Community Development Framework

The Community Development Framework is one of a number of community planning

strategies and frameworks including; The Community Engagement Strategy, Municipal
Public Health Plan, the Community Plans Policy and the Municipal Strategic Statement.
The framework is designed to map out an approach for the future that will embed
community development principles in the way Greater Shepparton City Council engages
with our community across all facets of Council business. This framework forms a
starting point for Greater Shepparton City Council where further consultation and
decision-making can be planned and implemented. It is intended that the framework will
be evaluated and reviewed after a 12 month implementation phase to identify and refine
future directions in partnership with the community. The following diagram maps a
policy hierarchy to provide a framework for thinking about how other strategic and policy
documents fit into community development and community engagement planning.
Council policies and strategies make up the third level of the hierarchy.
Community Engagement Strategy Greater
Shepparton City Council’s Community Engagement Strategy recognizes the
importance of community input in developing and delivering better services. The
strategy enhances the involvement of community, community based agencies and local
business in Council’s decision making processes so that decisions will be more likely to
reflect community issues and interest and ensure well thought through solutions.
Municipal Public Health Plan
Council’s Municipal Public Health Plan adopts contemporary thinking about health and
wellbeing to shape a broader municipal approach to strengthening communities and
supporting residents to achieve and sustain a high standard of health and wellbeing.
This plan includes a focus on social inclusion and community participation, recognition
that building a sense of belonging is an important contributor to personal and
community health and wellbeing outcomes.
Community Plans Policy
The Community Plans Policy recognizes that within municipalities there are usually a
number of locations/townships around which communities develop, all with their own
local characteristics and hence different priorities and needs. Through the development
of community plans for locations and townships in the municipality, communities are
empowered to develop a vision and position on issues which can input into Council and
other service providers’ decision making processes. Community plans are a tool for
community consultation and engagement as they provide a means for residents of a
location to identify key issues, preferred actions, priorities and a vision for their future
which promotes increased pride, skill development, ownership and responsibility for
their own community. The concept of developing community plans provides a
mechanism through which communities can have input into Council and other bodies’
provision of funds, facilities and services in their locality as well as broader planning and
policy.
Municipal Strategic Statement
Greater Shepparton’s Municipal Strategic Statement contained within the Greater
Shepparton Planning Scheme aims to ensure that services and facilities maintain
relevance to local community needs by being
located in prominent, accessible locations that are flexible, multi-purpose shared
facilities that accommodate and service a wide range of users.
What is Community Development?
Community development is a conceptual approach to increase the connectedness,
active engagement and partnerships among members of the community, community
groups and organizations in order to enhance Council’s community social, economic
and environmental (natural and built) objectives. It is a blend of ‘bottom up’ action that is
driven by community in partnership with ‘top down’ resourcing, facilitation and
coordination by local government. A community development approach is based on the
belief that there is real and intrinsic value in having strong, resilient individuals,
community groups and organizations. Community development that builds and
strengthens capacity is composed of a range of elements, which combine in different
ways, according to the local context.
The elements of strong communities include:
• Civic participation and pride
• Mechanisms for community input
• Mechanisms to develop strong and effective relationships built on trust and respect
• Mechanisms for the distribution of community influence
• Skills and access to resources
• Sense of community and social cohesion and engagement
• Social and inter-organizational networks
• Community values and history
Community Development

What is community development?

The group consensus was that community development starts with an individual who
has a vision arising from an appreciation of a balanced look at the community and its
people.
From that balanced view of the community, others in the community are included in
articulating a vision of what might be.
Development is a process that builds on the existing strengths of the community. It
recognizes that the power of a community rests with the people of the community, not
solely with its leaders. Development is the community taking responsibility to make
change.
“People own both the process and the results,” said one participant. Another participant
won wide agreement with the proposition that communities need to return to communal
responsibility.
Still another said: “There is fear, shame, and silence in communities, and isolation from
each other. We need to come back to caring, sharing, kindness, honesty and faith. We
need to return to respect for women, and children, and all adults.”
One participant urged communities not to forget the community's children: “They have
strength, desire, faith and spirit.
Three major themes about community development emerged.
One theme, expressed in different ways, is that community development puts the
community in the driver's seat. The community builds the capacity to grow and
develop the way it wants.
A second theme builds community development on Aboriginal history and traditions.
The community discovers itself and uses knowledge about the past and the
present to change the future. The group always prefaced suggestions about vision
with learning from tradition, past social structures (such as the clan), and history.
A third theme is the need for local control, decision-making, ownership and participation.
The essential component of community ownership of development is involvement
of the entire community-Elders, adults, and children. Community development, said
one participant, draws on the strengths of people.
“Leaders are only as strong as you make them. Ask the people of the community: Why
are you giving your power away to the leaders?”
 History of Community Organizing in the Philippines
Community Organizers Multiversity, n.d.

