MORE CEBSD NEWS YEAR 2003

Register for International Conference in Budapest, 25-28 March 2004, organised by: CEBSD Combined European Bureau for Social Development and IACD International Association for Community Development with their member, the Hungarian Association for Community Development as host organisation and in cooperation with the CDJ Community Development Journal, the CEE Community Development Network and the CEE Citizens Network

This conference will bring together members of community groups, community development practitioners, researchers, trainers and policy advisers from across the continent of Europe to share experiences on a wide range of policy and practice issues.The aim is to focus on Central and Eastern European community development: not only what is happening but to strengthen what is happening through building networks, providing support for regional workshops and supporting each other's work. We wish to call the various government bodies' attention, and that of the EU as it gets larger, to community development.

• Strengthen the basis for practice exchange and networking across Europe
• Identify and agree issues to take forward in the European context
• Produce a Europe-wide manifesto for community development

Each country will be eligible, through national associations and networks, to up to eight places (two members of community groups; two community development practitioners (paid or unpaid); two academics/researchers/trainers; two others, e.g. policy advisors). Additional placeswill be open for general application, including those from outside Europe, on the same quota basis. Contact your national association or network for a place. For more information www.kka.hu. For correspondence kofe@kka.hu

Desenvolupament Comunitari ran a conference at the end of October to share experience of the Intercultural Mediation services it provides to Social Services Offices in Barcelona. Intercultural Mediation is based on the concept of a "bridge" between newcomers and the native population. The "Bridge" is based on facilitating mutual understanding by translating language and cultural codes. For this reason, Intercultural Mediators are people belonging to immigrant communities. After more than a year of operation, demands on Intercultural Mediation have increased progressively. This fact has established Intercultural Mediation as a necessary service of Social Services in order to facilitate communication and understanding between professionals and users of services. The Conference to reflect on this experience was well attended and a great success. Contact Elena Rovira: erovira@aepdc.es

" Desenvolupament Comunitari carried out research during recent months on the possibilities of applying participative budget at Catalonia Government level. This research comprised 2 parts: the first one is a comparison of different national and international experiences (Rubí, Sabadell, Cabezas de San Juan -Sevilla, Stockolm, Brazil). The second part concentrated on central ideas of the participative budget: process, methodology, and social agents. We hope to continue this research. Contact Elena Rovira: erovira@aepdc.es

The Norwegian Ministry for Social Affairs are hosting an international conference on social inclusion on 5. and 6. February 2004. The programme acknowledges the diverse contributions using the "open method of co-ordination" and explores the impact of welfare reform on poverty and social exclusion. Contact person for the conference: Catrine Bangum, adviser, The Norwegian Ministry of Social Affairs e-mail: cb@sos.dep.no Tlf.00-47-22248748

The Work Research Institute (WRI) and the Directorate for Health and Social Affairs (SHdir) will run two workshops, which aim to increase exchange and knowledge of experience and good practice for social inclusion. The Ideas Bank will present experience of the transnational exchange programme "Good practice in Community Development". Contact: Bettina Uhrig Work Research Institute bettina.uhrigh@afi-wri.no or Olav Tvede Directorate for Health and Social Affairs, olt@shdir.np

• Community work and development,
• Impact of civil society and
• Professionalisation of social work.

Call for papers will be distributed in summer 2003 with the end of January 2004 as a deadline for submission of abstracts. CEBSD contact on IUCISD: Fred Stafleu fredstafleu@planet.nl

International Conference in Budapest, 25-28 March 2004, organised by: CEBSD Combined European Bureau for Social Development and IACD International Association for Community Development with their member, the Hungarian Association for Community Development as host organisation and in cooperation with the CDJ Community Development Journal, the CEE Community Development Network and the CEE Citizens Network

This conference will bring together members of community groups, community development practitioners, researchers, trainers and policy advisers from across the continent of Europe to share experiences on a wide range of policy and practice issues.The aim is to focus on Central and Eastern European community development: not only what is happening but to strengthen what is happening through building networks, providing support for regional workshops and supporting each other's work. We wish to call the various government bodies' attention, and that of the EU as it gets larger, to community development.

