Community Development Journal

Revitalizing community empowerment: harnessing the synergy of faith-based NGOs and Laverack’s domain approach Abstract. This research investigated the community empowerment initiatives of Islamic Relief (IR) Bangladesh, a faith-based non-governmental organization (

Shofiqur Rahman Chowdhury & M Rezaul Islam write in our April '25 issue on community empowerment, and the synergies between faith-based organisations and Laverack's domain approach to empowerment, through the case of the Action for Peoples Rights and Livelihoods (APRIL) project buff.ly/DSXd1YY #CDJ

‘Finding their voice’: exploring female adolescents’ perspectives and experiences of a youth leadership programme Abstract. In order to increase women’s participation in leadership roles, an understanding of what barriers exist to inhibit female leadership development

Gemma Quartarella, Romana Morda & Laurie A Chapin explore the perspectives of female adolescents in a youth leadership programme in Australia, and the importance of "finding your voice" and "not holding back" for becoming agents of social change #CDJ #YouthEmpowerment buff.ly/XZf25B7

Empowering emerging leaders: a model public planning academy Abstract. Public planning academies are a form of community leadership development programming utilized by cities to increase community engagement. This ar

Lynn A Mandarano presents a case study of the Citizens Planning Institute in Philadelphia, U.S., analyses the programme through the Community Capitals framework, and discusses the contribution to leadership skills, knowledge and other capitals to enhance engagement #CDJ #USA buff.ly/omWkrTA

A framework for tourism value chain ownership in rural communities Abstract. Tourism is prevalent in rural areas of South Africa, where natural settings provide attractive opportunities. Despite tourism’s potential to impr

[OPEN-ACCESS] Michael Chambwe & Andrea Saayman write in our April '25 issue on tourism value chains and ownership in rural communities, and presents an action framework for local participation in value chain businesses for poverty reduction and community empowerment #CDJ #Poverty #Empowerment

The struggle for land by indigenous groups: from conflict to cooperation in Kasepuhan Ciptagelar, Indonesia Abstract. This study discusses the perspective of a positive-sum game in land conflicts involving indigenous groups. It is based on a case study using qual

Editor's Choice in our April '25 issue, Sutiyo Sutiyo writes in our latest issue on the Kasepuhan Ciptagelar, an indigenous group in Indonesia, and the innovation possible in decentralising conflict resolution processes to a local level for positive-sum games in land development #CDJ #EditorsChoice

Wearing their heart on a wall: the World’s Biggest Comic Abstract. An arts-based project, using a community development approach engaging people in a community of place to address suicide prevention, is potential

Lee Martinez et al write in our April '25 issue on the World's Biggest Comic, an art installation in a small Australian community focused on suicide prevention, and a mixed methods evaluation of the community development processes behind its creation #CDJ #SuicidePrevention

Social infrastructure, community organizations, and friendship formation: a scoping review Abstract. Community organizations are a unique part of the local social infrastructure that provides opportunities for social connections and community bui

[OPEN-ACCESS] Sean Lauer, Karen Lok Yi Wong & Miu Chung Yan write in Vol. 60, Issue 2 of the CDJ on situational dynamics and relationship-forming in community development organisations through a scoping review of the literature #CDJ #CommunityDevelopment buff.ly/vMjAXem

The gift and the giving: reciprocity in international aid and development in Timor-Leste Abstract. This paper examines the transactional dynamics of participation in foreign aid and development programs by exploring links between Marcel Mauss’

[OPEN-ACCESS] Richard G Jones examines reciprocity in international aid and development in Timor-Leste in our April '25 issue, expanding on Marshall Sahlins’ typology of reciprocal relationships, and how this produces relationships in aid programmes #CDJ #TimorLeste buff.ly/nXVrwhH

Community development in the second Trump era Ruth has a strong memory of a story once told by her German language teacher when she was a student at secondary school. Her teacher had attended universit

[OPEN-ACCESS] Our Co-Editors Ruth Pearce & Kirsty Lohman write in the Editorial for our April '25 issue, on challenges to global community development practice in the Second Trump Era, on bottom-up organising and information-sharing, and the excellent content available in this issue #CDJ #Editorial

Asset-based Community Development (ABCD): in Conversation with John McKnight about the Heritage of ABCD and its Place in the World Today (3rd edition) The asset-based approach incorporates new, more holistic, and creative ways of looking at reality, such as seeing the glass half full, appreciating what ha

