What is Community?

From BeyondVoting

Background

Many studies use 'community' simply to group together a number of factors which show up at a local level. The UK government's strategy for sustainable development lists 27 factors in 'building sustainable communities', 25 of which are simply public issues such as employment, health, transport, housing, planning and safety.

A more sophisticated definition as outlined in On Solid Foundations (Report by Chanan for ODPM 2005) - aims to combine people and place in a balance: 'Community ... is made up of two elements:

1. Services and facilities such as housing, access to credit, goods, education, leisure activities, childcare, physical environment and transport ...

2. Social organisation such as friendship networks, group activity ... informal mutual aid, clubs and societies, and informal social controls operated via norms and rules.

This is important as the professional voluntary sector operates to a considerable extent in the cash economy. Its core work is fully costed and funded, whether through grants, public donations or contracts, but in addition it mobilises a substantial amount of volunteering, organised as supporting labour.

The community sector in the definitions already given, in contrast, operates, fundamentally in the reciprocal economy. It does not ask a full cash price for its services, or sometimes any price. This is not because it is cheap, but because it operates a non-cash-based form of supply and demand. In this realm the provider can at any time become the beneficiary and vice versa, or can be both at once. Providers and beneficiaries control the objectives, the operation and the very existence of the activity. It is this that constitutes the real 'glue' that holds society together at the micro level. It is truly voluntary and independent and cannot be subject to market or state criteria. It can however be either facilitated or frustrated by public policies. In particular it needs support in two forms: community development work at neighbourhood level, and a range of propitious physical amenities and conditions'.

Both streams of activity need to be funded. Both need capacity building - but different types of capacity building. The initial findings show that funding needs to be found for the full range of capacity building actions.

The initial baseline research undertaken by Ticher and Eaves in 2004 outlined two aspects of capacity building. That initial research was, at that time, unable to include the findings from the Community Sector Coalition membership and small groups. This further research based upon direct interviews with small community groups, responses to questionnaires and focus groups, has already identified the following:

1. Two streams of funding are needed for capacity building activities. One stream that supports service delivery for larger community anchor organisations and one that supports the development of social capital within small community groups.

2. For very small groups appropriate information and updated capital equipment is key.

3. The use of ICT for networking and communicating is a central element to building social capital.

Sue Webb Community Development Foundation Unit 5, Angel Gate 320-326 City Road London EC1V 2PT www.cdf.org.uk