• Strengthen the basis for practice exchange and networking across Europe
• Identify and agree issues to take forward in the European context
• Produce a Europe-wide manifesto for community development

Participation in the Budapest Conference
Each country will be eligible, through national associations and networks, to up to eight places (two members of community groups; two community development practitioners (paid or unpaid); two academics/researchers/trainers; two others, e.g. policy advisors). Additional placeswill be open for general application, including those from outside Europe, on the same quota basis. Contact your national association or network for a place. For more information www.kka.hu. For correspondence kofe@kka.hu For reduced fee register by 31st October, 2004

Partners in the project on "Good Practice in Community Development" based on experience in Oslo (Norway), Ghent (Belgium) Barcelona (Spain), Bradford (England) and Örebro, (Sweden) combined their findings in a Seminar in Berlin in July. The seminar demonstrated that bottom-up organisation and participation can be more effective and produce results linking practice to policy - the report is now available here. Participants analysed good practice through lively presentations of community development in action, using symbols, video and other visual material. They worked on fundamental principles and reflected on how to measure genuine participation and the change that it brings. Participation in the seminar combined a high level of commitment and motivation with humour and fun. Diversity of experience, perspective, language and background enhanced exchanges. The wealth of experience based on working groups in the cities of was a major asset to the process. An initial framework for analysis and discussion was produced. There is a copy of the framework after the introduction to the report.

Cesam is involved in the second application for a project concerning "Socially Responsible Territories" where REVES is the coordinator. The Örebro county council is the Swedish manager and Cesam will be involved as the expert on regional development tasks. The second period will start in November 2003 and end up in November 2004. The evaluation of the program of Leader+ in the county of Blekinge has now started. Cesam will evaluate the whole process; from application to examination of small local initiatives in demand for support from the Leader+ project. Cesam will even study the quality within the daily management and administration of the regional project. There will be a report in the end of December 2003.

Sara Benioff has replaced Alison West at the Chief Executive of Community Development Foundation in the UK. Many thanks to Alison for her support of CEBSD over the years. At a meeting with the CEBSD Executive Committee in September 2003, Sara Benioff renewed the commitment of the Community Development Foundation to European exchange and networking through CEBSD. We look forward to working with her in the future and to follow-up on some interesting new developments. Sara also paid tribute to Paul Henderson, well-known in European Community Development networks, on his departure from CDF.

Paul will continue his association with the Combined European Bureau for Social Development and currently represents CEBSD on the planning group for the Budapest conference. Alison Gilchrist will take over Paul's post in CDF and responsibility for working with the Combined European Bureau for Social Development, backed up by Stuart Hashagen and Gabriel Chanan. I do hope someone will send us a photograph of Paul's parting gift from colleagues in CDF - a trip in a hot-air balloon. With characteristic humour, he speculated as to the emphasis on "hot-air" (in English this can be used to describe lots of words with little action to follow.) In fact he is much appreciated for his down-to-earth approach in rural and urban settings as demonstrated here on a "field trip" in the Hague, the Netherlands.

In a report on Community Involvement and Urban Policy, commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of the UK, the Community Development Foundation to review government guidance on community involvement in the context of Urban Renaissance and urban policy generally. The key findings are as follows:

Key Findings:

The report emphasises the importance of community development and the importance of developing appropriate measurements of "community involvement" . There is a call for a commitment to relate the findings of this report to European Social Policy especially in the plans for the future deployment of the Structural Funds. Searching for Solid Foundations: Community Involvement and Urban Policy by Gabriel Chanan, published by ODPM in Sept 2003 is available from ODPM Publications, POBox 236, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7NB (Tel 0870 1226 236, email odpm@twoten.press.net) or CDF Publications, 60 Highbury Grove, London N5 2AG (Tel 020 7226 5375, email publications@cdf.org.uk) at £10 + £1 p&p

Desenvolupament Comunitari (Spain) has proposed a European project, which aims to promote strategies for European citizenship. The context is the context of increasing immigration, the demand for renewal of the labour force, changing traditions and an aging Europe. The project will explore good practice in meeting cultural and intergenerational diversity. Its broad objectives are:

Objective 1. To know and evaluate the practices and strategies of conflict prevention and resolution.

Objective 2. To elaborate and share a catalogue of good practice in this field, through exchange of experiences and initiatives in the different intergenerational and intercultural contexts.

DC is seeking support from the wider CEBSD networks for the project. For more information on how to become involved in the current project or future initiatives, contact Marta at DC on mdomenech@aepdc.org

How can urban planning be made more democratic and sustainable at once? What can other European cities learn about it from Oslo, and what can Oslo learn from them? That was the basic agenda of a meeting between some 20 representatives of European cities and research institutions, hosted by the Ideas Bank on 18 and 19 September.

