community development and communication
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| General Focus | Particular Focus |
| The general focus is on 'processes' (eg how to communicate) rather than on 'topics' (eg what to communicate about). | The particular focus is on 'communities' and how they develop, communicate and are represented. |
There are three types of information
articles, books and a jargon buster (what the big words mean)
Articles:The following tables lists some articles and books which people have found to be particularly useful in helping them to understand the themes of community development, communication and representation. If the article is available online we have put a link to it.
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Community leadership means councils working with other organisationsSir Jeremy Beecham, chairman of the Local Government Association, sets out the association's view of community leadership; Tuesday November 21, 2000 "Many of the issues facing local communities today - health, community safety, the environment, social inclusion, unemployment, regeneration - can only be tackled effectively if the wide variety of public, private and voluntary sector organisations involved at local level work together. No single organisation acting alone has the complete answer - but working together gives us the best chance to maximise our combined effort, avoid duplication and make the greatest impact on our communities." More ... http://society.guardian.co.uk/communityleadership/comment/0,8146,400842,00.html |
Community leadership: the issue explainedAdam Wolfe, Wednesday March 21, 2001 "Local government has been moving away from its old role as a service provider for well over a decade. Compulsory competitive tendering - brought in by the Conservative government in the 80s - forced authorities to make use of the private sector to deliver services. Councils began to develop a new "enabling" role, making it possible for others to meet the needs of local people. Many now argue that this trend should continue. More ... http://society.guardian.co.uk/communityleadership/story/0,8150,460604,00.html |
Good Practice in Rural DevelopmentA set of 8 short booklets from the Scottish Executive. The links take you to the website for each publication where you can choose to download a pdf version. No 1 Effective Partnership Working
No. 2 Community Involvement In Rural Development Initiatives
No. 3 Preparing Local Rural Development Strategies: Frameworks for Action
No. 4 Structures for Local Rural Partnerships
No. 5 Consensus Building
No. 6 Developing Projects and Securing Funding
No. 7 Environment and Heritage in Rural Development
No.8 Innovative Methods of Service Delivery in Rural Scotland: A Good
Practice Guide |
The Social Economy:“In January 2003 the Scottish Executive published “A Review of the Scottish Executive’s Policies to promote the Social Economy”. Its purpose was to assess the social economy’s potential to contribute to the achievement of key Scottish Executive objectives in areas such as housing, child care, community care and the New Deal and to identify how the Executive, other public sector and independent agencies might help the sector to realise its potential.” Scottish Executive (January 2003) “A review of the Scottish Executive’s Policies to promote the Social Economy” (110kb pdf file) 28pp http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/rose-00.asp Communities Scotland has a set of three precis papers which give a thorough covering on the concept and what it might imply in practice: Communities Scotland (June 2002) The Social Economy: A literature review (Precis 10) http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/communities36/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=3434&sID=1366 [23kb pdf file] Communities Scotland (August 2002) Support Infrastructure for the Social Economy (Precis 14) http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/communities36/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=3493&sID=1366 [44kb pdf file] Communities Scotland (August 2002) The Support Needs of Social Economy Organisations (Precis 15) http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/communities36/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=3494&sID=1366 [24kb pdf file] |
| Enabling Communities - promoting democracy - "Community Agents can form mutual support and self improvement groups which, through networking and more or less formal federation, can have a powerful voice in lobbying and advocacy in joined-up-thinking forums with the agency-driven representatives of other sectors. By speaking with one voice these Community-Led Action Coordinators can help transform high level, agency-driven strategic and policy thinking so as to enable further community-led developments. Is this the new democracy?" ... more |
| Land management has
played a central role in shaping the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National
Park and the proposed Cairngorms National Park. However, if it is to
continue to help maintain the high quality environments of these areas, as
well as to contribute to the livelihoods of local people, land
management within these areas will require further support.
