COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT
Community Development (CD) is a broad term applied to
the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders,
activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve
various aspects of local communities.

Community development seeks to empower individuals and
groups of people by providing these groups with the skills they
need to affect change in their own communities. These skills
are often concentrated around building political power
through the formation of large social groups working for a
common agenda. Community developers must understand
both how to work with individuals and how to affect
communities' positions within the context of larger social
institutions.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_development)

Community Development can be understood as a
structured process of transformation from a current
situation considered unsatisfactory to a future
situation which is considered to be an improvement.
An intended development must thus be based on the
actual needs of the people affected, and on the scope
for action open to them. (Project CESAR, University
of Pangasinan)

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
Community Organizing is a
process where people who live in
proximity to each other come
together into an organization that
acts in their shared self-interest.


A core goal of community organizing is to generate
durable power for an organization representing the
community, allowing it to influence key decision-makers
on a range of issues over time. In the ideal, for example,
this can get community organizing groups a place at the
table before important decisions are made.
[1]


Community organizers work with and develop new local
leaders, facilitating coalitions and assisting in the
development of campaigns
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_organizing)

COMMUNITY BUILDING
"In and through community lies the salvation of the
world." -- M. Scott Peck, Introduction, The Different
Drum

"...'community' is a group of two or more people who,
regardless of the diversity of their backgrounds, have
been able to accept and transcend their differences,
enabling them to communicate openly and effectively,
and to work together towards common goals, while
having a sense of unusual safety with one another.
Community Building workshops endeavor to create this
safe place." -- M. Scott Peck, "Community Building in
Brief"

Community Building, in the context of this site,
refers to a group process where participants
experience and practice communication skills that
create the possibility for deep human connection.
This process was described by author Dr. M. Scott
Peck in his book, The Different Drum. Further
information was presented in a later book, A World
Waiting to Be Born.

BASIC TERMS IN COMMUNITY DEVLOPMENT

Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political,
social or economic strength of individuals and communities.It
often involves the empowered developing confidence in their
own capacities.
Empowerment is then the process of obtaining these basic
opportunities for marginalized people, either directly by those
people, or through the help of non-marginalized others who
share their own access to these opportunities.
Empowerment also includes encouraging, and developing the
skills for, self-sufficiency, with a focus on eliminating the
future need for charity or welfare in the individuals of the
group.


Efficiency tells that the input into the work is
appropriate in terms of the output. This could be input in
terms of money, time, staff, equipment and so on.

Effectiveness is a measure of the extent to which a
development program or project achieves the specific
objectives it set.

Collaborative partnership means active involvement
of individuals, social groups and organizations within the
target community in planning and decision-making
processes that affect them.