What does COMA mean in COMMUNITY

Community Ownership and Management of Assets (COMA) is an asset development approach designed to empower communities to take ownership and manage their own assets, such as land, natural resources, businesses, and other community services. COMA uses a participatory planning process to help build trust and collaboration among local stakeholders in order for the community to develop comprehensive, locally owned strategies that can improve local conditions.

The use of the COMA approach can benefit communities by helping them identify, prioritize, and implement their development goals more effectively. Through improved collaboration between stakeholders, greater opportunities can be identified and utilized to increase resource efficiency in the long-term. Ultimately, this approach can result in increased economic self-sufficiency for communities that have previously lacked access to sufficient resources or capital.

By utilizing the COMA approach, local communities are given a platform where they voice their opinions, concerns, needs, mistakes, successes and ambitions with regards to asset management. This contributes to healthy democratic participation at a local level which encourages better decision making within these communities. The collective decision making process also allows people from diverse backgrounds with different levels of experience/expertise to contribute.

While there is no specific sector that is best suited for using COMA since it’s an adaptable model applicable across many sectors such as agriculture/renewable energy/tourism etc...Typically it tends to work well in rural areas or deprived urban environments where traditional forms of asset management / investment may not always be possible due to lack of knowledge or financial capital.

A variety of entities typically take part in a Community Ownership and Management workshop including government representatives; elected officials; non-profit organizations; education institutions; religious leaders; business owners; community activists; public health professionals etc… All participants need careful consideration prior the start up process ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to contribute towards improving their respective environment & culture.

Local stakeholders play an important role when it comes down tackling problems affecting their respective environment or culture through the cooperative ownership model . They are actively engaged during meetings and workshops where strategies are discussed on how best collective resources could be used appropriately , which helps determine if any new entrepreneurial opportunities exist within their respective area.