hi. this page is about community. Your community. If you would like to see your neighbourhood working better as a community in any way, plz post you opinions here.


The NEIGHBOURHOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY is a ficticious organisation but one that I would one day like to see become a reality in some form.





The neighborhood community development agency’s task is to encourage local community residence to improve their local environment themselves through organized development strategies. This is achieved by providing services and advice that lead to the improvement of socialized planning, development of common architecture, and the implementation of project work and community activities. The role of the Community Agency in this process is as a catalyst through which such developments can be initiated, and also as a legitimate authority that allows such development to be managed sustainable.

The development and maintenance of a community can generate a large number of benefits for both individual member households, or for the neighborhood community as a whole. The following are a list of project developments that illustrate the diversity of options that a community could choose to implement.

1. To minimize and reduce the amount of long and short journey transport pollution, through minimizing the reasons to travel and provide and maximization of centralizing resources and services within the community, so therefore reduce the need for transport.

2. To delegate a greater sense of community while improving the relationships between individuals, families, ethnic groups and various generation gaps, so providing a safe friendly environment that includes caring for the community services and facilities.

3. To improve local skills for both children and adults at home and in the community that can gain individuals experience and qualifications.

4. To establish a sustainable local economy providing work, employment opportunities and the ability to implement ideas, encouraging entrepreneurial developments and various forms of self-employment.

5. To encourage collective purchasing and economical cooperation to reduce expenditure, providing a source of access to a cheaper and more varied supply of goods and consumables.

6. To encourage the use of best available technologies such as Non-centralized and renewable sources of energy generation that are more environmentally sustainable.

7. To provide medical and emergency aid to those in the community helping regulate a community health and safety policy

8. To develop a feeling of security in the community using CCTV surveillance and other security sensors.

9. To initiate effective waste management and local recycling.

10. To enable the planning and construction of infrastructure and architectural developments, for the communities benefit.

11. To generate a healthy environment and encourage a diverse natural ecology.





LONG and SHORT Journey Transport Pollution Abatement

One of the most important reasons for introducing a neighborhood development scheme is to remove some of the need for both long and short journey transportation and so reduce such pollution produced by such activity.

Much of today’s pollution is caused directly from our need to move around our social environment in order to gain the benefits that the contemporary life-style seems to demand. Such demands are varied, ranging from school trips to drop of children, the need to commute too work, and our need to purchase goods. With the question of environmental pollution becoming of greater concern not only locally, but also globally and internationally, the call for greater pollution abatement is becoming a greater factor in deciding trends and developments in society and society’s infrastructure. The charges that have been introduced within London are a direct reflection of these trends. Long traffic queues, that waste time and energy, and generate exhaust emissions, all add to both local and trans-boundary levels of pollution (externalities), and are becoming a phenomenon frowned upon by governments, pressure groups and the public. Community development can be a serious possible solution to much of this access waste.

By localizing community needs and changing the means in which we obtaining them, reductions in the distances that must be traversed can be minimized. It is obvious that not all transport needs can be reduced in this manor, but such reductions can be significant and the benefits generated from such reductions can be great.

Firstly a community must decide which services etc. it can localize, and therefore reduce the need to journey too. In a street of 100 dwellings it is typical that each household will journey to a retail outlet in order to obtain the goods required. This tallies up at 100 trips to the shops each week for the whole street. In a community that has implemented a local community policy this may be reduced to a single trip (or a single delivery). If 100 single purchases have been combined into one single purchase, the opportunity for making further saving is greatly increased. What is not so obvious is that without some form of infrastructure, either physically or procedural, such community schemes cannot be organized effectively. This is a primary service offered by a community agency can help. Firstly the agency can help the community to develop and implement such infrastructure effectively. It can also help negotiate a fare trading policy with retailers and suppliers to make sure savings are can be maximized.

There are other forms of transport pollution, such as those caused by commuting to work. Communities can also provide and install the infrastructure needed to work from home and so reduce the need to commute at all. Such work can revolve around helping themselves within the community and therefore in essence, be employed within the community. The community can also initiate the development of a modern and effective IT centre where, as in any other normal IT based working environments, individuals or teams can be employed by external bodies and organizations and undergo project work..

