Community Development
Core Competencies for
Extension Professionals in
the North Central Region
Understanding Communities
and their Dynamics
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2
Basic Understanding of Community
Community Demographics
Community Economics
Community Power Structure
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Natural Resources and Sustainability
Community Situational Analysis
Community Development Process
Community Development
Core Competencies for
Extension Professionals in
the North Central region
Community
Development
Process
SLIDE
4
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
This presentation has been
modified from the original
version developed by
Tim Borich
Program Leader
Iowa State University
Tim Borich
Learning Objectives
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5
•
Integrate what has been learned so far into a
community development process
•
Learn the the key elements of basic methods of
community action
- Social Action Construct
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
- Community Visioning & Strategic Planning
- Asset Mapping
•
Learn the factors that contribute to successful
community development processes
Effective Community
Development
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6
Effective community development is composed of
both:
• Issues being addressed (content knowledge)
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Processes to address issue (process knowledge
& skills)
Community developers have a “toolbox” of tools
and techniques to use in various situations.
Community Development
Processes
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7
Community development processes may focus on:
• A single, episodic event
• Comprehensive, multi-issue community
approach
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Extension is called upon for both approaches,
including a single aspect of one approach.
Understanding the
Importance of Process
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8
There are many factors that contribute to the success of
community development initiatives, poor process can lead
to only partial success or even outright failure.
- Too many meetings without sufficient progress
- Too few meetings to generate enough support
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
- Meetings without a clear focus
- Poorly attended meetings
- People who will make the final decision are not involved
- People are unable to find agreement
Community Development
Without a Process
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9
Community development without a process would not
exist. What would exist:
• Turf wars
• Lack of decisions
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Non-involvement of people
• Conflict over scarce resources
• Lack of development
• Lack of desired outcomes
Community Development
Process Provides
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10
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Community development processes provide a way for
people with very different perspectives, values and
interests to come together and to work together to
address complex public issues that are held in
common.
Effective Community
Development Process
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11
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Effective community development is more than a
particular approach. Rather, it emerges from a rich
interaction among complementary approaches that
actively and meaningfully engage the community
and foster mutually supportive partnerships while
focusing on a whole-community perspective.
-- Community Development
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Community Development
Processes
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12
Community Organization/Civic
Engagement
Various organizing techniques
Evaluation
Evaluation
Indicators
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Data
Collection/analysis
Various problem
identification & analysis
Issue
techniques
Implementation
Who & how decisions
are made
Various techniques to
Decision making
analyze alternatives
Clarification/Goal
Setting
Alternatives Analysis
Community Organization
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13
How do you engage people?
• Capacity building through leadership development
programs
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Community organizing through one-on-one
interviewing
• Stakeholder analysis
• Other?
Data Collection &
Analysis
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14
How do you bring data and information to the issue to
better understand the nature of the issue?
• Community profile
• Survey
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Focus groups
• Experts
• Other techniques?
Issue Clarification & Goal
Setting
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15
Is the group clear about the issue? What are the
priorities?
• Group discussion
• “Lasso” technique
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Nominal Group technique
• Focus groups
• Other?
Alternatives Analysis
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16
What are the alternative approaches/solutions?
• Talk to experts
• Visit sites, other communities
• Techniques to analyze various alternatives
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Force Field
• Criterion Grid
Decision Making
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17
• Who makes the decision?
• How will the decision be made?
• Voting
• Consensus
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Is there opportunity for in-put from
residents/stakeholders?
Implementation
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18
• Who will implement the decision?
• How will it be implemented?
• What resources will be needed?
• How will the resources be obtained?
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• What is the timeline?
• Who will supervise implementation? (Monitor &
revise)
Evaluation
SLIDE
19
• What are the intended outcomes?
• What are the indicators?
• Who will evaluate?
• How will the evaluation be done?
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Who receives the evaluation?
Social Action Construct
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20
• Developed by George Beal and Joseph Bohlen in
the 1960s at ISU
• Focus is upon maximization of community resources
toward accomplishing a specific goal
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Extension Agent or Community Leader as “Change
Agent”
Social Action Construct
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21
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
.
1. Situational Analysis
2. Problem Identification (Inside community or
outside?)
