Tips for conducting training workshop on “what is community?”

Among your colleagues, counterparts, or community people, there may be a chance to have a training workshop for sharing viewpoints and finding out various aspects of “local community” described in the previous pages. The followings are some tips for conducting workshop on “what is community”.

Exercise 1: “Collective Actions of a community”

Question & Instruction:

What are the actions / activities / events implemented by community members collectively? List up at least 30 items, and categorize them.

Note:

“Collectively” means “by any kind of groups of community members” “by more than two persons”. The collective actions may be implemented by particular group of community people (women, children, youth, particular occupational group, etc.), and they may be done regularly (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) or occasionally.

Purpose of the exercise:

To review functions of local communities, to confirm importance of collective actions for the life of human beings, and to find initiatives of local communities taken by themselves

Exercise 2: “CHANGE in a community”

Question & Instruction:

What are the things (visible or invisible) that disappeared within recent 30 – 40 years in your community? What are the things that have emerged within recent 30 – 40 years in your community? List up at least 30 items per each, and think about “positive” or “negative” impacts on your community.

Note:

“Things (visible or invisible)” include any kinds of concrete things such as building, equipments, products, infrastructure, etc. or any kinds of abstract things such as systems, institutions, policies, actions of human beings, way of life, way of thinking, etc.

Purpose of the exercise:

To review recent changes of local communities, to link those changes with macro socio-economic situation (modernization & globalization), and to check the impacts of modernization / globalization to local communities

Exercise 3: “Resources of a community”

Question & Instruction:

Divided into pairs, each participant is asked to find out existing local resources in the local community that your partner participant belongs to. Please ask what there are in his/her community. Do not simply ask “what are the resources in your community”. Try to find out potential resources as many as possible.

Note:

Community members may not be aware of own potential resources in their community. Try to explore the facts that exist in the community. In the interview, it is also effective if you admire or respect what there are in your partners community.

Purpose of the exercise:

To become aware of existing potential resources in local communities and to realize importance of finding out and utilizing those resources

M. Nagahata (i-i-network)