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This paper explores the formation of 'community' on a British council estate as a process of negotiation enacted within a 'contact zone', a social space defined by a struggle between different cultural values within asymmetrical relations of power. Building on a discursive turn within theorizations of class, the paper explores the mobilization of discourses of community as a process of making class on The Estate. Based on ethnographic research, the paper offers an analysis of the field dynamics of the Community Centre, where community is enacted, negotiated, subverted and critiqued. This paper shows how a focus on the dynamic nature of discursive reproduction enacted in everyday negotiations within the 'contact zone' moves our understanding beyond structural accounts of class, incorporating agentic responses and everyday resistances into an analysis of the formation of class and community on The Estate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This policy review deals with the current context for community development practice in the Republic of Ireland. It details social partnership as the new model of governance, which requires broad societal participation in decision‐making, and it reflects on some of the practical operational problems encountered with the partnership approach. The White Paper, ‘A Framework for Supporting Voluntary Activity and for Developing the Relationship between the State and the Community and Voluntary Sector’, that was published in 2000 is considered with respect to the objectives of community development agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper evaluates critically the socioeconomic and spatial implications of conceptualizing the different forms of community involvement as a hierarchy rather than a spectrum. Drawing upon evidence from the UK, where government policy views participation in community-based groups as a ‘mature’ form of involvement and one-to-one aid as ‘simple’ and ‘immature’, such a hierarchical representation is revealed to privilege the participatory cultures of affluent over deprived populations. Based on this recognition of how participatory cultures differ, the paper thus concludes by calling for the different forms of community involvement to be reconceptualized as a spectrum and the adoption of a variegated policy approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on recent research conducted in Brazil on young people's understanding and practices of public action. The research examines some of the initiatives in which young people today participate: community organizations, cultural groups and social movements, and asks what this engagement means in their day-to-day lives. The paper also examines the historical processes that have come to shape this present field of public action and identifies the emergence of new forms of political engagement through cultural forms which provide a key entry point for young people's participation. The paper provides an analysis of the ways in which young people often come to be engaged in forms of public action through cultural forms, such as music, dance, cinema, theatre, photography, which are used by a number of groups as tools for critical reflection, or conscientização, and as a means for personal and community development. The paper explores these processes and goes on to identify a genealogy in the non-governmental sector of an alternative pedagogy that was much influenced by Paulo Freire but which gains new forms through the use of various elements of contemporary popular culture and different types of information and communication technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores some of the politics of community work by examining four basic community participation approaches. Moving from the right of politics to the left, it overviews some of the different theoretical orientations, goals, processes and recruitment practices that are commonly used but not always recognized to constitute different forms of community participation. Offered primarily to ‘lay’ community members, students and beginning practitioners, the paper is intended to clarify some of the differences that emerge when participation projects are designed, and to stimulate discussion about community participation more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study highlights methods supporting critiques of the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) technique stating that participation is most successfully achieved through a thorough understanding of community heterogeneity. Findings outlined in the paper demonstrate that this can be achieved through a two-stage approach: (1) the identification of varied heterogeneous groups and (2) through a process of ‘social inclusion’ of potential community leaders. The paper presents an understanding of community heterogeneity in the context of construction and management of community water supplies in Angola, South West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the state increasingly embraces the community and voluntary sectors in coping with spatial change, urban policy has become more difficult to disentangle and evaluate. This paper is concerned with two valid, but different, interpretations of policy evaluation. 'Instrumental' techniques have been primarily concerned with performance measures and indicators of efficiency in public spending. 