Our community-driven program is not to be confused with the more recent federal government scheme of the same name. While many schemes designed to improve the lives of Aboriginal people in Central Australia struggle to demonstrate that they are making a difference, our monitoring and evaluation shows that our program is. Our evidence-based approach works because it has local participation and control at its heart, while welcoming the support of outside expertise.
Our processes build self-reliance, bolster communities and promote good governance because they help people to use their own income and resources to design and implement development projects they themselves prioritise. Projects to bring health, education and employment benefits , and more. Wherever possible, we deliver projects in partnerships with local Aboriginal-controlled organisations and companies.
Cultural change and discontinuity are also important influences. For example, many people may feel cut off or disconnected from their cultural heritage or community. Many young people may be in conflict with parents and elders and see theirs as the culture of a "new generation". Culture may mean something different as resource or source of identity for youth in a large city compared with young people in a remote community.
These differences may have different implications for the needs of youth for support and for engagement by services or recognition by elders. Global influences on culture, including new electronic technologies and images are part of the experience and styles of communication of young people.
They may shape particular areas of vulnerability, while also representing important opportunities for engagement of the young.
The place of sports, the arts, including music, painting and dance in resilience promotion and in encouragement of healthy cultural affirmation of identity are relevant here.
These initiatives may occur in conjunction with active development of resilience-building interventions and services to promote mental health and social-emotional wellbeing.
The idea of community is also associated with recognition of leadership and authority based on authentic relationships. Leadership is in part about representation in governance and organisation, and Aboriginal leadership is important in developing partnerships in prevention.
However, leadership is also about mobilising participation, engagement, action and ideas within communities, and may come from outside of organisations that are often seen as representing the community. A further potentially powerful perspective within communities is provided by those families and individuals who have been affected by suicide either directly or indirectly. There are many instances of action networks that have been important catalysts for change to services and policies or who have worked effectively as partners of community services and non-government organisations to strengthen prevention, postvention and life promotion responses.
Collective impact: Collective impact is an approach to addressing complex social problems. There are many similarities between community development and collective impact, and much of the difference or similarity derives from how the project is delivered.
Community development is always driven by the community. The CFCA paper Collective impact: Evidence and implications for practice discusses this and other practice challenges. Community : A community is often a geographical area; for example, a local government region or a particular town. Community can also be defined based on shared interests, identity or characteristics e. Community in a community development sense refers to the citizens of the area, and does not usually refer to service providers or organisations.
Consultation : Consultation is the process of asking community members via surveys, interviews or focus groups for their opinion or preference on an issue. This is not participation in the community development sense. Participation : In community development, participation refers to the full involvement and leadership of community members in planning, developing, delivering and evaluating community actions or initiatives.
Participation must not be tokenistic; community members must be participating in a way that is meaningful to them and to the community development project itself. It takes time to build full and meaningful participation. Figure 1 shows the different aspects of consultation, participation and empowerment.
Minor edits and updates were undertaken by Jessica Smart in Sign up to the Evidence and Evaluation Support news for the latest news and updates for Families and Children Activity service providers. If you are funded under the Families and Children FaC Activity, AIFS can provide you with time-limited support for tasks such as developing a program logic or preparing for an evaluation. The Australian Institute of Family Studies acknowledges the traditional country throughout Australia on which we gather, live, work and stand.
We acknowledge all traditional custodians, their Elders past, present and emerging, and we pay our respects to their continuing connection to their culture, community, land, sea and rivers. Home » Evidence and Evaluation Support home » What is community development? What is community development? Outcomes of community development There are potential outcomes at both individual and community level. What is not community development?
Community-based work and community development work Table 1 outlines the difference between community-based work, which involves the community, and community development work, which is led by the community. Table 1 : Comparing community-based with community development work Community-based work Community development work Source: Adapted from Labonte An issue or problem is defined by agencies and professionals who develop strategies to solve the problem and then involve community members in these strategies.
Ongoing responsibility for the program may be handed over to community members and community groups Characteristics: Decision-making power rests with the agency. The problem or issue is defined by the agency. There are defined timelines. Outcomes are pre-specified, often changes in specific behaviours or knowledge levels. Characteristics: Power relations between agency and community members are constantly negotiated.
The problem or issue is first named by the community, then defined in a way that advances the shared interests of the community and the agency. Work is longer term in duration. The desired long-term outcomes usually include change at the neighbourhood or community level. When to use community development Community development is not always a suitable approach to use.
Community development may be particularly appropriate: to address social and community issues: Community development is a good approach when you are trying to create change at a community or neighbourhood level. For example, if your goal is to improve community safety, increase community cohesion, reduce social isolation or create communities that are better for children. Community development may not be the best approach if: You already know what you want to do. If the outcomes you want to achieve, and the activities that you will use, are already decided then there is no space for the community to determine outcomes and activities.
You have limited time or short-term funding.
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