Village Earth - Objectives

Objectives

The roots of Village Earth's approach to community development grew from the reformist tradition of development which emerged in the 1970s as a reaction to liberal and neoliberal development policies which were blamed for increasing income gap and as well as increasing human migration from rural to urban areas around the globe. To address this situation, reformist approaches attempt to achieve greater equity, sustainability, and local self-reliance through an integrated multi-sector approach emphasizing the use of "appropriate technology" the creation of local participatory institutions.

While the roots of the Village Earth approach can be traced to reformist traditions of development, it combined many practices used in community development programs around the world in a new way. In particular these include:

1. A sustainable livelihoods approach which recognizes the multi-layered and interrelated survival strategies of rural families and communities and seeks to build on assets and eliminate underlying constraints through an ongoing process of participatory reflection and action.
2. The clustering and networking of local institutions to promote regional self-reliance without compromising local autonomy.
3. The development of multi-sector service centers to link local institutions to local, regional, and global resources.
4. The creation of mutual agreements and clarification of roles between internal and external activators (locals and outside community workers).