'Interpretative' approaches have stressed the need to explore power relationships, impact of policy on community competencies and self-learning. The paper uses a case study of evaluation of urban policy in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland to show how specific techniques can reconcile this duality in evaluation design. It concludes by reflecting on the importance and power of knowledge for communities involved in urban regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the use of 'networks' in community studies. The author refers to the nebulous meanings attached to the term and likens its omnibus application to that of the concept of 'community'. In the literature, a mode of intercommunication, whether technological, organisational or inter-relational or merely social is described as 'a network'. To date, its widespread usage is unquestioned in academia and community development practice. However, this paper demonstrates that the concept of network is a metaphor which is only valid when referring to formal modes of communication and relationships and not when referring to informal connections, such as within self-help or user-led groups, or relationships between kin, friends or neighbours. The author makes the sociological point that network as a metaphor cannot be used to denote both the formal and informal, because conceptually they are opposites. Social scientists are mixing their metaphors. The author also evaluates the mathematised uses of network analysis, concluding that 'circle' is a preferable less mechanistic alternative when referring to the informal domain. The usage of circles in community development studies is illustrated in selected empirical research programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the role of the boxing training and mentoring in the context of the change processes for participants engaging in a twenty-week community based integrated fitness and education substance use rehabilitation programme. The study took place in an urban community in Dublin, Ireland within the context of neo-liberal systems of regulation and control of community based organizations. Focus group interviews with participants were carried out at midway (n = 17) and on completion (n = 14) of the programme and with practitioners (n = 8) midway and on completion of the programme. Transcripts were coded and themes associated with the participants' experience of the programme and its interface with the wider community context: building relationships; physical and emotional impact of boxing skills training; boxing skills training and gender; understanding the mentoring role. The positive attributes associated with the 'boxer' identity has the potential to provide an alternative to 'the addict' identity within socially disadvantaged communities. It is argued that the boxing gym, particularly when nested within a range of educational and emotional supports, can become an empowering setting within a community. The coaching approach has the potential to challenge gendered norms in relation to sport and fitness, while also supporting participants to utilize their physical bodies with intent and focus. The inclusion of programme mentors is an important consideration for substance use rehabilitation programmes, especially within communities characterized by exclusion and isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing communities' participation in development processes has been the subject of both policy aspiration and scholarly critique. This paper explores the implications of a critical perspective on the ‘elusive goal’ of participation for community development practitioners. Drawing on insights from a range of scholars, this paper poses a practical challenge to professionals who work with communities: to name and challenge deeply embedded assumptions about expert knowledge and formal institutions, to recognize the role of those who ‘translate’ between community and external organizational spaces, and to integrate community knowledge and community institutions into participatory development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a number of issues concerning the community development experience in Ireland by reference to concepts of the State and to issues of State development. It will explore the emergence of a new kind of civil society within Ireland in the 1990s, and the role played by community development in this process. It will argue that the development of civil society in the 1980s and 1990s, widely represented as an example of ‘rolling back the State’, was in fact quite the opposite. It will propose that the State's concern to expand its frontiers and to widen the terms of its engagement with previously more or less disconnected sectors or groups was the main agenda in local development. The paper looks at the ways in which concepts, such as partnership and participation have been institutionalized and embedded in the Irish State project. It will show how, in entering partnership with Civil Society in Ireland, the Irish State effectively extended its legitimacy in situations where legitimacy was strained. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objective of this paper is to explore indicators for sustainable financial schemes in rural areas and to evaluate such schemes in terms of their contribution to rural community development. During the 1970's, when economic development was recognised to be the dominant paradigm, scant attention was often given to non-economic benefits of financial incentives in rural areas. This paper argues that rural financial schemes are often evaluated with quantitative criteria in spite of profound non-economic benefits such schemes have for community development. Evidence are presented from success stories in the developing world and fieldwork done in South Africa which reveal that successful rural financing are often determined by indicators of a qualitative nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors are health promotion and community development practitioners in the David Thompson Health Region of rural central Alberta, Canada. Like our peers, we struggle to carry out our practice in a way that honours the underlying values and principles of health promotion. Our experiences with two Regional health promotion programs over the past five years have led us to conclude that we must adopt and refine an emphasis upon community capacity building in our work. In this paper, community capacity building is defined and its importance for the work of health promotion and community development practitioners is outlined. We provide an overview of the literature