Marcos' declaration of martial rule in 1972 altered the terrain for social movements. All
progressive groups were subjected to repression while some individuals were either
eliminated or arrested by the military. During the early stages of martial rule, all attempts
at organizing ground to a halt, except for the Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO).
The repressive situation led a large number of activists to go underground and wage
armed struggle against the Martial Law regime. Some organizations like the FFF were
co-opted by the regime. Others simply laid low.
Church-based programs which functioned as non-government organizations (NGOs)
were the first to engage in organizing despite martial law. These include the Urban and
Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines,
Episcopal Commission on Tribal Filipinos, Share and Care Apostolate for Poor Settlers,
and PEACE, among others.
Soon, however, NGOs resumed grassroots activities. The Philippine Ecumenical
Council for Community Organization (PECCO) continued with the refinement and
implementation of the community organizing (CO) approach all over the country, in
combination with the Marxist structural analysis and the thinking of Saul Alinsky and
Paolo Freire. Politicized NGOs used the structural analysis approach in conscientizing
and mobilizing, while the Basic Christian Community framework was developed by the
progressive church as a response to the needs of the time. Programs like education and
health, economic enterprises and cooperative development were used as entry points
for organizing to avoid getting in trouble with the dictatorship.
Various political formations saw the need to set up NGOs or influence the programs and
projects of existing ones in order to pursue their own interests. On the positive side, it
cannot be denied that the most effective NGOs of the period were those whose leaders
and staff had ideological leanings. On the other side, internal ideological struggles
wracked some NGOs as ideological debates and rivalries within the mass movement
spilled over to the social development community. PECCO, for one, split in 1977
because of ideological differences among its elements, leading to the formation of two
separate organizations the Community Organization of the Philippines Enterprise
(COPE) and the People's Ecumenical Action for Community Empowerment (PEACE).
Developmental institutions eventually saw the need for more coordinated activities
among themselves. In December 1972, ten foundations came together and formed the
Association of Foundations (AF). The association expanded to 40 members by 1976.
More progressive groups formed the Philippine Alliance for Rural and Urban
Development (PARUD), a consortium of POs and NGOs with more or less the same
ideological bent.
Repression continued, but opposition to the Martial Law regime became more
consolidated. There was widespread unrest as the majority of the people remained
mired in poverty; wages were kept at very low levels and human rights violations
increased. When Martial Law was paper lifted in 1981, organizing efforts multiplied and
innovative approaches and tools were developed and replicated all over the country.
NGOs were instrumental in the development of the organized mass movement.
Human rights as an advocacy issue was effectively raised by pioneers in this field such
as the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines and lawyers' groups like Free Legal
Assistance Group (FLAG) and MABINI.
International campaigns against weapons of mass destruction, environmental
conservation and sustainable development influenced the Philippine social development
terrain. NGOs with these issues as primary concerns were established during the
period. The women's movement also began to flex its strength locally.
NGOs recognized the need to band together into networks for purposes of link aging,
synchronization of activities, and cooperative exchanges of experiences and resources.
Networks formed during this period include the Philippine Partnership for the
Development of Human Resources in the Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA) and the Council for
People's Development (CPD). Regional NGO networks such as Kahayag Foundation in
Mindanao and the Consortium of Development Programs in the Cordillera were formed
also.
Cooperatives went through a second wave of growth during this period. The
government formed the Cooperative Union of the Philippines in 1979 and required all
cooperatives to register. Independent cooperatives refused to yield and instead formed
the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) (ACSPPA/PCHRD, 1995).
The assassination of Benigno Aquino in 1983 led to widespread street protests which
became known as the parliament of the streets. It attracted a cross section of society
including previously unpolitic zed sectors, such as business and the institutional Church.
There were efforts to forge unity among the anti-dictatorship forces. Several coalitions
were formed: Justice for Aquino, Justice for All (JAJA), Kongreso ng Mamamayang
Pilipino (KOMPIL), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) and others. But these
organizations did not last long due to ideological differences among its members.
Major organizations among the ranks of the peasant, fisher folks and indigenous
peoples were organized for the purpose of advancing sectoral agendas.
Other venues of development work were explored further. Programs that focused on
livelihood, gender equality, ecology, alternative legal assistance, support for migrant
workers and others were implemented.
One of the issues that divided the social development sector during this period was the
question of whether to participate in the 1986 snap presidential election. The
mainstream national democratic movement and the NGOs and POs under its influence
opted to boycott the election, while the other left-of-center formations decided to
participate, albeit critically.
During the First Quarter Storm of the seventies, CO was introduced through the
Philippine Ecumenical Council for Community Organization (PECCO). The group
organized communities in Tondo and established the Council of Tondo Foreshore
Community Organization which proved to be an organization of leaders. Re-training was
carried out to improve the organizing skills of PECCO personnel. The Saul Alinsky
method of conflict-confrontation developed in Chicago was adapted to conditions in
Tondo. As a result, the Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO) was born. The program
was replicated in other parts of the Philippines, including the rural areas and usually
introduced through Church structures. The Alinsky CO method was refined to include
reflection sessions, which were, in turn taken from Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the
Oppressed.
When Martial Law was declared, organizing efforts continued. During this time
development workers began pushing for people's participation and CO became the tool
for achieving this. Both international development groups and government began
advocating and funding CO programs. Thus, community organizing proliferated.
Even before PECCO adopted Alinsky's practice of community organizing, the
progressive section of the Catholic Church were already started organizing Basic
Christian Communities (BCC) in Mindanao with the proclamation of Vatican II. It soon
spread to some parts of Luzon and Visayas and the organizing was basically liturgical,
employing Bible studies and other creative forms of worship. But during the Martial Law
period, the BCC became a means for witnessing the Teachings and Example of Christ
through socio-political work.

