There is an increase in interest in supporting and enabling stronger communities but there is no coherent framework for people to gain the skills and knowledge they need, as activists or as paid workers. ESB has produced a proposal paper which outlines the need for a new learning and qualifications framework for community development which allows for multiple entry and exits points  that meet people’s needs. ESB is seeking partners who might be interested in helping take these ideas forward.

Please have a read and pass it onto any other people or organisations who might be interested. Do get in touch with us if you would  like to discuss  the proposal and how to move forward with the ideas.

Overview

• A sustainable society needs strong and healthy communities to support their members
• Political, Economic and Social policies and resulting pressures are weakening and fragmenting communities[1] so they cannot support their members effectively
• Community Development skills and knowledge can help build on the assets remaining in communities and support them to becoming more sustainable and cohesive
• While there is currently no England-wide Community Development learning and qualifications framework or unified funding structure, this creates an opportunity that ESB is actively responding to by developing a new framework based on its professional Community Development criteria. Drawing on international standards, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and digital skills frameworks, this approach is designed to offer flexible progression routes with multiple entry and exit points, supporting practitioners to build, develop, and gain recognition for their skills.
• The England Standard Board for Community Development (ESB) aims to ensure the quality of community development  learning programmes through endorsement processes, certification schemes and tailored mentor supported Recognition routes for practitioners[2]
• ESB has piloted bite-sized training materials, short courses, webinars, and videos to support community development practitioners, activists, and volunteers. These initiatives aim to address the growing demand for community development skills and support.
• ESB is seeking partnerships to co-design a new learning framework, develop additional training modules, and create a national online support network for community development practitioners. Collaboration is essential to unlock resources and address gaps in training, qualifications, and infrastructure.

[1] Communities can be place based, reflecting specific interests or identity or virtual.

[2] Practitioners may be paid CD workers or other professionals using a community development approach to their work,  or unpaid as activists and volunteers aiming to change and improve their community

Introduction and Context

Across the UK, community development (CD) practitioners are navigating a shrinking landscape of training routes, qualification pathways, and sector infrastructure. At the same time, fragmenting communities and increasing inequalities mean the need for anti-oppressive, critically reflective, values-driven community development practitioners has never been greater.

This proposal outlines how the Endorsement and Quality Standards Board (ESB) for community development learning in England is responding to these challenges. ESB is developing learning pathways through increased use of technology and accessible forms of recognition that can flexibly respond to the realities of contemporary community development practice. Across different settings and contexts, communities are increasingly stressed and in crisis. Wider societal trends, including a lack of housing, economic insecurity, rising poverty, increasingly polarised views, and sustained cuts to services  have significantly impacted communities’ capacity, cohesion, and resilience to agree on, and work collectively towards addressing, the needs of their residents and members.

These pressures are evident in increasing social isolation, poorer mental health, the loss of shared spaces to meet, and constant population churn as people move in search of housing. Together, these factors are eroding the expertise, energy, and strengths that exist within communities.

The Endorsement and Quality Standards Board (ESB) Historical Perspective

ESB draws on almost three decades of expertise in responding to changes in the education sector. This includes developing and endorsing quality programmes, working with a diverse range of awarding bodies to design qualifications, developing assessment materials, and contributing to higher education benchmarking. Collectively, this work has contributed to the creation of a national framework for community development learning based on the UK Community Development National Occupational Standards (CD-NOS).

Loss of the Community Development Learning Framework[1]

The community development learning framework no longer exists in the England context, and there are now very few opportunities for practitioners to develop their skills, knowledge, and practice and to have these formally recognised.

In response, ESB has created a broader and future-focused set of criteria that incorporates international community development standards, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and elements of the digital skills framework. This is being used as the foundation for developing new learning opportunities and for beginning to rebuild a learning framework that offers clear progression routes, with flexible entry and exit points to suit people’s needs and circumstances. ESB is seeking partners for this journey.

[1] See appendix 1

Proposal for Supporting Community Development Practitioners 

What Is Community Development?

Community Development is a long-established, internationally recognised way of working grounded in an academic discipline. It is underpinned by a clear set of values focused on tackling social injustice through engaging with communities and those resident there as equals.

Community development follows a circular process: beginning with communities identifying their own needs; collectively deciding how to address those needs; reflecting on both the process and achievements; and applying learning to the next stage of action. It is a demanding and challenging way of working that requires a range of skills and knowledge.

These are reflected in the England Standards Board Criteria for Quality Community Development Practice, which draw on occupational standards from the UK and internationally, as well as UN sustainability goals[1]. The criteria are intended for paid community development practitioners, activists, and those working in other specialist roles who use a community development approach.

The Role of Community Development Practitioners:

It is widely acknowledged that community development practitioners are skilled at engaging with parts of communities traditionally seen as hard to involve. They work alongside community members to explore, identify and determine what they would like to see changed and how this could be achieved through collective action. This process obviously has challenges including engaging in research and project work that directly responds to community needs and is delivered in partnership with people and organisations that communities know and trust.

Settings and Sectors Using Community Development Approaches:

Community development approaches are used across a wide range of settings, including health, housing, poverty reduction, food, the environment, climate change, and sustainability. They are applied by public bodies, private organisations, voluntary and community groups, and not-for-profit organisations operating in both secular and faith-based contexts.

Community Development as a Long-Term, Relationship-Based Process:

Community development is a long-term, values-driven process that delivers change through the building of effective, enduring and trusting relationships. It sits at the heart of many place-based funding programmes and community-led research initiatives, even when it is not explicitly named as such.

