Concept (E-Journal)
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Exploring community engagement methods and approaches, a one-day workshop for anyone in the Fife area to build their skills in this environment, Glenrothes, November 2024.
Full text linkCommunity Engagement: we hear it a lot, particularly from politicians when talking about controversial topics and projects: “We engaged with the community, and this is what they wanted”. In tourism, it can be used to find the balance between the social impacts of development – ensuring that what we, as development practitioners, do is in the community’s best interests. Responsible tourism looks at the social, economic and environmental factors; one of these is objective – money – you can count it. Another of these is theoretically measurable on both macro and micro levels, though tough to define - environmental. The final is very subjective and nearly impossible to measure with any proper level of accuracy – social. That’s where community engagement comes in
‘The Impact of Community Work: How to Gather Evidence’ (2020) by, Sue Briggs, Kirsty Forrester, Ed Garrett, Karen McArdle and Catherine McKay
Full text link‘The Impact of Community Work: How to Gather Evidence’ is a book which I would highly recommend to anyone with an interest in community work. In one sense the book does what it says on the tin and successfully makes the case as to why gathering evidence and measuring impact matters in community work. The book also doubles up however, as an introduction to both community work and community based social research. In terms of impact and evidence, Concept readers will be aware that community work is an intensely governed activity in which community work practitioners must justify what they do to different audiences which includes management, government, inspectors, funders and of course communities themselves. “It’s not enough to just do the work” as an inspector from Education Scotland once told me; “we also need evidence that the work makes an impact”. Inspectors often refer to “impact” as the “so-what” question, namely, so what practical and measurable difference is your working making. ‘The Impact of Community Work’ will enable readers to address that “so what” question and is written as a ‘practical’ and ‘how to guide’, which is neatly divided into two parts - ‘Thinking about Impact’ (Part One) and ‘Methods of Gathering Evidence’ (Part Two)
Uniting Threads: The dual dimension of Mutual Aid: Perspectives from Greece
Full text linkThis article draws inspiration from the ongoing debate on mutual aid, particularly its emergence as a community-based and led response during the Covid-19 pandemic. One perspective views mutual aid as a positive collective practice, effective for immediate, small-scale needs but inadequate for addressing large-scale systemic inequalities. Advocates of this view propose that mutual aid should operate under state guidance to complement centrally orchestrated responses to systemic issues. In contrast, the opposing side challenges this view, asserting that mutual aid is inherently an emancipatory practice. It aligns with the core principles of anarchism, including anti-capitalism, anti-statism, and anti-authoritarianism. Owing to this ideological alignment, these proponents argue that mutual aid should not be supplementary to the state; doing so would risk transforming it into a form of charity.
This article aims to enrich the broader dialogue on mutual aid by introducing a dichotomous framework for its understanding. This framework categorises mutual aid into two distinct types:
Organic mutual aid, which arises \u27naturally\u27 from immediate communal needs but lacks the political impetus to confront hierarchical power structures.
Political mutual aid, born out of political motivation with the objective of challenging both official and unofficial hierarchical power structures.
To elucidate the necessity of this dichotomous framework in grasping mutual aid\u27s dual dimension, I will delve into both recent and past experiences of mutual aid in Greece. However, before advancing this proposal, it is essential to examine the underlying reasoning behind the two perspectives in this debate
Britain in Fragments: why things are falling apart Satnam Virdee and Brendan McGeever: Publisher: Manchester University Press 2023
No full textThere is little doubt that Britain is grappling with monumental economic and social challenges. The re-energised capitalism agreed between capital and labour after the Second World War has clearly failed to deliver in the manner key actors, including politicians and policy makers, thought and believed it would
Community Development through Leisure Adult Learning:: The Role of Mature Adult Groups
Full text linkCommunity education groups can play an important role in reducing social isolationism among mature adults. The current study describes one such organization that has played an important part in the lives of about 30 mature women who have an average age of 76. Through semi-structured interviews, a thematic analysis showed that the organization has played a critical role in their social interactions, creating deep bonds among the women. What began as a group dedicated to education evolved into a strong social support network that has provided important social capital development for participants
University Sponsored Adult Community Education: Exploring Motivations to Expand Diversity
Full text linkCommunity education offered by colleges and universities is an underexplored element of higher education. Community education includes non-credit and non-credentialing experiences that are offered by an institution for the benefit of the community. These courses, workshops, seminars, etc. can range from highly formal, such as adult basic education, to the highly informal, such as game nights in a college student center (Fletcher, 1989). The purpose of community education is the development of individuals in a community, whether to an expressed end or for the purpose of building human capital through socialization (Fletcher, 1989; Sole & Wilkins, 1976; Western et al, 2005)
The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (& how it came to control your life) (2024)
Full text linkWhile there have been other books on the rise of neoliberalism[1] this book seeks to bring the concept of neoliberalism to a wider public. It aims to offer a readable, accessible guide, to make visible the key concepts of this ideology, how it has been promoted, and to develop an argument which opposes a political logic that in recent years has advocated these concepts as the new “common sense” - immutable principles for which there is no alternative
Re-Envisioning Community Gardens: Exploring the value of community gardens in supporting young people’s development through informal education
Full text linkAfter feeling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, access to outdoor spaces as sites for learning, growth, and connection has grown in importance for young people’s learning through play, creativity, and risk-taking. In addition, government cuts to youth and community work alongside restrictions within formal education, demonstrates a greater need to protect and re-envision how we view spaces like community gardens as valuable learning grounds for young people to access outside schools. This article aims to demonstrate the importance of learning in the outdoor environment of community gardens. Drawing on data from both Youth Workers and young people, it will advocate for the significance of community gardens for the growth and progression of young people through positive education development using informal learning techniques. It concludes that informal education is vital for young people\u27s educational growth and development, particularly in outdoor settings like community gardens focusing on hands-on experiences and learning through play and the senses. After advocating for the importance of community gardens, it outlines how funding for youth and community sectors like community gardens could be increased and prioritised to maintain active sites outside of schools
Fear and Loathing in our Local Authorities: Reflections from behind the keyboard
Full text linkOn the Block is an occasional column which allows authors to express themselves in unconventional or provocative ways. In this issue we publish a piece by an anonymous author whose experience of working in a local authority leads to questions about the constraints of practice within the current context
State of the Field and Future of CLD in Scotland
Full text linkI was asked to provide an input at Moray house on the state of the field of Community, Learning and Development (CLD). This was on 14th June and therefore, before the findings of the review called by the Minister for Higher and Further Education on how the CLD Service offers support and development to learners in Scotland’s communities (Scottish Government, 2023a). The following is a slightly amended version of that talk to provide greater reading clarity