2.3. Community Projects: Best Practices
Community participation
Oakley and Marsden (1987) defined community participation as the process whereby individuals, families, and communities take responsibility for their own welfare and develop a capacity to contribute to their own and the community’s development. In the context of development, community participation refers to a process whereby the direction and execution of development projects are influenced by the beneficiaries rather than simply receive a share of the project benefits (Paul, in Bamberger, 1986). In addition, the concept of community participation is viewed as a basis for project success. The World Bank (2004) defines participation as “a process through which stakeholders “influence and share control over development initiatives, and resources and the decisionswhich affect them”.
It is the community development movement of the late colonial particularly in the parts of Asia and Africa which created about 40years ago the concept of community participation. Community development was a way of training people in local administration, improving local welfare, and push government control through local self-help activities. However during that period, due to the bureaucratic top-down approach adopted by the colonial administrations, the policy failed to realize its objectives (McCommon, 1993).
The main objectives of community participation are the following: building beneficiary capacity, empowerment, improving project efficiency, increasing project effectiveness, and project cost sharing.
Generally, community participation can be more successful if the community takes more responsibility than when higher level public agencies try to assess to evaluate consumer preferences...
... middle of paper ...
...he security of their daughters on the way to and from the school. In addition, since girls are important labors in the household, helping their mothers to do the chores and take care of their young siblings. The time that requires going to and from school seems too much to waste for the parents. These issues are serious obstacles and have to be addressed and overcome in order to promote girls’ education. Therefore, involving parents and communities in school activities also helps to identify possible teachers in the community, especially local female teachers which greatly help girls’ education. Furthermore, in places where communities are indifferent in girls’ education, elderly people or religious leaders who are respected by community members can convince them to send their girls to schools, if the dialogue with these respected people takes place successfully.
The book Walk Out, Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now written by Margaret J. Wheatley and Deborah Frieze take us on what they call a “Learning Journey” to seven communities around the world. However, these communities are not the everyday average communities. These communities are made up of people who had “walk out” from their community, and “walk on” to establish their own. The belief is that the people who “walk out” feel as if they do not have the necessary resources, influences, and knowledge to thrive within the community. These restrictions then cause them to move out from said community. People who move out usually do not get help in terms of funding and resources from others. This however was not seen as an issue for them. They want to build a community free of all those things, and solve their problems together as a community, rather than with the influences of people with power. The purpose of this book is to show how these communities functions, and how people can use some ideas from these communities and apply within their own community.
Caring for the elderly is an activity that requires patience, willingness, due diligence and effective co-ordination of resources in order to optimally benefit the recipients. Community services and programs is one such avenue that caters for the elderly by providing for their mental, physical, social and emotional well-being, and by extension promotes a greater quality of life. Community services help meet the needs of the elderly and attract older people who face barriers to active living. One strong advocate of community based services and a program for the elderly is the American Association of Retired People (AARP) who relentlessly seeks to promote a healthy lifestyle for people 50 years and over.
Global and local communities seek the greatest opportunities for prosperity and self-fulfillment, but there exists certain criteria that must be met in order to achieve those ends. The most successful communities incorporate the inherent values and virtues of a specific group of people. Communities ought to establish goals to be attained by their members, giving them a sense of cohesion and cooperation. Ideally, communities dictate a rule of law to lead them towards some elements of justice and mutual benefit.
Community is like a Venn diagram. It is all about relations between a finite group of people or things. People have their own circles and, sometimes, these circles overlap one another. These interceptions are interests, common attitudes and goals that we share together. These interceptions bond us together as a community, as a Venn diagram. A good community needs good communication where people speak and listen to each other openly and honestly. It needs ti...
Participation is defined as one’s involvement in life and social situations, and includes interpersonal interactions and involvement in relationships, major life areas, and community, social, and civic life3.Community participation is one of the most important elements of stroke rehabilitation. Perceived participation in community activities represents an individual’s perception of satisfaction with his or her involvement in life situations. Many people with stroke have a low level of satisfaction with community reintegration after they are discharged from the hospital and return to the community4.
Rothman, J. (1974). Three models of community organization practice. Strategies of community organization: A book of readings, 22-38.
Activities and philosophies that advocate for the connecting of communities with socially sentient beliefs and actions is what have come to be referred to as civic engagement. They are thus individual or collective actions aimed at addressing issues that are deemed to be of public concern. They can be manifested in many ways including; public service, civil activity, service-learning, crusading and advocacy to mention but a few as the list is endless.
...cts are unknown. Preliminary data indicates the Youth Advisory Council model, one example of the community problem-solving approach, may be a promising avenue for engaging young people. Additional longitudinal research in coming years will be crucial in developing more definitive conclusions. Anecdotally, many students find great value in the program, indicating it develops leadership skills and provides motivation for further community participation. The participants are not the only beneficiaries, however. Through thorough planning and thoughtful implementation, the sponsoring agency and broader community gain significantly from such a process. Involving young people in addressing community problems at the local level can infuse new life into agencies and communities, while helping to prepare young people to become active, engaged citizens in our democracy.
Community engagement is now a priority in many public sector agencies. Besides appealing to democratic principles, citize...
People can also show their want for a better community online by posting their thoughts and opinions on how their communities could be the best that they could be. A way that individuals can do this is by creating a page for these ideas. For example, if someone feels that a park would make their community superior and they make a page online about this park that should be built they are being civically engaged. They are being engaged because they are sharing their idea with others in their community who very well could think the same way about a park. Maybe, in this situation, people see this page online and they had never thought of putting a park in their community before, but after seeing this page they agree that a park really would be a good idea. This idea of the park is being spread and very well could happen to improve the
People’s lives are changed every day by their actions and experiences. This past summer, I participated in a community service project, an experience that opened my eyes in many ways. I was a volunteer at the County Memorial Hospital. In my time as a volunteer at the hospital, I was able to meet patients and staff members from all over the world and learn about their life experiences. Listening to all of their stories has made me truly appreciate everything which I have.
McMichael, Philip, ed 2012. Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, 5th ed. London: Sage Publications, Inc.
Frequently however, issues arise amongst a community that need attention. In this essay I will outline and discuss some of these issues and the interventions, projects or programmes designed and used to tackle and combat them. The three models of intervention or, ‘Community Development’, I will discuss in this essay, "Social Planning", "Community Development", and "Social/Community Action", all have the same aim regardless of how it is accomplished and this is to improve and maintain the conditions which affect the lives of the community.
The aim of community engagement should not be a tick box exercise but to understand the area from a community perspective and tapping into that local knowledge before proceeding with a strategy or an individual scheme. Good community engagement will promote the participation of local residents, business, groups, developers and agencies in order to get a level of understanding of each needs and vision for Rusholme.
This paper will begin by highlighting aspects of citizen participation showing the advantages and disadvantages it has on the policy process and discuss how citizen participation in the policy making pro...