Community cohesion describes the ability of all communities to function and grow in harmony, rather than in conflict.
Aims
It aims to build communities where people feel confident that they belong and are comfortable mixing and interacting with one another, particularly with people from different ethnic backgrounds or people of a different faith.
Building cohesion within and between communities is an essential step towards improving people’s quality of life. Viewed from outside, a cohesive community is one in which people will want to live and invest.
Indicators
Key indicators of community cohesion relate to how people feel about their local area.
It can therefore be used as a measure of how well different minority and majority communities develop and relate to each other.
Communities may define themselves by neighbourhood, ethnicity ,culture, age group, faith, sexual orientation, language, gender or interests.
Integration
The process of integration is about helping positive relationships to develop between different groups, towards a shared understanding and common values.
Integration is important because of the pace of change in our communities – particularly in relation to demographic change.
Where there is no integration negative myth and rumour can dominate.