Components of Successful Community

1. Effective Community Leadership Healthy communities have, and develop, public
leaders who work together to enhance the long term future of the community.
Community leadership must be responsive, honest, efficient, enlightened, fair and
accountable. It should have the ability to bring the community together to participate
in open, neutral dialogue on important issues. Leaders should be representative of
their community and be able to envision an economically secure, environmentally
sound and socially viable future. Leaders should understand the challenges facing
the community and be able to take advantage of opportunities within the community
and in cooperation with neighboring ones. Leadership should empower community
members to assist in resolving community issues.

2. Informed Citizen Participation In a healthy community, citizens actively participate

through voting in local elections, serving on local boards, attending public hearings,
and being involved in civic organizations and community activities. The increasing
complexity of municipal operations is limiting the ability of government to meet
community needs, escalating the importance of active citizen involvement and
volunteerism. All sectors within a community -- private, public, and nonprofit -- must
each take responsibility for the community's civic education and exchange
information with the public. All citizens need to develop knowledge and skills to
contribute to community life. Shared problem solving and planning for the future as
a community increases local pride and commitment.
3. Sense of Community A sense of community is an intangible yet vital component of a
healthy community. It encompasses elements such as image, spirit, character and
pride, along with processes such as communication, inter-group relations, and
networking. A community is made up of different people with different interests,
experiences and backgrounds. These characteristics may divide a community into
natural groups but there must be cooperation among them if the community is to
work well as a unit. Increased communication and understanding of different
perspectives among groups and within the community as a whole is an important
factor in establishing a sense of community. Villages, towns, and cities with a sense
of community include those wherein all members: contribute to and hold a common
vision for the future; respect and celebrate their heritage, diversity, and resources;
share information, and; develop and sustain an abundance of social networks and
relationships.

