19 May 2010

Hello Community Economic Development supporter,

It is now three months since the successful Community Economic Development (CED) Conference that was held in Waitakere - and the ripples are still flowing out into our communities around the country.

Post conference feedback was overwhelmingly positive with many reports of inspired activity at the grass resulting from inspiration gleaned at the conference.

The week following the conference Lindsay Jeffs and I accompanied Aidan Pia (from Senscot)  and Annemarie Naylor (from the Asset Transfer Unit of the Development Trust Association in the UK)  to Wellington to spread the word. We met with a range of community leaders, government officers and politicians. The NZFVWO supported the conference by hosted an event that attracted around 50 people attended and also arranged an interview of our overseas guests on Collaborative Voices. This whirlwind couple of days was a wonderful opportunity to soak Aidan and Annemarie's wisdom around social enterprise development and asset transfer. As they told their stories at our many appointments a snappy mantra emerged: "Community enterprise for viability: community asset ownership for sustainability".

Conference presentations are available on the conference website (provide link) and a conference DVD has been produced by UNITEC students that will be available online shortly along with the filmed plenaries. Since the conference, Lindsay Jeffs and I have written a joint article for the NZFVWO New Dialogue newsletter ( link) and I have this month written a piece about asset transfer for the Inspiring Communities newsletter.

The results from the from the conference participants survey have been analysed and the report is attached. A key outcome was that 88% of delegates are interested in being a part of a social enterprise network with preferred functions being coordination, communication, mentoring and peer support.

On the back of this response, Community Waitakere has acquired seed funding from the ASB Trust to initiate a social enterprise networking initiative, with support and advice from leading social entrepreneurs. We are in the process of shaping up this initiative and establishing an advisory group with representation from across NZ to debate the way forward. The working name for this initiative is the CED Network, but this may change as it develops. Branding issues aside, the aim is to create an "Ecosystem" that enables the sharing of stories from social entrepreneurs, social enterprises, peer support, pointers to information/ resources, disseminate regular bulletins, raise awareness and support development of this emergent sector. Initially web based it is intended that the network will develop over time to include a national, regional and local focus. A key theme emerging to date is to develop a Business Plan with a strong financial sustainability focus - so that we are walking the talk of moving beyond grant dependence. No small challenge then!

Setting a date for a follow up conference within the next 18 months is a priority. So watch this space. The development of local networks that feed back information to the national network for sharing and cross fertilisation of ideas, challenges and inspiration is also intended.
Brief Sector News
Lindsay Jeffs has initiated a Social Enterprise School in Christchurch with a view to rolling it out to other parts of New Zealand over time. If you are interested in knowing more about the Social Enterprise School, contact Lindsay Jeffs at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Justine Munro from the NZ Centre for Social Innovation is continuing to develop a School for Social Entrepreneurs based on the UK model.

The NZFVWO are developing a focus on social enterprise approach and are currently advertising a community enterprise position.

The yMedia challenge is moving along in Auckland. A group of young social entrepreneurs are behind this creative initiative that supports community organisations by bringing them together with digital media students and communications industry specialists to plan and implement a project.

Please let me know what is happening in your neck of the woods so as I can include news from around the country in future email bulletins. And please feel free to pass this bulletin on to relevant folk in your networks.

In the meantime, wishing you the very best with your enterprising adventures...

Warm Regards,

Di Jennings

for Community Waitakere This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it