Community economic development

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Community Economic Development (CED) is action taken locally by a community to provide economic opportunities and improve social conditions in a sustainable way. Often CED initiatives aim to improve the lot of those who are disadvantaged. An aspect of “localizing economics,” CED is a community-centred process that blends social and economic development to foster the economic, social, ecological and cultural well-being of communities. It may form part of an ESCED initiative.

Community ecomomic development is an alternative to conventional economic development. Its central tenet is that: “... problems facing communities—unemployment, poverty, job loss, environmental degradation and loss of community control—need to be addressed in a holistic and participatory way.”

Community Economic Development is often involved in a process of building Social Enterprises. Sometimes called the Third Sector, a community enterprise is a partnership between government agencies, small to medium enterprises, large national or transnational corporations and the not-for-profit sector, and aims for social, economic and/or environmental outcomes that none of these agencies could achieve for and by themselves.

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