What Is Community Development? Its All About Differentiation & Integration

What follows is a little heavy in theory (and also long) so if you're not a theory person you may want to skip this post.

Having said that, the pragmatist in me thinks that defining terms is useful not for the academic exercise of doing so (although there's nothing wrong with that) but for the utility of what comes out of doing so.

I'm also conscious that each person will have their own definition and thoughts. Here's mine for what its worth.

When I think of 'community development', I do so in the context of human or societal development generally. What's going on as we evolve/develop? And how does that relate to the evolution/development of the entire Universe?

Pretty weighty stuff indeed but we can boil it down to a simple understanding.

The best explanation I've found for this comes from Ken Wilber - the person who some regard as one of the greatest philosophers on the planet at the moment and the founder of Integral Institute.

Here's a summary (for the fuller explanation, get Wilber's book A Theory of Everything, featured in this post):

1. The pattern of our own societal evolution/development follows that of the Universe (of which we are of course just part)

2. Everything in the Universe is both a whole AND a part at the same time - so as an example: atoms are whole but are parts of molecules; molecules are whole but are parts of cells; and so on.

3. This progression occurs through the process of "differentiation followed by integration". The simplest example of this is a human foetus with cells differentiating from one another and then integrating to become a whole organism.

4. As this happens to societies, we become more compassionate and caring. (Think about the abolition of slavery, introduction of democracy, women's rights, environmental movement and so on).

So, that's what community development is all about - differentiation followed by integration

What are the implications of this?

Well, I don't pretend to have all the answers on this and I'd love to hear others thoughts but here's some ideas:

1. There is no ONE WAY that this occurs. Any and all involvement and interaction can involve this tdifferentiation and integration (or indeed the reverse for that matter).

2. Having said that, my observation is that some ways are better than others.

3. In the context of group development generally, some people have called 'purpose' the DNA. The Universe seems to evolve/develop with a predetermined purpose in mind. What makes us humans different from say plants or animals is that we can consciously decide impact or decide on that purpose. So make sure you do that - first for your entire community and then, to the extent you can influence it, for everything that groups or individuals do within the community. Remember, purpose is the DNA.

4. Because it must begin with differentiation, interactions that involve large groups of diverse people tend to be more effective - what some people call a "representation of the whole system". (Put another way, in this emerging Knowledge Era, creativity is king, and the path to maximising creativity is to begin with diversity.

5. These interactions can take many forms and should certainly involve online but in my own experience, nothing beats face to face large group meetings.

PS If you're part of any other group (eg a family, organisation, team, club, etc) think about how these ideas apply to that group. Although each type of group is obviously different, maybe the concepts behind community development, organisational development, business development, family development, and team development are not as different as some think.