As the four foundation principles were applied in community development
work they were expanded and refined to sixteen working principles.
HUMAN BEINGS CAN TRANSFORM THEIR WORLD
The web of our relationships with others and the natural world
which has given rise to the problems we face as a human family
can be changed.
DEVELOPMENT COMES FROM WITHIN
The process of human and community development unfolds from within
each person, relationship, family, organization, community, or
nation.
HEALING
Healing is a necessary part of development. Healing the past,
closing up old wounds and learning healthy habits of thought and
action to replace dysfunctional thinking and disruptive patterns
of human relations is a necessary part of the process of sustainable
development.
JUSTICE
Every person (regardless of gender, race, age, culture, religion)
must be accorded equal opportunity to participate in the process
of healing and development and to receive a fair share of the
benefits.
NO VISION. NO DEVELOPMENT
A vision of who we can become, and what a sustainable world would
be like, works as a powerful magnet, drawing us to our potential.
CULTURE IS CENTRAL
Authentic development is culturally based. Healing and development
must be rooted in the wisdom, knowledge and living processes of
the culture of the people.
INTERCONNECTEDNESS
Everything is connected to everything else. Therefore, any aspect
of our healing and development is related to all the others (personal,
social, cultural, political, economic, etc.). When we work on
any one part, the whole circle is affected.
THE HURT OF ONE IS THE HURT OF ALL;
THE HONOUR OF ONE IS THE HONOUR OF ALL
The basic fact of our oneness as a human family means that development
for some at the expense of well-being for others is not acceptable
or sustainable.
UNITY
Unity means oneness. Without unity, the common oneness that makes (seemingly)
separate human beings into "community" is impossible.
Disunity is the primary disease of community.
PARTICIPATION IS ESSENTIAL
Participation is the active engagement of the minds, hearts
and energy of the people in the process of their own healing and
development.
SPIRIT IS FUNDAMENTAL
Human beings are both material and spiritual in nature. It is
therefore inconceivable that human community could become whole
and sustainable without bringing our lives into balance with the
requirements of our spiritual nature.
MORALS AND ETHICS
Sustainable human and community development requires a moral foundation.
When morals decline and basic ethical principles are violated,
development stops.
LEARNING
Human beings are learning beings. We begin learning while we are
still in our mother's womb, and unless something happens to close
of our minds and paralyze our capacities, we keep on learning
throughout our entire lives.
SUSTAINABILITY
To sustain something means to enable it to continue for a long
time. Authentic development does not use up or undermine what
it needs to keep on going.
MOVE TO THE POSITIVE
Solving the critical problems in our lives and communities is
best approached by visualizing and moving into the positive alternative
that we wish to create, and by building on the strengths we already
have, rather than on giving away our energy fighting the negative.
BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE
The most powerful strategies for change always involve positive
role modeling and the creation of living examples of the solutions
we are proposing. By walking the path, we make the path visible.
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