ICS Working Paper Nº1/2018

ICS W O R K I N G P A P E R S 2018 7 1.2 Examining the potential role of CBIs in wider socio-ecological change Having justified niche actors in general as crucial pieces in the socio-ecological transitions puzzle, this section inquires into how transition scholarship approaches the role of CBIs as a specific niche actor. Therefore, we first delimit the concept of “community-based” and then then critically examine how CBIs and their external societal context intertwine. The term community-based has a wide range of interpretations (McLeroy et al., 2003). A community is not a static, isolated group of people, rather a set of multidimensional, cross-scale, social-political units or networks (Carlsson, 2000). As communities are elusive and constantly changing over time (Berkes, 2004), it is fundamental to map the wide range of meanings and conceptualizations that the community-based prefix entails. To do so, we build on McLeroy et al.’s (2003) typology. In short, these authors outline a four tier classification where community can be understood as: a setting; a target; a resource, or an agent. ● As a setting , community is mainly understood as a geographical space that includes community institutions (e.g. schools, neighbourhoods, etc.), the physical setting where development interventions are implemented from the top down, and actors are perceived as a sum of community individuals. The formalisation and legalisation of informal housing hand in hand with public investments in community infrastructure (e.g. utilities, sanitary infrastructure etc.) could be an example for the latter. ● As a target , community represents a strategic focus of intervention, that addresses as an entity the whole community, or specific characteristics or groups within it. Target-based interventions are usually articulated with indicators and benchmarking practices (e.g. recycling, health or social well-being targets). ● As a resource , community translates into the providing of internal ‘capital’ such as knowledge, traditions or practices, which are valued and integrated in strategic common-ownership, participatory and local decision-making processes that are steered from outside the community (e.g. community-based nature conservation under national policy development programs). ● As an agent , community is defined as the inherent force underpinning adaptive, supportive and developmental capacities mobilized via community institutions (e.g. families, informal networks etc.) in order to provide solutions to current community needs ( e.g.community food distribution; neighbourhood homecare support ). The latter two interpretations, community as a resource and as an agent have had, over the last decades, a clear impact in terms of public policy design and implementation. The most widely used denomination seems to have become community-based development. However, a growing emphasis on community empowerment and agency, actively engaging its key stakeholders in policy co-design, resources co- management and projects co-implementation, has shifted the partnership and participation landscape, leading to a growing number of community-led, or community-driven development initiatives. These