4. Fostering Healthy Families, Individuals, and Youth Most communities face a variety
of challenging social issues, such as substance abuse, domestic abuse, poverty,
and other concerns related to the elderly, youth, and families. Addressing these
concerns effectively takes the coordinated efforts of the public, private, and
nonprofit sectors. Support services such as adequate child day care,
comprehensive after-school, youth, teen, and senior programs, preventative health
and substance abuse programs, parenting and family support programs, and
effective human service networks help strengthen the social fabric of a community.
Aided by effective communication, compassionate leadership, active citizen
participation, and inter-group cooperation, a comprehensive package of supportive
services will enable a community to nurture healthy community members.

5. Lifelong Education and Learning Education is a lifelong endeavor, much more

extensive than just the K-12 school system. It starts at home, continues through
childhood and the teen years, and progresses throughout adult life. People of all
ages need to develop knowledge and skills in order to improve the quality of their
own lives and those of their families, and to contribute more effectively to
community life. Programs of higher education and lifelong learning provide local
businesses with a pool of trained employees. Other formal and informal learning
opportunities allow community members to discover hidden talents and develop an
array of interests and skills. Lifelong learning allows citizens to manage their lives
more effectively in a changing economy and to participate in increasingly complex
municipal operations with greater knowledge and skill.

6. Community Services, Facilities, and Utilities A community provides many essential

facilities and services to its members - public facilities such as municipal buildings,
schools, parks, pathways and trails, roads, libraries, a recycling center, and
cemeteries, and services and utilities such as police, fire, ambulance, highway
maintenance, information dissemination, and possibly water, and sewer. These key
 functions consume the majority of tax dollars and sharply influence the community's
quality of life.

7. Recreation and Cultural Heritage Recreational and cultural activities nurture the
body and soul of a community - individual and team sports, outdoor activities, art,
crafts, music, dance, theater, holidays, festivals, and celebrations. Recreational
opportunities allow community members to experience and appreciate the
community's diversity of natural and human resources. Cultural activities reflect and
build a community's positive sense of itself and strengthen the fabric of social
interactions within the community

8. Working Landscape and the Natural Environment Natural resources and historical
assets of a community contribute significantly to the quality of life for residents and
play an integral part in defining community character. The lakes, streams, rivers,
walking trails, working farms, forests, clean air, historic buildings and ruins, special
places, wildlife, and open land help determine a community's personality and
contribute to the everyday pleasures of community life. A successful community
recognizes the importance of these assets and takes appropriate measures to
assure their continuance.

9. Economic Vitality the private, public and non-profit sectors are all important in
attracting new investment and in developing new businesses that suit the character
of the community and meet its needs. The need to sustain successful workplaces is
an important factor to the health of a community. The more often money circulates
within the community before leaving, the more the community benefits. A healthy
community includes access to a variety of environmentally sound businesses,
industries, and institutions that provide reasonable wages and benefits to workers,
engage in family-friendly policies, provide workers with opportunities to develop
marketable skills, and contribute to the overall wellbeing of the community.

10. Growth and Development A community can more effectively manage its growth
through the prudent use of local zoning districting and ordinances and planning
regulations that guide how land is divided, used, and developed. These tools allow
the community to regulate the development of residential areas, commercial
districts, and the village centers. These are key considerations in managing growth
while maintaining community character. Another important factor in the
development of a healthy community is the diversity of the housing. This
encompasses availability, affordability, and location, all of which affect the lives of
community members, especially the elderly, disabled, and low-income families.
11. Transportation a community's strategic location and economic importance bring
many people to live, work, and shop here. Roads get most of us where we need
and want to go, and most people drive their own cars for convenience. However,
more vehicles sharing the roads results in increased highway maintenance, air
pollution, and traffic congestion. Alternatives to automobile travel can include
pedestrian and bicycle travel, broadband/internet based ordered and delivered
goods and services, and bus and rail transportation.

