An update from David Hanna, Chair of Inspiring Communities Trust

Like all organisations that embrace a community-led approach there are various transition points to negotiate as we evolve and develop.  Inspiring Communities is currently negotiating one (of many) important transitions.  From a network of passionate, skilled community development practitioners, an organisation has grown to help foster and connect community-led development people and initiatives.

We are now focused on crafting an appropriate structure to equip this organisation to do its work for the next phase, while maintaining an affinity with the core movement that brought us all together – the real fun part of working in this space.

There have been some key ‘markers’ of this transition – a reconfigured board / guardian group, acknowledging (and releasing) the leadership of a key founder and leader Mary-Jane Rivers and the appointment of Ian Leader as our new National Manager  This is exciting stuff – and as we know excitement = risk and challenges.

Over the last 20 or so years, Ian has woven his high interest in community development through roles spanning the banking, tertiary, local government and community sectors.  I’m sure Ian will continue to contribute to, challenge, support, model, and help grow the community-led movement in this new role.  Based in Auckland, Ian will work with the Inspiring Communities team nationally to support the exchange of ideas and practical experience to support community-led development approaches and contribute to tangible positive outcomes.

To help consolidate Inspiring Communities’ organisational capacity and help shape our strategic direction, over the next few weeks Ian and the team will be seeking input from a wide range of people and groups into the shaping of a strategic directions document to guide the work of Inspiring Communities over the coming years.

So as you can see things are changing and adapting in Inspiring Communities, as the CLD journey often requires of us all.  I’m confident that if we continue to use our collective intelligence, maintain our sense of humour, invite the diversity of people who make up communities to the table, and respect everybody, then together we can be a vehicle to help harness communities’ dynamic energies for good.

David Hanna
Chair

Introducing Ian Leader, Inspiring Communities National Manager:

Suffice to say I'm pretty enthusiastic about my new role as Inspiring Communities National Manager.

I have watched with interest as the CLD movement in Aotearoa has gained momentum over recent years, and have had various dealings with Inspiring Communities during that time.  After my first two weeks with the Inspiring Communities team I'm as inspired as ever about the work that is going on in Aotearoa New Zealand to support communities leading their own development.

Whether the focus is local food, involving children in community and city planning, or spreading the word about family centred community-led success stories, as David says this is an exciting time for us as an organisation and a nation.

It’s a pleasure to be amongst it and I look forward to meeting many of you in the near future.

Ian Leader
National Manager

PS: Do get your nominations in for Community of Year (see below), so more stories of inspiring Kiwi communities can be shared on the national stage!

In this Newsletter you’ll find…

--- Inspiring Communities and Core Learning Cluster News: Victory Village Forum report now online; the Future Times September 2011 magazine, featuring community-led approaches and the Victory Village Forum; and the Kiwi contingent heading to Tamarack’s Communities Collaborating event in Canada.

--- Community-Led and Community Driven: Kids in the City puts kids in charge of urban planning; a new resource with learnings from the Tamaki Transformation; Wellingtonians doing fruitful thinking about urban food growing.

--- Learning Links: A THRIVING resource from Families Commission and partners; latest instalment from Vivian Hutchinson, on Social Innovation; and useful perspectives in the latest Philanthropy NZ newsletter.

--- News You Can Use: Community of the Year nominations – how to enter; The amazing Migrating Kitchen exhibition very ‘live’ in Porirua’s Pataka Museum.

--- Events: Lots coming up in November: Partnering for Results, Inspiring Stories Festival for the Future, Tonic conference 2011 'Strengthening the Sector' and more.

INSPIRING COMMUNITIES & CORE LEARNING CLUSTER NEWS

Victory Village Forum Report now online
In July over 250 people from diverse sectors and from all across Aotearoa came to Victory Village Forum in Nelson.  They came seeking inspiration and answers to many and varied questions, from the general to the specific, including:

• “How do we make the school the hub of our community again?”
• “How do others deal with [challenges like ours]?”
• “We want to do what Victory School has done – how did it come about?”
• “How does Whanau Ora connect with other agencies and communities?”
• “How do we capture evidence of progress through Community Led Development approaches?”

These questions and many others were explored in depth throughout the programme, which was structured to maximise opportunities for participants to share information and to network. Feedback about the Forum strongly endorsed the value of holding the Forum with Victory Village, of being on-location, of hearing the depth and richness of the multi-year journey as a foundation for the Forum, and of starting with the story of a community in place.

To read more you can download the full report from our website .  Updates are also being added to the Forum website .

