"We want to create a way of working as a whole community, agencies and us together, that creates hope and optimism"
Georgie Thompson, Ruapotaka Marae, Tamaki
Learning and Sharing
International Association of Community Development Conference, Portugal, July 2011: Highlights

August 2011

What do Rosa Parks (who in 1955 refused to obey a bus driver’s order that she give up her seat for a white passenger), community gardens in the mid United States and a UK framework called “Voice” have in common? 

They all demonstrate how practically any opportunity can be taken to strengthen or build community leadership - especially starting ‘where people are at’ and using those skills, interests and resources as the basis for development.

Transformational leadership in communities was the focus of the International Association of Community Development (IACD) 2011 Conference in Portugal, attended by people from Portugal, India, England, the USA, South Africa, Uganda, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, Scotland and Canada, among others.

Noticing how community leadership can come from any corner as long as it is intentionally supported was a consistent theme of the conference.

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Presentations and References from Inspiring Communities Workshops with Mark Cabaj, June 2011
 

A June 2011 highlight for Inspiring Communities was hosting Tamarack’s Mark Cabaj. This was the third time we have invited Mark out. We organised both open workshops and tailored sessions where he covered up to date Canadian learning and experience from working with communities around complex issues, particularly poverty reduction. The presentations and notes from the workshops and other resources are below:

YouTube:  Simple, Complicated & Complex issues - Mark Cabaj, Wellington, 13 June 2011

Downloadable Presentations from workshops:

Inspiring Communities presentation with Mark Cabaj at Te Papa, Wellington, June 13 2011

Mark Cabaj Presentation at Te Papa, Wellington, June 13 2011

Inspiring Communities presentation with Mark Cabaj at Lake Karapiro, June 15 2011

Mark Cabaj Presentation at Lake Karapiro, June 15 2011

Downloadable Resources from workshops:

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Inspiring Communities at Philanthropy NZ Conference

Communities at the Forefront of Change

April 2011

A popular workshop at the Philanthropy New Zealand April 2011 conference discussed how local communities in Aotearoa NZ are showing their determination and capability to vision and plan their own futures, and to invite funders, government and others to join the journey with them.

Over the last two years Inspiring Communities has been actively walking alongside some communities, leveraging support and capturing learning from the changes that are happening.

These ways of working create and require changes, eg different styles and processes of leadership, shifts in power relationships, new ways of working together and new forms of  engagement.

Two local communities discussed their experience and learning: the family-centred, community-led development of Great Start, Taita and Iwi–led community and economic development in Opotiki.

Inspiring Communities presented an overview of the recent publication What We are Learning about Community-led Development.

Download the presentations from:

A DVD of the entire session is available at no charge.  Please email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 
What we are Learning about CLD in Aotearoa NZ

wwal2010-thumbnlYou are welcome to download and share the PDF: What We Are Learning 2010

We owe a huge thanks to the over 40 individuals and communities actively involved in community-led initiatives throughout Aotearoa who have shared their thoughts and stories with us.

The document also shares a summary of the bigger picture thinking and approaches to societal change and innovation that currently influence our work.

To order hard copies of 'What We Are Learning' 2010

Hard copies are avaiable for $20 each plus GST and postage & packaging.  To order:

  • Email your order and invoicing details to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  • Or download and send this order form.

Comments about 'What We Are Learning' 2010

"This report is a gift to every trust and foundation wanting to understand community led development, and to be more strategic in how to invest philanthropic dollars to strengthen communities... What We Are Learning is timely and rich in what it offers - a wealth of ideas, facts and stories to illustrate why and how people can work together to advance their communities...The insights available in this report are a powerful guide for contemporary philanthropy, and serve as a tool to ensure that the benefit from funding lands where it is intended, and that communities are stronger, more vibrant and fairer as a result..."

Click to read the full Review By Genevieve Timmons, Philanthropic Executive and Consultant in Philanthropy (Australia)

"A must for anyone intending to work in community development and any public institution that wishes to change the paradigms by which it works...

"...If we are to build resilient communities then councils need to consider the lessons that have been identified in this paper from Inspiring Communities. Building opportunities for shared decision making at a neighbourhood level will go a long way towards preparing communities not only for emergencies but to manage the day to day challenges that confront all of us."

Click to read the full Review by Michael Reid,
Local Government NZ

"...an extremely valuable record of the development process, articulating the principles and values on which community led development is based. In this respect it is a very authentic publication that is capable of playing an important role in community development education and practice."

Click to read the full Review by Ian Shirley,
Auckland University of Technology

Background to 'What We Are Learning' 2010

A core purpose of Inspiring Communities is to support the learning of others involved in community-led development by sharing what we are noticing, learning and observing. We know this is important because we are frequently asked:

  • What’s the stuff that really matters?
  • What do we need to keep our eye on?
  • How can we tell if change is happening and how can we evaluate it effectively?

We don’t claim to have all the answers, but there is an extensive and growing network of current experience to draw from. In ‘What We Are Learning’ 2010 you will read practical tips, lessons and examples about four aspects of community-led development:

  • Community building
  • Leading in and leaderful communities
  • Working together in place
  • Creating and sustaining momentum

We hope you will enjoy, be inspired by and learn from these examples.  We also welcome feedback, ideas and suggestions for what you’d like to know more about and also how useful you’ve find this resource.   Send your comments to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

Approach to evaluative thinking

We have drawn on the work of Mark Cabaj along with Michael Quinn Patton, Frances Westley and Brenda Zimmerman in beginning to develop our thinking and practice in this area.

While we are interested in the newly developing models of evaluation, such as participatory evaluation and developmental evaluation (believing they hold much promise for evaluating social innovation) this has not been our major focus to date.

Evaluation has been used in the past to find out if something has been achieved or to improve a model.  Our interest is instead to provide us with information and insights to help us further develop something that is in the process of developing or 'becoming'.

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