Community development means many things to many people. The SCLC takes community development to be about raising organizational and planning capacity for a sustainable future. Sustainable communities need information about their human and natural environments, support for planning and decisionmaking, funding assistance, and motivated and highly qualified individuals.

We envision a community that is empowered. Community empowerment is about working in ways which empower people – ways which mean that people feel ‘confident’, that they – and the groups they are involved in – are inclusive and organized, that networks are formed, are cooperative and support each other and – ultimately – they are influential.

By ‘confident’, we mean, working in a way which increases peoples skills, knowledge and confidence – and instills a belief that they can make a difference

By ‘inclusive’, we mean working in a way which recognizes that discrimination exists, promotes equality of opportunity and good relations between groups and challenges inequality and exclusion

By ‘organized’, we mean working in a way which brings people together around common issues and concerns in organizations and groups that are open, democratic and accountable

By ‘cooperative’, we mean working a way which builds positive relationships across groups, identifies common messages, develops and maintains links to national bodies and promotes partnership working

By ‘influential’, we mean working in a way which encourages and equips communities to take part and influence decisions, services and activities

Click below to learn more about the SCLC's community development programs.