ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. Community development practitioners have long proposed that the place to start is on the ground, where poverty and disadvantage are directly experienced. It focuses on strengthening communities of people and their ability to act together to meet challenges and grasp opportunities. Community development is about equipping communities with the tools to create change. Development can be used to mean many different things: the development of industries, for instance, or the development of modern infrastructure; the development of human capacity or development of solutions to social problems. Building on this analysis, and describe how knowledge partnering provides a framework of ideas and a practical approach for working with local communities and development organizations to identify and address development issues from the ground up. There is growing interest in partnering with local communities to create development outcomes together.
