About Us

The International Association for Community Development (IACD) is a global multi-disciplinary network for professional community development practitioners and others with an interest in community development practice.   As an organisation, and collectively as members we are  committed to promoting participative democracy, sustainable development, human rights, economic opportunity, equality, and social justice, through the organisation, education, and empowerment of people within their communities, whether these be of locality, identity, or interest, in urban and rural settings. 

IACD is a non-governmental organisation operationally based in Scotland.  We have an international board of Trustees, and a global membership that extends to more than 70 countries and includes practitioners, educators, researchers, students and organisations active in the field of community development.  Through our activities we support networking and collective sharing of learning and good practice

We are accredited with the United Nations and have consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. 

What do we mean by community development?

Collectively, we subscribe to the following definition of community development, agreed in consultation with our members, in 2016;

Community development and social change

Community development is a professional field of practice and a way of working with communities towards social change. It is also an approach utilised in other  social professions including  health, economic regeneration, adult education, social work, and sustainable development. As well as practitioners working in a paid professional capacity, there are also many more who are working in a voluntary basis within their communities, using community development approaches to promote collective action and positive change. 

Purpose

Our mission is to promote values-based community development as a practice of community empowerment and facilitate networking and shared learning opportunities for our global membership.

Our vision is of collective and globally connected community development practice, founded on and leading to community empowerment, equality, human rights and social justice, participative democracy and sustainable development.

Values

We believe that community development is a values led practice. We promote and work to the follow values;

• Participative democracy – working to ensure the active participation of people and communities in planning and decision-making processes on all matters that affect their lives. 
• Sustainable development and climate justice – working to ensure fair, just and equitable social, economic and environmental development based on climate justice, respect for biodiversity, the protection of our natural environment and all life on earth. 
• Equality and human rights – promoting and respecting the equal worth, dignity and diversity of all people and working to ensure their equitable access to resources, services and opportunities. Ensuring that fundamental and internationally recognised human rights are respected, promoted and protected. 
• Social and economic justice – promoting a just society through collective action that challenges injustice, poverty, inequality, discrimination and social exclusion through policies and procedures that lead to the fair and equitable distribution of resources, sustainable production and democratically controlled decision making. 
• Community empowerment – working collectively with people in ways that value lived experience, build on existing strengths and support the development of awareness, understanding, knowledge and skills, contributing to greater participation, collective action, community resilience, solidarity and agency.