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Community Development Journal 35:264-275 (2000)
© 2000 Community Development Journal and Oxford University Press

Article

The well-connected community: networking to the edge of chaos

Alison Gilchrist0

0 Community Development Foundation, Bristol

Complexity theory provides new insights into the behaviour and emergent properties of social systems. The experience of community is both an outcome and the context of informal networking. A well-connected community is achieved when people feel part of a web of diverse and inter-locking relationships. These networks sustain and shape an integrated and dynamic social and organizational environment representing life at the edge of chaos. It supports the familiar patterns of interaction and collective organization that characterize the voluntary and community sectors. Community development involves creating and managing opportunities for connection and communication across sectoral, identity and geographical boundaries. This is termed meta-networking and is a core function of the professional role.


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