Sarah has written about a new report from the Social Market Foundation which examines whether community empowerment measures are really effective. Read about it here
Dhara Vyas
Dhara says...
I lead NCVOs work on the relationship between VCOs and local government - this is a vast area, and encompasses issues to do with partnership working, democracy, participation in decsion making, engagement and accountability.
I just read an extract from a speech by Hazel Blears MP, on ‘Tackling Disengagement’ in it, she infers that political blogging fuels cynicism and leads to disengagement.
I think its particularly pertinent given she gave this speech on the 5th November, the day after Barrack Obama was elected and declared President–elect of the USA. Obama’s campaign and eventual victory has been historic for a number of reasons- not least because of the way he was able to mobilize and organise from the...
I read an interesting review on pickled politics of a new book by Clay Shirky – Here comes everybody
I think that the summary of the book in the blog post, particularly the discussion about online vs offline campaigning, is really interesting, and I like that Shirky seems to address the potential negative consequenses of new technologies too.
This focus on trying to increase the numbers of people actively engaged in both civil and civic life is gaining pace following the publication of the recent DCLG white paper communities in control
The first chapter is entitled ‘active citizenship and the value of volunteering’. It sets out what the Government plans to do to make it easier for people to be involved in voluntary and community activity. As suggested in this driver, it does indeed include the announcement of funding streams,...
I thought it might be useful to follow the above post with some more info on how the government is moving this agenda forward. The Communities in Control White Paper was published in July, and it has been accompanied by a raft of consultations, including:
The recent DCLG White Paper Communities in Control has a real focus on how to get people engaged and active in their communities. (an NCVO briefing is also available)Whilst the government does recognise the value of communities of interest in the white paper, there is without a doubt a focus on geographically based communities. The white paper builds on the work of Sherry Arnstein and discusses a ‘ladder’ or ‘spectrum’ of opportunities for community engagement as, from individual acts of ...
Richard’s point about people being engaged and interested in multiple single issues is spot on, and can also be considered in light of Naomi Kleins point about blogging. The internet enables us to access information, to gain knowledge and an understanding of a whole host of issues – and crucially it is also a medium through which we can participate in various ways. This ability and flexibility to get involved has contributed to the perceived rise of our interest in a multiplicity of single...
On Wednesday 9th July, Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for communities and local government, launched the empowerment white paper – Communities in Control: real people, real power. The white paper addresses seven key issues, which it aims to address from the perspective of the individual citizen:
• being active in your community
• access to information
• having an influence
• challenge
• redress
• standing for office
• ownership and control
Many of the proposals in it will ...
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I didn’t make it to the seminar, so I found Natalie’s post and Veronique’s comment really interesting. It got me thinking about the implications of localism in relation to communities of ‘interest’ which can and often do cross so many geographic boundaries: is one of the risks associated with the ‘charity begins at home scenario’ that as more and more decision making happens at the local level, the VCS might begin to focus disproportionately on the “local” in relation to geographic...
This is not in reply to Peter (sorry!) but just a quick post to alert people to the people and participation website, sponsored by the DCLG, MoJ and the Sustainable Development Commission. I haven’t had a chance to look at it in any depth but its an interesting site that builds on the excellent Involve publication of the same name. The site aims to be a central portal for information and inspiration about participation to practitioners across the world.
I went to an interesting lecture held by PMPA yesterday – How can Local government save the planet?. It focused (unsuprisingly) on what local government can do to stop climate change, and the example of carbon neutral Marks and Spencers was also given – I hadn’t seen the NHS corporate citizenship website before, but this thread has made me think about CSR and the public sector locally- If all 410 local authorities were better ‘corporate citizens’ could they save the planet? I dont think...
