Figure 32: Overview of the Intensive Community Development (CD) Approach
The community development (CD) approach is a more intensive approach than the community engagement approach and societal outreach and campaigns approach. This approach relies on using participatory techniques with individuals and groups to progress through the stages of change in a way that aims to promote empowerment within communities to identify, prioritise and work towards sustained improvement of animal welfare issues of importance to them.
Community members determine, through inclusive dialogue and consensus, the mobilisation, planning, development, reflection, monitoring and evaluation of their own solutions to address their animal welfare priority needs. Your job as practitioner is not to transmit education or messages but to facilitate dialogue and participation. The members own experience, skills and stories complete the development process as they are best placed to understand the holistic community-wide solutions that will improve animal welfare in their own locality. Practitioners and community members all learn together through action and reflection, each community will be different, so adaptability is key.
Before working with a community, it is important to have the appropriate permits to work within the region, these may be obtained through regional or local government departments depending on the country or area you are working.
You will need to meet with local leaders (local and traditional) to ask for their cooperation, to discuss the ideas for collaboration and to gain their perspective, it is recommended to have a respected member of the community to help make introductions; it is likely you will have to arrange a meeting beforehand to ensure all necessary person/s are present. These leaders may voice their opinions about what they feel your project should target but these opinions may only fit within their specific agenda, it is important at this stage to create dialogue from the outset to ensure your presence is supported and that it is understood the process needs to be driven by the community itself.
Identify who you need to speak with before talking to all members of the community – often there are unwritten protocols, ensure you get off to a good start by respecting the order of communication expected within the community. Respecting customs is extremely important, respect their approach and be guided by those within the community. Their time frame and approaches may be counter to what you are used to but if not followed engagement may be weakened.
A summary overview of the entire community development approach outlined within this guide is provided in Figure 32 above. Whilst the diagram shows a simple summary different contexts and communities will progress through these phases at different rates. The process will be an iterative cycle of planning and implementation as learning proceeds, arrows highlight that the process is non-linear, and you may find you have to revisit previous phases as the project develops. The steps contained within this stage are about building collaboration, trust and understanding to encourage participation to empower communities in efforts to improve animal welfare.
The diagram below illustrates the general progress through the stages of change throughout the different phases of the intensive community development approach. However, as change is a process, community members can progress or relapse through the stages of change at any time during the project. As such, it is recommended that facilitators pay careful attention to where individuals are in their change process and adapt as needed to support people’s continued progress through the stages of change. Refer to the Human Behaviour Change Learning Module Part 3 for an introduction to the stages of change.
Figure 33: The Stages of Change Linked with the Phases of the Community Development Approach
Ensure you read and consider the content in Essential Ethical Considerations for Working with Communities and 1. Gender Mainstreaming Checklist throughout all phases of the project.