3. Form Initiating Set (First small group
to get things started)
Social Action Construct
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22
4. Alternative Course of Action
Reviewed with Formal and Informal
Legitimizers” (Power Actors)
5. Garner Diffusion sets (broader participation)
through drawing attention to issue or problem
and potential solutions
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Social Action Construct
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23
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
How do you draw
attention through
“diffusion” techniques?
Draw attention to the
problem and solicit
more participation.
Social Action Construct
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24
6. Redefine Needs
7. Get Commitments to Action
8. Set Goals to resolve issue/problem
9. Define means to achieve goals
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Social Action Construct
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25
10. Create a Plan of Work
11. Mobilize Resources
12. Launch Program (Don’t Forget Publicity)
13. Implement Action Steps
14. Final (Summative) Evaluation
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Strategic Planning &
Community Visioning
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26
• Developed during the late 70s and early 80s as
applied to community development
• Unlike comprehensive planning, community strategic
planning typically has a shorter time horizon (5-10
years rather than 20 years)
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Community visioning evolved out of strategic
planning in part to spur more creative and longrange ideas and goals.
Comprehensive Land Use
Planning
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27
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Comprehensive land use planning – started in 1960’s
as a way for a community to look long-term (20 – 30
yrs.) and plan for the use of it’s land and
infrastructure needs. Zoning, subdivision ordinances
are the legal mechanisms to enforce a
comprehensive land use plan.
Strategic Planning Process
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28
Step 1. Getting Ready
(ID participants, info needed, and
outcomes)
Step 2. Environmental Scan
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, Threats)
Step 3. Develop a vision
Step 4. Agree upon responses and priorities
(SWOT) and set goals and objectives
Step 5. Write the Plan (Who, what, when, where, how)
Strategic Planning
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29
• Typically utilizes a facilitator.
• Time needed can vary highly.
• Can be very inclusive or elitist.
• Who is at the table? (power, and community capitals)
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Is the community ready? (situational analysis)
• What data is needed?
• Will there be consensus on future?
• Who writes the plan? Who uses the plan?
Community Strategic
Visioning: A Variation
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30
• Focus is upon a future end
state – a vision
• Focus upon looking beyond
existing resources
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Consensus of vision
provides direction and greater
common sense of a shared
future
• Visioning process can
stimulate creativity
New Tools for Visioning:
Visualization
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31
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• 3-D Geographic
Information Systems
software
• Simple Computer Software
combined with digital
photography
• “Picture worth a thousand
words”
Example Project
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32
GIS Modeling & Visualization
Fort Madison, IA
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Creating Virtual Buildings
using ModelBuilder™
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33
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Community Viz
Visioning Tools
SLIDE
34
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Community Visioning Project, 2003- 2004
Rustic Park of Lost Nation, IA
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35
Before
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
After
Community Visioning Project, 20022003
Fairfield Waterworks
SLIDE
36
Before
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
After
Asset Mapping
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37
• Developed in the early 1990s by John L. McKnight and
John P. Kretzmann at Northwestern University.
• Why focus on problems?
• Inventory the assets of individuals and organizations.
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• “Needs assessment” can be self-defeating process
especially in low-resource communities.
• Concentrates on optimizing the resources available to the
community.
• Focus upon what the community has rather than what it
lacks.
Needs vs. Assets
(Source: Bo Beaulieu, SRDC)
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38
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
NEEDS
ASSETS
 focuses on deficiencies
 focuses on effectiveness
 results in fragmentation of
responses to local needs
 builds interdependencies
 makes people consumers of
services; builds dependence
 identifies ways that people can
give of their talents
 residents have little voice in
deciding how to address local
concerns
 seeks to empower people
Asset Mapping Steps
(Source: Charlie French, Univ. of New Hampshire Ext.)