The Current Situation for the Community Development Workforce:

Community development  has been adversely affected by social and economic changes. The number of remaining paid community development practitioners is unknown, but many teams have been reduced, leaving lone workers in statutory bodies. Many practitioners in the voluntary and community sectors are reliant on precarious funding and have no access to training budgets. Activists and volunteers are increasingly expected to take on work that was previously paid.

Gaps in Training, Qualifications, and Infrastructure:

The England national framework for community development learning and qualifications no longer exists.[2] There are very few opportunities for workshops or courses at Levels 1–3, and the number of Community and Youth Work degree programmes continues to decline. Regional and England national infrastructure bodies that previously supported community development learning have disappeared, and the Youth Work apprenticeship does not embrace or include any community development content. There is substantial demand for community development training for young people.

Increasing Demand for Community Development Skills and Support:

At the same time, there is growing demand for support and training for people engaging with communities. This includes individuals new to community-focused roles, those redeployed into more community-facing posts, people required to engage communities in research or feasibility work, and residents who want to improve their local areas and develop skills and confidence.

During the last decade the Big Local programme, amongst other initiatives,  has highlighted the importance and success of involving those affected by challenges in the resolution to the issues affecting their communities.  The time now feels right for developing the interest, skills and knowledge, exemplified by the Big Local 150 local areas, into a nationally recognised qualifications framework.

More experienced practitioners also need opportunities to keep up to date with evolving practice and to respond to the increasingly complex challenges communities are facing. ESB is receiving a growing number of enquiries about what learning opportunities are available and how they can be accessed.

ESB’s Current Work and Response:

Alongside its endorsing work to ensure the quality of community development learning and qualification programmes, ESB has long offered a mentor-supported Recognition route to certification at Levels 1–6.[3]

Recognition Routes and Certification

Over recent years, ESB has developed a range of Recognition routes to meet different needs. These include Full Recognition for experienced practitioners, Baseline Recognition for those starting their community development journey (often activists), and project or real-time Recognition for individuals undertaking new work using a community development approach.

Recognition is based on reflective accounts of practice, supported by witness statements and verified evidence. These are compiled into a portfolio and assessed by a panel. Programmes are delivered in partnership with local and national organisations and are often supported by workshops that deepen knowledge in specific areas. ESB can also provide tailored mentor training and has previously delivered certificated mentoring and training-for-trainers programmes.

Pilot Activities and Emerging Innovative Approaches

More recently, ESB has piloted a range of approaches to meet the differing needs of organisations and individuals. These include developing bite-sized training materials and short courses; supporting trainers to deliver learning to activists, volunteers, and paid staff[4]; offering certification of both learning and practice where relevant; working with universities on programmes that bring together academic and community researchers; developing training for community-based researchers so they can be paid for their work; running monthly webinars open to all; and creating short videos that explain community development values and processes.[5]

Developing a New Community Development Learning Framework:

ESB aims to use the learning from these pilots and from ongoing discussions with practitioners and organisations. We are seeking partners to help create a learning framework that provides progression routes for all practitioners, with multiple entry and exit points and flexible options for learning, certification, qualifications, and recognition.

ESB’s Capacity and Limitations:

While ESB can provide infrastructure and certify reflective practice and learning against professional criteria, it is not an awarding body. ESB is a small organisation with access to significant expertise but limited resources.

We have begun discussions with organisations that employ staff wishing to develop their community development skills, with locally based groups seeking training and certification opportunities for volunteers, and with a potential awarding body considering the development of Level 2 and Level 3 community development qualifications. ESB also maintains strong links with higher education and the remaining relevant programmes.

Partnership Opportunities:

ESB welcomes discussions with organisations interested in working in partnership to unlock resources, co-design a new learning framework, and agree its constituent parts.

We also want to make the newly developed bite-sized training materials more widely available and to create additional modules that address other elements of the Criteria for Professional Practice.

ESB has been involved in a pilot research module bringing together academics and community researchers and is keen to share learning and explore further opportunities to build on this work.

We aim to run further webinar series to support continuing professional development (CPD), share good practice, and move towards developing a national online support network for community development practitioners.

We would also like to develop additional short videos on community development to support self-directed online learning and use within bite-sized training sessions, particularly given the limited England-specific resources currently available.

Quality Assurance and Training for Trainers

As part of developing a national framework for community development learning, ESB is committed to maintaining quality across all training and learning programmes. We would welcome discussions about developing accredited training-for-trainers programmes for those delivering community development learning at all levels.

Future Priorities and Next Steps

ESB is a small organisation transitioning from its original role of ensuring quality learning programmes to filling the gap left by the loss of England national community development bodies. We are now seeking to develop the infrastructure required to help create and deliver a national community development learning and qualifications framework. Achieving this will require partnership working to unlock resources and to maximise opportunities arising from current government initiatives around vocational training and skills development, which could make a significant difference in disadvantaged communities.

Contact Information

For informal discussions, please contact us here

[1] ESB criteria for professional  practice is on our web site https://www.endorsement.org.uk/index.php/endorsement-with-esb/esb-criteria

[2] See appendix one

[3] Recognition – bespoke programmes designed for organisations and individuals, based on reflective practice; details on our web site https://www.endorsement.org.uk/index.php/recognition

[4] Topics so far are on the basics of community development – to understand CD and its value base; how to engage with communities; working with groups and collectively; managing conflicts in communities; organising events and activities; environmental action. Others such as community led research and evaluation are in the process of being created and there has been requests for sessions on partnership working and organisational skills.

[5] The current programme list is available on https://www.endorsement.org.uk/