The cities are all taking part in the EU-funded PEGASUS programme on Planning, Environment, Governance And SUStainability) (www.eurocities.org/pegasus). Besides Oslo - with the Ideas Bank as its research partner - the participating cities are Birmingham, Genoa, Malmö, Rotterdam, Seville and Vienna. The original mission of PEGASUS was to explore the applicability of the Dutch ROM approach, a model for area-based planning in which partnerships between all stakeholders are a central element, to cities in other European countries. As the programme developed, it became clear that all the cities had experiences with partcipatory planning from which both the others and the ROM approach could learn, and so PEGASUS has become as much a vehicle for mutual exchange of experiences.

The Oslo workshop was the fifth out of seven, and focused on the Grorud Valley Development Programme. For more informations read the paper on the website (www.idebanken.no/files/seksjon/200309212144458486850"Starting Note")The Oslo PEGASUS team consciously tried to bring to light some of the many conflicts in the Grorud Valley - including the fact that some stakeholders are as yet far from happy with the way the process has been planned or the attention given to their own viewpoints. We got the impression that other workshop participants valued this approach, which led to very constructive discussions. The Grorud Valley Planning Office is also seriously considering how it can take on board elements of the ROM approach. A final report from the PEGASUS programme will be available around the middle of 2004.
Contact: John Hille, the Ideas Bank October 2003: john.hille@idebanken.no

A seminar organised by the Centre for Community Organising earlier this year looked at the following levels of public participation and appropriate models to use depending on the context and level of participation.

• Decision power fully in hands of citizens
• Joint planning and decision-making
• Information feedback/collection of comments
• Providing information
• Further information from roman.haken@cpkp.cz

• Models of negotiating and developing "community" centres to act as focal point and entry point to community participation.
• Mental health initiative to improve the delivery of services
• Community project becoming a community enterprise
• Project to increase well-being and feeling of safety on a housing where the housing cooperatives and co-owners secured the finances of a foundation to continue the work
• Forms of co-operation between elected representatives from different political parties on social issues.

• 1.To develop an instrument for analysing practice in local or regional "community development" initiatives which demonstrates how they contribute to social inclusion.
• 2.To set up a framework, based on exchange of "bottom-up" experience, from which progress indicators for social inclusion can be developed.

• Accessibility
• Social contacts in group
• Create new opportunities for the people involved
• Permanent dialogue and involvement
• Help to solve the problem (structural solution)
• Respect some basic principles, in relation to the project, the community worker, methodology

• shall be on the participants (and working group members) conditions
• shall follow the guidelines from CEBSD
• shall develop the larger task for Cesam organisation to support the community work in Örebro.

• The project is primarily aiming to develop policy in the European Commission.
• The project's work needs to be based on good practice i.e. be bottom up fed from individual community development practice.
• The project's findings will be primarily aimed at policy makers not practitioners. Its secondary aim is to produce material for practitioners.

• Checklists offered to groups are seen as prescriptive
• There is a lot of tension around what is experienced as different priorities
• The European Commission and national governments have strict guidelines that groups have to comply with whereas community development groups prefer to start from experience

• What definitions of social inclusion and community development do we use?
• What is the relationship between practice development and policy development?
• Is policy prescriptive?
• Can we develop a bottom-up approach to practice development? How?
• How to handle and balance when different groups meet.
• What does the bottom-up experience in our context have in common with other experience in our municipality?
• What does bottom-up experience in our context have in common with the experience of working groups in other cities in Europe?

• A lot of groundwork needs to be done to establish common terms of reference on good practice in a transnational context.
• The indicators already identified work on a deficit model of exclusion, while "good practice" relates to successful models of inclusion.
• Structures for community development and resources for community projects are very different.
• The profession of community worker has no common European definition;
• The process of identifying inclusive practice has to itself be inclusive - this presents challenges to members of working groups;
• There is tension around issues of representation -who represents who and how?
• More clarification is needed on the relationship between participative democracy and representative democracy.
• Terms such as "client" or "user" are not appropriate where the people referred to are participants in a community project
• General terms that are current in the jargon are alienating and hinder a holistic approach. The following have been identified as unhelpful:

• What do we mean by a "framework"? How can it be used as an "instrument of analysis"?
• Can a general framework intended as a policy/planning tool, also be useful to specific communities?
• Is it possible for a project to be useful to both practitioners and policy makers?
• Should the "framework" concentrate on and be applicable to work in and with communities concerning social inclusion, carried out by individual community development workers?
• Should the "framework" concentrate on and be applicable to how projects/agencies/large organisations approach social inclusion, and engage with, involve and relate to communities?
• How can we compare practice and also take into account the other variables - differences in culture, social structures, resources available?
• What do the Working Groups have in common?