SLIDE
39
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Step 1
Step 5
Form a Steering
Committee
Administer Asset
Assessment Tool
Step 2
Step 6
Commit Resources
Step 3
Develop Resource List
Step 7
Identify your
Community
Step 4
Cross Reference Needs
with Assets
Step 8
Decide on Inventory
Method(s)
Identify Opportunities &
Mobilize Community
Three Key Arenas for
Identifying Community Assets
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40
People
Formal
Institutions
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Informal
Organizations
Mapping the Assets of
People
SLIDE
41
Skills Information
Community Skills
Enterprising Interests
and Experiences
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Personal Information
Mapping Formal
Organizations
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42
 Every community has institutions that carry
out important community functions
 These are persistent, on-going activities that
meet the social needs of local residents
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
 The vitality of communities is dependent on
these functions being carried out
Formal Organizations
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43
Kinship
Economic
Education
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Religious
Political
Associations
Informal Organizations:
The third vital resource
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44
 They may be neighborhood-based, communitybased, or may extend outside the community’s
boundaries
 Such groups are critical because the involve,
empower, and impact local citizens
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
 Building a community requires a deliberate effort to
identify and involve such organizations
Some Examples of
Informal Organizations
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45
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Church groups: prayer group, stewardship committee,
youth group, service group
Community Celebrations: Annual Fair, Art and Crafts
Festival, July 4th Parade
Neighborhood groups: crime watch, homeowner’s
association
Sports Leagues: bowling, basketball, soccer, fishing,
baseball
Asset Mapping
(Conclusion)
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46
• When it comes to community assets… sweat the
details.
• Use community assets as a foundation upon which
to build community development
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Very inclusive.
• Time Consuming.
• Works well in low resource communities
• BUT… are community assets (or capitals) available?
Other Models
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47
• Community and multi-community
collaboration
• Appreciative Inquiry
• Civic Engagement
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Others?
Elements of Effective
Community Development
Process
SLIDE
48
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Understanding different perspectives, ideologies,
and analysis and working to create a planning,
decision making, and action process that reflects the
differing needs and goals of each community is part
of what is needed to make a community
development process work.
Elements of Effective
Community Development
Process
SLIDE
49
An effective community development process…
• Intentional, strategic and requires advocacy of the
process.
• Links other processes together.
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
• Supported by many.
• Not imposed on people.
• Residents are meaningful players.
Elements of Effective
Community Development
Process
SLIDE
50
• Issues of race, class, culture, and power are always
present.
• Collaboration enriches the work.
• Conflict should be expected and addressed.
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
References
SLIDE
51
Allison, Michael and Jude Kaye (1997) Strategic Planning for
Nonprofit Organizations: A Practical Guide and Workbook. John
Wiley and Sons: New York.
Ayres, Janet, et.al. (1990) Take Charge: Economic Development in
Small Communities. ISU, North Central Regional Center for
Rural Development: Ames IA.
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Beal, George M. et.al. (1966) Social Action and Interaction in
Program Planning. Iowa State University Press: Ames IA.
Beal, George M. and Daryl J. Hobbs (1982) Social Action: The
Process in Community and Area Development. Cooperative
Extension Service. Iowa State University: Ames IA. (SOC-16).
References
SLIDE
52
Byrson, John M. (1988) Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit
Organizations. Josey-Bass:San Francisco
Green, Gary P. et.al. (2001) Vision to Action: Take Charge Too. ISU,
North Central Regional Center for Rural Development: Ames IA.
Kretzman, John P. and John L. McKnight (1993) Building Communities From the Inside Out. ACTA Publications: Chicago IL.
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Rogers, Everett M. (1995) Diffusion of Innovations. The Free
Press: New York
Walzer, Norman (ed.) (1996) Community Strategic Visioning
Programs. Praeger: Westport, Conn.
Web Sites
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53
http://outreach.msu.edu/bpbriefs/issues/brief4.pdf
http://outreach.msu.edu/CapableCommunities/default.html
http://srdc.msstate.edu/publications/227/227_asset_mapping.pdf
http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd.htm
http://www.comm-dev.org/ (click on publications, go to CD Practice)
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Future Attractions
SLIDE
54
Train-the-trainers workshop in Kansas City, November
1-3, 2006 to bring materials/training back on CD
process skills.
This professional development opportunity will be
offered to Purdue staff in 2007.
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Future Attractions
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55
North Central workshops will be offered and special interest
groups will be formed on various specialization topics:
Economic Development
Local Government
Natural Resources
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
Group Process and Facilitation
Organizational Development
Leadership Development and Civic Engagement
Community Services
Workforce Development
Future Attractions
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56
An inventory of community development curricula,
materials, and programs within the North Central
Region is available on the North Central web site at:
http://www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu/projects/corecomp/
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region
This inventory is being revised and will be expanded for
Extension staff to add their own information in late
2006.
Stay Tuned…
SLIDE
57
Community Development
Core Competencies
for Extension
Professionals in the
North Central Region