October 2023
Inspirational practice stories of community development were shared at the 2023 Queensland Community Development Conference. This is where a group of conference goers participated in a session to discuss their views on the Community Development Institute Initiative (CDII).
Many people at the conference CDII workshop expressed a shared concern of the need for an entity that can speak and act with authority about community development to other bodies. These bodies could include, but are not limited to, government, educational institutions, corporations, NGO’s and civil society.
People at the session shared the following thoughts about what is important in order to strengthen and sustain community development practices:
· Having a body (organisaton) for community development
· Having a voice (including international connection)
· Advocacy (e.g. to funders and CEOs) across all sectors / industries. Including the need for an authority figure to represent it.
· Having a regional voice
· The structure to not be hierarchical
· A shared knowledge base of what community development is.
· Job share platforms. Increased recruitment of CD workers.
· Increase understanding of CD across sectors – cross-fertilisation
· Recognition of the varied work at play
· Making the work visible
· Making CD feel welcoming
· Sharing of knowledge and resources between members
· Understanding what the work is
· Recognising people can move in and out of CD work
· Building the practice in rural communities
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