Through community development, communities can minimize some of the negative aspects of modern living. Pollution is a health hazard to people and the environment, and it is important that it is kept to a minimum. It IS possible for communities to reduce their expenditure, gain more for their investment, and improve upon their quality of life while reducing the levels of transport pollution. It is the NCDA’s objectives to allow communities to make this happen.





Community Relationships

Improving community relationships and bringing together neighbors is a main objective of the NCDA. Dew to modern economic trends and contemporary lifestyles the strength of social communities has diminished. People have less time to interact with their neighbors, family and associates, spending more time at work away from home. The agency offers members of a community the opportunity to get in touch with the people, and resources that they have available on their doorstep within their neighborhood community. A community can have or develop common goals that bring people, resources and skills together and generate benefits for all community members.

People who work and socialize outside of their community are less able to appreciate what strengths and opportunities are on their doorstep. This can be illustrated in a neighborhood when a household intends to extend their home, or develop their land. A household will contract builders, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, surveyors and other professionals at great cost to implement development projects. Once these developments have been completed, neighboring householders decide to follow suite. (i.e. keeping up with the neighbors syndrome). They in turn also contract professionals to develop their property at great cost. If the neighboring community had developed closer relations prior to any development being undertaken, the parties could have decided what developments where desired and by using the same contractor to implement all individual projects as one job they could gain savings on the costs charged by contractors. It may also be the case that within their neighborhood such skilled contractors already exist and so negotiations can be undertaken within the community and therefore gain even greater savings.

There are also more humanitarian reasons for the development of neighborhood communities. Communities often have households occupied by the elderly or disabled. These individuals often find it very hard and difficult, not only to get out in order too socialize, but they also find simple everyday activities beyond their ability. In many cases, these individuals are helped by home care agencies, or by members of their families, but such help cannot be available around the clock. In a community that can care for such individuals it is surprising just how valuable such elderly or disabled people can prove. Elderly people posses a great commodity, that younger generations rarely have the luxury to posses themselves, time, and even the elderly, given time, can achieve a great deal.

The elderly have a lot to offer a community. They have the knowledge, experience and understanding that their lives have taught them and it makes sense therefore to utilize this knowledge by passing it on to younger more active generations. The elderly can pass this knowledge on to any generation but there is one generation that they best suite, children. In a community there is always the situation where parents need time away from their children for reasons related to work or leisure. The elderly therefore, with time on their hands and wisdom in their heads offer a safe and local resource to base a community childcare service on. Any community childcare should however have a respective compliment of adult supervisors as children do tend to have more energy than the elderly and in case of a problem or emergencies are there to give aid.

It is often the case that people do not see or appreciate what is under their nose until it is pointed out to them. It is therefore the Community Development Agency’s duty to help communities realize the possibilities, savings and benefits that are available to them This can be through identifying skills and knowledge within the community that can be utilized or developed, to help the collective abilities of the community to generate greater savings, and to enable greater community cooperation through the implementation of more ambitious development projects.

The agency has the responsibility to ensure that there are no tensions generated within a community dew to project negotiations or developments. If such tensions prove to be of a negative influence on the community, it is the agency’s duty to identify and take action to resolve them. The agency can only achieve this through developing the agreements, cooperation, trust and infrastructure of a community. If such processes within a community are accountable and correctly implemented a problem generating community tension can be dealt with in a fare and legitimate manner.





Community Skills and there Development

An individual’s skills, knowledge and ability are some of the strongest assets that they can possess or develop. In society they drive the economy with high incomes generated from well-paid employment. In a community, skills etc. are also of great importance.

