Learning and Community Approaches for Promoting Well-Being

Abstract

Preface: This volume began when a group of scholars, the Community Well-being Research Network, convened in 2012 at Seoul National University. With representatives from throughout Asia, Europe, and the US, ideas began to coalesce around community well-being as applied to local governments and learning in communities. This collection of chapters represents the outgrowth of the convening, along with another volume in the Springer Briefs series, Community Well-being and Community Development: Conceptions and Applications, edited by Seung Jong Lee, Yunji Kim, and Rhonda Phillips. It is our intent to spur interest in community well-being with both conceptual and applied work. The first two chapters present around the idea of governance—that is, active and participatory approaches by local government including meaningful participation by residents and other stakeholders progressing towards desired outcomes. The idea of governance versus government has become quite popular of late, due to the appeal of having more transparent and effective decision-making within local governments. Further, the notion of including people in the process of governance can build community capital as well as increase likelihood of achieving outcomes for enhancing community well-being. Youngwha Kee, Yunji Kim, and Rhonda Phillips, the editors of this volume, present concepts in “Modeling Community Well-Being: A Multi-dimensional Approach”. Beginning with concepts and definitions that range across related terms, the authors present underlying assumptions influencing development of a model for defining community well-being. Discussion of differences between individual and collective well-being drive the basis of the model. This chapter is presented in the context of local government, with considerations for incorporating community well-being goals into governance for achieving desirable outcomes. Youngwha Kee and Okchae Joo present intriguing ideas about communities of practice in “Community Learning and Self-generated Communities of Practice: The Case of Jangheung School”. The authors explore public policy approaches to development guided by resident participation. Considerations and implications for communities of practice are presented, along with stages of development and activities for community learning. Wen Juan Lu and Longgen Chen present an applied case study with “Promoting Community Integration of New Migrant Workers in China”. This chapter focuses on tying the concept of community well-being, which is relatively new to Chinese scholars and policymakers, to facilitating new migrant workers into society. Issues around migrant workers include how to transition rural worker skills to other settings successfully, how to facilitate new migrant workers’ integration into cities effectively, how to guarantee their equal civil rights and privileges, and how to promote their survival ability and employability in cities. These and related issues demand attention and the context of community well-being provides the platform for governance approaches. This volume concludes with “Community Well-Being Through Intergenerational Cooperation” by Ann-Kristin Boström, Seung Jong Lee, and Youngwha Kee. The authors point out that the population of the world has grown old while the generation gap between younger people and older people has widened in industrialized countries. Intergenerational initiatives and projects have been developed in various industrial countries in order for younger and older people to meet more frequently than is often otherwise the case. These models of intergenerational learning hold much promise for enhancing community well-being and encouraging learning in communities while at the same time addressing social issues related to aging. This chapter presents an applied project from Sweden, the Granddad Project, that partners elders with elementary schools. We sincerely hope that you will find this volume both useful and inspiring in your own work around the issues of governance and learning. Community well- being is quickly gaining ground as a basis or lens through which to understand and explore ideas, models, programs, and policies for encouraging more desirable processes and outcomes in our communities worldwide. Youngwha Kee Yunji Kim Rhonda Phillips;