Community Innovation through working together

A focus for Inspiring Communities in March

March 2009 was a busy month for Inspiring Communities. Mary-Jane Rivers said "we worked with many others to provide oportunities for place-based, community-led development to be explored". Mark Cabaj from Canada's Tamarack and Vibrant Communities was a highlight.

"We were absolutely thrilled that Philanthropy NZ invited Mark to be an international presenter at the 2009 Conference; which was an outstanding Conference."

Mark combined his Canadian experience with his knowledge of New Zealand from previous work here. He participated in the Philanthropy NZ Conference, a Cross-Parliamentary breakfast, an Auckland workshop on Community-Led Development and a joint Inspiring Communities/IPANZ (Institute of Public Administration) seminar featuring Opotiki economic developments.

Mark presented to the whole Conference of about 300 people. He then participated in a very well received 3 hour workshop, introduced by Mary-Jane, with NZ presenters - Alfred Ngaro, Megan Courtney and John Prendergast. We feature a report from this workshop below. Download a full report from the Philanthropy NZ Conference. Look on the Philanthropy NZ website for more information about the conference and thoughful reading about grantmaking.

How do we release local resources, energy and ideas to fix local problems, and engage communities as participants, rather than clients?

That was the question posed in a dynamic concurrent session on Day Two of the Philanthropy New Zealand Conference, Stronger together to accelerate Impact - Philanthropy, Innovation, Communities and Social change.

Mark Cabaj, Principal of the Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement and Director for Vibrant Communities, both in Canada, said a new generation of effort was occurring focused on "place rather than projects or issues" and was proving to be far more effective in driving long-term solutions.

Community-led approaches to solving economic and social problems were not new but there was a broadening acceptance that greater collaboration was vital to address issues.

Mark said there was a growing realisation that no one player could achieve the same objectives independently, even though collaboration and working across traditional barriers was "brutally hard work" for the various sectors involved (governments, social services, business, labour, educational institutions and anti-poverty groups).

"Faster alone, but further together," he said, noting that collaboration draws on each party's experiences, skills, expertise and networks, while at the same time breaking down bureaucratic barriers and creating opportunities to respond more quickly to ch allenges and opportunities.

Massey Matters - Our Place, Our People, Our Future

Megan Courtney, who started working with Inspiring Communities in March 2009, talked about Massey Matters - a sustainable development project where the Council is working alongside the local community and other partners to develop long-term, sustainable neighbourhood renewal and development in the Massey area

Massey is a sprawling residential area within Waitakere with a motorway running through the middle of it and a population of 25,000 - around four times the size of most Waitakere suburbs. Megan said problems had started to emerge such as social isolation, a transient school population and growing perceptions of a widening gap between ‘the haves' and ‘have nots'.

On the other side of the road a major new growth area will be developed where 20,000 new people will move during the next 15 years. Megan says Massey was not well planned with no real town centre, a poor public transport system and few community facilities. "There are lower rates of community partic ipation and neighbours just don't know each other like they once did. It isn't helped by a large number of families having to travel two hours each way to work at low-paid jobs - they really are time poor and do not have the same time to spend in the community."

Before the Massey Matters project got started researchers talked to people in the community to assess the issues. The research showed there was strong support for a Massey project. The locals saw the project as an opportunity to develop a stronger Massey identity, increase community connectedness and positive vibes, have more Massey-owned events and activities, more community-owned spaces and places, and to take the best from the past and develop a new future for Massey.

Megan said the partnering approach has been organic from the beginning "as you can't always pre-determine the projects and paths that will lead you to your outcomes".

But given the long time commitment required for successful partnering, it was also important to get some quick runs on the board so the community and the council can start to see things happening. People can then get a sense of success and the benefits of working together for the long haul. Massey Matters became an umbrella brand - a discussion and coordinating vehicle - for a range of collaborative activities and projects.

A quarterly community forum was established to support Massey Matters at the start and involved about 30 regulars. The forum was not set up as a decision making body but rather an opportunity to get engagement and action at a community level.

Another core part of the project has seen the establishment of a $25,000 Massey Matters Fund. This is a new local grants pool to support community-led projects that contribute to the Massey Matters goals.