In the generation of a community, costs must be minimized. If a community can save capital through developing projects utilizing skills and labor within the community, rather than employing costly services, then the benefits to the community can be increased. The community agency has the task of helping communities and their residence improve their knowledge and skills. This means gaining qualifications through schools, colleges, universities and workshops or through training and learning at home. There are many tasks that unqualified individuals can undertake in order to gain experience. Often a great a part of learning is a familiarity with the subject, and practice increases this familiarity making tasks easier. If an individual enters for training to gain a qualification for a subject that they are already well versed in, they will primarily find the training and the resulting qualification easier to achieve. This can be the case for many desired qualifications so the more diverse the projects a community initiates the greater the diversity of skills members of the community will become familiar with. Individuals with experience are also beneficial as they can teach their knowledge to others within the community. If a qualified individual is needed for a project where there are none inherent within the appropriate skills or training of community residence, the community may firstly hire the necessary individual or secondly, help a member of the community to gain the experience and qualifications required.

It is also possible for communities to school their own children up to an age of sixteen. Even though tuition may be given through the community, those taught in this manor must take examinations at the relevant times and ages to allow their progress to be confirmed.

The primary key to gaining a qualification is proving an individual’s ability, knowledge and understanding of a subject. In most cases this is achieved through the partaking of an examination or through a form of work assessment. If an individual can learn skills without any tuition fees, then the qualification can be achieved at a much-reduced cost.

A further benefit from the development of skills within the community is that if a member of the community chooses to work outside of the community, they can enter the job market better equipped and demand a higher wage for their skills





Local Sustainable Economy

The resources from which it is comprised drive an economy. Such resources could be mineral or organic physical assets, or they could be knowledge, skills or infrastructure. A neighborhood community economy consists primarily of people. Individuals whose skills, labors and abilities drive the forces that mould the economy into what it is. In cases where all resources are poor, community economy is at a disadvantage. If such a setback proves to be unsustainable the economy and quality of life are likely to decline. It is of the greatest importance therefore that the Community Agency’s objectives are geared towards sustainable improvement in the local economy, and to strive to develop community resources, and infrastructure.

The development of a community economy can be implemented on a simple basis where the community chooses to collectively pool their capital in order to save money on agreed purchases. The level of input that communities invest into a development process defines what benefits can be gained. Communities that work together to maximize their gains can also improve their economic value outside of the community. This can be illustrated through the development of architecture and facilities in a neighborhood that increase the property prices.

By working from home community members can gain employment without the hassles and costs of commuting to their workplace. Being self-employed can also give individuals the opportunity to develop their skills and so freelance their services. Given the correct infrastructure, a community can manage to collectively work as a team, and can trade their services as a business. Communities that have developed a trading company can also make further savings by claiming back tax for legitimate company purchases that also add to the community’s infrastructure.

Another community benefit is generated when communities develop workshops. The greater the sophistication of the equipment and infrastructure implemented in a workshop, the greater the scope for processing, manufacturing and the assembly of parts, fittings, components, textiles and other workable materials. The same can be said for the use of various technological equipment and media that can be utilized to develop further community assets, commodities and tradable services.

Therefore there are a number of ways that the development of neighborhood communities can help local areas to generate greater economical gains, add value to the region, and work towards developing (and improving upon) a sustainable future.





COMMUNITY BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY

Community developments and project work should always be implemented utilizing the best available technology at the time the work is implemented. Best available technology is categorized into, and by various criteria. These can include energy efficiency, cost efficiency, quality, “recyclability”, eco-friendly manufacture, ease of use, ease of installation and life expectancy. In the case of community development, the investment into technology can define the choices, diversity and benefits a community can gain from and development projects.

There are a large number of applications, processes, materials and design specifications that come within the sphere of best available technology. There is also the fact that technologies and practices are constantly developing so that what is best available technology today is not necessarily going to be best available technology tomorrow. Such information should therefore be available to the community at all times and be kept up to date.

