Newsletters
Inspiring Communities Newsletter 22 - April 2011 |
In this Newsletter you’ll find…Inspiring Communities and Core Learning Cluster News: Your views needed in the post Neighbours Day 2011 Survey; IC at Philanthropy through the Looking Glass Conference; Opotiki’s aquaculture development highlighted on international the stage at Commonwealth Local Government Forum; change of date for Victory Village Forum, now 27 – 29 July. Community-Led and Community Driven: Inspiring Stories and Project ReGeneration are touring NZ inspiring young community contributors and catching them on film, including Murihiku Young Parents Learning Centre in Southland; We look at the increasing interest from New Zealand’s business sector in engaging with community; Day one of the 2011 NZ Community Economic Development Conference. Learning Links: Some Canadian examples of business and community connecting and collaborating. News You Can Use: Tips from What We Are Learning: Working together in place; The Sir Peter Blake Trust calls on communities to showcase themselves during Leadership Week 2011 (first week of July). Events: A free seminar in Wellington on Tools for Inclusive Engagement; Victory Village Forum in July; Tamarack’s Communities Collaborating conference in Canada, October.
EditorialKia ora tatou What is community? Inspiring Communities’ definition is all those who live, work, play, learn and invest in a place. We are seeing growing recognition that many sectors are involved in and important to a local community, and therefore have a role in its development. This is seen both in the resurgence of interest in and profile of neighbourhood, with the success of the inaugural Neighbours Day Aotearoa last month, and through increased importance being placed on community engagement from, and with, the business sector. As we write, the Community Economic Development conference is in full swing in Auckland, and no doubt all present are enjoying hearing about new ideas progress from presenters on Social Enterprise, Social Finance, local Place Making and CED and more. The speakers at this second annual conference represent organisations as wide ranging as the Swanson railway Station (speaking on Community owned Assets) and Westpac (speaking on Social Responsibility and Social Enterprise). We are seeing positive signs for the future of business and community engagement. It was encouraging to see representatives from the business sector among our audience when Inspiring Communities, along with representatives from our Learning Cluster communities in Opotiki and Taita, presented at the Philanthropy NZ conference this month. Many commented that the conference’s theme of Philanthropy through the Looking Glass was so apt for the time, and for the stories shared (see below). Our next big opportunity to learn from an inspiring community is Victory Village Forum, now being held 27 – 29 July 2011. Register your interest at the Victory Village Forum website, and note the change in date. We are so looking forward to this and hope many will join us to hear and learn about family-centred, community led development. It’s often said the one thing we can be certain of is change and that is certainly our experience in watching and supporting the expanding community-led development landscape in NZ since 2008. As an organisation Inspiring Communities is itself entering a time of transition with the recent exciting addition of several new board members, and some key team members moving roles and transplanting into new communities. We’ll make space to share full details on this in next month’s newsletter. Meanwhile the IC team is as busy as ever and with a reinvigorated focus on growing the recognition, understanding and practice of community-led development and the difference it makes in Aotearoa New Zealand. We hope this newsletter finds you well and brings you some inspiration for your role with local communities. Be well Mary-Jane Rivers and Leigh Strange
You can download this Newsletter and previous issues as PDF from our website.
INSPIRING COMMUNITIES & CORE LEARNING CLUSTER NEWS
Neighbours Day Aotearoa 2011 – celebrating and evaluating It has been so inspiring to hear the stories that are still flowing in about neighbourly fun and connections made during Neighbours Day Aotearoa 2011 (spread over two weekends thanks to weather). We've received dozens of examples of neighbours sharing fun, respect, manaakitanga, hospitality and kindness. See many of them on the Neighbours Day website under Kiwi Stories and also at facebook.com/neighboursday. However we’re still asking for help – well opinions actually: Can you set aside a few minutes to give your feedback on the 2011 experience? Even if you didn’t take part, please click here to start the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NDA2011. We'd appreciate as many responses as possible by 30 April. We are keen to learn how Neighbours Day Aotearoa can be even better in 2012 (mark 24- 25 March 2012 in your calendar!) Read more on our Community News page and at the Neighbours Day Aotearoa site.