And the successes have been many and varied. Stars Night is an alternative to Halloween party with the aim of bringing people together and creating greater community connection. Three years ago the event had 250 people and was organised by one church, last year there were 1500 people and four churches working together.

In 2007, Massey Matters funded a Street BBQ for more than 150 residents led by youth workers from one of the local Baptist Churches. In 2008, the street organised its own party and in 2009 project funding is going on a neighbourhood garden. They don't need help to do street BBQs any more.

The project has also initiated a regular newsletter about what's going on in Massey to fill the information gap. This has been delivered to 8,000 households under the Massey Matters rather than the council's brand.

Megan says other agencies and community people are coming on board as momentum grows.

She says partnering is about sharing a vision and working together towards common goals - it's not about having a contract, setting performance targets and demanding thers meet those targets. A partnering approach requires a change in attitude and behaviours at all levels.

For Us, By Us: Ora'anga Kopapa Matutu -
A Tamaki Auckland, Cook Island Maori Community-Led Development Initiative

Alfred Ngaro, from New Zealand's Inspiring Communities Exchange discussed a community based health promotion initiative in Tamaki, Auckland, as a further example of a collaborative, community-based approach where the local community has been in the drivers seat - involved in the development every step of the way.

The Auckland District Health Board (ADHB) introduced Healthy Village Action Zone as a three-year primary health initiative in 2006. They planned to use the main meeting place in a Pacific village, the local church, to engage Pacific peoples in health promotion.

Alfred Ngaro and other leaders of the Tamaki Church in Panmure were enthusiastic about a project based on empowering community development. But they were unhappy that the project was based on notions of deprivation and deficit. Previous service delivery strategies targeted on 'high need' communities had cast a shadow over the neighbourhood. Experience had shown them that a deficit-based approach undermined community confidence.

Instead the leaders saw an opportunity for collaboration between local residents, Pacific Churches, physical fitness services, the ADHB and Primary Health Organisations. Alfred said, "The key was to draw on community wisdom, knowledge and enthusiasm and let the people take leadership."

Three Pacific Churches in Glen Innes worked together to develop a health promotion initiative. Community discussions began and communities came up with their key health concerns and designed the programme. Times were set to fit in with the busy needs of diverse families. Funding was sorted out. The initiative was given a meaningful Cook Island Maori name - not an English name translated. Eight months later 500 people participated in a launch at which the Minister of Health and officials were the invited guests of the community. Community members shared a meal and their stories. It was a deeply moving occasion.

Alfred Ngaro says Ora'anga Kopapa Matutu illustrates "core elements of community-led development in action". Parties focused on generating "concrete outcomes" through a focus on tangible results. Aerobics classes were led by a 68-year-old mama from the community. The classes were linked with healthy eating, weight loss, fitness and raining for life skills and employment. Doctors from the community joined in to provide health advice and tests. A family trip to the Cook Islands was donated as a prize decided on weight loss, family participation and sustained attendance. Get the video.

Alfred says the intangible benefits of community pride and ownership of health issues by the people are as important as the measurable results.

Community Trust of Southland

John Prendergast, Philanthropy New Zealand Chair and Chief Executive of the Community Trust of Southland , discussed what a community-based approach meant for a grantmaker.

He said for the Southland Trust it has been a move away from "simple grantmaking" - those projects you
could see and were safe to fund.

We were ending up with some really silly requests just because the money was there and it was becoming so obvious that it was time to put more focus on complicated or complex issues."

After a trip to visit Canada's Vibrant Communities, and discussions with New Zealand's own nationwide network of communities engaging in collaborative community-led development, the Southland Trust board began the steps towards focusing on neighbourhoods, suburbs, and towns, rather than just a single issue.

John said the process involved all sectors of the community in identifying the issues, and the solutions, including residents, local government, central government, funders, business, voluntary sector, media, and Maori.

There was recognition that it would take time, commitment and trust.

"It requires the funder to be prepared to ‘let go' and for everyone to leave their egos at the door because it's important to even out the power imbalance that can often exist between the grantee and grantmaker"

There was also a recognition that the process was far more time and resource intensive. But the benefits were significant, not least because a holistic community-based approach was much more likely to be successful and sustainable than the type of funding that is usually disconnected, individual projects.