SECTION 1
Developing Community
What it means, and why it matters
– 1.1–
Community—the world of me and us
The word ‘community’ is understood in many different ways. Which is awkward! How can we work together to develop something, if we don’t agree on what that ‘something’ is?
In some places, the shape of ‘community’ is fairly obvious, because it’s defined by location. People living in the town of Brookton, or the community of Balgo, clearly have something in common with each other: they live in the same place. But what about someone who is livingin the sprawling suburbs of Perth, or other major cities? Many of them spend more time with work colleagues, friends from other suburbs and online than they spend with neighbours or other locals. So what is ‘community’ to them? How do they make sense of ‘community’ in their lives?
An aim: that all of us have the capacity to get our needs and aspirations met.
Needs and aspirations like…
- •Financial or material security
- •Clean water
- •Love
- •Physical safety and security
- •Beauty and harmony
- •Information
- •Mobility
- •Shelter
- •Advice on my choices
- •Fun
- •Recreation and creativity
- •Emotional support
- •Food
…and many more
Box 1.1a
Community will have profoundly different shapes for different people. We cannot and should not impose, from the outside, an idea of community. We cannot tell someone who their community is. That can be alienating and disempowering. I might, for example, live in Baldivis, but my sense of community comes mainly from the netball club, based in Cannington, that I’ve been a member of for years. If you try to engage me in Baldivis-based community activities, you might just cause me stress, and steal the energy that I’ve been putting into the Cannington Netball Club.
So, we need a workable concept of community that fits in urban and even online settings, just as much as it fits in village settings. And because Western culture is largelyindividualistic (where the interests of individuals are often given precedence over those of the group) this concept will work best if it begins with the individual and individual wellbeing, but does not end there. Community is not necessarily a good thing in itself. People can suffer terribly at the hands of other community members. Rather, it is valuable