Elements of Community Structure

Participants
The core, the life force of the IPC, is its people, whom are free and freedom loving
individuals who care for the miracles of life and whom understand the importance of
such communities in the larger social fabric of human civilization. The strength of the
whole lies in the relationships and interactions of those people. Such persons should
have a voluntary interest in collaboration and a desire to live differently than the modern
consumerist pattern. Individuals dedicated to listening and working with nature and each
other to create a vibrant tribe and home to us all.
To allow for flexibility of involvement and intentions we distinguish between Tribe
Members, Part-time Tribe Members, Vacation Investors and visitors. These distinctions
are mostly to do with the amount of Shawoho (Shared Work Hours) - the engine of our
internal sharing economy, that a participant is taking on, however the distinction can
sometimes also refer to how often they are living in the intentional community.
The visitors fall into two categories; those that participate in Shawoho such as
Woofers/Work exchange and those that don't, such as friend or family visits or
vacationers using our services - for example some bungalows or camping. The later will
be charged a fee per day which depends on the type of visitor and what they are using
from the community.
The Tribe Member and the Part-Time Tribe Member are the core of the community and
they share many of the same general privileges and responsibilities. A Part-time Tribe
member is one who is committing to a minimum of 3 months per year of Shawoho
where as a Tribe Member is committing a minimum of 9 months in most years. Since a
Part-time Tribe Member may not be engaging as much in Shawoho during any given
year, their benefits are equally reduced by the amount of time they are away by default.
When not residing within the community, their vote counts for .5 of a vote. Note that
anyone undertaking Shawoho less than 2 months a year are considered visitors.
Vacation Investors are a category of Participant distinct from the rest. Please refer to
the Vacation Investor page for those details. Also you can refer quickly to the
differences between Participant types using the Participant Distinction Chart.
Some of the general privileges and responsibilities of an International Permaculture
Community Participant is to;
  Choose a piece of land they can steward as their home / personal space of 900
meters square;
 Have the right to assist meetings of any of the production elements within the
community;
 Have the right to vote on any issue that interests them within the community;
 Take on the responsibility of completing the minimum Shared Work Hours
(Shawoho) per month/year;
 Have the right to share in the harvest and goods produced by the community;
 Have the right to monies (paid out monthly) made by the collective works of the
community participants, minus expenses, through the 'Share the Wealth
dividends' plan;
 Have the right to divest of their participation from the community and reclaim their
stewarded land fee once a new participant has been approved by the community
and paid their own membership in full;
 Participate in numerous enriching community activities and services offered
through Shawoho.

More details about participants can be found in the IPC Membership Contract, including
the application process for future Participants. Please contact us if you have further
questions about the privileges and responsibilities of Participants.

Organizational Elements
Organizational elements pertain to the way we interact with each other and the land, the
wider community, other intentional communities and the world at large. All the legal
issues, protocols and processes are all part of the organizational elements as are the
way we live and work together. These can often be nearly invisible structures, such as
the ingrained habits and perceptions within a culture that inadvertently foster predictable
patterns and outcomes. A natural and peaceful flow within the community manifests
when such organizational elements work well together creating invisible 'ties that bind',
which contributes to building healthy relationships.
There are a few models of success that we can glean 'best practices' from, such
communities like Twin Oaks, Crystal Waters, The Farm, Dancing Rabbit and Findhorn
to name a few. Each of these success stories are similar in spirit but different in
application and our organizational elements pulls what we feel are the best mix for our
collective vision.
Community living is not for every one, nor is it an easy ride. Communities often flounder
due to economic and social friction between members. Our community aims to address
these issues in unique ways (social contracts). We will flourish by creating strong
economic and social ties between members. There will be much emphasis on
communication within the community and processes will be in place to ease social
tensions that may arise.
What works and doesn't work for us will be observed as we grow. Organizational
elements can be tweaked over time through our collective decision making process to
best suit our collective needs. If you would like to know the reasoning behind certain
decisions thus far, feel free to contact us and talk about them.
Our intention is to live collectively in such a way that villagers are encouraged and able
to contribute their skills, gifts and interests, to create a solid, diverse, and thriving social
environment. The social dynamics at the IPC are thus born out of the organizational
elements that we, as a community agree to, and take responsibility for. Therefore, to
join, each person must understand and agree with our Organizational elements before
becoming a participant. These are embodied in our Membership Contract.

