DOI

Summary
This study is concerned with the proposal of framework components in the development of a sustainable community. The processes of researching and proposing the framework components are derived from reviewing literature. One of the tasks is to address the absence of culture in most attention to provide a framework for development in Africa. Oloyede introduces the article by providing a review of the sustainability movement across the globe, making reference to the Brundtland report, the Earth Rio Summit and the United Nations Framework Convention on Sustainable Development. The author makes the observation that ‘sustainability’ is referred to the economy and environment more so to the community or societal aspect in the literature. He draws the reader’s attention to the rural context of sustainable community development and then mentions the notion of culture and its absence in the existing frameworks. The characterisation of rural areas has been an important aspect in the development of sustainable community frameworks. Oloyede goes further into the literature of “The idea of a Community” and “Sustainability and Sustainable Communities”. Here, he makes the case for the upcoming framework proposals through the review of literature.

The suggested components of a framework for the development of sustainable communities includes (taken from table 1.)




Cultural

- Indigenous ways of knowing

- Shared social universe of individuals with strong community root

- Cultural bonds of shared commitments, identity and belief (these generate stable interaction, reduce uncertainty, enable resources to be mobilized, encourage learning and permit the development of long-term vision)




Ecological




- Prevention of land degradation soil preservation through the harnessing of local and scientific knowledge for the prevention of soil health and fertility ; crop rotation based on indigenous ways of doing it ; management of organic matter ; soil acidification or pollution ; minimization of erosion 0

- Maintain the ecosystem (encouraging and supporting indigenous ways of maintaining the eco-system

- Protecting biological diversity (of indigenous species)




Economic

- Poverty reduction (livelihood opportunities-rural economy, reduction of landlessness, food security, productivity)

- Security of land tenure (investments in land-productivity)

- Access to resources [capital : credit availability] (Rural inhabitants access to credit for long-term investments and conservation of natural resources)

- Rural economy (diversification of farm operations and livelihood strategies)

- Market information (information on markets ; access to markets)

Socio-political




- Facilitate learning and knowledge sharing (exchange in the community, e.g. farmer-to farmer ; participatory experimentation; technical assistance)

- Indigenous knowledge promotion (promotion of indigenous ways of knowing)

- Resource mobilization (support and assist communities in mobilizing local resources in material, human, political and cultural toward building a sustainable community) 

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
This study is relevant the community development topic with good reference to sustainability in the community. As far as a teaching resource it does not off any specific learning activities but rather acts an example for the relevance of developing these frameworks for the continent of Africa. The standout component in this study is the reference to the lack of attention given to the cultural contexts of various African countries. The proposed framework allows for the inclusion of cultural needs, cultural bonds and networks, identities of belief and indigenous ‘ways of knowing’. This framework associates itself with the broader community with relation sustainability. The study and proposed framework may be useful as a teaching resource.

Point of Strength
The suggested framework for sustainable community development may be a useful reference for another similar study. What is unique here is the inclusion of the cultural context which would be highly applicable for the replication of this study in the context of other indigenous cultures or in “non-Western” countries.

The article is short making it potentially stronger as a teaching resource. However, it lacks visual aids to break up block text.