• Emphasis on bottom up ways or working
• Interest in participation and what it really means
• Use of group as way of sharing good practice in own area
• The focus on Social Inclusion as participation and from a bottom up perspective
• Concern about jargon and too much obscure language from Europe!
• April 2003

Das Paritätische Bildungswerk Bundesverband veranstaltet in Verbindung mit dem Paritätischen Bildungswerk Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland und dem Combined European Bureau for Social Development (CEBSD) eine Fachtagung zum Thema:

The CEBSD project on "Good Practice in Community Development" is supported by the European Commission under the Community Action Programme on Social Exclusion. Oreboro, Sweden was the venue for the second meeting of the Project Planning Group consisting of representatives of the partner agencies -Melker Eksell, CESAM, Hans Andersson, CESAM, Gerard Hautekeur, VIBOSO, Kirsten Paaby, Ideas Bank, Elena Rovira, Desenvolupament Comunitari; Steve Skinner, Bradford Working Group representative, Margo Gorman, Project Coordinator for CEBSD.

Partner agencies expressed the anxiety of Working Groups on the practice to policy emphasis of the project. Local practitioners and volunteers find the European policy level is often too abstract and distant from their practice. Several Working Group members doubt whether national and European policy-makers are really interested in the contribution of community development practice to strategies and policies favouring social inclusion. CEBSD has chosen to use local practice as the starting point in order to harness the contribution of participants in local communities or community groups with a specific focus or interest to policies that concern them directly. Core principles of Community Development (CEBSD) and of are discussed in the light of local practice. Phase 1 is an exploratory phase and the local working groups are a testing ground for exchange between non-governmental organisations, local authorities and researchers.

The working group has community groups, which are neighbourhood based and based on communities of interest e.g. an Asian Mental Health group and a Gay and Lesbian Group. The group rotates around a number of community centres and centres on food as a tool of involvement of members of local communities. The working group has found the first meeting really worthwhile in indicating the potential of a practitioners network in Bradford and are seeking ways to develop and sustain that.

They questioned whether the project is on community development or social inclusion or poverty or community/social cohesion or a mixture of these. Bradford municipality has a number of different initiatives under these headings with different emphasis; methods etc. and they are not directly grouped together. The planning group defined the approach as: Examining good practice, which uses a community development approach, with the goal of identifying the contribution that community development practice can make to social inclusion.

The working group found that the approach was too abstract. They decided to focus on one of the key preoccupations of community workers in Öreboro i.e. their own marginalisation and low status as professionals. This seen as reflection of the value placed on community work and on the potential contribution of local communities. The experience and skill of community workers is not recognised or valued. The group emphasised the importance of the subsidiarity principle from the local to European level. Melker reported that the role of community worker and member of a community/volunteer was on a continuum rather than as totally separate in these four cases as they are all residents of the area where they work.

The group put a high value on the time committed by volunteers to community development. Many members of the community make sacrifices to participate. Disillusionment undermines this commitment. They are enthusiastic about being part of a European project but are also intimidated by that.

The first stage of clarifying work on the six Community Development Principles had highlighted some difficulties around the term participation. This is an indication of the tension in Norway between the concept of participative and representative democracy. Lots of plans talk about the participation of "local people" but this is not consistent with practice. The group felt the emphasis should be changed so that officials have to participate more in local areas to find out what goes on there. The project has also demanded that participants think more "European". The working group in Norway will hold an extra meeting to gain more involvement of volunteers. A session using the "café dialogue" method had been successful in involving participants from one project but others had missed out due to the wrong date on a notice of the meeting so they will reconvene. By the second meeting there was some evidence of the group building its own solidarity network. The two members of staff from Oslo municipality, who met with CEBSD in The Hague, are very supportive and active.

• Do you benefit from this meeting? If so, how?
• What (if anything) do you value from this group?
• What results do you hope for in the short term from my work in this group?
• What results do you hope for in the long term?
• Does this work create new opportunities for you? If so, what are they?

