What does community development concerned itself with?

Answer 1

Community Development as profession and founded on principles of social justice; inclusion; civic participation; and equality, is concerned with processes/practices that will develop a) the capacity of communities to identify their needs and issues and b) the capacity of communities to address these needs/issues. The developmental activities might focus on skilling individuals in collective decision making, community engagement, governance, planning, advocacy. The skills that a community developmet practitioner would include: social analysis, interpersonal skills, intercultural skills, strategic planning, adult education, financial planning, group facilitation, awareness and understanding of relevant government policies and legislation, social marketting, project planning/management, evaluation, etc. Working from the premise that every community has strengths and resources that can mobilised to achieve the goals of its members, community development aims to contribute to the creation of a better future. Note- the definition of community is very loose - it can be locality based (eg a village/neighbourhood) or interest based (single parents, gay).

Answer 2

Community development refers to the process whereby the community members come together to take collective actions so as to generate solutions to the common problems. The community development deals with the economic, cultural, environmental, and social issues.