A contending application for communities to implement best available technology could be through the opportunity to develop their own energy production infrastructure. The first and primary benefit for a community utilizing energy production is that any energy produced, decreases the need to consume energy from the relevant suppliers and so cut costs. There are number of ways at the moment of producing energy that can be utilized by a community. Waste incineration, wind turbines, solar power utilizing photo-voltaics and solar evacuated tubes can all work towards generating energy for the community. Projects such as this are more economically viable when implemented by a community, as the purchase of such technology decreases with the increased quantities purchased. These savings mean that the costs incurred in the installation of the technologies can be accrued faster once the installation is in operation. Energy production can also become a commodity. If the electrical energy produced by a community is greater than it consumes, the excess energy can be sold to the grid and so accrue costs even faster. There is also one other important benefit of energy production that deems it as a contender for a best available technology. Solar powered and wind turbine energy production is a clean and renewable form of energy generation. Much of the energy consumed from the main electricity supply is produced through centralized energy production that uses fossil fuels or nuclear power. These are more hazardous to the environment. The use of clean renewable forms of energy production therefore acts as a form of pollution abatement

Best available technology should be included in project guidelines. Such guidelines should be designed to enable communities to realize what are the best courses of action, and the best technology to be utilize in any works undertaken. As such technologies are being constantly re-invented and developed using newer materials and processes the guidelines should be kept up to date at all times. This is the key role of the community development agency. The agency has the position to communicate with technical authorities that have the responsibility of defining, what is the most appropriate best technology for any specific project works. Such guidelines should also help communities decide if their current installations and technology is up to date and so enable the community to decide if such installations etc should be replaced.

As a community develops and re-develops various project works, replacing outdated and less efficient technology, the relevant information should be include in any guidelines as to how best recycle, or dispose of waste materials and components. This in itself is a defining factor of best available technology and a very important one. It is important in cases where even though a complete installation may be outdated, those component parts from which it is constructed may not be outdated and so can be utilized in further community developments minimizing waste and the costs of its disposal.

Room should be allowed for communities that can promote a good alternative to existing forms of best available technology. Another key role for the community development agency is to help communities to apply to governmental and technical authorities, through the agency, plans and details that they believe are an improvement upon existing methods etc. The agency’s responsibility is to negotiate with such legitimate organizations on behalf of the community to define if the new ideas are truly an improvement and if so to enable the community to gain benefits from their efforts and inventiveness.





Community Purchasing

Community Development relies greatly upon the cooperation of household and community members to either work together or combine resources and finance to improve their neighborhood environment. One form of these benefits that has already been expressed earlier is that community-purchasing power is increased when a community cooperates in deciding what it desires to purchase in bulk. This economic trend can prove to be one of the most effective benefits that community development can harness. I do not feel that I need at this point to describe economic theory or trends to back this up, so rather than try to defend this position it would be wiser to give some examples of how, and what, communities can gain from collective purchasing.

Firstly it is the task of the community agency to help communities to purchase in bulk. This is because even though a community may have a greater financial incentive for suppliers to offer quality services, it also means there is a greater incentive for “rip off merchants” to take advantage, and take the community for a ride. The community agency’s responsibility therefore is to negotiate along side the community to guarantee fare prices and a quality service therefore acting as a “watchdog”.

The agency must keep a record of all local organizations, companies, businesses and industries that have proven a good track record in the delivery of their goods or services. It is not for the agency to then be bias as to which of these a community chooses to use, this is for the community. The agencies role from here on, is to monitor the transaction and guarantee that any trade is carried out correctly. This means that it is up to the business or industry that deals with the community to constantly deliver a quality service or risk being removed from the agency’s lists and loose business.

The community development agency also has the task of defining standard price discounts that communities can utilize. Such price lists are mainly designed to allow communities to undertake financial planning when deciding upon what development or purchasing is to be made.

It is not just bulk purchases through which the community can gain saving. The community, with greater purchasing power can also invest in infrastructure. A community can purchase tools, equipment, materials, textiles and labor that a single householder would likely find beyond their own normal budget. This therefore allows a community to plan more extensive and far grander development projects than would normally occur within a divided community. It also opens the possibility of developing tradable commodities and to establish a community driven company providing sustainable work, income and security.