Physical Elements
Physical elements are the elements which are bound to the earth. The use of land is
therefore its domain. The land will be divided with a balance between agro-forestry,
agricultural, naturally reserved areas and the village land which will further be divided
between private homes and communal/collective spaces. The land will provide food
security in every possible niche. The designation of lands are broken down into the
following 4 zones;

 Village Zones
 Farm Zones
 Agroforestry Zones
 Protected Preserve Zones

Village Zones
Personal spaces, community spaces, and cooperative spaces, all have physical
elements that must be considered before the time, effort and expenses are invested in
making them.
The design and layout of a village impacts greatly on the efficiency of a community, on
the psyche and health of its members and on the interactions and relationships that
people have to each other and the environment. Permaculture design therefore is
crucial and some over arching considerations will include integration of natural
resources within the landscape of the village, non grid patterns, useful poly-culture
corridors, ways to promote symbiotic village life relationships and efficiency through well
planned locations of the different physical, cultural and economic elements.
We will explore different fundamental designs for extending the village (vertically and
horizontally) so we reduce the possibility of problems if our population density climbs
and will look carefully at waste streams, water patterns, people movements,
product/good movement, electrical, etc.
Before any permanent structures are started on the land, the community will undertake
a Permaculture Plan which includes Village Design, which will stretch over a one year
period. Any future participants can get involved and the general public can offer
suggestions to the design(s). There has already been some visioning with this in mind
and the following describes a general feel that the core team is hoping for.
The concept of the IPC is not to build a subdivision but rather a more fluid mix of
interconnected communal and private spaces. Since there will be many varied
communal spaces, personal homes will probably not require large amounts of space or
resources. Villager participation in the design and building of their own homes is
recommended and input from the rest of the community will help ensure a nice balance
between personal comfort and resource management. For some villagers a home could
be as simple as a hut or as small as a 2 bedroom apartment and for others intricate
stand alone houses may be in order. Either way, villagers have a personal space to
retire to when they desire to.
Dwellings will primarily be built on the periphery of communal areas for greater
efficiency and facility in sharing of resources. Residential Stewarded Land will be
allotted based on a 1st come basis and their sites chosen and drawn in from the
participants input as to their general needs. These include distance from community
spaces, views, access to waterways and many other attributes.
Easy accessibility to and within the community will be important. An access road or
alternative cargo/transit technology may be necessary to aid in the construction of the
core of the village, however it will become a car free zone with large walking/cycling
paths.
The IPC village will include spaces for learning, sharing and growing, areas to explore
and discuss and places to create and exchange knowledge and techniques. These
communal spaces will reduce the need for large personal homes and keep the village
centered around a core, keeping many social functions within short walking distance or
biking distance. Sound playing structures, mini theater space, public courtyards and
learning spaces, are some of the possible physical elements in the village that promote
communal/family dynamics. Cooperatives and businesses are only limited to members
imagination and capabilities. Some of these physical structures may include a carpentry
workshop, butterfly house, beekeeping operations, kitchen and food transformation
spaces, art studio, etc... . An extensive list of imagined spaces that future villagers
would like, has been started and can be view here: List of Physical Elements.
Civilizations are shaped in part by their technology. We will design our community in the
most efficient way for the enjoyment of its peoples and use appropriate technologies to
reduce our environmental footprint. All buildings will go through an eco-friendly analysis,
weighing the pros and cons of certain materials in this climate and their availability. We
will design and build in ways to harness the waste stream in a useful way for and from
each building.
We are aiming for a complete, vibrant, healthy and productive village with at least 50
participants. It will also be a place of immersion into new social dynamics and of
permaculture put into practice. Guests can integrate into community life and learn about
the relationships and production areas of interest to them.
Farm Zones
Societies who feed their populations with the most wholesome of foods, while using
techniques that are healthy to the land to ensure sustainability, will in our opinion be the
most resilient over time. Therefore we will only grow organic produce. In our village, we
envision a maximum of 200 adult participant residents and a handful of guests from time
to time. There is a document that Ivan Tattoli wrote about the carrying capacity of land
to population size which is available upon request and we have used this information to
help decide our own balance between land and population with a bend to the cautious
side, so if we have 200 people we will have a vibrant village and food sources that will
be able to sustain them substantially.
Our community will strive to be self sufficient in foods first and if successful will expand
to larger plots to grow for sale to what we foresee as our primary market in the region:
restaurants and foreigners. Production Elements will also be using the produce to
create their own products for internal and external use, consumption and sale.
Farming has many physical elements to consider and often looks different in application
based on the techniques one incorporates on the lands. Some clearly defined elements
that we will include are vegetable plots and bio-intensive beds, greenhouses, swales,
irrigation systems, harvesting infrastructure, fencing, animals and of course the plants,
bushes and trees that nourish us.
The staple vegetables and fruits of the region will be planted first to provide for our
community. Staples such as bananas, papayas, pineapples, beans, tomatoes,
eggplants, cassava and rice to name a few. These plots will be inter-planted in the first
few years with larger tree species so that we maximize our time and space in
developing the agricultural aspect of the community.
There will be mixed orchards which will produce fruits that the community can use,
transform and sell easily. The trees will be trimmed for easy picking and fruit promotion.
Such things as grapes, passion fruits, citrus, water apples, caimitos etc. will be planted
and maintained in a mixed orchard setting. Some leguminous trees will be found in this
area for greater shade, nitrogen fixing and to improve the soil biodiversity.
Some animal husbandry may be maintained especially once orchards and forests are
established. We may have animals that assist in work load and providing fertilizer, that
give products to eat or be transformed for other purposes. The raising of animals will
depend primarily on the dietary wants and requirements of community members.
Agroforestry Zones
We aim to plant and maintain mixed timber species, medicinal species and a large food
forest which will share boundaries with land that we have decided to preserve.
Hundreds of species would be maintained and labeled, however some plant and tree
species will be grown in larger patches or will be given more emphasis due to market
opportunities for village sustainability. Some of these species will be exotic fruits,
traditional staple fairs and trees for promoting more eco-conscious lifestyles (such as
the soap nut).
The final goal would be to establish a poly-culture that creates ecological services for
the land and for the community while healing the forest through bio-remediation. The
maintenance and expansion of a permaculture food forest should be well under way by
the 7th year period. We have no current plans to grow tree species for timber for resell
purposes however selective logging may be done in this area in the future to be used by
the community. The food forest will be implemented in small stages and in the early
years could occupy a large portion of the communal work load.
Experimentation and research will be encouraged for those interested and we have
access to a search-able plants database which one of our members already has in the
works. For example: such experiments as the domestication of jungle grapes and
tapping of cohune flowers for sap could have marketable implications as well as new
understandings in the form of pure scientific interest.

