Cohousing-L Mailing List: Community Development Society

[Debbie Behrens (debbeh]

To CoHo-l - FYI

Between the times of the two included messages below, I sent Al Boss 
some brief information about CoHousing.  I'm passing his messages on 
to the list in case anyone is interested in presenting/writing for CDS.

                            ~___~
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 |  Debbie Behrens                              debbeh [at] auto-trol.com |
 |  Highline Crossing CoHousing                      W (303)252-2215 |
 |   1611 W. Canal Ct Littleton CO 80120             Fx(303)252-2249 |
 |  Rocky Mountain Cohousing Assn                    H (303)797-7779 |
 +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |      All opinions expressed are mine, and do not necessarily      |
 |   reflect the opinions of Highline Crossing or RMCA in general.   |
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Hi Debbie.  You're right, CoHousing and CDS seem to have a lot in common. 
Would you (or anyone else you know) be interested in doing a presentation
on CoHousing at next year's conference (Athens, GA, July 26-31, 1997), or
contributing an article to our professional journal or our newsletter, or
anything else?  Affordable housing has always been of interest to CD-ers,
since it's an integral part of any community, but there's always room for
a new voice to either offer a new perspective or to just reinforce
existing beliefs.

I'd love to include a CoHousing WWW link on the CDS site, as well.  Is the
material at http://csf.colorado.edu/ yours?  Is the site at
http://www.cohousing.org/ the official site?

All these questions...  See what you get for getting my attention?
Best,  Al Boss,  Community Development Society

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Debbie Behrens wrote:

>         I'm intrigued.  What is the Community Development Society?
> Mission statement, goals, etc.

Dear Debbie:

A little intrigue is good for you.  I hope.  The CDS has a web site at
http://www.infoanalytic.com/cds that includes a lot of information about
the organization, and under the "CDS Resources" link, a lot of information
about on-line CD resources, and some information from our conference last
month, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  (Next year's is Athens,
Georgia.)

The CDS is a professional organization for people interested in what's
broadly defined as community development.  Members range from academics to
extension professionals to neighborhood organizers to planners to just
about anything else.  (Personally, the only CD efforts I'm involved in are
volunteer ones, though I seem to spend as much time on them as I do at
work.  I joined CDS as what we now call a "community of interest", to get
the opportunity to interact with people who shared certain values, goals,
and so forth.  Also, at the time I hated my job and wanted to have a
connection with a group of people doing something worthwhile and liking
it.)  At $50/year, it's a great investment.

In case you don't have web access, I'll include the CDS Vision Statement
and Principles of Good Practice below.  You can also get more information
by way of the Community Development Society Business Office
<75547.2561 [at] compuserve.com>

Please let me know if I can answer any other questions about CDS.

Best,

Al Boss

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CDS Vision:

Members of CDS believe community is a basic building block of society, and
that:

 *   community is complex and multi-dimensional 
 *   the human dimension, which is capable of growth and development, is
the most critical aspect of community 
 *   development of each community can be fostered through improvement of
individual, organizational, and problem-solving knowledge and skills 
 *   adherence to the CDS' Principles of Good Practice is essential to
sound community development 
 *   the Society must be proactive, providing leadership to professionals
and citizens across the spectrum of community development

A global community, those helping to develop and sustain communities must
understand a variety of complex and ever-changing systems. The profession
of community development integrates knowledge from many disciplines with
community development theory, research, teaching and practice; these
important and interdependent functions are vital in both the private and
public sectors.

The Community Development Society International provides leadership to
professionals and citizens across the spectrum of community development.

CDS Principles of Good Practice

  *  Promote active and representative citizen participation so that
community members can meaningfully influence decisions that affect their
lives. 
  *  Engage community members in problem diagnosis so that those affected
may adequately understand the causes of their situations. 
  *  Help community leaders understand the economic, social, political,
environmental, and psychological impact associated with alternative
solutions to the problem.
  *  Assist community members in designing and implementing a plan to
solve agreed-upon problems by emphasizing shared leadership and active
citizen participation in that process. 
  *  Disengage from any effort that is likely to adversely affect the
disadvantaged segments of a community. 
  *  Actively work to increase leadership capacity (skills, confidence,
and aspirations) in the community. 

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