Integral means "comprehensive, inclusive, balanced...not leaving anything out".

 

BC Healthy Communities has adopted an integral capacity building approach, one that addresses the whole person within the whole community.  An integral approach supports us to take a more comprehensive perspective of the many influences on community issues. A more comprehensive perspective helps us to better understand these issues and ultimately, use more appropriate methods and strategies to create positive change.

 

So, what makes an integral approach unique? It acknowledges that communities and individuals have exterior / objective components that are observable, measureable and tangible AND interior / subjective components that are invisible and intangible. It considers these dimensions of community life in an integrated way:

 

 

 

The Integral Capacity Building Framework and the Integral Map of Community work hand-in-hand, stressing the importance of paying attention to each of these dimensions.  With an integral approach, we can unify what is often a fragmented approach to community building -- making a bigger difference, a more sustainable difference.