Protected Preserve Zones

Depending on the land we attain there may be the need for restoration of original forests
involved. The protection of such land will ensure that the community can thrive for
generations to come so long as the preserved lands are allowed to regenerate and
flourish. This preserve will consist of natural fauna of the area, with the intent to restore
it into a state of primary forest if it is not already. The conservation of water ways and
biodiversity will be paramount, so that wild life can continue to prosper and evolve.
From the point of purchase, a protracted observation period and a proper updated
layout inventory of current species and resources will be undertaken, followed by a
permaculture design strategy which will include understanding what grew in the original
forests here and how to reclaim some of the land for such purposes. Selective cutting to
give a boost to the flora will most likely follow. Pruning of existing trees and the
introduction of species lost or beneficial to a diverse and productive forest will
commence.
Pathways may be made in this area and could be used for collecting medicines in a
sustainable manner. Most food producing species in this preserved area will be left for
wildlife regeneration. The protected forest will also keep the water table high and guard
the springs that run into the rivers.
Production Elements
The primary purpose of Production Elements is to sustain the diverse needs of the
community members, and the secondary purpose is to produce certain goods or
services that the community can exchange with other communities or for sale to the
world at large.
A diverse set of interconnected industries & disciplines will ensure a robust, healthy,
creative and wealthy populace. These production elements can touch all fields and
include all sorts of activities, be it agricultural, cultural, industrial, commercial and/or
touristic. A list of suggested Production Elements has been started.
Each Production Element can be set up in the form of a Project, Business or
Cooperative. Note that, if any type of production element generates income, these
monies will be shared via the 'share the dividends' plan. See the Income Sharing
Model in the economy section of the Membership Contract for details.