on this subject and on related concepts such as asset based development, community competence, social capital, and civic infrastructure. Finally, we indicate some directions for further research. Ultimately, our work should provide guidance on how to deliver health promotion in order to more effectively strengthen and empower communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban space has the potential to shape people's experience and understanding of the city and of the culture of a place. In some respects, murals and allied forms of wall art occupy the intersection of street art and public art; engaging, and sometimes, transforming the urban space in which they exist and those who use it. While murals are often conceived as a more ‘permanent’ form of painted art there has been a trend in recent years towards more deliberately transient forms of wall art such as washed-wall murals and reverse graffiti. These varying forms of public wall art are embedded within the fabric of the urban space and history. This paper will explore the intersection of public space, public art and public memory in a mural project in the Irish city of Cork. Focussing on the washed-wall murals of Cork's historic Shandon district, we explore the sympathetic and synergetic relationship of this wall art with the heritage architecture of the built environment and of the murals as an expression of and for the local community, past and present. Through the Shandon Big Wash Up murals we reflect on the function of participatory public art as an explicit act of urban citizenship which works to support community-led re-enchantment in the city through a reconnection with its past. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For most of the nineties, the Australian state of Victoria was led by a new right government and community development (CD) practice had difficulty surviving. Community workers wondered whether Britain's CD experience had anything to teach those struggling 'downunder'. This paper is based on British and Victorian research undertaken in 1998. Data was gathered through individual and group interviews with fifty five English and Scottish and forty Victorian practitioners. While new right policies were implemented in different periods in both places, there are common themes around how people involved with CD practice handled new right agendas. Three phases of reaction: a retreat/isolation phase, one of adaptation and defence and one of rebuilding can be identified. These phases are linked to how community development practice has operated within different paradigms. It builds on work that this author and her colleagues Jane Dixon and Dick Sloman undertook in 1996 in summarising the key elements of Welfare and Contract State paradigms, which while originating from Victorian material, have many similarities with British experiences. It goes on to include how Blair's 'Third Way' relates to these thus providing Victorians with some prediction about the context in which community development work may progress if Victoria borrows yet again from British ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The above words adopted as a motto in Australia at the beginning of the 1990s reflect the mood of community development workers and grass roots activists as we head into a new century. Communities have struggled over centuries about the way to allocate resources within society and how to live in harmony with each other. Those who have resources have power over others. This power can be used often to exclude others and to set up structures that perpetuate oppression in society. Privileged positions in society and within communities are only sustained because significant sectors of society carry the burden or bear the damages. The current changes in society have had enormous impact on communities and have caused a great level of social unease and restructuring. Community workers and activists have had to manage the impact of this crisis in many circumstances. This paper examines the impact of global changes on communities at a macro level and their implication for community organising and community development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community development often involves organizing participatory decision-making processes. The challenge is for this to be meaningful. Participatory decision-making has the potential to increase the transparency, accountability, equity and efficiency with which public administration serves the least privileged in society. However, in practice, it often fails to bring about these outcomes. A number of academics and practitioners have, therefore, theorized how participatory decision-making processes can better empower marginalized groups. By critically reviewing this body of work and empirically grounding the debate in recent practice, we aimed to develop a theoretically rigorous, easily applicable and holistic model of an inclusive participatory decision-making process that can work across a range of contexts. The empirical strand included surveying public engagement practitioners and participants about the participatory events they had organized or attended. These empirical findings were combined with insights from the theoretical literature to devise a new conceptual model of emancipatory, inclusive and empowering participatory decision-making – the 'Tree of Participation'. The model can be useful to both organizers of participatory processes, as a check for empowering and inclusive practice, and to disadvantaged groups, as a set of expectations and demands when engaging in public decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When participation was first introduced in development discourse thirty years ago, it was seen as a marginal concept, to be piloted at small scale by non-governmental organizations. Since then, participation has been mainstreamed; and, it has been coopted to mean different things. The last decade has seen re-connections between political aspects of participation with its developmental dimensions