Community Praxis Co-op

Community Praxis Co-op exists to empower people and to resource and strengthen the capacities of groups and organisations in developing peaceful, just and sustainable communities.

The Co-op operates as an education, training and consultancy agency for individuals, neighbourhoods, non-government organisations, and government authorities.

The Co-op seeks to practice traditional co-operative principles, encouraging the development of acceptance and respect, spirituality and compassion, solidarity and participation, responsibility and competence in the individuals, neighbourhoods and organisations with whom we work.

As a result of our work all of us in Community Praxis Co-op hope to contribute to the reduction of exploitative competition; the expansion of productive collaboration; the celebration of the unique gifts of all people, especially those on the edge; and the equitable utilisation of our common resources.

Community Praxis Co-op Ltd provides a collaborative infrastructure that enables members, friends and colleagues to earn an income by forming self-managed teams for project, consultancy and training work. In effect, the co-op is a clearinghouse for work.

We design and facilitate processes that contribute to more peaceful, just and sustainable communities.

Co-op consultancy teams are usually made up of one or more co-op members, working with colleagues from our networks who are practitioners with particular expertise.

Our teams design and facilitate processes in response to invitations, project briefs and partnership opportunities - mainly from government and community sector organisations.

We bring together project teams...

We will consider any work for which we can bring together a team with appropriate skills and experience, in which there is an opportunity to contribute towards building more peaceful, just and sustainable communities.

The project teams bring to their work an ecological worldview - in which context, connectedness, interdependence and acknowledgment of on-going change is crucial.

... that value community...

The teams also bring a strong belief in the integrity of community. At the heart of our practice is the belief that healthy communities are not communities without problems, but rather are communities that have the capacity, resources, resilience and leadership to creatively engage with their own issues and the wider context.

And beyond that, we believe, soulful communities have developed ongoing processes which engage their issues as indicators of potential - with attention, awareness and imagination.

... in a self-managed enterprise that gives back.

The co-op is not-for-profit. All Co-op members and employees are casual or short-term project workers who are paid for the work that they do on a particular project. We budget a small 'ethical dividend' in each project, which we donate to support local community building initiatives in Australia and overseas. 

We also support one another's vocational learning in the context of a commitment to the tradition of community development as a practice discipline - providing space for ourselves and other practitioners to develop and share reflections on creating peaceful, just and sustainable communities.