Guidelines for Community-based training and learning

Introduction
A series of guidelines were developed by a Grundtvig 4 programme 2005-2006
and worked on by the Consortium for Training and Learning for Community
Development funded by the European Union 2007-2009. (See www.cebsd.org
and www.tl4cd.wordpress.com for reports and discussion documents and a
blog.) These Guidelines have been summarised for dissemination and
discussion under the following headings:

5.1 Target Groups

a) Public
b) Professional
c) Policy makers

5.2 Content of Training and Learning for Community Development

a) Exploring values, principles and ethics
b) Conflict and cohesion
c) Governance and democracy
d) Skills for Action

5.3 Format of Training and Learning for Community Development

a) Needs Assessment
b) Process and Product
c) Combining Process, Product and Procedure

5.4 Organisation of Training and Learning for Community Development

a) Power and Empowerment

b) Design of Programmes
c) Planning
d) “Made to Measure”
e) Engagement, Involvement, Motivation and Participation

5.5 Some challenges and tensions

a) Diversity
b) Relationship between Vocational education and Community
Adult Education
c) Recognition of learning in Community Development
d) Sustainability of training and learning programmes
e) How to improve support for public participation and
involvement.
5. Guidelines

5.1 Target Groups of Training and Learning for Community

Development

Diagram 1 represents the diversity of the target group with division into three
categories of Public, Political and Professional. Each category should be seen
at different levels, local, and national, European.

Political

Community
Development
Core Principles,
Definitions and Values
Training and learning should create Multipliers

Public Professional

Notes on categories Political, Public and Professional

The category “Political includes Policy makers, civil servants and authorities in
general with a focus on specific groups for specific objectives, for example: elected
representatives, people who design curricula, and people in charge of funding
Public is understood as the local Professional is understood as those
community (all citizens) and specific who are in paid work including:
target groups e.g. Voluntary Professionals in NGOs non-
organisations, governmental organisations; staff
Business people/organisations/ working in municipalities, in health,
Minority groups, education and schools and experts.
Artists etc
5.2 Content of Training and Learning for Community
Development

a) Exploring values, principles and ethics

The content should include elements designed for both individual and collective
development, political rights and should have an orientation towards specific
problems and identifying solutions. In addition to training in empowerment, skills
and capacities, groups should be offered knowledge that helps understand
community life. Some suggested topics are:

 Identities
 Social analysis including norms/values, principles of equality
 Initiative and motivation
 Personal development such as building confidence, being assertive,
dealing with conflicts.

b) Conflict and cohesion

Community-based Training can generate conflict because it stimulates

discussion and challenges the status quo. Understanding and operating within
“communities” involves understanding the potential for conflict in:

 Cohesion and co-operation across cultures

 Partnership and dialogue – joint action
 Forms of racism, sectarianism, sexism etc.

Training needs to develop the skills to resolve conflicts as it may be uncovering

conflicts or even causing them! There is often a hidden agenda in conflicts so it
may be difficult to identify whether the conflict is about behaviour, resources,
values or identity. Conflicting parties may not be evenly matched leading to
“Asymmetric Conflict” where one party is stronger than another and may not
even recognise the power imbalance. There can be an added value in working
at a European level as there are often cultural differences behind conflict and
you need multi-cultural and intercultural competences, which you have more
opportunity to develop when interacting in a European

c) Governance and democracy:

Active participation and involvement of communities is part of the core principles

guiding Community Development. There are stronger and stronger links
between Community Development initiatives and citizen initiatives. The Training
and Learning for Community Development project is exploring how to
strengthen connections to the citizen initiatives of the Central and Eastern
Citizens’ Network. There is a volume of discussion of how to mobilise citizens in
order to formulate policy and develop awareness of the different forms of
democracy from the “bottom-up” (see Gerard Hautekeur’s paper on
www.tl4cd.wordpress.com for a discussion of Community Development in
Flanders and some definitions of democracy in current research. Some of the
topics that are suggested for exploration in training and learning initiatives are:

 Internal democracy of organisations

 Self-government, decentralisation, direct democracy
 Understanding how government, local and national functions + how to
understand/influence/change what elected representatives do and how
they do it
 How to develop and implement policy which relates to the values and
needs of communities
 How to safeguard human rights
 How to influence the European Union and the Council of Europe.

d) Skills for Action

Understanding of “community” and how everyone can contribute to the

development of “communities” of interest, identity, and locality is a key element
in training whether for professionals, volunteers or policy makers. This
awareness should also be linked to strategies and programmes for action that
are robust enough to meet objectives. There should be a balance of an
assessment of needs from the perspective of those in the community and an
aspiration to identify the highest quality of training material, professional and
voluntary input to meet those needs.

