Community Development - Tools and Practices for Transformation

A participatory community development approach includes a range of movements with names such as grassroots development, people-centred development, participatory learning and action (PLA), capabilities-based development, and assets-based community development (ABCD). Marginalized communities are offered capacities to shape the direction of their own lives, and to challenge and change unjust social, political and economic structures. These participatory approaches seek to elevate local people and their organizations to central roles in decision-making and implementation of the development strategies the impact their lives. To be sustainable and effective, community transformation requires local agents of change who focus on developing local capacities and skills. These change agents – whether practitioners and leaders in local community organizations or churches – need to be well-equipped with knowledge and tools to inspire, guide and facilitate change processes that match well the local context and conditions. This course introduces participants to a selection of these approaches that have proven valuable to organizations and practitioners involved in mobilizing, building and catalyzing community development initiatives. At the heart of community development processes stands the development facilitator: her/his effectiveness depends on this set of knowledge, skills and tools.