Everything to Know About Sustainable Community Development

Posted by Hands Up Volunteers
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Oct 13, 2023
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Sustainable community development is said to be the holistic approach and organized effort initiated for providing assistance to a group of people in a community so everyone can lead a better lifestyle. As the United Nations has put it, sustainable development is said to be the development of meeting their own needs. In Sustainable Community Development in Mexico, the involved members have to find a way for living their lives for the economy to prosper. These steps are directed to planet conservation and inequalities eradication. 

Now for strengthening and supporting sustainable community development in Mexico, the volunteers along with the concerned body follow the sustainable development goals. These are the action-oriented initiatives reflecting a close partnership for putting an end to poverty, conserving the planet, promoting gender equality, and empowering communities. Sustainable development goals are the universal call to action to meet the core goals and targets. 

Sustainable Community Development

How Do Community Engagement And Volunteering Help In Achieving Sustainable Community Development? 

With the sustainable development goals being large-scale and overarching for striving towards, the real change begins on a local scale. Both the local governments and the volunteers can make better progress when the residents are directly involved in the actions initiated towards the sustainable development goals. Together, they ensure to take up adjusted measures to the local context and serve the community directly. 

Moreover, a community has its own distinguished needs. The communities in rural areas are keen on taking meaningful steps to combat climate change and protecting marine life. On the other hand, the communities of metropolitan centers are concerned with doing away with poverty, supporting economic development, and improving infrastructure and industry. 

Together with the volunteers, the local governments consider informing, involving, and empowering the local communities. Herein, a simple poll or in-depth surveys on the main priorities to be tackled, to resource allocation to different sustainable development goals are conducted. This type of community engagement sharpens the volunteers' and governments' insights to decide on inclusive and responsive Sustainable Community Development Programs.  As a result, it boosts accountability. Communities in Mexico can better monitor efforts, measure the results, and come up with feedback. In turn, community engagement equally strengthens trust between the community members along the volunteers. This is how buy-in for policy choices is promoted and raises the likelihood of actual changes taking place. 

What Are the Four Categories Of Sustainable Community Development? 

As created by the Institute For Sustainable Communities, in 1995, the list of elements present for a community should be sustainable. Meeting every criterion might be challenging, but not at all impossible. Nevertheless, community development for reaching the entire sustainability goals is time-consuming. But once all the sustainability goals are met, then these should be maintained on a continuous basis to state themselves true. 

The sustainable community development criteria are organized into four categories – 

1. Leadership, Civic Engagement and Responsibility
The cornerstone of sustainable community development is fair and participatory civic engagement.  All the residents should be able to access public information and respect different ideas and viewpoints. Volunteers encourage the residents to participate in decision-making regarding the elements to affect their lives. Both genders, kids, and people of all ages are allowed to participate to nurture the responsible feeling to make the community a better place. Alongside this, political stability is crucial. 

2. Economic Security
A strong economy of a local community can never be affected by tumultuous changes either within or outside the same community. The resources sold should be invested back into the community. A large part of the business should be owned and operated by the locals. There are employment opportunities in the sustainable community for all the citizens, as well as people can access education and job training for learning and growing. 

3. Ecological Integrity
Sustainability is a foremost strand of the natural world. Sustainable communities can keep the natural world protected for thriving in the long term. Everyone should meet basic human needs, which include having access to clean air, and clean water along with unpolluted food sources. 

Biological diversity should be supported and fostered. Natural resource conservation should be ensured to help the future generations to survive.
Communities should be healthy and free from waste. Renewable resource management is a necessity for ensuring its continuation. 

4. Social Well–Being
We have listed the vital criteria above, but these will hold when the communities' residents are experiencing social well-being. All people should get a reliable food supply, education, and adequate health services. No fear of crime or aggression should prevail, whether from neighbors or outside influences. Everyone should share a belonging feeling. 

Valuing public and historic places is a must, so should the artistic efforts flourish well. 

A healthy, adaptable, and welcoming sustainable community is a boon to all residents. 

In all, sustainable community development should seem like a home. 

Sustainable community development strategies in Mexico are all about facilitating the communities with the best access to healthcare, education, civil rights, social welfare, and opportunities. Everyone in the community has to thrive and survive. When the volunteers are volunteering for this cause, first they investigate the communities to testify the future. This is how they formulate mediums to frame the strategies to include in programs. 
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