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Article: The challenges of fostering community participation: a case study of a community-based organization in rural California.
- Article from:
- Community Development: Journal of the Community Development Society
- Article date:
- July 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Community Development Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Community development professionals commonly espouse participatory ideals regarding citizens' involvement in planning and decision-making, but enacting these ideals is another matter. This case study of a community-based organization (CBO) examines how staff members attempted to involve residents in planning and implementing projects and the challenges they faced in doing so. These challenges included achieving broad participation, especially with White residents and youth; selecting decision-makers and delineating decision-making authority; building residents' skills so that they could participate effectively; eliciting residents' ideas; and deciding when to plan with or ...