Waste Management And Recycling

Every neighborhood generates waste. A community consumes resources on an almost constant, and this utility of resources produces a degree of waste. How a community deals with any waste produced dictates a number of criteria that can in tern, have beneficial or detrimental repercussions for the community. A community that fails to manage waste production risks the build up toxic and hazardous materials. Biological waste that is not correctly treated can cause the spread of disease and hazardous chemicals can cause irritations and other ailments Waste can also generate an ecology that allows for large populations of rodents and other species to thrive that can increase the risk of the spread of disease as well as destroying more productive and beneficial ecological systems .

Waste can be recyclable in many ways but dealing with waste relies upon the type of waste that requires treating, recycling or disposing. Not all waste is economical or safe to recycle, and some waste, even though it is recyclable has no use once processed. Official waste disposal teams collect such waste as occurs in general society but at a cost to the individual householder. Also such waste is not always dealt with in the way the general public way be happy with such as landfill. What can be utilized from any recycled waste still depends upon the type of waste itself, and what equipment or infrastructure the community possesses. Some biological waste can be utilized as fertilizer through composting and so provide a cheap and useful form of recycling. Recycling in its self is of benefit. Firstly by abating the costs incurred, minimizing the use of energy and resources utilized in processing waste, and secondly, through the abatement of costs that may be generated from replacing the previously utilized resource.

Waste management and recycling make communities safer and cleaner. This, being of concern to the NCDA, requires the agency to ask communities to encourage waste management programs and develop their infrastructure in a clean and sustainable manner.





COMMUNITY SECURITY

Community development can improve upon the already established neighborhood watch scheme. A neighbourhood that has a sense of community may feel that there’s more invested and therefore more to protect. There are children and families that want to be kept secure as well as belongings and other material assets. This means not only providing a deterrent to intruders but also developing a security system that can act too and record events occurring during any criminal activity.

Collective investment within a neighborhood can for a cheaper cost, develop their own community security systems including the possible use of CCTV. Monitoring being utilized in this manner is a more private and trusted media for residential security. People may have prejudices against such technology feeling that in may be an intrusion into their privacy. This fear can be reduced by making the playback of recorded data only available to any community member with the community’s authority and only then pre-determined and relevant information.

The implementation of a security systems can reduce the home insurance costs of private home owners and through a neighborhood group insurance can reduce costs further. Greater security also generates a greater feeling of well being both for the private individual and throughout the community.

Different types of sensors can gather various types of data. Cameras can store images in different light spectrums while pressure sensors can determine the presence of an individual and in some cases provide data such as weight and type of footwear. The scope for new and useful methods of providing security is great. Communities have the ability to cater their security to their needs.





Medical Aid and other Emergency Services

Individuals within a community may undergo periods of illness or injury. It is at these times when they may require medical assistance, or help. Medical needs can vary greatly from minor first aid, to full surgery procedures. As far as community development is concerned it is not the case that community medical aid should in any way try to aspire to carrying out professional surgery. It should however be developed to provide some of the services of a Local GP, provide emergency medical assistance equivalent to an ambulance team, and supply regulated prescription drugs as per a local chemist.

Dew to the nature of community development undergoing projects that utilize tools and some regulated hazardous materials etc it is undoubtedly likely that sometimes health and safety may be compromised by accidents. In these cases, if medical assistance is require the existence of accountable medical facilities and treatment can be a great benefit.

Medical facilities, treatment and those individuals responsible for there application must be regulated by standards, qualifications and also be fully accountable. Medical drugs and dangerous materials etc must be accounted for at ALL times, and all medical diagnosis, prescriptions and treatment where deemed necessary by regulation must be approved by a Local registered GP. Emergency treatment carried out without the approval of a GP but must be fully accountable, and once carried out, any emergency treatment, unless further drastic measures are deemed necessary, is only to be applied as measure to allow professional medical emergency team can arrive.

THIS IS A LIST OF SKILLS SERVICES PROJECTS or INFRASTRUCTURE ETC. THAT A COMMUNITY COULD IMPLEMENT TO IMPROVE THEIR DAY TO DAY UTILITY.

