Keystone to Future RelevanceOLA Super Conference 2009

Bill Irwin

'Every single person has capacities, abilities and gifts.

Living a good life depends on whether those capacities

can be used, abilities expressed and gifts given‘

(John McKnight)

‘Every living person has some gift or capacity of value to others. A strong community is a place that recognises

these gifts and ensures they are given. A weak community is a place where lots of people can’t or don’t

give their gifts’

(John Mcknight and John Kretzman)

‘The strength of a community is directly proportional to the number of people who contribute their abilities to the well-being of the community’

(Nance Diamond)

Think about your community. What are the characteristics

that make your community a community?

Community includes three elements:Territory or placeSocial organizations or institutions that provide regular interaction among residents

Social interaction on matters concerning a common interest.

-- Definition by Kenneth Wilkinson (1991)

These three elements of community (place, social systems that provide regular interaction, and matters of common interest) are increasingly separate.

What is community development?

A process through which people and communities acquire the attitudes, skills and abilities for active participation in creating meaningful futures and dealing with community issues.

-- Community Development Academy, University of

Missouri

l concentrated on jobs, resources, and infrastructure;

l were in response to crises;l showed a rejection of community

“power brokers”; andl form the background of recent efforts

of the citizenry to control its own future.

Early efforts toward community development:

Community development: a process whereby the efforts of Government are united with those of the people to improve the social, cultural, and economic conditions in communities

Community: a “group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society” or a “body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests”

What are the underlying values and assumptions we make when we talk about community and community development?

Right to affect our environment

CD Principles

free and open participation

accurate information

understanding is basis for change

right to be heard

right to participate

Promote active and representative participation toward enabling all community members to meaningfully influence the decisions that affect their lives.

Engage community members in learning about and understanding community issues, and the economic, social, environmental, political, psychological, and other impacts associated with alternative courses of action.   

Incorporate the diverse interests and cultures of the community in the community development process; and disengage from support of any effort that is likely to adversely affect the disadvantaged members of a community.

Work actively to enhance the leadership capacity of community members, leaders, and groups within the community.

Be open to using the full range of action strategies to work toward the long-term sustainability and well being of the community.

Principles

1. Community development is a holistic approach to addressing the community’s needs.

2. Community development is a process.

3. Empowerment results from influence, participation, and community

education.

StrongSense ofCommunity

Strong Sense of the Primacy of theIndividual

Community Society

37

4549

54 54

6267

74 76 76 78 80

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1956 1966 1976 1986 1996 2006

%

Proportion of Canadians living in urban areas, 1901 to 2006

The 33 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) now house more than two-thirds (68%) of Canadians

Population growth in CMAs is higher than the national average (6.9% versus 5.4%)

Six CMAs of one million or more inhabitants: Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Ottawa - Gatineau, Calgary and Edmonton

Slower growth means a declining share of population in small urban and rural areas

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Montreal-Toronto-

Vancouver

Urban 0.5 to1.1 million

Urban 100 to499K

Urban 10K to99K

Rural (strongmetro

influence)

Rural(moderate

metroinfluence)

Rural (weakmetro

influence)

Rural (nometro

influence)

Percent of Canada's population living in each urbanization class

1991 1996 2001

Soruce: Statistics Canada. Census of Population, 1991 to 2001.

Number and Proportion of foreign-born in Canada, by census year

0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2006

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Number

%

Sources: Statistics Canada, censuses of population, 1901 to 2006.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1951 1956 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006

One-personFive or more persons

%

Proportion of households with one person and five or more persons, Canada, 1951 to 2006

Foreign-born as a proportion of metropolitan population, 2006

45.7

39.636.5

34.731.7

28.9 27.9

20.6 19.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

Toronto Vancouver Miami Los Angeles Sydney Melbourne New YorkCity

Montreal Washington

%

Sources: Canadian cities – Statistics Canada, 2006 Census. United States cities – US Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey; Australian cities, 2006 Census.

Proportion of foreign-born in selected census metropolitan areas, 2006

0 10 20 30 40 50

Kelowna

Oshawa

Winnipeg

Ottawa - Gatineau

St. Catharines - Niagara

Edmonton

Victoria

London

Guelph

Montréal

Kitchener

Windsor

Calgary

Abbotsford

Hamilton

Vancouver

Toronto

%

Immigrated between 2001 and 2006

Immigrated before 2001

Canada: 19.8%

Source: Statistics Canada, Census of population, 2006.