Following on from Action 47 of A Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture, this project has assessed the extent to which ‘new directions’ for land management schemes in the two National Park areas can be developed as a means of providing support in a more innovative and sustainable way. Overall conclusions focus on the need to develop locally specific and
integrated projects which are set within an overall strategic framework
for each area. |
| Doing it Differently - Networks of Community Development Agents - Alana Albee and Graham Boyd, March 1997. This paper draws lessons from practical experience of working with community agents in various parts of the world. It considers the relative merits of a range of different ways to set up and maintain social networks which empower local people. |
| Nine case studies document the experience of being a LEADER Community Agent in rural Inverness and Nairn between 1994 and 1999. They have been written by the only people who can describe that experience at first hand - the Agents themselves. These reflect the diversity of the Agents, and of the rural communities that they worked in. More ... |
| Scottish National Heritage (SNH) has a good collection of papers about National Parks at http://www.snh.org.uk/strategy/sr-adnp00.htm . SNH also has a good collection of maps as pdf files at http://www.snh.org.uk/strategy/natparks/sr-npc00e.htm |
| Robert Stevenson (2002) Getting "under the skin" of Community Planning - Understanding Community Planning at the Community Planning Partnership Level; Local Government Research Programme; Research Findings No 1, 2002 Source: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/resfinds/lgrf1.pdf - Key extracts 27Kb doc |
| George Clark (2000) Community-led enterprise – setting the wheel in motion; BPL; http://www.thebpl.co.uk/wheels.htm |
| Bob Forsyth and Alex Downie (April 2000) Support Package for Community Councils in the Cairngorms (Summary of Final Report) (42Kb doc) |
| SQW Ltd (March 2003) Economic Baseline for the Cairngorm National Park and Surrounding Area (draft) - pdf files - Summary (364kb) Part 1 (968kb) Part 2 (312kb) |
| The Country Side Agency - Indicators of rural disadvantage: Guidance note http://www.countryside.gov.uk/publications/publication.asp?PublicationID=613 Downloadable as large pdf files. This publication provides guidance on the use of area-based indicators of rural disadvantage. In addition to a general discussion about the use and limitations of indicators in the rural context, detailed descriptions of 12 indicators, grouped into the following five themes, are presented: income and financial disadvantage; employment disadvantage; educational disadvantage; health disadvantage; housing disadvantage. |
| The Cairngorms Partnership - the Partnership's many publications are listed on their website |
| The Cairngorms Partnership (Sept 1996) The
Vision for the Future; (65pp -
292Kb pdf) At one of its early meetings, the Cairngorms Partnership Board agreed to develop a vision of how it would like to see the Cairngorms in the future, looking 25 years ahead. The Board considered that a clear idea of how the area could be in the future was essential to enable it to develop a Management Strategy for the area. First drafts of these papers were distilled from a wide range of material including the Report of the Cairngorms Working Party, confidential expert papers submitted to the Working Party, and the considerable volume of professional work published since the Working Party reported. The papers were also informed by a number of expert presentations to the Board. For a 2 page digest dealing with people, communities and the economy click here - 32Kb doc |
articles, books and a jargon buster (what the big words mean)
Books:Where possible we have put links so that you can order the book online from Amazon.com (Click on the ISBN number)
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| Mike Hudson (1999) Managing without profit - the art of managing third-sector organisations; Penguin; ISBN 1903991285. (More about the author) | ||
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articles, books and a jargon buster (what the big words mean)
JargonIn this section we give some plain language explanations of the jargon that appears in official documents. |
| Advocacy | Linked to lobbying and campaigning - they are all about being systematic when you try to influence decisions. (more ...) | ||||||||||||
| Agenda 21 | Agenda 21 is the global blueprint for socially,
economically, and environmentally sustainable development. Governments,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry, and the general public are
encouraged to become involved in the process.
Agenda 21 provides a framework for tackling social and environmental problems, including air pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, health, overpopulation, poverty, energy consumption, waste production, and transport issues. more ... See also about the Earth Summit |
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| Capacity building | Making communities more able to do things for themselves. On
the soft side this means changing knowledge, skills and attitudes and on the
hard side it means access to buildings, equipment and funds. See the Scottish Executive on capacity building for community planning |
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| Civil Society | "Civil society refers to the set of institutions,
organisations and behaviour situated between the state, the business world,
and the family. Specifically, this includes voluntary and non-profit
organisations of many different kinds, philanthropic institutions, social
and political movements, other forms of social participation and engagement
and the values and cultural patterns associated with them." More on this at the Centre for Civil Society which has a couple of useful briefing papers. See also about Promoting Civil Society through information sharing |
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| Coaching | Coaching is a way to help people make the
best use of their own resources. It is a way to bring out the best of
people's capabilities. Coaching helps people set goals and then reach those
goals. Coaching is goal and results oriented and can focus on virtually any
area of life: business, career, family, health, personal growth,
spirituality, intimacy, simple living, and financial development. Coaching typically takes place on a one-to-one basis, and while most coaching occurs face-to-face, coaching can also be successfully accomplished through telephone and e-mail contact. Successful coaching can happen in just one session. Coaching can be short-term, where the coach helps a client create a vision, achieve a specific goal, or complete a particular project; or it can be long-term, where the client wants coaching for a number of projects and goals. more ... http://www.peer.ca/raccoach2.html |
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| Community | Different people use the word community in different ways. There is for example
one community plan for the whole of Aberdeenshire which includes six very
different Areas. The Banff and Buchan Area includes 14 Community Councils
and each of those serves many settlements and interest groups. The official definition of a community body is this:
This definition allows for communities of interest as well as of location. For example communities can be made up of people from different places who share a common interest in protecting a remote site of scientific interest. SO - before you get into heated discussions - make sure that everybody in the group has a common understanding of how they are using the word community. |
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| Community Agent | "One approach which merits attention is the use of community
development agents, or ‘animateurs’ to help local, rural communities draw up
their own development strategies.
