Community Development Frequently Asked Questions
Question: What is meant by community development?
Answer: Community development is the process of people working together on a local level to improve the economic, social, cultural and environmental conditions in a community. This process includes the conception of ideas as well as the planning and implementation of projects to improve the living standards of people in those communities.
Question: What are some standard elements in community development?
Answer: Community development includes aspects of community capacity building, citizen participation, consensus building, problem solving, visioning and action planning. Partnerships among private, public and nonprofit entities are created to promote activities supporting community development. These activities might be housing construction, business development, technology initiatives, cooperative development or rehabilitation of structures, to name just a few.
Question: What are some approaches to planning and problem solving?
Answer:
Strategic planning has been a common approach to help communities set priorities for community development. Strategic planning may uncover local problems, resource constraints, deficiencies and unmet basic needs to encourage participation and solve problems. A newer approach, using elements of strategic planning, is known in the literature as appreciative inquiry. Appreciative inquiry focuses on a community's achievements rather than its problems, and seeks to go beyond participation to foster inspiration at the grass-roots level.
Question: Where can I find tools or training to help my rural community survive?
Answer: The HomeTown Competitiveness organization provides tools and training to reverse rural decline. They also provide a framework to help identify goals and strategies using a comprehensive approach that combines strategies to energize entrepreneurs, nurture leadership, engage youth and capture wealth transfer. The Heartland Center for Leadership Development provides training and services in leadership, community development, strategic planning, evaluation, and entrepreneurship. Also, the Center for Rural Affairs, an advocate for federal policies supporting rural community development, resource stewardship and small farms and businesses, provides comprehensive rural community development services. Another good source of information and expertise would be through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and their Community Development Programs. They administer rural community development programs and initiatives throughout rural America. Contact your Rural Development state and local office or your local USDA Service Center for additional information.
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Last revised 05/12/2009