“The capacity and willingness of our society to keep all groups within reach of what we expect as a society – the social commitment and investments necessary to ensure that all people are within reach of [close to] our common aspirations, common life and its common wealth.”

Laidlaw Foundation

“There are neighbourhoods for the rich and neighbourhoods for the poor, and we’ve planned it that way.”

“A man came up to me in the mall, grabbed my arm and said ‘Why don’t you go back where you came from?’”

“What a huge effort it takes to be heard! It shouldn’t be so hard to be heard.”

Source: Edmonton Social Planning Council, 2007

“In those places where one encounters very powerful and rich men, the weak and poor feel, as it were, burdened by their lowly status and since they discover no means of being able to recover equality, they lose any sense of hope in themselves, drifting below any standards of human dignity.”

Everyone has them – we learn ways to hide them

Can remove negative labels – diabetic / drug addict / handicapped

Gifts are not gifts unless they are shared

Communities have deficiencies

Communities and it’s citizens have capacities and assets

In the symbolic example of the glass filled to the middle with liquid, the system needs the empty half while the community needs the full half.

• The service system needs a client. They need to create jobs and need your needs.

• The community needs a citizen with assets to contribute.

Power is not sufficient to result in behavioral or attitudinal change ◦i.e., it is the potential/ability to change

Influence is the process of changing◦e.g., Need to have the ability or opportunity to use expertise or information that one has control over to change others/events

Power vs. influence

Source: Drawing by Leo Cullum in The New Yorker, copyright ©1986 The New Yorker Magazine. Reprinted by permission.

Policy Proposals

Implementation

Evaluation of policy & effects

Identification of social need

Partnership emphasizes gender equality, no institutionalized fear, a flatter and more egalitarian organization.

 The primary organizational concern is linking or bringing people together in mutually beneficial relationships and figuring out if individual responsibilities and contributions blend to produce extraordinary creative results.

Partnerships pool resources, share risks and increase efficiency.

In partnerships the expertise of different individuals, professions and groups can be pooled allowing a more complete understanding of issues, needs and resources, improving the capacity to plan and evaluate and allowing for development of more comprehensive strategies.

Partnerships eliminate duplication. Allow maximum use of resources.

Partnerships take a long time to establish. In the early stages of partnership considerable

energy is needed to build the partnership itself . Later on energy is also needed to maintain

partnership. Skilled staffing and support are needed to

manage a successful partnership. It is quite challenging and takes time to establish

true community consensus on community issues/problems

Difficulties Associated With

Community Partnerships

Cultivating patience and a willingness to learn and compromise are also important.

Creating relationships of equality between community members and professionals is a major challenge.

For partnerships to succeed professionals should identify with the ordinary community member.

 

Communication is telling…Conversations are sharing

Communication is traditionally one way…conversation is two way

Communications distribute information… conversations create understanding

Communication is often sterile…conversation is personal

Relationships are built and maintained by a series of conversations

No conversations…no relationship Relationships usually succeed or fail

gradually…one conversation at a time Each conversation should build on the

last one, and should be connected whenever possible

…active listening…opportunities for feedback/response…invitations/encouragement to speak…acknowledgement of response…a context (to the past and future)

People won’t care what you know, till they know that you

care

One can lead with no more than a question in hand.

Leadership

Tell me, and I forget;show me, and I

remember;let me do and I

understand.Chinese Proverb

If I canask my own questions,try out my ideas,experience what’s around me,share what I find;

If I haveplenty of time formy special pace,a nourishing space,things to transform;

If you’ll bemy patient friend,trusted guide,fellow investigator,partner in learning;

Then I willexplore the world,discover my voice,and tell you what I knowin a hundred languages.

Pamela Hook

I learned most notfrom those who taught

me but from thosewho talked with me.

St. Augustine6th Century

Everyone leaves a footprint Not all are the same size People of influence not always those in

power Personal choices determine influence Lives closest to you most impacted Business not equated to influence The business of life not business but living

A farmer comes upon a sparrow lying in the middle of a road. He asks the sparrow “Mr. Sparrow, what are you doing?” The sparrow replies “Why, can’t you see? I am holding up the sky.” The farmer says “But you are so small. Look at your spindly legs. You can’t hold up the sky! The sparrow replies “One does what one can!”

The Adage of the Sparrow

“One generation plants the trees;another gets the shade.”

Chinese Proverb