Community Learning Development Resource 500 – 12

THE LEARNING FOR LOCAL PEOPLE WITHIN A COMMUNITY STRATEGY

 

How should local people become connected with the Community Strategy?

 

• Should they simply be the passive recipients of improvements and provision, generated by the strategy leaders and the working groups, and where they are hopefully appreciative and grateful, for the efforts being made by others, on their behalf?
• participate at different levels, by responding, contributing or leading?

 

There is knowledge, understanding and skills within themes and actions, which need to be put in place in order to empower and encourage local people to participate.

There is learning, which will address the problems of a lack of participation and tokenism and forge partnerships between the organisations and communities.

 

Within a local Community Strategy, the work of community groups or forums can:

• raise awareness of the community concerns and issues
• improving communication to enable the strategic bodies to put in place effective communication with people and communities
• share in the value set – the understanding, which underpins and informs the strategy and its actions, providing consistency and coherence
• build effective relationships – the learning which will enable the strategy-people interfacing to be productive and effective
• empower – the learning which puts in place the understanding and skills in the effective use of power in relation to the values and purposes of the strategy
• move from top-down provision to bottom up development and action
• build individual, collective and community capacity.