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3.2 Core values and impacts

The core values for community development are concerned with greater social justice, which means
working for a society where human rights are promoted and all forms of oppression, discrimination and
exclusion are addressed. Through articulating and applying the principles of collective learning,
empowerment, participation and active citizenship, collective decision-making and action for equality,
community development is a participative and dynamic process.

The core values and the community development process are :
1

Collective learning: people learn and build confidence by reflecting critically on their circumstances, and
from their experience of tackling issues collectively, building solidarity and support through emphasising
the common aspects of individual experiences.

Empowerment happens when communities collectively build power for change through awareness
raising, critical analysis and developing and sharing skills and knowledge to enhance their capacity to
become actively involved in addressing both the causes and consequences of their marginalisation.

Collective action for collective outcomes involves communities developing an analysis of their
circumstances, identifying priority needs and issues and addressing these through collective action.
It requires the building of solidarity through alliances with other groups, organisations and agencies in
order to advance key community objectives as well as learning from others, nationally and globally.

Meaningful participation is essential for active citizenship based on a belief that the health of
communities, and society as a whole, is enhanced when women and men are motivated and able to have
a say in decisions that affect their lives. It is achieved by addressing barriers to participation and facilitating
the involvement of groups who experience social exclusion, marginalisation and discrimination in
decision-making, planning and action. It succeeds by creating spaces and opportunities for lived
experiences shared and voices to be heard, from local to global levels.

Equality involves challenging the attitudes of individuals, and the practices of institutions and society
which discriminate against and marginalised women and men based on ability, age, gender, marital or
family status, socio-economic status, nationality, skin colour, ethnic group, sexual orientation or religious
beliefs.

The main principles to build the community development process are:

- Collectivity;
- Community Empowerment;
- Social Justice and Sustainable Development;
- Human Rights, Equality and Anti-discrimination;
- Participation.

1 http://eucdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2014-24-09-EuCDN-Publication-FINAL.pdf