Community Development - A European Challenge

In this book, international experts discuss community development its historical trends, its present state, its theoretical concepts, as well as its practical implementations in eight European countries Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Spain, and Sweden. These countries differ a lot with respect to their political, economic, and social culture; their vocational training; and their experiences in community development. Nevertheless, all countries face similar problems in their struggle against social exclusion of specific groups. Models, concepts, and methods of community development, which are based on community inclusion and empowerment, work well in many countries or they are in the process of development and adaptation. In this book, scholars and practitioners lead the way through their world of ideas and their wealth of experience in community development and, thus, support the European and worldwide network of community developers.