in the framework of democracy and citizenship. Participatory democracy and active citizenship have organized principles of claiming rights and securing entitlements by the poor and the excluded. This paper traces the historical evolution of this journey of ideas, and recounts the trajectory of PRIA as a civil society actor in this period. In so doing, it poses questions for the re-imagination of democracy as an exercise of citizen power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the 1990s, urban policy in Britain was premised on the importance of public participation in local regeneration and governance, with a view to empowerment and developing citizenship. However, one group, frequently overlooked by the participation process is children, precisely the group whose perceived lack of citizenship causes such concern to many. Whilst they are often only offered token involvement in community regeneration projects, empirical research with children suggests they are capable of the same involvement as adults. Many of the barriers to adult participation may have been avoided if they had been encouraged to be involved fully as children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this qualitative study was 2-fold: to explore, in the context of young people's civic engagement in Sweden, (i) how adult leaders perceive social factors of youth mental health and (ii) how adult leaders handle such social factors within their organizations. Interviews were conducted with leaders engaged in various civic organizations that provide leisure activities for young people. Using thematic analysis, three themes were constructed. Firstly, the social landscape of youth mental health described how adult leaders perceived the social factors of youth mental health within the context of civic engagement. Secondly, the organizational structures developed by adult leaders illustrated the organizing forms that leaders created for young people's civic engagement. Thirdly, adult leaders' strategies for addressing the social factors of youth mental health reflected the strategies developed to handle e.g. stress and achievement pressure. The adult leaders recognized the importance of their organizations and their huge potential to have a positive impact on youth mental health. However, some participants also saw limitations in terms of their own resources and competence. They found themselves having to address the complex issue of social factors of youth mental health regardless of whether they felt competent and prepared to do this or not. Our findings contribute to the existing knowledge on youth and community development via the role of adult leaders in promoting young people's mental health by highlighting the organizational structures and leadership strategies developed by them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter provides a concise overview of the life and career of Jacques Derrida, exploring how his substantive philosophical writing could be relevant to a community development 'yet-to-come' and specifically for a renewed praxis. Derrida was a leading intellectual of what is commonly known as deconstruction, and while never explicitly writing to community development, his later work became more overtly political, hence a relevance. Following a biographical sketch, the 'traces' of some key elements of his work outlined foregrounding three key threads, all equally important, all interlinked. The provocation of this article is that without a radical re-constituting of praxis– a deconstructive task – community development is at risk of ossifying into a programme that is no longer haunted by justice, is no longer mobilized by the 'passion-of-not-knowing' and is no longer vigilant towards the Other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Masters programme in Community Work at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, students and teachers engage in interactive learning and problem-solving together. Paolo Freire showed us how learning is achieved through critical dialogue and praxis, i.e. action and reflection. Two different experimental workshops offered to both regular and visiting students, used alternative forms of dialogue and action. Through dialogues produced with words, bodily gestures, props and movements, and reflection upon action, generative themes emerged. These themes concerned ecological and social challenges faced by community workers. Students in the first workshop engaged in 'skip diving' with an aim of transforming skipped food into a gourmet food festive dinner, and in the second workshop students and teachers chose to create a socially relevant parade around the main street of a city borough. In both workshops artists with experiences in community participation were involved. The article discusses how arts-based workshops facilitate creation of context-sensitive tools for community workers as creative agents of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing sociospatial polarization, segregation and marginalization are challenging community workers to respond to complex social needs and problems across the world. This article focuses on examining sociospatial polarization and community art as a form of community work in Sweden through the case study of Konst-PIMPA (Art-PIMPA). The inquiry studies how Art-PIMPA emerged and developed, working together with young people in a sociospatially divided residential area in the city of Norrköping. The study shows that community art deals with imagination, creativity and co-creation, in order to explore, express and visualize the invisible factors in social development and change. The focus of Art-PIMPA was on participation, human rights and the democratic right to self-expression, requiring a glocal cosmopolitan outlook, which includes both global and local aspects. This meant taking an ethical-political stance of recognizing our common humanity and rights as citizens of the world regardless of background or context. Additionally, the study is a reminder of the need to generate