Community-led Development and Victory Forum featured in Future Times magazine

The huge and widespread interest in and family centred community-led development following Victory Village Forum has led to many new connections.  Among these was an invitation for the Forum organising team to contribute to the latest volume of Future Times, the magazine of NZ Futures Trust  (www.futurestrust.org.nz/), for a volume dedicated to the idea of communities leading.  Yvonne Curtis is Executive Director of the Futures Trust and editor of Future Times.  In introducing the latest edition she writes…

“Recent media and local, national and international events have contributed to a perception that the ‘answers’ to major problems are the domain of central government, with any ‘community contribution’ seen as largely irrelevant.  But my recent experiences over the last few months leads me to challenge this perception. I have attended a number of AGMs, forums and workshops that have showcased the strengths, often hidden, that New Zealand communities have to respond to their local needs to give hope for the future. On each occasion I came away with a sense of being energised, motivated and more informed of different ways that communities can dream together and then work together to create more positive futures for themselves...”

Read the rest of Yvonne’s article and the full edition at the Futures Trust website .

Kiwi delegation to Tamarack Communities Collaborating Institute, Alberta

Early in October four Kiwis will participate in the week long Communities Collaborating Institute learning event in Alberta with Tamarack, an Institute for Community Engagement.  The event is themed “leadership that transforms communities” and will bring 250 practitioners and thought leaders together, all with a focus on collaborative practice that produces results around complex issues.

Our delegation from Aotearoa New Zealand spans a wide range of interests in collaboration and community-led development including funders, Iwi, community and social development and service, and local and central government. The group are delighted to also have visits with a range of community leaders in Alberta and in Vancouver following the event, thanks to great organisation by Mark Cabaj.

To learn more about the event, and find links to speakers and resources, see  http://tamarackcommunity.ca/cci.html See our website for more about the Aotearoa New Zealand delegation and their programme.

COMMUNITY LED & COMMUNITY DRIVEN

Kids in the City – Auckland study puts children “in charge”
How are children faring in our cities?  That’s a question which a three-year Kids in the City study funded by the Health Research Council is seeking to answer.  With children living ever more sedentary lives, physical activity levels decreasing and obesity rates rising, children need to be able to move safely around their neighbourhoods and have appropriate outdoor places to play.

This study aims to contribute children’s experience and voice to the urban planning process and to help ensure that the well-being of children is to the fore in urban planning.
For one week, 160 nine-to-11-year-old children were hooked up with data collection gear (accelerometers, GPS and cameras) and took researchers on walking interviews, being in charge of where they wanted to go.

Read the full article on our website (supplied by Penelope Carroll, Massey University).

New Resource on working with communities:  Shaping Tamaki's Future Together:  A Transformational Approach
The Tamaki Transformation Programme has published this resource for those who want to explore a new way of working with communities, and across organisations, and learn some tools to support them along the way.  It offers snapshots of work undertaken during the Tamaki Transformation Programme's two year foundation period as it evolves new approaches to bring together residents and groups from across community, government and private sectors, in service of common goals.

This resource was produced by the Tamaki Transformation Community Engagement Team – Jenny Chilcott, Alfred Ngaro, Tamati Patuwai and Moka Ngaro.

To read more and find out how to get a copy see the full story on our website (with thanks to Jenny Chilcott)

Urban Food Hui plants fruitful ideas
Sustainability Trust and Innermost Gardens hosted an urban food hui on 3 August to discuss what is working well, how to strengthen connections and what we'd like to see grow - in the community, not necessarily referring to food! Concepts were mentioned such as co-ordination for centralised resources.

More than 50 people attended the hui at Wellington Central Library to explore ideas for creating linkages between the various gardens, orchards and other food producing groups around Wellington, and lots of great ideas were put forth.

The next hui is planned for November. If you'd like more info, or to be part of it, please contact Christina, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

LEARNING LINKS

Resource from Families Commissions and partners: THRIVING
This resource is an account of the ‘doing it differently together,’ that is social innovation. It charts the relational journey made by a group of social innovators comprising staff from the Families Commission, and four exemplary social service organisations, who came together to undertake an ‘action inquiry,’ to learn more about what we have come to call a family whanau centred approach.

THRIVING was produced in collaboration with Auckland Women’s Centre,  THRIVE Teen Parent Support Trust,  Te Waipuna Pauwawai Anglican Trust for Women and Children, Know Your Neighbours, Lifewise, and Takapuna Methodist Church 2011.

Download from the Families Commission website.

"Social Innovation” by Vivian Hutchinson and “Growing From Your Roots” by Emeline Afeaki-Mafile’o

More great reads from the NZ Social Entrepreneur Fellowship’s series, How Communities Heal, which is being published in fortnightly instalments online at www.nzsef.org.nz/howcommunitiesheal.

