Community, engagement, solidarity and citizenship

Concepts and Perspectives of Community

Systems Perspective From a systems perspective, a community is similar to a living creature, comprising
different parts that represent specialized functions, activities, or interests, each operating within specific
boundaries to meet community needs. For example, schools focus on education, the transportation sector
focuses on moving people and products, economic entities focus on enterprise and employment, faith
organizations focus on the spiritual and physical well-being of people, and health care agencies focus on
the prevention and treatment of diseases and injuries (Henry, 2011). For the community to function well,
each part has to effectively carry out its role in relation to the whole organism. A healthy community has
well-connected, interdependent sectors that share responsibility for recognizing and resolving problems
and enhancing its well-being. Successfully addressing a community’s complex problems requires
integration, collaboration, and coordination of resources from all parts (Thompson et al., 1990). From a
systems perspective, then, collaboration is a logical approach to health improvement.

Social Perspective A community can also be defined by describing the social and political networks that
link individuals, community organizations, and leaders. Understanding these networks is critical to planning
efforts in engagement. For example, tracing social ties among individuals may help engagement leaders to
identify a community’s leadership, understand its behavior patterns, identify its high-risk groups, and
strengthen its networks (Minkler et al., 1997).

Virtual Perspective Some communities map onto geographically defined areas, but today, individuals rely
more and more on computer-mediated communications to access information, meet people, and make
decisions that affect their lives (Kozinets, 2002). Examples of computer-mediated forms of communication
include email, instant or text messaging, e-chat rooms, and social networking sites such as Facebook,
YouTube, and Twitter (Flavian et al., 2005). Social groups or groups with a common interest that interact in
an organized fashion on the Internet are considered “virtual communities” (Rheingold, 2000; Ridings et al.,
2002). Without question, these virtual communities are potential partners for community-engaged health
promotion and research.

Individual Perspective Individuals have their own sense of community membership that is beyond the
definitions of community applied by researchers and engagement leaders. Moreover, they may have a
sense of belonging to more than one community. In addition, their sense of membership can change over
time and may affect their participation in community activities (Minkler et al., 2004).

Importance of community dynamics and community action

**Community Dynamics** is the change and development involved in a community that includes all forms of
living organisms.
**Community Action** is putting communities as the center of the services development and services
delivery. This initiative aims to cater the primary needs of the communities before implementing it. In such
way, **community action** will help the community dynamics or the degree of improvement of the
community.
It is important to understand these two because these will propel the success and stability of the
communities. They go hand in hand and are proportionally related.
What is community?
A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

Social Science Perspectives. In the Social Sciences you will learn about perspective and
howperspective is influenced by the frame of reference you use to interpret information. Areas of Social
Science include Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, Human Geography, History, Politics, and
Economics.
Institutional Perspectives. Legitimate arrangements that govern economic and social business and
human behavior in a particular society
Civil society. can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business,
and including the family and the private sphere.
Grassroots. A grassroots movement is one which uses the people in a given district, region, or community
as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective
action from the local level to effect change at the local, regional, national, or international level.