scholarly journals Towards greater collective impact: Building collaborative capacity in Cork city’s LCDC

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-58
Author(s):  
Rob Worrall ◽  
Fergal O’Leary

AbstractCollaboration is an important means of tackling local socio-economic challenges. This paper looks at how the collaborative capacity of Ireland’s community development leaders can be improved. The most recent efforts to establish a more coordinated and coherent approach to community development saw the introduction of a new local committee structure, known as local community development committees (LCDCs). LCDCs were expected to enhance collaboration between public, private and third sector socio-economic partners. However, effective intersectoral collaboration is often difficult to attain. A programme of capacity building can play a key part in supporting collaborative working between local leaders. Based on the findings from a place-based leadership development workshop, this paper discusses the barriers to collaboration facing community development leaders and how these might be overcome. Surfacing and working through tensions to enable clarity, through enhanced mutual understanding and strong relationships across community development committees, is vitally important. To this end, a practical and evidence-based approach to improving collaboration between local leaders is argued for.

Author(s):  
Andrew Ryder

The chapter analyses the historical and contemporary condition of the Gypsy, Traveller and Roma (GTR) civil society movement, its strengths, achievements, threats and pitfalls and the motivation, dynamism and tensions within its varied manifestations. It explores the struggles against assimilatory and discriminatory policy, the interplay between community bonds and diverse aspects of identity and analyses the transformative potential of inclusive, grassroots and asset based community development, which draws upon the strengths of identity and culture but fuses these with perceptions and strategies which are emancipatory and inclusive.


Author(s):  
David William Best ◽  
Gerard Byrne ◽  
David Pullen ◽  
Jacqui Kelly ◽  
Karen Elliot ◽  
...  

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the feasibility of utilising an Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) model in the context of an Alcohol and Other Drug Therapeutic Community, and to use this as a way of assessing how TCs can contribute to the local communities in which they are sited. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative action research project, based on an evolving model in which key stakeholders from participating sites were instrumental in shaping processes and activities, that is a partnership between a research centre, Turning Point in Melbourne, Australia and two Recovery Services operated by the Salvation Army Australia Eastern Territory (TSA). One of these is the Dooralong Transformation Centre on the Central Coast of New South Wales and the other, Fairhaven, is in the Gold Coast hinterland of Queensland, Australia. The project was designed to create “rehabilitation without walls” by building bridges between the treatment centres and the communities they are based in, and improving participation in local community life. This was done through a series of structured workshops that mapped community asset networks and planned further community engagement activities. Findings – Both of the TCs already had strong connections in their local areas including but not restricted to involvement with the mutual aid fellowships. Staff, residents and ex-residents still in contact with the service were strongly committed to community engagement and were able to identify a wide range of connections in the community and to build these around existing Salvation Army connections and networks. Research limitations/implications – This is a pilot study with limited research findings and no assessment of the generalisability of this method to other settings or TCs. Practical implications – Both TCs are able to act as “community resources” through which residents and ex-residents are able to give back to their local communities and develop the social and community capital that can prepare them for reintegration and can positively contribute to the experience of living in the local community. Social implications – This paper has significant ramifications for how TCs engage with their local communities both as a mechanism for supporting resident re-entry and also to challenge stigma and discrimination. Originality/value – The paper and project extend the idea of ABCD to a Reciprocal Community Development model in which TCs can act as active participants in their lived communities and by doing so can create a “therapeutic landscape for recovery”.


