives of their own to combat social,economic, political and environmental problems, andenabling them to fully participate in a truly democraticprocess.

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    Community Development musttake the lead in confronting theattitudes of individuals and the

    practices of institutions andsociety as a whole whichdiscriminates unfairly againstblack people, women, people

    with disabilities and differentabilities, religious groups,elderly people, lesbians and gaymen, and other groups who aredisadvantaged by society. It alsomust take a lead in counteringthe destruction of the naturalenvironment on which we alldepend. Community

    Development is well placed toinvolve people equally on theseissues which affect all of us.

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    Community

    Development shouldseek to developstructures which enablethe active involvement of

    people fromdisadvantaged groups,and in particular peoplefrom Black and Minority

    Ethnic groups.