Project Update: Neighbourhood Engagement Study
The Sustainable Neighbourhood Engagement Framework Study explores the way in which the City partners, and engages with specific neighbourhood groups. It also includes how the community can respond to the elimination of funding for Community Development workers currently provided by Family and Children’s Services to work in vulnerable neighbourhoods.
The following lists our progress to date in key project areas:
Project Scope Expanded:
- Following consultation with the community and a number of supportive agencies, the scope of this study was recently expanded to include a review of the elimination of the F&CS CD worker positions and future funding options
SNEF Advisory Committee:
- Developed in November of 2009
- Have held 2 meetings to date
- Currently 16 members including neighbourhood group leaders and agency representatives
- Will be expanding to include 3 new members to accommodate change in scope
Literature Review:
Public Interest conducted an initial review of empirical studies and research on community-led service delivery. The literature pointed to a number of benefits that can occur when municipalities and community groups co-produce services:
- Improved service quality and effectiveness
- Enhanced participation and engagement
- More opportunities to establish and expand social networks and social supports
- Develops social capital
The literature reviewed highlighted a number of challenges and barriers to obtaining these potential benefits:
- Delivering effective community-led services is complex and elusive
- Strong organizations in and of themselves don’t necessarily ensure benefits of community development, social capital and collective efficacy.
The literature also contained a number of recommendations for ensuring that community-led services are able to deliver services and additional benefits.
- Neighbourhood groups need clear criteria around:
- Context specific strategies that are able to change with the community
- Steadily broadening engagement and shared leadership
- Addressing barriers to participation (cultural/class differences, power imbalances)
- Conscious development of social capital ( building bonds within the group and bridges to other groups)
- Addressing issues that reflect broad need (rather than the narrow interests of a few)
- Both short and long term actions in areas that address these broad needs
Municipal staff need:
- Partnership policies
- Flexibility to adjust to needs of groups
- Training (facilitation of collaborative partnerships)
Finally, the literature also notes the challenge of funding neighbourhood groups and specifically points out that while the costs are generated locally, the benefits tend to accrue largely provincially.
Environmental Scan:
- Initial scan which includes history of the NSC and policy development, related corporate polices, community profiles and information specific to each group
- completed and circulated for comment
- Community Consultation:
- List of key informant interviews ( 39 participants invited) and focus group participants ( 33 invited) has been established
- Public Interest scheduling interviews last week of February and first week of March
Please contact Barbara Powell (barbara.powell@guelph.ca), Manager of Integrated Services & Development at 519-822-1260 x 2675 if you have any questions.
