Community development

Community development has a narrower and a broader interpretation. It is a pedagogical method known in pedagogical science and psychology as a means of fostering children’s personal development and life skills, while in sociology, in the terminology of community activities, it can refer to a method of encouraging participation, a profession, or a movement. In all of its senses, community development signifies the development of social and civic core competencies of individuals or small groups, locally or in communities of common interest or spirituality, thus strengthening the social capital.

In the calls for tender for the TOP-5.3.1-16 and TOP-6.9.2-16 programmes ‘Strengthening Local Identity and Cohesion’, community development primarily means the strengthening of community initiatives and ability to act for municipalities, neighbourhoods (districts), micro-regions, where citizens, their communities and networks play a key role together with the community developer, to the locally required extent, whose encouraging-motivating, informing and contact-organizing activities may give birth to, complement or strengthen existing community resources.22 We may talk about community development when members of the community and their organizations and institutions develop their own local community. Community development is characterised by looking for, and applying, community solutions to the emerging issues, conflicts and needs.
 
References:

[1] Arapovics, M.: A közösségfejlesztés alapfogalmai és a kulturális közösségfejlesztés paradigmája. [Basic terminology of community development and the paradigm of community cultural development]. In: Kulturális Szemle [Cultural Review] No. 6. 2016. No. 2.

 
This article based on the following document: Community development methodological guide