Steve Skinner attended as the representative from the Bradford working group. In its first meeting this group focused on what is good practice for individual practitioners of community development. Steve alerted the planning group to the fact that some members of the working group were anxious that this instrument would be used to screen or assess good practice. If the instrument were intended for use in this way it would need a lot more input and time.

The working group has community workers, who are neighbourhood based and others based on communities of interest e.g. an Asian Mental Health project. The working group plans to rotate around a number of community centres and among other themes is looking at food as a tool of involvement of members of local communities. The working group has found the first meeting worthwhile and may consider the potential for a practitioners network in Bradford.

They raised a central questions about the project: Is it about community development or social inclusion or poverty or community/social cohesion? Bradford municipality has a number of different initiatives under these headings with different emphasis; methods etc. The planning group defined the approach as: Examining good practice on social inclusion, which uses a community development approach, with the goal of identifying the contribution that community development can make to social inclusion.

CEBSD has set up a password-protected page on this website for members of working groups on the project on "Good Practice in Community Development" . This is open to those interested in exchange of work in progress. Contact margogorman@eircom.net

There is a CEBSD working group exploring the relationship between community development practice and participatory democracy. An initial exploration of ideas was hosted by Oreboro University in May 2002 (see report on this site). CEBSD is now exploring similar European initiatives. Contact Hans Andersson: hansandersson@cesam.se or Gerard Hautekeur g.hautekeur@viboso.be

The Journal of Community Work and Development is published twice a year. It originated in Scotland but now has a UK-wide remit. While this is the main focus for articles and news, the editor is also interested in receiving articles from the rest of Europe and beyond. The two main differences between this journal and the Community Development Journal is that the former seeks always to focus on practice issues and does not carry articles about community development in southern countries. Articles will all be refereed before a decision is made about publication. The Editor is Alan Barr of the Scottish Community Development Centre and manuscripts should be sent to him at SCDC, 329 Baltic Chambers, 50 Wellington Street, Glasgow G2 6HJ.

Articles in the latest issue of this journal include one on a practitioner's perspective on methods and values of community research and a report on two consultation processes. There is also an article on research and citizen participation by Jane Jones and Lyn Jones. This is likely to be of particular interest to CEBSD members because it puts forward critical views on the use/misuse of community participation tools and techniques. This relates to CEBSD's participation project two years ago - see Participation section on this website and to the booklet that Paul Henderson is writing on European experiences of participation methods - Jane Jones came to the workshop that is informing the writing of the booklet.

Annual subscriptions is £15 for individuals and £25 for institutions (two copies of each issue). Orders with remittances should be sent to Jean Marie Cassidy, CDF Publications, 60 Highbury Grove, London N5 2AG. Email: Jean@cdf.org.uk

Lead partners (see below) will work with other local partners (including local municipalities) and will draw up a framework for assessing good practice. Most of the work will be at the local level in Barcelona, Oslo, Ghent, Bradford/Leeds, and Orebro (see below under Working group). There will be the opportunity for a transnational seminar to exchange the results of this work at a seminar in Barcelona in June 2003.

The working groups within each country will work on guidelines supplied by CEBSD. They will establish shared ground rules for cooperation, a timetable for their work, they will establish commitment to openness and a multi-sectoral approach, will share existing information and knowledge. The use of e-mail, the e-group and the website will foster good communication and joint working arrangements for the production of shared principles and common understanding. The emphasis will be on a bottom-up approach based on case studies of good practice will be drawn from local community development initiatives.

If you would like more information, request a copy of the Project Information Pack and regular updates from working groups.

Last November, the International Association for Community Development and the Combined European Bureau for Social Development organised a successful conference in London on 'community development in the new Europe'. We were asked to help organise another conference, this time somewhere in east or central europe. A planning group met last weekend in Budapest and we have begun to make plans for a conference in Budapest probably in March 2004 called 'building civil society through community development'. If you would like to be sent further details when a firm programme has been prepared, or you have general ideas about the conference as a whole, please send an email to kofe@kkapcsolat.hu headed '2004 conference'.

The conference will be supported by IACD, CEBSD and the Community Development Journal, which may publish some of the papers given by speakers.

