Transformative Community Development: Learning from Freirean and humanist praxis in Nepal. This item is unavailable.Transformative Community Development: Learning from Freirean and humanist praxis in Nepal

This book shares the story and lessons learned of a long-term, people-centred community development practice in Nepal grounded in Freirean and humanist traditions. Drawing on over twenty-five years of work by the Nepali organisation Sahakarmi Samaj, it presents the Facilitation for Empowerment and Social Transformation (FEST) approach as a process-oriented alternative to dominant service-delivery and project-based development models. Through collaborative research by Nepali and Australian practitioner-scholars, the book explores how empowerment and social transformation are cultivated across interconnected levels of practice-from the formation of community-based facilitators and grassroots dialogue to collective organising, federation building, and policy influence. Combining lived practice stories, theory, and critical reflection, the book offers a grounded account of transformative community development in action, with relevance for practitioners, educators, researchers, and policy makers seeking people-centred approaches to social change.

Peter Westoby has been involved in community development practice for forty years, working as a grassroots practitioner, facilitator and scholar in diverse contexts such as Australia, PNG, the Philippines, Nepal, Vanuatu, India, South Africa, and Uganda.

Ammar Bahadur Air is a founding member of Sahakarmi Samaj and currently serves as the Executive Director, bringing 32 years of experience working closely with communities across Nepal. His journey began as a 19-year-old community educator with United Mission to Nepal in 1993, after completing his diploma in social work.

Rachael Donovan is a community development practitioner, trainer and researcher with over twenty years’ experience working across Australia and South Asia alongside grassroots organisations, government and nonprofits. She is a senior social practitioner and director with Community Praxis Co-operative, with a focus on lived experience, people-led approaches and the role of inner practice in shaping social and ecological change.

Amina Singh is an independent educator with academic interest in the field of educational research, community development, adult learning, and social transformation. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, and is now an adjunct faculty at Kathmandu University.