Working with communities

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Community participation is the key to all of Living Earth’s programmes and ultimately determines whether development is sustainable. We promote change based on awareness, understanding and empowerment.

We don't preach solutions to problems; we help people to understand issues and reach their own resolutions. A truly participatory process allows the community to take the initiative and operate independently of external institutions.

Our effectiveness in community-based projects comes from listening to the needs, concerns and requirements of the core beneficiaries of a project. We start by learning and asking questions, developing trust and then building on that trust, fostering vision and empowerment, towards developing viable solutions.

"Not only do the communities play a role in defining environmental problems, they also played a significant role in the choice of strategy for the Environmental Education Programme...Communities rely heavily on oral means for information transfer. The choice of radio as a medium for Environmental Education ...and the establishment and support of community drama groups were decisions made based on partnership with those communities."