Lastly, and very important, please send this email on to all the community development networks of which you are a member ( I've kept it fairly short so you can translate it) so that we can spread the news as far as possible within Europe. One idea we have is that we should end up by preparing a manifesto for community development in Europe which can be presented to the new larger EU in 2004.

Best wishes and I look forward to hearing from you.

Landelijk Centrum Opbouwwerk hosted a conference of the European Branch of the Inter-University Consortium on International Social Development (IUCISD) in The Hague in September 2002. The theme of "Urban Community Work in Europe" attracted participants from India, US and Africa as well as Europe. The conference was also the occasion for the launch of a new edition of the CEBSD publication "Social Inclusion and Citizenship". Paul Henderson gave a keynote presentation on behalf of the Board

Closer networking between IUCISD and CEBSD: Piotr Salustowicz, Bielefeld,Germany, President of the European branch of IUCISD was invited to address the Board Meeting of CEBSD.. He gave a brief history of the consortium and explained that it was founded by a university professor in the United States but has now a wide membership that extends beyond universities. Membership is open to individuals and non-governmental organisations. There is increasing interest in the IUCISD network in the concept of civil society and in community development. IUCISD plans to make community development a main theme of future work and is looking for networks with which to collaborate and exchange experience. One of their priorities is exchange and support for colleagues in Central and Eastern Europe.
Exchange of learning: CEBSD is interested in exploring exchange in the field of learning, for example the development of a curriculum for community development in Europe, which would include training for professionals/managers and progression routes for local people. However this would be an ambitious new departure for the Board of CEBSD and will be discussed further at the next Board meeting. It was agreed that the exchange of information and networking would be a first step. Preparation for the proposed joint conference of IACD and CEBSD on Central and Eastern Europe could offer further possibilities for such co-operation.

The Ideas Bank has a new board, which looks to a new style of community development in the future rather than a simple foundation in a history of activism. On some projects there is significant synergy between the Ideas Bank and the local authority. One example is the "Living in Oslo" project which involves 25 neighbourhood committees. It is exploring how people live, whether they need networks in their neighbourhood, The project focuses on those who work with local people and explores how to sort out conflicts between people.

There is a further commitment to develop a Pioneer Programme with 20 local authorities on the Agenda 21 heritage from Rio de Janeiro i.e. to reduce consumption, to provide appropriate resources and to renew democracy. The Ideas Bank is exploring what is the contribution of Community Development to building Citizenship and democracy. CESAM have helped evaluate progress by playing the role of "critical friend" in this programme.

"The Municipality Pioneer Program."

In 1999, the Ideas Bank initiated a Programme, "Foregangskommuner". The Programme aimed at showing ways to reduced consumption, a re-vitalisation of local democracy and increased awareness of and responsibility for global issues. Seven local communities were invited to join the programme. These communities were chosen because they had showed a readiness and willingness to act.

In 2002, the Programme has been expanded to include 20 local communities (see below for a list). On September 24-25th, politicians and administrative personel from the 20 communities meet at a conferanse in the premises of the Ideas Bank, in Oslo.

The purpose of the conferance was to agree on a common strategy to develop each and every of the 20 local communities to (more) sustainable communities. Six fields of action was pin-pointed: transport, food, energy, meeting points, administrative tools for management and physical planning.

For more information, get in touch with the programme manager,
Lasse Jalling (+47 22 03 40 10),lasse@idebanken.no, or look up the internet site: www.foregangskommuner.no."

The Ideas Bank is a private foundation devoted to the search for futures in which sustainability, global equity, democracy and a spirit of community prevail. We do not know what these futures - for at the local level they are bound to be diverse - will look like. Yet elements of them are out there already, sometimes as established practice in some places or fields or by some people, sometimes as social experiments. Yet others exist as hitherto untried proposals or ideas.

CESAM These are exciting times for CESAM (Centrum För Samhällsarbete och Mobilisering/ Centre for Community work and Mobilisation)with the development of a new Board and significant new contracts. For example CESAM will be working with the Association of Municipal Housing in Sweden and will also act as co-ordinator for a group of six regional authorities who are taking a lead in a programme of democratic renewal. Hans Andersson continues to work with Örebro University, which is exploring how to change its own structures and how to relate to other organisations according to democratic principles. The CEBSD contribution to a conference held in Örebro in May 2002 is ready for publication on the websites of the University and CEBSD.

There is also progress on some long awaited developments in Sweden. The network of Community Education has now established its own structure. There is proposal funded by the national association of local and regional authorities to research a national centre for Community Development, which would have 2 members of staff.

