User:John D. Croft
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[edit] Current Occupation:
I am currently employed as a professional Community Development Consultant, employed as Senior Project Officer (Community Economic Development) by the Community Capacity Building Division of the Department of Local Government and Regional Development, and have been working in this field for the last fifteen years. My work with the department has been in the field of Community Economic Development, a field in which our branch has been recognised as one of the leading Australian agencies. In 1997, for instance, we were acknowledged as a finalist in the Western Australian government’s award for excellence in the delivery of government services to regional areas.
I am also co-founder of the Gaia Foundation of Western Australia, an organisation committed by its three principles to work in the areas of personal growth, building community and service to the Earth. Members of the Foundation undertake personal projects that meet these Foundation objectives. Started in 1987, the Foundation has conducted over 500 successful projects in Western Australia. We currently have 171 registered members members in Western Australia and are currently engaged in more than 50 projects.
I am also a Board Member of Sophia College, which provides training in community development, and a range of holistic counselling and Buddhist and artistic therapies. In addition I am currently an emeritus member of the Living Earth Solutions, an Eco Village Design Consultancy Cooperative, working with Max Lindegger, who was co-founder of the Global Eco-Village Network, and the Co-Designer of Crystal Waters Eco-Village, Queensland, which has just recently won a United Nations International Habitat Award for Sustainable Design. We are currently working on developing an EcoHamlet for the town of Collie, Western Australia.
[edit] Qualifications and Experience
[edit] Qualifications:
- B.A. (Geog) University of Western Australia 1970 (Biogeography and Human Planning) (offered Honours in 1969)
- Dip Ed (Best student UWA) 1974
- B.Ed (equiv) (Winner of Joseph Lauwerys Prize as best student) London University Institute of Education 1977
- Completed Ph.D. thesis on "The relationship between non formal (community) education and community development in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea" (London Uni & UWA) 1986
[edit] Experience:
I am currently engaged in supporting Community Economic Development (CED) aiming at economic resilience, social vitality, political capability and environmental enhancement, through providing traning, consultancy and support to individuals and groups working in this field. In this capacity I have been coordinator of a Small Town Economic Planning, giving grants to community based organisations in that state wishing to adopt CED based approaches. I recently was involved in producing a series of case studies on best practice for CED in Western Australia. I am currently working with Communities interested in Communitywise Auditing, giving local people an understanding of the development of social, economic and financial capital. I was also responsible for writing and publishing the internationally renowned LETSYSTEMS Training Pack, and has been involved in assisting over 30 LETSystems, as well as being involved as a key organiser and speeaker at conferences in Australia and New Zealand.
I have worked in the area of integrated rural and regional development, community development and community education in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Europe over the last 31 years. For 10 years I worked overseas. During this time I worked as a researcher for a British Ministery of Overseas Development Project in English Speaking Africa, at ILO in Geneva and UNESCO in Paris, with the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture (BP3K). From 1980-83 I worked as Non Formal (Community) Education Coordinator in a World Bank funded program in Papua New Guinea, where I was also employed by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs, advising the Papua New Guinean government on its 2nd Five Year Development Plan. I have a wide experience of rural areas in Western Australia, and has been involved in a number of projects including the establishment of Business Enterprise Centres, Telecentres, the Community Enterprise Development Association and the Australian Association for Sustainable Communities.
- I have been involved in community building and environmental activism both personally and professionally at different levels including
- teaching: previously at University of Western Australia, Edith Cowan University and Curtin University, and in a variety of formal and informal settings
- training and consultancy: for the Department of Community Services, the Department of State Development and for youth, womens', community building and environmental action programs in Australia and overseas.
- community building and environmental action practice with non-government organisations in association with a range of government and other agencies
- administration and management: having been involved as manager, director and chairman of a number of organisations in this field.
- consultancies with many other enterprises bodies and organisations (eg. Ministry for Planning, Department of Resource Development, Petroleum Industry Council etc)
In the period from 1983 to 1986 I was Executive Officer for the Australian Association for Sustainable Communities (AASC Western Australian Branch), working with 36 groups interested in that time with Eco-Village Development. During this time I had authored two books "Moving into the Country in Multiple Occupancy Communities" and "Rural Resettlement: Options and Issues". With Dr Patricia Sherwood of Edith Cowan University, I also worked on producing a video on Eco Village Multiple Occupancy Projects in WA, and produced quarterly newsletters for the AASC. In that time I worked closely with Mr Ian Glew for the preparation of a policy on Multiple Occupancy of Rural Land, passed by the State Planning Commission in May 1985 as Policy Paper No 15. During this time I also worked with Homeswest for the First Fremantle Housing Cooperative, and Boranup Community, the first legal Multiple Occupancy in Western Australia.
I have also been the co-producer of the Video "Sickness Country", looking at the plight of Aboriginal (and other) peoples produced by the Uranium Industry in Australia and have produced many TV broadcasts and training programs in Community Development.
I am a frequent keynote or guest speaker at numerous conferences and international symposia ranging from such groups as the International Transplant Nurses Association to the New Zealand Green Dollar Conference.
My current interests include approaches that integrate personal growth and empowerment, community building, community economics and environmental action within the new paradigm of "deep ecology" and have written and published widely in many fields.