Inspiring Communities at Philanthropy through the Looking Glass Conference In 2009 when the newly formed Inspiring Communities ran a workshop at the Philanthropy NZ Conference the key questions people asked were why take this approach, what does community-led development mean, and why does it matter? At the April 2011 PNZ Conference the discussion had moved from ‘why?’ to ‘how?’ How can we do community-led development effectively, what does it mean in terms of local leadership approaches, how can we work together better and what does it mean for funders? Powerful stories of cross-sectoral collaboration and community leadership in Opotiki and Taita were shared, along with some useful theoretical frameworks. There was keen participation in the discussion and reflections that followed. Read more at the website A DVD of the session is available at no charge: email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Opotiki’s aquaculture development highlighted on international stage On 16 March, Local Government NZ President Lawrence Yule addressed the Commonwealth Local Government Forum conference. His speech was titled The Role Of Local Government In Energising Local Economies. Mayor Yule (of Hastings District Council) discussed some of the challenges facing local government in supporting local economic development, and outlined LGNZ’s five-point framework for the sector. Highlighted as one of two examples of innovative and successful approaches by local government was Opotiki’s aquaculture development. Excerpts from the speech are on our website and the full speech can be viewed at the LGNZ website http://www.lgnz.co.nz/news/pr1300654410.pdf. Victory Village Forum date change – now 27 – 29 July 2011 In case you have not already heard, there is still an opportunity to participate in the conference at this later date. We are excited about this first national forum focused on family-centred, community-led development, centred on the learnings of Victory Village Nelson, New Zealand’s first Community of the Year (2010) and a source of many inspiring stories of local leadership, planning together for success and seeing tangible progress. For full details and registration see http://www.confer.co.nz/victoryforum/
COMMUNITY LED COMMUNITY DRIVEN
Inspiring Stories Trust (‘no relation’ but great connection!) and Project ReGeneration: Capturing New Zealand’s Most Inspiring Stories Inspiring Stories is a new, innovative New Zealand initiative created to support young Kiwis to harness the power of storytelling through filmmaking and creative digital media for a better world. Together with Regeneration Trust (a national network of young New Zealanders working to create positive change in their schools, workplaces, and communities) they have embarked on a nationwide road trip hosting workshops for young New Zealanders in every region. Through two-day intensive workshops, young filmmakers and change makers will team up with industry professionals to produce short films. In Southland the Road Trip has already visited the Murihiku Young Parents Learning Centre, (which IC board member Alison Broad and others worked hard to see opened earlier this year). Watch the video at: http://www.regeneration.org.nz/in_your_region/southland Read more on: the Inspiring Stories Trust website and Project Regeneration website
Community engagement – look which sector wants to get closer Can business and community both do better together? Would you be surprised to see a major retail bank presenting on Community Enterprise at the NZ Community Economic Development conference this week? Many businesses have an interest in mutually beneficial connections with community. Overseas Tamarack, an Institute for Community Engagement in Canada, has many examples of business working with community and wanting to better understand how to contribute to community. Back here, in February a major report was released by the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development which discussed how business can play a greater role in setting priorities for New Zealand’s social investment spending. The NZBCSD, which includes some of NZ’s largest businesses, says business’ involvement in the community “can be significantly leveraged to help deliver a more prosperous society”. To read more, including links to the NZBCSD report, Canadian case studies and to find out which bank is represented at the CED conference, see the full item on our website. Reflections from day one of 2011 NZ Community Economic Development Conference Trusts Stadium, Waitakere City (18 – 20 April 2011). With a room brimming with enthusiasm and experience, delegates on Day One of the 2011 Community Economic Development conference in Waitakere, Auckland were treated to speakers from a range of backgrounds and situations. All shared their lived experience of community economic development. Acknowledging the challenging contexts of our times, a key theme from the beginning of the day was that community is the centre and heart of life in 2011 and economic development is a critical aspect of a healthy community… Read more on our website.
LEARNING LINKS
Learning from Canada about business-community engagement Thanks to Tamarack again for being a source of useful and inspiring material to support our learning about community-led development. This selection of links highlights some Canadian examples of business and community connecting and collaborating:
NEWS YOU CAN USEWhat we are learning about working together in place Extract from What we are learning about community-led development in Aotearoa New Zealand Making long term, really transformational change within communities requires multiple stakeholders working together with local communities to build shared visions, grow capacity and capability, inspire new energy and develop new structures, cultures and processes to sustain the long term change journey ahead. It’s a big task and not everything will happen at once.
Key lessons:
To read more, download What We Are Learning free from our website.
Showcase your community during leadership week 2011 Sir Peter Blake once said, "Having vision is not enough. Change comes through realising the vision and turning it into a reality. It is easy to espouse worthy goals, values and policies; the hard part is implementation." In the first week of July 2011 communities, businesses and organisations up and down the country will be celebrating Leadership Week activities and Red Socks Day in a myriad of different and special events. Leadership Week will be ultimately successful if every organisation and community participates in some way. Read more: See our website for an article kindly supplied by Siobhan O’Kane of the Sir Peter Blake Trust, and for more information about Leadership Week including ideas on how to get involved, visit http://www.sirpeterblaketrust.org/leadership/leadershipweek/
EVENTS6 May: Free seminar: Tools for inclusive Engagement (Wellington) Community organisations, government agencies and interested individuals are invited to attend this free seminar. An opportunity to hear about, and discuss, ways of creating inclusive engagement including digital storytelling, accessible meetings and “easy read” information. When: Friday 6 May, 1 – 4 pm Where: Ministry of Social Development auditorium, Level 3, Bowen State Building, Bowen St, Wellington. RSVP: Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information or to register
27-29 July 2011: Victory Village Forum (Nelson) All are welcome to join in celebrating the Victory community's growth and change and engage in lively discussion about how they created a more vibrant community. This is a chance to learn from cutting edge examples of community-led development in Victory and across Aotearoa New Zealand. The Victory Village Forum (http://www.confer.co.nz/victoryforum/) is brought to you by Victory Village in partnership with the Families Commission and Inspiring Communities.
October 2011: Communities Collaborating Institute: Leadership that Transforms Communities. (Calgary, Canada) Tamarack’s signature week-long learning event is being hosted in Calgary, Alberta from October 3 - 7, 2011. The event has been designed to provide you with the inspiration, information and tools you need to offer the leadership required to connect, engage and mobilize citizens to generate a shared vision and action plan for change. Throughout the event, we will also have the opportunity to learn from, and work with, renowned and respected authorities on collaboration from across North America.” See the Tamarack website for full details and registration http://tamarackcommunity.ca/cci.html
To find out more about Inspiring Communities, our approach to learning, our framework for Community-Led Development, and more, visit www.inspiringcommunities.org.nz.
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