Annisa Rizqa Alamri et al review "Asset-based Community Development (ABCD): in Conversation with John McKnight about the Heritage of ABCD and its Place in the World Today (3rd edition)" in our July '25 issue buff.ly/VXEAUi9 #CDJ #BookReview

Community development, social action and social planning: a practical guide As someone active in various roles in the broad community development field for over fifty years, I have seen various editions of this book – this is the s

Gary Craig reviews "Community development, social action and social planning: a practical guide", edited by Alan Twelvetrees and Russell Todd, in our July issue buff.ly/uV3F4OU #CDJ #BookReviews

Implementation of community-based rehabilitation in Colombia in mental health: barriers, facilitators, and purposes Abstract. Mental health holds a crucial position within global public health agendas, particularly in the context of developing and implementing community-

Felipe Agudelo-Hernández et al write in Vol. 60, Issue 3 on community-based rehabilitation for mental health conditions in Colombia, and the importance of fostering dialogue between communities and decision-makers in programme implementation buff.ly/JGNn98G #CDJ #MentalHealth

The politics of ward committees in enhancing community development through democratic participation in the perspective of structuration Abstract. The paper aims to explore the politics of ward committees in enhancing community development through participation. In post-1994 South Africa, wa

Nsizwazonke E Yende , Petunia B Mahlangu & Andiswa Mkhwanazi write in our July '25 issue on ward committees in South Africa, and how perceptions of committees as "watchdogs" affect their ability to fulfil their constitutional mandate buff.ly/16xuHVg #CDJ #SouthAfrica

Reproducing poverty through participation: examining the constraints of community development strategies in fostering empowerment and social change Abstract. Community participation is often heralded as a remedy to the disadvantages faced by marginalized people, with the assumption that it catalyses em

Editor's Choice in Vol. 60, Issue 3, Shahzad Khan & Robyn Eversole write on the Rural Support Programmes Network in Northwest Pakistan, and the limits of active participation in catalysing empowerment in community development practice buff.ly/yzm0cOB #CDJ #Pakistan

Community resilience through bottom–up participation: when civil society drives urban transformation processes Abstract. In recent years, bottom–up civil society initiatives have advanced urban transformation processes in Berlin. Following previous research suggesti

Nicolina Kirby, Dorota Stasiak & Dirk von Schneidemesser write in our July '25 issue on Berlin-based civil society initiatives, and the impact on community resilience that bottom-up approaches led by civil society can have buff.ly/ZcXqtBS #CDJ #Resilience

Implementability: a taxonomy of community development approaches Abstract. The selection of a community development approach often occurs in an information vacuum, rather than through an evidence-driven alignment with lo

[OPEN-ACCESS] Geoff Higgins and co-authors write in our July issue on implementability in community development approaches, and the novel taxonomy of principles, conditions and processes for success buff.ly/x4d6vqx #CDJ #Development

What’s (in) a CBO? Analyzing community representation in the Kenyan aid chain Abstract. Within the field of development research and practice, there is a growing realization that interventions aimed at supporting emancipation struggl

Maaike Matelski & Lise Woensdregt write in our July '25 issue on community-based organisations in Kenya, the highly-varied forms these organisations take, and how communities are represented in Kenyan aid chains #CDJ #Kenya

Deployment and development of community wealth building in Canadian mid-sized cities Abstract. In the early 2000s, community wealth building (CWB) emerged as a renewed approach to local economic development. By design, CWB aims to democrati

Audrey Jamal and Jordan Scholten write in our July issue on community wealth-building in mid-size Canadian cities, and the lack of embeddedness of CWB practice in economic development policy buff.ly/5lHHEPe #CDJ #CWB

A Freirean understanding of the Venezuelan crisis in Trinidad and Tobago Abstract. The Venezuelan crisis, which has seen around 50,000 Venezuelan migrants flee to Trinidad and Tobago, is a continuing humanitarian crisis. While t

Kola Adeosun writes in our July issue on the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and the impacts on Trinidad and Tobago, where many displaced Venezuelans reside, using Paolo Freire’s ideas of critical consciousness buff.ly/H1KRdxm #CDJ #Friere

A Freirean watershed 2025 marks the coming into reprint, after so many years, of Ira Shor and Paulo Freire’ s Pedagogy of Liberation. Dialogues on Transforming Education (Shor

Peter Mayo writes in our latest Classic Texts article on Ira Shor and Paulo Freire’s "Pedagogy of Liberation. Dialogues on Transforming Education", and the impact of this seminal work on community development and critical sociology buff.ly/9XaClcf #CDJ #ClassicText