5.3 Format of Training

a) Needs Assessment

To meet the different learning and training needs of the diverse actors, learning
and training for community development must be based on a needs assessment
- i.e. a “mapping” of what the learning and training needs of community
development actors and their organizations are. “Mapping” in this context is, a
design to visualize actors in small communities and the strength of their
relations of conflict and/or cooperation with one another.
At the level of an individual community development worker, a needs
assessment involves answering questions such as: what training do I need to be
effective in my work? What are my strengths and weaknesses? Similarly, at the
level of a community development organization, a needs assessment involves
an organization answering questions such as: what are our competences in a
particular area? In what areas do we need to invest to be more effective?
Participants proposed that one useful approach to carrying out a needs
assessment is by using an “inspiration list” - i.e. a scheme that may stimulate
community development actors to identify their needs with regard to:

 Particular themes – such as human rights, social justice, the

o Environment, etc.
  “Maturing processes” – such as working in groups, how to
tackle
 Racism, working with volunteers etc.
 Political issues – including lobbying policymakers
 Issues of social development – including the ageing/graying
of the population, multiculturalism, urbanisation etc.
 Conflict Management issues – including mediation
 Personal characteristics – for example, in terms of attitude,
communication skills, leadership, coaching skills etc. (See
Brussels Relay Report January 2009 on
www.tl4cd.wordpress.com for more discussion on this).

.
b) Process and Product

There should be an interlinking of themes and topics in the form chosen for
delivery of training and learning for Community Development and it should be
diverse because people are diverse. (See section on organisation for meeting
diversity). Training can be organised at a local/national or ‘community’ level.
Independence is needed in designing the form or format so that it can be
adapted to the context and to ensure that participants gain skills and abilities to
change and shape their own context. Community-based training may be formal
or informal but formal training is more likely to be concerned with ‘results’
whereas informal training is more likely to be organised from the ‘bottom-up’ and
put emphasis on the process.

In community –based and sustainable learning, the process is as important as

the production of quantifiable results. The distinction between process and
product can be a false distinction but it is often made because outcomes from
process (e.g. increased awareness, confidence, development of social skills)
are difficult to measure. However the contribution of Community Development to
social inclusion and social development is recognised by some regional and
national governments. Understanding ‘process’ and the need for consistency
between principles, values, methodology and practice is core to community-
based training
The process needs to be creative; to open space for external views and should
also value existing expertise and knowledge. Experts should be encouraged to
participate in order to share their expertise but without manipulation. We should
be open to developing new knowledge. Different perspectives on knowledge are
needed and the development of critical consciousness is part of the learning
process.

d) Combining Process, Product and Procedure

Follow-up includes on the one hand an on-going assessment of the process,

product and procedure and on the other transfer of results. Some understanding
of measurement of results, measurement of achievement and a commitment to
monitor and evaluate effectiveness of training programmes is a key to
 progressive attainment. Different forms of assessment are possible. It may be
formal but should not be too formal, for example:

 Progress reports
 Journals
 Self-Assessment to own goals
 Different forms of feedback
 Monitoring and Evaluation by external expert
 Arrangement for mentoring

5.4 Organisation of Training and Learning for Community

Development

a) Power and empowerment

Community Development Training is not just about increasing skills and

completing programmes, it is about understanding power and empowerment
Learning to adjust to the given context and to develop skills and capacities that
enable participants to change the context are both important.
The art of Community Development Training is to convert/translate from
top-down programmes into bottom-up initiatives – often using Government
funding. Where there are favourable top-down policies or programmes these
need to be translated into bottom-up practice and vice versa, where there is
good bottom-up practice this needs to be translated into policies or programmes
which favour empowerment.

b) Design of Programmes

It is advisable to set up a meeting among the 3 ‘p’s – public, professionals and

policy makers and decide together the aims of the training in the given context.
The following should be involved in planning training for Community
Development, depending on the context:
 Formal Training Institutions
 Former Students and their feedback
 Similar institutions or organisations to that offering the training
 Informal sources
 Community workers
 Social animators
 Trainers and Training Assistants
 Beneficiaries of training course

c) Planning

Some suggestions:
 Motivation and the joy of learning should be paramount in designing
your initiative
 Make the selection competitive to promote motivation
  Involve people, who work in the same institution but who have
different perspectives on the same issue (e.g. Politicians and ‘clerks’
i.e. elected representatives and civil servants)
 Select people/organisations based on their background
 Use an interdisciplinary approach
 Use diversity
 Look at each participant as someone who contributes
 Use field visits/ study visits and ways of learning from each other’s
experiences

d) “Made-to-measure”

The commitment to core principles of equality in Community Development

should underpin training and learning opportunities and should be reflected in
the trainers and in participants. We need to see trained Community Workers and
other professionals from a range of backgrounds, identities and cultures
represented in the mainstream of training and learning for Community
Development. When that is not the case, we should ask why they are not there
and take steps to consult, inform and involve those who face discrimination and
exclusion. Training and learning opportunities should also identify and take into
account of differences in background/ age/ duration of involvement in
community work/ function in the organisation/ time/ locations. This attention to
diversity when carried out well, will improve the quality of the training and
learning offered for all. It should apply to all stages of design and application of
training programmes.

e) Engagement, Involvement, Motivation and Participation

The planning group for the training should ask itself how to generate maximum
involvement and motivation. The TLCD project has produced many suggestions
in answer to the following questions:

 How to facilitate full participation?