Author(s):  
S. P. Bansal ◽  
Jaswinder Kumar

Ecotourism is sustainable tourism, which is based on the ecological principle and sustainable development theory. There is emergent need of capacity building for local people for ecotourism in the villages of Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP). Ecotourism involves local community for the conservation of the area’s ecology and biodiversity, in return, provides economic incentives to the community. This paper studies the ecotourism perspective from the point of view of major stakeholders of ecotourism, i.e., local communities, tourists, ecotourism operators, and government officials in Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh. This study determines the various issues related to ecotourism and these stakeholders’ opinions about these issues. A lack of knowledge and awareness exists in the local community about ecotourism and its benefits, while the other stakeholders have strong opinions for various ecotourism statements. An ANOVA test is conducted followed by a Scheffe test to the different groups of stakeholders. The paper gives some suggestions to increase ecotourism awareness, capacity building for ecotourism for the local community, and community participation for the development of ecotourism in GHNP.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Crystal Lupo

Reduced demand for wood and wood products resulting from the economic crisis in the first decade of the 2000s severely impacted the forest industry throughout the world, causing large forest-based organizations to close (CBC News, 2008; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2009; Pepke, 2009). The result was a dramatic increase in unemployment and worker displacement among forest product workers between 2011 and 2013 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). Forested rural communities often depended on the large-scale forest industry for their livelihood, and as a result, decreased reliance on large-scale industry became increasingly important (Lupo, 2015). This article explores portable-sawmill-based entrepreneurship as an opportunity to promote social change in the local community. Results indicated that portable-sawmill-based small businesses created community development opportunities, which promoted social change in the larger community through farm business expansion, conservation efforts to improve local community development, and niche market creation in the local or larger community.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haziz Vila ◽  
Nikolaos Sklavounos ◽  
Evangelos Vergos ◽  
Konstantinos Rotsios ◽  
Hysen Shabanaj

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an integral part of firms’ strategies in their effort to increase their positive impact on society. This study investigates the impact of a CSR initiative, known as “The LAB Project”, implemented by the TITAN– Sharrcem Company, on the rural community of Hani I Elezit in Kosovo. The LAB project aims to support the establishment and operation of agricultural and food-related start-ups and, most importantly, to ensure their sustainability. The sample of the study consists of 174 area residents. This research examines local residents’ perceptions about a) the TITAN-Sharrcem operations in the area, b) the LAB project’s main contribution to the local community,  c) the project’s overall performance, d)  the profitability of the start-ups created by the project, and e)  the project’s effect on the community’s quality of life. Overall, the results reveal that the project has set the foundation for the community’s sustainable development. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research on the effect of such initiatives in the region. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Rural Entrepreneurship, Community Development


1973 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Lees

At the end of 1971 the Government designated the extention of the Community Development Project to the planned total of twelve areas. The project was then described as ‘a national action-research experiment’ carried out in selected urban localities in order to discover ‘how far the social problems experienced by people in a local community can be better understood and resolved through closer co-ordination of all agencies in the social welfare field – central and local government and the voluntary organizations – together with the local people themselves’. There was a special emphasis placed on the importance of ‘citizen involvement and community self-help’, together with the expectation that ‘the lessons learned can be fed back into social policy, planning and administration, both at central and local government level’.


2011 ◽  
pp. 812-819
Author(s):  
Geoffrey A. Walker

Many case studies have been undertaken about how informal, sponsored, and supported communities of practice operate within private and public sector organizations. To date, however, no examination has been made of how informal communities of practice operate within the third sector, the sector of community, and voluntary organizations. The third sector has a long history of using community space, in various forms, either physical or notional, to engage individuals in discourse and informal learning. The rise of the network society has added value to this process by allowing active individuals to personalize networks through the use of technologies which enhance communication. The third sector is now demonstrating that individuals and groups are seeking to create open access knowledge-sharing spaces which attempt to combine face-to-face networks with computer-mediated communications to support informal learning between community development practitioners. This article examines the role of Sunderland Community Development Network in the creation of informal communities of practice. It pays particular attention to three key areas: 1. Community space: How core, active, peripheral, and transactional community spaces within third sector partnerships create an ebb and flow of informal communities of practice. 2. Personalized networking: How issue-based activity, inside and outside communities, can lead to the rapid appearance and disappearance of informal communities of practice. 3. Knowledge-sharing space: How core members of a third sector organization can create a dynamic model of roles within informal communities of practice capable of impacting upon processes of governance beyond the organization.


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