Claiming space It was a stunning spring morning in Durham. The trees were in bud, the grass was lush from recent rain, and sunlight sparkled off the languid waters of the

Our Co-Editors Ruth Pearce and Kirsty Lohman write in our July '25 Editorial on the claiming of space by community organisations, self-organisations, and how "cracks" can lead to "tiny victories" buff.ly/C5MC4ZS #CDJ #Editorial

Engendering Democracy in Africa: Women, Politics and Development: Niamh Gaynor, Routledge, London, 2022. 1st edn. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003147879 Following decades of global commitments, pledges, high rhetoric, grand commentary and global strategies in international and global development policy, pol

Susan P Murphy reviews "Engendering Democracy in Africa: Women, Politics and Development", by Niamh Gaynor, in our April '25 issue buff.ly/3tnGuM0 #CDJ #BookReviews

Liveable lives: living and surviving LGBTQ equalities in India and the UK The book under review is about the liveability of LGBTQ communities. Through a transnational collaborative research project, ‘Making Liveable Lives: Rethin

Pushpesh Kumar reviews "Liveable lives: living and surviving LGBTQ equalities in India and the UK", edited by Niharika Banerjea and Kath Browne, in our April '25 issue buff.ly/YHRIfwN #CDJ #BookReviews

Lifeways of families in coffee-growing territories: vulnerability and response capacity Abstract. Multilateral and research organizations have developed studies in coffee-growing zones that are focused on sustainable livelihoods; however, the

Obeimar B Herrera and co-authors examine the lifeways and territorial innovation approach to sustainable livelihoods in coffee-growing territories, and the contextual responses to external challenges across these territories buff.ly/Rs8tY8c #CDJ #Innovation #Livelihooods

Revitalizing community empowerment: harnessing the synergy of faith-based NGOs and Laverack’s domain approach Abstract. This research investigated the community empowerment initiatives of Islamic Relief (IR) Bangladesh, a faith-based non-governmental organization (

Shofiqur Rahman Chowdhury & M Rezaul Islam write in our April '25 issue on community empowerment, and the synergies between faith-based organisations and Laverack's domain approach to empowerment, through the case of the Action for Peoples Rights and Livelihoods (APRIL) project buff.ly/DSXd1YY #CDJ

‘Finding their voice’: exploring female adolescents’ perspectives and experiences of a youth leadership programme Abstract. In order to increase women’s participation in leadership roles, an understanding of what barriers exist to inhibit female leadership development

Gemma Quartarella, Romana Morda & Laurie A Chapin explore the perspectives of female adolescents in a youth leadership programme in Australia, and the importance of "finding your voice" and "not holding back" for becoming agents of social change #CDJ #YouthEmpowerment buff.ly/XZf25B7

Empowering emerging leaders: a model public planning academy Abstract. Public planning academies are a form of community leadership development programming utilized by cities to increase community engagement. This ar

Lynn A Mandarano presents a case study of the Citizens Planning Institute in Philadelphia, U.S., analyses the programme through the Community Capitals framework, and discusses the contribution to leadership skills, knowledge and other capitals to enhance engagement #CDJ #USA buff.ly/omWkrTA

A framework for tourism value chain ownership in rural communities Abstract. Tourism is prevalent in rural areas of South Africa, where natural settings provide attractive opportunities. Despite tourism’s potential to impr

[OPEN-ACCESS] Michael Chambwe & Andrea Saayman write in our April '25 issue on tourism value chains and ownership in rural communities, and presents an action framework for local participation in value chain businesses for poverty reduction and community empowerment #CDJ #Poverty #Empowerment

The struggle for land by indigenous groups: from conflict to cooperation in Kasepuhan Ciptagelar, Indonesia Abstract. This study discusses the perspective of a positive-sum game in land conflicts involving indigenous groups. It is based on a case study using qual

Editor's Choice in our April '25 issue, Sutiyo Sutiyo writes in our latest issue on the Kasepuhan Ciptagelar, an indigenous group in Indonesia, and the innovation possible in decentralising conflict resolution processes to a local level for positive-sum games in land development #CDJ #EditorsChoice

Wearing their heart on a wall: the World’s Biggest Comic Abstract. An arts-based project, using a community development approach engaging people in a community of place to address suicide prevention, is potential

Lee Martinez et al write in our April '25 issue on the World's Biggest Comic, an art installation in a small Australian community focused on suicide prevention, and a mixed methods evaluation of the community development processes behind its creation #CDJ #SuicidePrevention