“New Zealand was once proud to be considered the “social laboratory” of the world — a place of can-do creativity, and an early adopter of many new social ideas…it is perhaps surprising to realise how little has really been known about the process of social innovation – compared to the vast amount of knowledge and research that has been gathered on how innovation happens in science and in business…”

You can read more from Social Innovation  or read Growing from your roots online, also available to download as PDFs.

Philanthropy NZ online newsletter
This issue has some interesting updates on Philanthropy in NZ, research, evaluation and more.
Read it online

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Community of the Year nominations close 14 October
Time to make a song and dance for your inspiring community: The Mitre 10 Community of the Year award acknowledges “groups and organisations working together to build better communities”.

Nominations close Friday 14th October 2011 and judging will take place in December. Winners will be announced at a gala awards dinner in February 2012.

Check out the New Zealander of the Year website for more information and to make an Online Nomination.  You can also read about the 2011 Community of the year, Gibsbston  in Central Otago.

The Migrating Kitchen – at Pataka Museum, Porirua this month
www.migratingkitchen.org/about

Visitors to Porirua’s Pataka Museum this winter have been treated to truly inspiring array of multicultural experiences, from Japanese tea ceremonies to Welsh crafts and singalongs, to tastes of Iran and South Africa.  On the menu for later in September areTonga and Argentina.  A glance at the latest photos on the website shows the stunning diversity and beauty being shared.

The Migrating Kitchen Trust aims to...

• Encourage and provide opportunities for people in Aotearoa New Zealand to showcase their culture, to celebrate their history and to share their stories in exhibitions, media and public events so that through knowledge, barriers are broken, tolerance and understanding emerge.
• Promote public education programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand through partnership with ethnic communities living here, in order to celebrate racial diversity, promote tolerance and understanding, and to foster peace through showcasing culture, festivals, families and food.

If you can’t get to Pataka Museum in Porirua this month, do check out The Migrating Kitchen website.  Resources available through the website include a DVD with migrant and refugee stories, as classroom, family or community resource, and including an online study guide.

Grants & Programme Advisor
The J R McKenzie Trust is seeking to expand their small Wellington-based team with the recruitment of a Grants and Programme Advisor.  Deadline 17th October 2011.  Download the advertisement.

EVENTS

November Workshop: Partnering for Results (Auckland)
Join Thought Partners for an “opportunity to build knowledge and skills for successful partnering across organisations and sectors. This workshop, and tailored mentoring session, will provide you with inspiration, knowledge and tools to ensure your partnerships achieve results and move beyond good intentions. You will learn from New Zealand and international good practice”.

This workshop and mentoring session, is designed for those beginning, actively involved in, and those managing partnerships across public, private, community and philanthropic sectors. Come as a group of partners, or as an organisation planning your collaborations, and do real work together to accelerate your partnerships.

Dates: 2 and 3 November (plus mentoring opportunity following day)
For costs, full details and to register: See Thought Partners website

4 – 6 November Inspiring Stories Festival for the Future (Wellington)

Celebrating grassroots community action and young Kiwis making a difference – the Festival is designed to support young Kiwis to explore 21st century challenges, solutions, and the thinking and tools to create a more vibrant, sustainable Aotearoa New Zealand.  Also featuring the results of Inspiring Stories film competition.

For details check out the Festival for the Future website

24 – 25 November Tonic conference 2011 'Strengthening the Sector' (Tauranga)
This year’s Tonic conference from Exult presents workshops, information and advice on how organisations can not just survive - but thrive - in the current economic climate.

Registration and details: email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

29 November Evaluating Community Impact: Capturing and Making Sense of Community Outcomes (Canada)
Tamarack is again offering - a this three-day, interactive learning event that is focused on strengthening the capacity of community leaders to understand and evaluate the outcomes of their efforts. The event will be led by Liz Weaver, Paul Born and Mark Cabaj.

When: 29 November  - 1 December
Where: Kitchener, Ontario.
Details:  See the Tamarack website

ABOUT INSPIRING COMMUNITIES

To find out more about Inspiring Communities, our approach to learning, our framework for Community-Led Development, and more, visit: www.inspiringcommunities.org.nz

For all our latest news you can go straight to our to Community News online

The work of Inspiring Communities is currently being supported by The Tindall Foundation, The Todd Foundation, the J R McKenzie Trust, Community Trust of Southland, BayTrust, ASB Community Trust, Slingshot-Call Plus, Auckland Council, TSB Trust, Lottery Community and the Lottery Community Sector Research Fund, Ideas Shop and many other generous people and organisations who contribute time, skills, meeting spaces and resources to help us grow the recognition, understanding and practice of community-led development in Aotearoa, NZ.

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