Glossary of Terms

(Extract from “A Charter for Rural Communities – The Final Report of the Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development” June 2007)

Animateur: people who organise the participation of local people in activities that help their community. Animateurs are recruited from the local community and can receive fees and training for a fixed time period
Assets: the assets and strengths of a community, ranging from buildings and land to social capital.
Asset mapping: An inventory or assessment of assets within a given community.
Asset based community development: the process of creating viable and sustainable communities building upon their assets
Community action planning: the identification of local priorities by rural communities themselves.
Community budgeting: the identification and co-ordination of spending by agencies in a defined geographical area.
Community development: the process of empowering local communities, (both geographical communities and communities of interest), which strengthens the capacity of people as active citizens through their community groups, organisations and networks; and the capacity of institutions and agencies (public, private and non-governmental) to work in dialogue with citizens
Community development worker: A professional trained in community development.
Community Development Finance Initiatives: Locally run financial intermediaries with community development as their primary mission. They provide a range of products such as loan funds and micro-enterprise funds.
Community Foundations: charitable bodies managing funds donated by individuals and organisations, building an endowment and acting as the vital link between donors and local needs.
Community Land Trust: a mechanism for the community ownership of land and buildings by the local community.
Community planning: A collaborative planning process between agencies working in a local authority area, generally co-ordinated by the local authority, which is required to engage public participation in the planning process. Community planning is embedded in statute in most parts of the UK and Ireland.
Co-production; where communities and service users are active participants in the planning and delivery of services.
Development Trust: not for profit organisations engaged in the economic, environmental and social regeneration of an area.
Digital divide: the gap between those with access to and capacity to use digital and information technology, and those without this access and capacity
Fiery Spirits: inspiring individuals who work hard for their communities.
Futures Scenario Planning; a method for understanding the nature and impact of the most uncertain and important driving forces affecting our future.
Indices of Deprivation: primarily socio-economic measures of poverty and disadvantage drawn from the census and other sources.
Industrial and Provident Society: an organisation conducting a business or trade, either as a co-operative or for the benefit of the community, registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965.
Intermediary Body: an umbrella organisation such as a Council for Voluntary Service or Rural Community Council that works to support voluntary and community organisations in a given area.
Low carbon economy: Moving to a way of life where we are less dependent upon oil, gas and coal production,
Market Town Partnership: representatives from the community and partners from public, private and third sector who prepare and implement a plan for the town and the surrounding area.
Participative planning; a method that enables people to create a plan for the most desirable future of their community - a plan they carry out themselves.
Place based education: where learning emphasises the geography, ecology, sociology of a particular place.
Precept: the power to raise money through taxation
Sector Skills Council: employer-led, independent organisations that cover a specific occupational sector. They exist to increase opportunities to boost the skills and productivity of the workforce.
Social capital: the stocks of social trust and networks that people can draw on to solve common problems.
Social entrepreneur: someone who works in an entrepreneurial manner, but for public or social benefit.
Social Inclusion: reducing inequalities between the least advantaged groups and communities and the rest of society by closing the opportunity gap and ensuring that support reaches those who need it most.
Social Investment Bank: an independent not for profit financial institution using the capital from dormant accounts to develop the social investment market.
Social enterprise: a business with primarily social objectives, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. Surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community
Third Sector: non-governmental, not-for-profit voluntary organisations.