The aim would be to promote a cycle of regeneration led by local communities, who with the assistance as necessary from ‘animateurs’ would prepare an agreed vision for the future of their community, develop a strategy and a programme of action, before forming community partnerships to make things happen through accessing capital and revenue funding. The purpose would be to promote the well-being of rural communities by
giving local people confidence, resources, skills and support to prepare and
implement their own community strategic plans." |
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| Community Enterprise | A community enterprise is a specialised form of
community-based organisation that has both commercial and social aims
and objectives. The commercial objectives of a community enterprise
mean that business methods and practices drive its organisational functions
and determine its operating style. This sharply distinguishes a community
enterprise from the predominantly representative and often informal
operating pattern of most other forms of popular community-based
organisation. See also Community Interest
Companies |
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| Community Interest Company (CIC) | The Community Interest Company (CIC) will be a new type of company, designed for social enterprises who want to use their profits and assets for the public good. CICs will be easy to set up, with all the flexibility and certainty of the company form, but with some special features to ensure they are working for the benefit of the community. | ||||||||||||
| Destiny | "We live in stirring times. An irresistible
wave of freedom is sweeping across many lands. Not only political systems
but economic structures are beginning to change in countries where
democratic forces had been long suppressed. People are beginning to take
charge of their own destiny in these countries. Unnecessary state
interventions are on the wane. These are all reminders of the triumph of the
human spirit.
People cannot be reduced to a single dimension as economic
creatures. What makes them and the study of the development process
fascinating is the entire spectrum through which human capabilities are
expanded and utilised." |
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| Governance | 'Governance' is no longer the domain of governments alone,
but is increasingly involving contributions from additional political actors
and stakeholders. Governments remain powerful, to be sure, but there are
more and more ways for citizens to engage in decision-making about the
management and distribution of resources, for example, or in the development
and implementations of policies that affect their everyday lives. This citizen involvement in governance is not necessarily happening through traditional, established channels for participation, however. (A) factor that must be taken into account is the emergence of a 'democracy deficit' at the national and global levels where connections between governance institutions and constituencies have been severed or severely weakened. (more ...) from Kumi Naidoo (2003) |
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| Mentoring | Most adults can identify a person who, at some time in their
life, had a significant and positive impact on them. Mentors can be friends,
relatives, co-workers, teachers, as well as historic or contemporary
personalities. Most often, a mentor is a more experienced or older person
who acts as a role model, compatriat, challenger, guide or cheerleader. Mentoring has become an effective method for businesses to help employees with orientation, career advancement, problem solving, coaching, and support. In addition, mentors can assist employees to deal with the challenges associated with successful, productive, meaningful worklife. more ... http://www.mentors.ca/learnmentor.html |
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| Networking | This involves making contact with other people. It ranges from informal through to formal. There is the concept
of strategic, pro-active networking - SPANning (more ...) EXTRA - "Networks have the potential to connect diverse actors, in many countries and at many levels. People participate through commitment to a shared purpose, as autonomous decision making agents, joined together through shared values. People undertake activities together, often simultaneously, often spread across geographical space. It is the linked nature of the work, and the quality of participation in the shared space of the network, that makes this kind of working unique." (an international perspective - more ... at Eldis - summary with link to pdf file) |
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| Participation | This can range from crude manipulation by the authorities through to full blown community control of a process. The word means different things to different people - there is a Continuum of Community Involvement. | ||||||||||||
| Partnership | Partnership is about people, with knowledge, skills and
attitudes appropriate to the task in hand, working together for their mutual
benefit and for the greater social good.
More ... Working in partnership - theory and practice - a quick run through from the CCSD. Also a quite short but comprehensive introduction to partnership from Communities Scotland. |
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| Planning |
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| Social Capital | The social capital of a community can be measured in terms
of :-
This 'capital' can be used for the benefit of individuals, groups and/or the community more generally. More ... (Community Business Scotland (CBS) Network Discussion Paper:
Defining the Social Economy, Social Enterprise and Social Capital |
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| Social Economy | The
European Network for Economic Self-Help and Local Development has
defined the social economy as the formally constituted part of a "third
system" which includes:
See also in the section on readings: |
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| Social Enterprise | The term Social Enterprise refers to those enterprises or organisations, which have a clear social purpose and which are non-private-profit distributing. | ||||||||||||
| Stakeholder | Stakeholders are people who have an interest in a particular
decision, either as individuals or representatives of a group. This includes
people who influence a decision, or can influence it, as well as those
affected by it.
Stakeholders in public services include those who pay for them, those who provide them, those who benefit from them and of course those who are involved in making plans for how they are provided. Some stakeholders will be from public bodies and others will be from community bodies. The new Local Government in Scotland Bill says that multi-stakeholder partnerships should be set up for Community Planning so that public services are delivered in an efficient, effective and fair way. At a multi-stakeholder meeting there will be a lot of people with different points of view sitting round a table. Their task is to influence each other so that the plans they make are for the greater good of the greatest number of people. |
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| Umbrella Body | An organisation that seeks to represent and support a
collection of other organisations.
The umbrella body may be accountable to the organisations it represents (like the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens) or it may act as a way that these bodies can have their say on specific issues (like some of the English Regional Umbrella bodies). Umbrella bodies may represent bodies by interest (like NACVS (representing CVSs)) or by geography (like WCVA (representing all voluntary groups in Wales). |
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| Voluntary Sector | Shell Better Britains' Jargon Busting: the voluntary sector |
articles, books and a jargon buster (what the big words mean)