a structural analysis of both exogenous and endogenous forces that impact our 'glocal world', in which global and local forces interact daily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is based on the designing of a parkour site at Leitet, in the borough Laksevåg, in Bergen, Norway. It explains the different stages of participation and the process of developing the Leitet parkour site. The Municipality of Bergen plays a significant role in involving children and young people in area development. Dialogue and collaboration with residents and other actors in the area are identified as essential approaches. Laksevåg was given priority on the basis of several years of mapping and statistical research, confirming the importance of a comprehensive and coherent area development, both social and physical. The area is distinguished, negatively, from Bergen as a whole by several variables. The article also emphasizes the connection between living conditions and good social networks, active involvement, and participation in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During recent years social media's possibilities and restrictions have been frequently discussed. In the small municipality Söderhamn, in Sweden, young adults made a Facebook group with the purpose of strengthening the young and increase their participation and influence in the municipality. This article describes what have happened in the municipality before this Facebook group arose and what its contributions have been, and discusses Facebook's opportunities to strengthen the young adults in rural areas. This Facebook group has affected life in the community, both practically and identity-wise, by increasing knowledge, proximity and interaction. However, the local stakeholders have not approached the group the way the young founders hoped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 2015, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) replaced the millennium development goals. The ambitions of the SDGs are to transform the current aid architecture and promote environmental, economic and social well-being on a global scale. The process of how this new global framework for sustainable development has been designed is unique in terms of the extent of opportunities for people's participation. This article considers what lessons the debate on community development can offer the new global development framework. First, we analyse existing attempts to include 'voices' from the local level in the process of formulating the SDGs, drawing on existing literature on critical community development and citizen participation. We find that the inclusion of citizen perspectives in the SDG process was largely tokenistic. Building on this critique, we go on to explore the propositions within the critical community development literature about an approach to implementing the SDGs that could be truly transformative. Finally, we consider the insights from the critical community development literature in relation to the findings of a global network of participatory research that aimed to influence the SDG design and implementation. We explore how citizen's participation in the new global framework could become more significant through deeper and more strategic forms of representation and engagement. In conclusion, we return to examine the prospects and practical requirements for a more bottom-up and transformative approach to implementing the new global framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ubiquitous yet amorphous concept of participation has resulted in much critical debate on its impact and outcomes at both micro (project) and macro (policy) levels. In highlighting what some have termed the ‘tyranny’ of participation, these debates have also provided valuable insights into how participative spaces might be rendered more transformative. But to what extent have these contributions informed policy and practice on the ground, most particularly within agencies and among practitioners supporting so-called participatory initiatives? Drawing on field research conducted in 2011 on local governance in Burundi, in this article I argue that the lessons and contributions from the literature have failed to impact upon international support to local governance developments in Burundi. Findings on direct and representative participation in local governance structures together with public and official understandings of what such participation means show continuities with the top-down, hierarchical and ultimately marginalizing practices of the past. I conclude with some lessons aimed at realizing the transformative potential of the opportunities offered by the reforms currently in place. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In spite of the significant government focus on community engagement, there is some question as to how effectively community views are incorporated and heard by government. In exploring these concerns, we suggest that it is more effective to consider the issue from the perspective of communities engaging government rather than government engaging community. In doing this, we have developed a methodological approach that focuses on building the capacity of community to more effectively engage government in an effort to strengthen their own community in ways that are meaningful within that community. We illustrate this process with a case study of government engagement undertaken by representatives from the small rural community of Tara in western Queensland. While the case study focuses on community engaging government, this approach could be equally well applied to other forms of non-government institutional engagement that are relevant in other community settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa complicates the daunting task of rendering a basic health service to HIV-infected individuals. In light of human resource shortages and financial constraints, but also closely linked to a much politicized notion, the ‘community’ was called upon to become