VIDEO, LIBRARY AND MEDIA CLUBS
SPORTS AND HEALTH CLUBS
EDUCATION CENTERS
TUITION
INSTITUTIONS
GALLERIES AND EXHIBITIONS
IDEAS AND INNOVATIONS
GAMES AND HOBBIES
INFORMATION
GUIDELINES
SOCIETIES AND INTEREST GROUPS
RECREATION AND ENTERTAINMENT
TRADABLE SERVICES
SUPPLIERS
HEALTH SAFETY
MEDICAL AID
TOOLS
EMERGENCY SERVICES
ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENT
MACHINERY
COURIERS
EQUIPMENT
CLOTHING DESIGN MANUFACTURE AND REPAIRS AND CLEANING
BUILDING
PUBLISHING
ELECTRONICS
VETENARY OR ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGIST
PAINTING AND DECORATING
APPLIANCE AND ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURE, TESTING AND REPAIRS
ARTS AND CRAFTS
HOME HELP FOR DISABLED AND ELDERLY + CHILDCARE
LANDSCAPING AND GARDENING
MARKETING CONSULTANCY, INVESTMENT AND PRODUCT VALUATION
FABRICS AND TEXTILES
BANKING AND FINANCE
CLOTHING, JEWELRY AND ACCESSORIES
HOUSE CLEANING
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
SOLICITORS AND LEGAL
FURNITURE AND DECORATION
EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
MEDIA EQUIPMENT
TV, MUSIC, AND COMPUTERS, ETC
IT AND INTERNET PROGRAMMING
FOODS
CAREER ADVICE
AGRICULTURE
HAIR STYLISTS, BARBERS
CATERING AND FOOD PREPARATION EQUIPMENT
PARTY AND OTHER FUNCTION CATERING AND ACCESSORIES
ALARMS AND SECURITY
PLUMBING
RECRUITMENT (LABOUR AND SKILLS)
MATERIALS AND TEXTILES (SYNTHETICS, PLASTIC, BOOKINGS
METALS, ALLOYS, PLASTICS ETC...)
PET PRODUCTS
MEETINGS, HALLS AND FUNCTION ROOMS
SPORTS EQUIPMENT
HOLIDAYS AND OUTINGS
ENERGY PRODUCTION
COMEDY, THEATER, BALLET, ORCHESTRA, MUSICALS
GALLERIES AND EXHIBITIONS ETC.......
MISCELLANEOUS TECHNOLOGIES
TRANSPORT
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND STUDY INSTALLATIONS
OTHER.........MISC
OTHER REQUESRED EVENT AND APPOINTMENTS
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS


THE AGENCY OFFERS A COMMUNITY THE ABILITY TO ORGANIZE AND STRUCTURE THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD QUITE FREELY, AND SO ENABLE THEM TO DEVISE THEIR OWN NEW IDEAS FOR DEVELOPMENT, AS WELL AS ORIGINAL METHODS AND TECHNIQUES.

Workshops - Material / resource processing, parts assembly, and the technical research, design and manufacture of utilized goods such as pottery, jewelry, clothing, electronics, tools, toys and technical infrastructural equipment etc (within limits of those sustainable technologies and resources available) can allow cheaper acquisitions for required projects and provide opportunities to develop ideas, knowledge, as well as gain skills through the development and procedures of manufacturing and processing technology.

Sports Facilities - Multi purpose sports courts (indoors & outdoors), swimming pools (indoors & outdoors) are architectural projects that can improve a communities quality of life, as well as other recreational facilities.

IT or Media centers - Audio / visual recording and editing facilities, internet communication media, art studios, photography studios, multi purpose halls can generate areas of creativity and expression for communities. Such skills and ways of learning can give individuals a greater sense of the range of medias they can work with, opening their perceptions to new ideas across a spectrum of other disciplines.

Community Reception Rooms - Meeting Rooms, Conservatories, Halls

Childcare Facilities - Nursery, Toddlers, 7-10 yrs, 11-13 yrs, 13-16 yrs 17-18yrs Educational, Playgrounds,

Landscaping - Nature &Ecological, Ground development for Architecture, Recreational & Gardening, Agriculture & Farming,

Medical Facilities -

Internal Infrastructure - Communications, Security, Health & Safety, Other Emergency Facilities,

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