 How do we engage citizen participation in decision-making?
 How do we involve community members in the actions (participatory
planning)?
 How to we put empowerment and participation methods into practice?
 How to communicate with Target Groups?
 What support can be offered to participants?
 How to stimulate the commitment of Participants?
 A contribution – financial or otherwise from participants?
5.5 Some challenges and tensions

a) Diversity
One of the barriers to equality is that there is a paper commitment but this is not
reflected in the reality. One group identified some bad practice in this field. For
example, Government and non-government organisations, Community Workers
and trainers may invite those that they felt comfortable with not people who
would challenge them. Sometimes a minority representative is ‘chosen’ by the
majority because they can rely on that person to express majority opinion and
the ‘chosen’ one is not connected to the minority community.

Many Community Development programmes have immigrants or Rom for

example, as their target group but there is no representation of trainers or
Community Development workers from these groups in the design or
implementation of the training. Minorities are often seen as the target for training
only. Trainers and professionals who have also experienced discrimination are
overlooked when there are opportunities to contribute to mainstream practice.
Greater awareness and more ‘intercultural’ skills are needed at all levels.

b) Relationship between Vocational education and Community Adult

Education

Participants in the European project on Training and Learning for Community

Development see a need to structure the diversity of experience to help identify
ways of dealing with the tensions that exist between vocational training and the
more diffuse field of community education and the shared European aspirations
for lifelong learning in the Lisbon Process of the European Union. The following
is an example of some of the tensions discussed in the course of exchanges.

Vocational Training (To Community Adult Education

become a professional)
Accreditation for professional General social skills
qualifications
Emphasis on empowerment to
Specialisation in specific fields change “community” and on
mobilisation of community
Qualifying as a professional Volunteering and community
activism
Tools and standards for Campaigning for social change
professional practice
Operating to organisational codes Social reflection, awareness,
analysis

c) Recognition of learning in Community Development

The recognition or validation of training and learning is important. Accreditation

for the profession of Community Worker/Animateur/Mediator is one important
means of formal recognition that needs further reflection and action but there
should be other forms of recognition.
A system of recognition needs to be supported by methods for evaluating the
quality of community development work (Process as well as product). Are there
ways of including community voices in the process of recognition?

d) Sustainability of training and learning programmes

The context of training and learning opportunities is key to whether learning is
sustainable and applied to the specific situation or community. The relationship
between non-governmental organisations and the local or national government
is a key to his context. Non-governmental organisations are also expected to
follow market rules and funding is often determined by results that can be
quantified in a short time. Community Development processes often take longer
than a year or two to show results. The NGO could take on the first steps to
establish a successful model of working, which could then be adopted in the
mainstream by the Local Authority.

e) How to improve support for public participation and involvement.

There are tensions and challenges between Community Development and

broader community activism. What is the training of professionals, volunteers or
policymakers aiming to achieve? Is the aim self-development and/or developing
skills for employment? Is the aim to strengthen target groups in the light of the
desired transformation designed by policy-makers? Do professionals and
policymakers seek more communicative social planning where community
workers/organisers/animateurs act as mediator among various stakeholders? Is
the aim to mobilise those on the margins so that they can become actors not
victims? Is the aim to build greater social cohesion? These questions and more
have diverse answers depending on the group, organisation or institution, its
local, national, European or global context.

There are tensions and challenges between the local, national, European and
global dimensions of “community” life. There are forms of encouragement for
public participation for example the Aarhus Convention but this and other
initiatives are limited to informing citizens and that is not public participation. The
European Union and Council of Europe have taken active steps to engage
citizen participation but there is still a sense of alienation between “communities”
and European institutions and no strong sense of interaction. There is not a
sense that citizens can set the agenda. The project on Training and Learning for
Community Development has been funded as a result of the European policy
commitment to lifelong learning. One of the ….of the Lisbon waiting to be ratified
by the member states of the European Union.

The project is run by non-governmental organisations from different countries -

the vast majority of them with insecure funding. One of the main links
established in the course of the work on Training and Learning for Community
Development has been that between the Combined European Bureau for Social
Development, the Consortium for Training and Learning for Community
Development who have taken the lead from the Central and Eastern Citizen’s
Network on citizen participation. The Seminar in Sofia from 18th to 21st May 2009
will be a key to meeting some of the challenges of the future.