The Research and Evaluation Services Team of the Department of Internal Affairs conducted this literature review to inform and support its work with communities. The project looked at how we can better understand the dimensions of sustainability and how sustainability can be cultivated and supported within community organisations by public sector agencies.
Although the literature spanning the topic of sustainability is very large, this review focused on sustainability in the context of community development. The key purpose has been to inform the Department in its stated intention of building strong sustainable communities, hapū and iwi. This review has not been peer reviewed and it is not an exhaustive traverse of the literature. The Department believes it is a fair, but modest, coverage of the literature representing approximately forty articles.
Within its modest intentions and constraints, this review is published with the intent of contributing to a wider understanding of how to progress sustainable community development.
The views within this document belong to the cited authors and are not necessarily the policies or views of the Department of Internal Affairs.