1. COALITION OF GEORGIAN ORGANIZATIONS WORKING
ON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
2010-2012
CoDeCo

2. Community Development
Coalition”CoDeCo”
Biological Farming Association “Elkana”
Community Development Center- CDC
Centre for Training and Consultancy
Adult Education Association of Georgia - AEAG
Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia- CSRDG
“Rhea” Union
IDP Women Association “Tankhmoba”
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network
Civil Society Institute- CSI

3. Presentation Issues
 History of the Coalition - 2010-2012
 Shared Definitions - 2010
 Joint Publication/working process, structure
and content, main findings
 CoDeCo Mission and Priorities

4. Prehistory
The birth of the idea
Sighnagi Meeting and its outputs
- Shared Vision
- Development of Meeting Materials
- Initiation of the project on joint publication

6. What is “Community”
 Shared Definition
Community is a group of people living
in a defined geographical area;
sharing the same socio-economic and
cultural conditions; having similar
interests, problems and needs

7. Community Development
The basic indicators of a Developed Community:
 Existence of Civic Group
 Community has a vision oriented to development and
innovation
 Community is able to define problems and to respond
to them effectively
 Community realizes its own rights and needs and
advocates them

9. Preparation of the Publication
 Internal Working Meetings
 Regional Conference in Batumi
 Development of the
Conclusion

10. Publication Structure
 Introduction
- Organizational Profile
- History of community work
 Vision, Approaches, Target Groups
 Experience
- Positive
- Negative
 Conclusion

11. Main Obstacles of Community Work
 Nihilism and Mistrust of the Population
 The complexity of Group Forming/Sustaining
Process
 Out Flow of Human Resources
 Dependency Syndrome

12. Basic Findings
• Work with communities is a very time consuming and intensive process
• Community Education is an essential prerequisite for Community Development
• Identification and capacity building of informal leaders is vital
• The success greatly depends on adequacy of specific methods to a specific
environment, rather than selection of a certain method for community development.
• Community development projects require very intensive monitoring and careful
observation
• The main principle is - work together with communities and not instead of them
• Transparency is essential accompanying element of community work
• Active use of local media ensures effective advocacy of community problems
• The main challenge of Community Development is still Sustainability of achieved
results

14. Mission of ”CoDeCo” Coalition
- Voluntary, non formal Union, with aim to promote
supportive environment for Community Initiatives
and its Sustainability in Georgia
- The main purpose is to share existing
competencies and experience in the field of
community development in the country, to
coordinate community work countrywide and to
advocate/lobby issues of community development
on local and International levels

15. Strategic Directions
 1. To Advocate and Lobby Community needs and
- Analytical researches
- Development and provision of relevant Recommendations
- Cooperation with Government
- Preparation of Legislation Initiatives
- Business Communication campaigns
 2. To strengthen capacity of community development and coordinated work
- Regular meetings
- Development of mailing list of interested parties
- Development of date base
- Study tours
- Joint Publications
- Experience sharing between target groups
 3. Institutional Strengthening of Coalition
- Short and Long term Plans
- Fundraising
- Pilot Projects
- Membership in International Networks
- Study of International Practices/ its popularization
- Organizing and attending Regional and International Events