Elements and Performance Criteria

Community may be:
Individuals and groups defined by organisational programs and services
Other agencies providing services to the designated individuals and groups
People with specified needs and interests
People using the organisation's services/programs
Geographic

Community programs may include:
Community development activities and strategies
Education and information projects

Stakeholders may include:
Residents within a community
Businesses within or related to a community
Advocacy and special interest groups
Decision makers and community leaders
Individuals, groups and communities affected by issues or strategies
Owners or managers of resources required
Grants/funding agencies
Government and non government organisations
Peak bodies
Colleagues and collaborators

Implementation strategies may include:
Community/public education, awareness raising
Lobbying and advocacy
Development of new services, opportunities
Developing the capacity of individuals, groups and communities to meet their own needs and objectives
Non violent direct action
Participatory action research
Development of new businesses or employment opportunities
Health promotion, development of healthy communities/attitudes and environmental causes of ill health
Development of community resources and facilities
Development of recreational/entertainment
Adjustments to existing programs/services to make them more accessible to young people
Strategies to increase access to facilities, services
Decision making including cost, physical, information
Public processes

Resources may include:
Information
Knowledge/skills
Equipment and materials
Facilities, buildings, transport
Organisational structures, networks
Sector/regional networks
Access to decision makers
Management support
Personnel
Money

Evaluation of program options may include:
Projected outcomes to achieve objectives
Cost efficiency and effectiveness
Relevance to high needs and priorities
Scope and coverage
Capacity to evaluate
Availability of resources/skills
Consistency of philosophy
Ethical considerations
Impact on organisation/other services/programs
Personnel/industrial/employment implications
Legislative/statutory/accountability implications

Promotion and marketing strategies may include:
Letters (by FAX, mail, or any other means of transmission)
Newsletters/journals
Internal organisation communication (eg. Internal memos, minutes of meetings)
Artwork, graphics
Reports, discussion papers, briefing papers
Brochures, fliers and written advertisements
Posters
Audio and audio visual productions
Performing arts presentations
Verbal/public presentations
Meetings, seminars, workshops and forums
Print or telecommunications media

Consultation strategies may include:
Meetings, seminars, workshops or other forums
Interviews (formal and informal)
Written surveys (questionnaires, letters, submissions)
Suggestion boxes
Alternative communication such as graffiti walls
Networks
Professional associations
Call for submissions

Critical aspects of assessment:
Effective management of community programs through the application of current accepted best practice

Essential knowledge:
The cultures, concerns, beliefs and aspirations of the community in question
The impact of cultural or community attitudes on appropriate roles, relationships and approaches of the worker
The impact of cultural and community attitudes within that community
The implications of differences in attitudes and values
Community development as a social change strategy
Decision making structures and processes at organisation, community, regional and system level
Relevant legislation and public policies
Social, community and youth issues
Nature of Community Development work
Definitions of community
'Community' as ideological tool
Personal values and community development
Emergence of community development
Contemporary community development practice
Social movements
Sociology
Social theories
Social inequality
Sociology of class
Sociology of gender

Essential skills:
Research and consultation
Application of a range of community development approaches
Coordination of people, processes and information
Analysis of data, information and relationships
Advocacy
Provision of support to a diverse range of people/organisations
Conflict resolution/negotiation and mediation
Cross cultural communication and negotiation
Verbal and written communication
Analysis of complex issues
Literacy adequate to prepare a range of resource material appropriate to the target group
Working with and through community leaders

Resource implications:
Access to an appropriate workplace or an environment that effectively simulates workplace and community conditions

Consistency in performance:
Consistency in performance should consider specific program and community requirements

Context of assessment:
This unit can be assessed in the community or in a simulation which related closely to the experience of the workplace and the community