active in volunteering activities. Since 2002, the South African government, epitomized by the ruling party, the African National Congress, embarked on a mission to recruit volunteers to perform various voluntary activities of which community home-based care is one. This article intends to juxtapose the rhetoric pertaining to this call to volunteerism with the realities of carers, and recipients of this care. This shows that, on the one hand, the rhetoric exploits concepts that bear wide legitimacy. On the other hand, this rhetoric does not take into account the contradictory everyday life realities and the changing nature of the concepts it wields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indicator-based projects have become central to community development initiatives. The quantitative basis of such projects means that achieving ‘sustainability’ can be reduced to a technical task – that of gathering data and ticking boxes. The size, scope, and sheer number of indicators mean that indicator sets are often unwieldy and resist effective implementation. This techno-scientific emphasis can mask possibilities for taking into account the structures of power and cultural–political assumptions that frame the use of indicators. Too often, locally available resources and conditions that might support sustainable practices or challenge the existing unsustainable practices are subsumed by ‘hard facts’. The necessity of citizen participation and active involvement do not necessarily figure in projects driven by quantitatively determined indicators. We elaborate an alternative, two-level process of community engagement that is explored in one case study example. At the first level, it involves community members as active participants. At the second level, it builds upon this process to more deeply involve people in learning about and negotiating over what constitutes knowledge about how best to practice sustainable community development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The focus of humanitarian and development assistance to post-conflict societies has in recent years typically broadened from narrow socioeconomic concerns to address broader mechanisms of social and psychological recovery within war-affected populations. Interventions seeking to assist in such recovery are, however, frequently contested in terms of aims and approach. Competing discourses regarding such support for communities are identified, and their ideological roots considered. A conceptual framework for psychosocial intervention in complex emergencies is presented, which seeks to relate together diverse approaches to community support within a single schema. The framework identifies three core domains with respect to which the resources of communities, the impact of conflict and means of intervention can be conceptualized. These three domains of human capacity, social ecology, and culture and values are illustrated with respect to the post-conflict setting of communities on the Tigray-Eritrea border. The framework suggests a number of concepts of relevance for structuring community development interventions in such settings. Two specific areas are examined in detail. First, the social capital concepts of bonds, bridges and links are elaborated, and the respective role of each in post-conflict recovery considered. Second, three key processes in conceptualizing the process of community development are identified as engagement, negotiation and transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation is a central element in any community development programme. Successful participation is defined as a dynamic activity occurring in a ‘space’, and the question asked, ‘What are the appropriate dynamics in that space?’ The analogy is made with complex systems behaviour, and the conditions for adaptive, self-organizing systems to arise and exhibit creativity and persistence through time. Thus, ‘rules’ for successful participation spaces are derived. Three examples of participation spaces are examined for conformance to the derived rules, and the application to community participation programmes in general considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to analyse some of the experiences of the Irish community and voluntary sector's participation in social partnership. The article explores the politics of social partnership and discusses the implications of participation in social partnership for the potential strategies and choices for the community and voluntary sector. It looks at the outcomes of that participation from the perspective of both its impact on income and other inequalities and its impact on the community and voluntary sector and its relationship with the state, other actors and internal relationships within the sector. Alternatives to social partnership are explored and the article concludes that, while limited, there are specific gains and reasons to ‘stay inside’. At the same time, we should be firmly focused on the ‘outside’ and on alternative alliances, tactics, visions and ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the relationship between neighbourhood characteristics and community development corporations (CDC). It is hypothesized that housing tenure and race are correlated with CDC emergence. The methodology for this analysis is primarily quantitative. Variables from the US Census are analyzed using logistic regression. Results from this analysis are augmented with ethnographic and archival data. In particular, data from interviews with CDC directors are examined to understand how neighbourhood characteristics and the community development industry system influence CDC development. This study's findings assist planners in understanding how demographic characteristics of communities and interorganizational networks shape the services CDCs provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A community development project in a Sydney suburb provides an opportunity to explore the potential of community development as a means for 'street