Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship 12

Understanding Community Dynamics

and Community Action
Target Objectives
At the end of the lesson, learners are expected to:
1. be able to define community;
2. distinguish the different types of community; and
3. understand the importance of studying the community and its dynamics.

What is Community?
- a group of people who share something in common such as norms, religion, values,
customs, or identity.
- may share a sense of place in a physical (country, village, town, etc.) or virtual space.
- comes from the Old French word comuneté, which comes from the Latin word
communitas, which means “community” or “public spirit”.
- in the social sector, the word “community” is added to the names of social
innovations as a symbol of good intentions (community mental health, community
policing, community economic development).

Types of Community
Formal group – formed when people come together for a specific goal.
Informal group – formed when two or more people come together for a specific task
that is socially geared.
Urban area – the region surrounding a city; high population density.
Rural area – an open swath of land with few homes or other buildings; very low
population density
Global community – people or nations of the world considered closely connected by
modern telecommunications and are economically, socially, and politically interdependent.
Sectoral – relating to the various economic sectors of a society.
Social space – can be a physical or virtual space.

Five Common Features of Communities

Communities can be classified by the purpose that brings them together.
1. Interest – same interest or passion. The hardest type of community to develop.
2. Action – trying to bring about change.
3. Place – brought together by geographic boundaries.
4. Practice – in the same profession or undertake the same activities.
5. Circumstance – people brought together by external events/situations.
Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship 12

Community Dynamics

- the process of change and development in communities

- can be used by commissioners, policymakers, and those involved in the design and
delivery of local services.
- can be used to bring additional understanding of your community.
- putting communities as the center of the services development and services delivery.
- community action will help the community dynamics or the degree of improvement
of the community.

Community Action

- any activity that increases the understanding, engagement, and empowerment of

communities
- is sometimes described as ‘social action’ or ‘community engagement.’
- includes a broad range of activities that can vary in their objective, role, type, scale,
and integration within the community.
- it is about putting communities at the heart of their own local services

Integration/Application of Concepts
Compare and contrast community action and community engagement.

What are the changes in your barangay that have encouraged action within your
community?

Out of the five common features of communities (interest, action. place, practice,
circumstance), which type of community do you think would be the easiest to develop?