Community Development Foundation has recently published a collection of case studies on community development in coalfield communities. Called 'Rich Seam', it includes case studies from Belgium and Hungary as well as from England, Wales and Scotland. The editors, in a concluding chapter, point to the similarities and differences between practice in the different countries. They also argue that the experiences of community groups in coalfield communities are relevant to policymakers and practitioners outside coalfield communities as well as those within them. There is a foreword written by Professor Marjorie Mayo of Goldsmiths College, University of London and the book is edited by David Francis, John Grayson and Paul Henderson.
'Rich Seam' costs £15.95 plus £1.50 postage and is obtainable from CDF Publications, 60 Highbury Grove, London N5 2AG. Email: pub.sales@cdf.org.uk
The book is linked to CEBSD through an article by John Grayson on the work in Hungary by Ilona Vercseg and Tamás Varga and through the chapter on Belgium where contact was established through VIBOSO. The book was launched at a conference, which linked local activists, professionals, policy makers and managers. There is now a plan to send a delegation to Westminster to argue that the profile of coalfield communities needs to come to the fore again.

Review
Within the Community Development Foundation, there has been a review of the last 5 years by national government. This has resulted in a recommendation that CDF should relate not only to community development but also to volunteering and social entrenpreneurship. It is not yet clear what this proposal will mean. Watch this space.

There has been a survey of community work in the UK and there are some interesting early indications related to the nature of community work as a profession in the UK. The full results will be available soon.

VIBOSO has adapted the (British) method village appraisal to the Belgian context: the technical guideline and the software are now available in Dutch. VIBOSO and the Regional institute for community development in Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders) have already introduced "Dorp in zicht" in five villages. This method seems useful for community development workers, neighbourhood committees and other groups who like to improve the living condition in their village. Suppose that in a particular village the post office disappears, a local shop closes down, the primary school has not got enough children, the public transport is reduced to the very minimum. But there are also new trump cards for the village: young families like the tranquillity of the village, newcomers want to set up small new tech enterprises and there seems to be scope for ecological farming. The method village appraisal creates a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses in that village. At the same time it invites all citizens to express their opinion and suggestions about the future development. More information about DORP IN ZICHT - the Dutch translation of the method Village Appraisal - look at the VIBOSO website: www.viboso.be or ask more information: info@viboso.be

KUNST(S)MAKEN means literally to taste and/or create art. There is a growing interest for social art project in the community development. For many groups and communities it not only a means to express themselves, but also to find and create a new positive identity. On the invitation of VIBOSO and the ngo Kunst & Democratie (Art & Democracy) about 350 participants attended the recent social art festival in Brussels. During that 'tour d'horizon' the participants came across innovative social art projects in theatre, music, film and video. They attended several live performances as well. In between they could take part in several debates about the role of the artist in the local community, the accessibility of culture and a policy to stimulate social art. The festival publication 'Kunst(s)maken' describes and analyses good practices in the world of social art. That publication in Dutch "Kunst(s)maken" is still available (10 €) . For more information: info@viboso.be

Flanders has just finished its five-year plan for Community Development delivered through the regional institutes and CEBSD member, VIBOSO. The main items and figures will be published. The Government has askes for a merger of the Community development sector and the sector for supporting minority ethnic groups. There will be a process of discussion and debate on this. It presents a major challenge and puts pressure on the organisations involved. The VIBOSO strategy is to present a profile of community development demonstrating the variety and range of

There has been a renaissance of social life through the "Social Cities" programme where terms familiar to community development such as participation and empowerment have been introduced but there are continuing problems with the lack of subsidy from local authorities for community development structures. There is a need for significant links from national level to the local level in Germany.
CEBSD Member, Paritätisches Bildungswerk Bundesverband is following the shift of many organisations and networks by moving its federal level operation to Berlin. It is not yet clear what this will mean for federal support for "gemeinwesenarbeit". Paritaetisches Bildungswerk Rheinland Pfalz/Saarland is committed to extending virtual networking and there is a plan to introduce the virtual network developed in Saarland to Rheinland-Pfalz. The Board will have the opportunity to engage with these ideas at the Conference hosted by PBW in Frankfurt in May for the Board.