crime' prevention. Violence and crime are seen as social problems associated with social, economic and political disadvantage. A broad programme of social development is undertaken, aimed at increasing educational and recreational opportunities for children and young adults, and at promoting inclusion and the capacity of local people to deal with social problems in their area. Outcomes suggest that a combination of social projects, modifications to the built environment and community development processes, can be an effective means for creating safer, more neighbourly places, as well as achieving social justice outcomes for disadvantaged people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many development thinkers and practitioners have been pondering over community participation for the last two to three decades - some even called the 1980s the decade of participation. To a large extent the current decade of social movements, non government organizations (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs), is a manifestation of organized community participation. By analyzing the dynamics of community participation, particularly in the South African urban upgrading context, nine obstacles and impediments ('plagues') are exposed which serve to illustrate participatory development as a complex and difficult, though essential and challenging endeavour. Twelve draft guidelines ('commandments') are also presented in trying to address these obstacles associated with participatory development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Village development and commune development planning (VDP/CDP) encourages the participation of local people in analyzing their problems and opportunities, and finding out solutions. This method contributes to community development by improving capacity of local people and strengthening the roles of commune leaders; promoting local participation and ensuring transparency and equity among different community groups and contributing to efficient and effective use of resources in community development. To achieve sustainability of the approach, some agencies responsible for its introduction have considered integrating it into the governmental system. However, major challenges include complexity of the method, high costs (time and resources) and lack of skilled community facilitators. Experience shows that this method needs leadership that is dynamic and initiative taking at various levels. Lessons learned show that much can be achieved by simplifying the planning method, concentrating on capacity building measures and developing monitoring and financial mechanisms to help improvement of socioeconomic development planning, and thus community development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is one of the main driving forces of community development. This article argues that in transition countries, community participation in developing rural vocational education systems is a prerequisite for bringing about change at local level. The reform of vocational education and training (VET) for farmers in Kyrgyzstan shows that pragmatic approaches to participation yield best results in terms of financial and operational sustainability of a training system. Following a brief description of the challenges faced by communities in transition countries, the article lists factors making participatory approaches indispensable for adapting the existing vocational education system to the realities of a market economy. Two examples demonstrate how the Agricultural and Rural Vocational Education Project of the Swiss NGO Helvetas uses participatory curriculum development processes in order to empower the communities to develop locally adapted training courses and how self-governance and co-financing of VET can be strengthened through the creation of Local Vocational Training Funds. The article ends with lessons learnt on the use of participatory approaches in VET for both Kyrgyzstan and other transition countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of public participation is receiving increasing attention in South Africa, from both government and civil society sectors. We are witnessing acknowledgement from a wide range of public institutions that insufficient consideration has been paid to public participation, and that existing policy frameworks, institutional mechanisms and programme interventions are failing to comply with governments constitutional and statutory obligations in this regard. This article examines actual practice in one key "€˜invited space"€™: the policy and legislative framework for public participation in municipal processes. The article also highlights community experiences of attempting to engage with municipalities in development planning and policy processes, and their aspirations and expectations in this regard. We conclude with a set of recommendations on how participatory development at the local level can be transformed to ensure that municipal planning and programme implementation processes are truly accessible, participatory and empowering for local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world over, public institutions appear to be responding to the calls voiced by activists, development practitioners and progressive thinkers for greater public involvement in making the decisions that matter and holding governments to account for following through on their commitments. Yet what exactly "participation"€™ means to these different actors can vary enormously. This article explores some of the meanings and practices associated with participation, in theory and in practice. It suggests that it is vital to pay closer attention to who is participating, in what and for whose benefit. Vagueness about what participation means may have helped the promise of public involvement gain purchase, but it may be time for more of what Cohen and Uphoff term "€˜clarity through specificity" if the call for more participation is to realize its democratizing promise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]