These production elements will be the method through which members can participate
in the day to day operations and mini industries in the community. Participants are free
to engage in whatever business, project or cooperative they feel most useful. In our
Sharing Economy, each participant understands and agrees to be responsible for a
certain amount of work hours per month. This ensures things get done, people profit
from the collective labors and everyone contributes. The sharing of the monetary profits
may also act as an incentive but it is secondary, a benefit of the collective effort.

Community Process, Dynamics, and Empowerment

C o m m u n i t y i s a m a s t e r s y s t e m encompassing social forms and cultural
behavior in interdependent subsidiary systems. A community is also recognized as
social unit, such as a group or association based on common needs, interest, values
and function.
Community is a social system composed of people living in some spatial relationship to
one another, who share common facilities and services, develop a common
psychological identification with the locality symbol. And together frame a common
communication network.

Community Processes

Community development as a process is a systematic approach to change in which

each of the phases of the process may be sufficiently defined and measured in
accordance with specified criteria.
Community Dynamics

• Community – a group of People

• Dynamic- Self-Motivated Person, Active Person, Energetic Person, known as
“Dynamics for Development of the Community”
• Community-Dynamics is the process of change and development within
communities .
• Community Dynamics which strive to bring about positive social change through
community-based programming

Significance

Community Dynamics is here to work with community to think creatively and act
strategically so that community can achieve their goals.
At Community Dynamics, believes that, creative and sustainable programming
that works to raise the quality of living for those most vulnerable to poverty and
exploitation

Dynamics in Community Level

• Integrative Forces
• Disintegrative Forces
• Participative group and groupism
• Functions of sub groups
• Minority groups
• Gender and empowerment

Integrative Forces

• Integrative Thinking is a field in Applied Mind Science which was originated by

Graham Douglas in 1986.
• He describes Integrative Thinking as the process of integrating intuition, reason
and imagination in a human mind with a view to developing a holistic continuum
of strategy, tactics, action, review and evaluation for addressing a problem in any
field.
• A problem may be defined as the difference between what one has and what one
wants.
• Integrative Thinking as described may be learned by applying the SOARA
(Satisfying, Optimum, Achievable Results Ahead)
Disintegrative Forces

• Disintegrative processes are therefore seen as "positive," whereas people who

fail to go through positive disintegration may remain for their entire lives in a state
of "primary integration."

Participative Group

• Participative group is known by many names including

• shared leadership,
• Community empowerment,
• Community involvement,
• participative decision-making,
(Stein eider, B., Bayerl, P.S. & Wuestewald)

Group

• the tendency to think and act as members of a group

• Is the concept which makes everyone to feel
 Empathy
 Sympathy
 we feeling
 Goal achievement

Subgroup

• A group formed of a subset of members drawn from a larger parent group.

• Subgroups are not autonomous; though members of the parent group may
choose to join a subgroup rather than be assigned,
• membership in a subgroup is ultimately controlled by the parent group and it's
owner
• Subset of members drawn from a larger parent group
• a user joins a group and is put into a smaller group (ex. committees, teams),
which might have access to resources that the larger group has

Functions

• Work towards goal achievement

• Motivate the members
• Organize meeting with the members
• Organize meeting with the external agents
• Liaisoning with government and others
Minority Group

• A minority is a sociological category within a demographic

• Those who don’t hold the majority of positions of social power in a society.

Gender and Empowerment

• Gender empowerment is conceived as a process by which women can overcome

many of the hurdles that they face such as education, work status, employment
opportunities, health care, social security, position in decision making by virtue of
their gender.
• Gender empowerment veritably implies empowerment of women to do away with
“Subordination” or “Discrimination” and “Injustice” done to them in male
dominated society.
•
Community is a social system composedof people living