How Do I Choose the Best Community Development Framework?

Select the best community development framework by first identifying a strong objective. Studying other community development programs and communicating with others within your community is also helpful. Also, consider how a community development framework will ultimately be evaluated and explore using the outcomes you hope to achieve as a guide to help in building a suitable framework.

A new community development framework may be sought to create better community housing options, greater economic development or for urban development and other general community-planning objectives. In order to choose the best framework, however, it is necessary to begin by choosing an objective. If more than one objective is identified, a broad framework that can help accomplish each one will be necessary.

When selecting a community development framework, studying the history of other communities representing the same or similar objectives may help you choose a framework that will help in achieving your objectives. Meeting with individuals directly involved with creating another community’s policy and planning may be helpful. Local civic centers, planning commissions, social institutions, community-based organizations and public libraries are a good starting point for discovering the community development framework used to build certain communities. In some places, a good deal of information is also accessible via online resources.

Invite others to share in the process of choosing a community development framework. In particular, those who will be necessary to a community’s success should be encouraged to provide input as to how to create a target objective. Examples of community members and workers who you may want to seek input from include parents, elderly citizens, law enforcement workers, teachers, business owners and community volunteers. In addition to input, constructive criticism should be encouraged to eliminate elements of a framework that may prove to be counterproductive to your overall goal.

Considering the various methods of someday evaluating a community development framework can also help in developing a framework at the onset. For instance, if developing a framework that will focus on social issues, such as reducing teen violence and increasing citizen cooperation with law enforcement, it may help to research current statistics and create a questionnaire to be used to compare attitudes and statistics before implementing a new framework to those after a framework has progressed. Using these tools may help create a clear picture of what type of community development framework needs to be in place to assure that positive outcomes can be achieved.