An international community development conference is proposed for 2004, and is to be organised in one of the eastern and central European countries.The first planning meeting is being held in Budapest at the end of October, hosted by CEBSD member Hungarian Association for Community Development. It follows the successful conference organised by CEBSD and the International Association for Community Development in London in 2001 (the papers from this conference are to be published shortly in the Community Development Journal). Information on plans for the 2004 event will be posted on this site.

"Good Practice in Community Development"

CEBSD has submitted a project on "Good Practice in Community Development" for funding under the Community Action programme on Social Exclusion. The project aims to develop a common framework for the identification of good practice.

Through regional or national working groups and transnational exchanges, partners plan to develop an instrument for analysing practice in "community development" initiatives. They will focus on those practices, which contribute to the mainstreaming of poverty and social exclusion across policy areas. An exciting range of organisations has agreed to co-operate so we hope to get the funding. For more information contact Margo Gorman margogorman@eircom.net

Participatory methods and local mobilisation


Örebro University, in Sweden hosted members and associates of CEBSD for a conference on "Participatory methods and local mobilisation in decision-making processes". There were a number of case studies and papers presented. The following conclusions were drawn from diverse experience across Europe.
Conclusions: There is no one correct methodology for participation but we have learned that in order to make participation successful in decision-making or planning processes, it is important to choose a method that suits the local conditions. In addition there are a few steps in the process that we can say are common in the different methods: preparation, the dialogue itself, documentation and follow-up. Each of these steps is important. Preparation: choose the method carefully; be sure to choose problems relevant to the people you involve; let the participants know how you intend to use the results. The dialogue: be aware of your own position, power and the language you use; give the participants a real possibility to attend e. g. through offering child-care, compensation for loss of income or other things that can otherwise prevent them from getting involved. Documentation: the participants have a right to know how the documentation will be done and by whom; think through beforehand how the documentation will be distributed or made public. Follow-up: If you have promised that the results will be implemented you must follow this promise through, otherwise the participants will lose trust in the process.

The conference marks the beginning of further collaboration between CEBSD and Örebro University on democracy and participation. Contact Anna Lundgren at anna.lundren@adm.oru.se or Hans Andersson on hans.andersson@cesam.se for further details.

CEBSD joins European Social Platform

The Combined European Bureau for Social Development has joined the European Social Platform of non-governmental organisations and welcomes the new potential for work with other networks on priorities for community development in Europe. There is a lot of talk about democratic participation in community life and strategies for inclusion of all in social, economic, cultural life of the community. How can we make sure that this talk is followed through with action, which reaches local neighbourhoods?

Death of Tamás A. Varga in July 2002

Tamás A. Varga was one of the founders of community development in Hungary and has been a key figure in the development of Hungarian society. His creative organising work started during the 70's at the Technical University of Budapest among university students. Later he led community education experiments in order to reform and develop the profession of community work. These experiments eventually led to the birth of community development in Hungary

The Hungarian Association for Community Development is also among the founder members of the Combined European Bureau for Social Development. The contribution of Tamas to community development in Europe is characterised by his own humility, his keen observation, his infectious good humour and his ability to facilitate others in achieving their goals. This memory leaves a lasting impression, which will continue to inspire CEBSD for many years.

His powerful belief that local communities could co-operate for the common good was based on recognition of the hidden skills and resources that could be tapped. He recognised that dramatic change could take place from the bottom when communities begin to organise themselves democratically. His vision of European and global change was firmly rooted in direct action in Hungary. He was one of a few committed people who changed the negative associations of "community" from the communist era into a dynamic inclusive force for change.

His innovative way of combining adult education with community development has made a contribution to the ideas and thinking of CEBSD colleagues throughout Europe. The commitment of Tamas and colleagues at HACD to vision, planning and innovative action never lost sight of the humanity in us all. Even during his illness the contributions Tamás at CEBSD meetings were constructive and creative and often accompanied by a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

At a time when CEBSD was struggling with the circulation of ideas and information, he proposed that CEBSD set up an e-group and then took action to make sure it happened. CEBSD is still at the early stages of developing this e-group and in the next few years it will be a communication tool for community development that ripples across Europe. The work of Tamás in this one contribution will multiply itself many times over. It demonstrates his ability to translate ideas into practical proposals for action and the commitment to follow them through.

Tamas has left CEBSD an important legacy - work and ideas that can be continued and developed further and he will continue to be a live everyday presence through that work. CEBSD dedicates future work on creation of community, on life long learning, on participatory democracy to him and to his memory.