Capacity Building

Capacity Building The way forward?

This morning’s themes: • Who do we ‘do’ capacity building with? • What approaches can we use? A model of CB • How can we plan it? • How can empowerment be part of CB? ‘the basics’

Background Recent work: • Community leaders in Wakefield and Birmingham • Refugee groups in London • Residents groups in Salford, Blackburn and Bradford • Local authorities in Falkirk, Dundee area and Perth

Training and support work with small groups in West Yorkshire Assertiveness training Supporting groups and networks Was this capacity building? Background

Strategic Guidance for Community Planning Partnerships:Community Learning and Development ‘It is important to be clear about the purpose of CLD. We see it as empowering people, individually and collectively, to make positive changes in their lives and in their communities, through learning.’ So how can CCB empower people?

Activities, resources and support that strengthens the skills, abilities and confidence of people and community groups to take effective action and leading roles in the development of communities What is Community Capacity Building?

CCB: A few challenges… • Isn’t it a bit of jargon? Community Strengths may be a better term • Isn’t it top down? It can be organised bottom-up and in partnership • Isn’t it all about gaps? It can be organised in ways that build from and value existing strengths

CCB: A few challenges… • Isn’t just a technical fix? It can be organised in ways that are empowering • Won’t it just benefit already well organised groups? It can be organised in ways that benefit all parts of communities

Loss of benefits, risks of losing homes High unemployment For some people, depression and isolation Increased demands on public services and voluntary organisations Reduced funding for the voluntary community sectors CCB: A few challenges… The Big Society?

In this context: • Who do we do capacity building with? • What approaches can we use? A model of CB • How can we plan it? • How can empowerment be part of CB?

Who with? Active Citizens • Campaigner e.g. environment • Organiser • Informal volunteer • Formal volunteer • Group member • Group leader • Management committee member • Faith leader • Social entrepreneur • Area based community ‘representative’ • VCS ‘representative’ • Community Councils • Ward Councillor

Who with? The voluntary and community sectors Residents groups ‘Infrastructure’ organisations Social businesses Self-help groups Service Delivery organisations Faith groups Co-ops Campaigning groups - local Campaigning groups - national Community-of-interest organisations Credit Unions Community sector Voluntary sector Private sector

Communities of place – Share a location – e.g. village, street, neighbourhood , town, borough. Communities of interest - Are people who share an identity – e.g. a disability or share an experience or concern e.g. carers of older people, people who are homeless, refugees. Who with? Communities of interest

Who with? • Individuals – active citizens, involved in activities, events, campaigns, volunteering, leadership • Community groups – communities of interest and place, individual groups and networks of groups • Voluntary organisations, community enterprises • Public sector organisations? We now look at this issue.

Services address needs more effectively Increase access to local resources Use specialist expertise and relationships Gain more lasting impact Build ‘social capital’ Strengthen democracy and active citizenship Community engagement The benefits for public services of community engagement

‘It wasn’t really a consultation – it had all been decided before hand’ ‘I didn’t feel confident to speak – the atmosphere was very formal’ ‘We had a good session- but then heard nothing more about it!’ ‘The event was poorly organised with difficult access for whele chair users’ ‘Officers and councillors need to build their capacity to engage with communities!’ Community EngagementWhat many participants say:

Public meetings e.g. neighbourhood forums Panels and focus groups Surveys e.g. door to door or on-line Scrutiny Panels Partnerships World Café technique Open Space Participative budgeting Walk about the area Live phone in on local radio Stalls at festivals Use drama and get feedback Wishing well… Engagement methods: how to choose the wrong method…

Five options: Support local action Act jointly Decide jointly Consult Inform How to misuse the ladder of participation….

Level Two - consult Options • Ask about people’s needs • Identify causes and barriers • Obtain ideas for improvements • Float new ideas • Ask for views on proposals • Others?

Choose level on the ladder carefully, if possible jointly Higher up you go the more time, skills and resources are needed Key point: Public services may often need capacity building in order to engage effectively with communities Using the ladder

A partnership approach to capacity building Agency capacity building is the learning, resources and organisational change that increases the ability of public sector organisations to engage with communities effectively

What does Community Capacity Building involve? Engagement TrainingPeer learning Action LearningMentoring Community Strengths Empowerment Social Capital Community Learning

The Four Building Blocks of CCB Building Skills Building Involvement Building Organisations Building Equality

The Four Building Blocks of CCB • The four themes originate in a model of community development developed in Scotland by the SCDC • Developed in Bradford and published by CDF as Assessing Community Strengths by Mandy Wilson and Steve Skinner • They are one way to understand and plan CCB • The four blocks can be used at both practice and policy levels in and with communities • They can also be applied to public sector organisations.

Skills is short hand for: Skills Knowledge Ways of working Experience Confidence It can partly be about releasing what is already there in communities Forms of learning such as: Training, seminars, conferences Visits, peer learning, action learning Coaching, mentoring Shadowing, placements Resource packs, on line learning Building Skills

Each form of learning will have different pros and cons Groups and individuals will have different learning styles and needs Ideally the content is based on an assessment of needs Skills can be strengthened by groups helping each other Building Skills

A leadership programme run over 6 months for representatives from the VCS Training sessions looked at leadership skills, assertiveness, groups, partnerships and how to influence policy decisions Building Skills: Example from Wakefield in Yorkshire

Example: Mentoring for community leaders PROS • Intensive learning • Can provide more encouragement and support than course-based training • Can provide role models of more successful organisations • Personal and organisational links can lead to ongoing networking CONS • In some cases, it can involve considerable staff time to set up and maintain.

Community groups and networks are more than just the individuals that make them up They also consist of structures, systems, arrangements, traditions, links, policies and practices So CCB needs to consider a second theme of building the organisation itself Building Organisations

Building Organisations Why do groups ask for organisational support? • A crisis e.g. need to diversify/change • Members leaving/unhappy/new people not joining • Growth in numbers/activities • New funding demands/opportunities • Lost direction • Develop a network or partnership

Example: Capacity building in Little Hulton area of Salford to help establish a new residents led partnership. Building Organisations

NETWORKS: Research shows networks can involve: exchange of information and views giving and getting support place to swap skills and experience co-ordination of work in an area basis for representing a community joint working on a project or campaign Networks Building Organisations

The Four Building Blocks of CCB • So far – skills and organisations • Looks at individual learning and organisational development needs • But CCB is not a ‘technical fix’ to address deficits • It’s also about empowerment, about involvement and about values.

With someone else near you, please talk about: From your personal experience, what does empowerment mean to you? Activity

Definitions of empowerment • People having influence - Labour Government 2009 White Paper Communities in Control • Communities running public services -Building a Stronger Civil Society from Office for Civil Society October 2010 • Communities taking action - The Scottish Government defines ‘community empowerment’ as: “A process where people work together to make change happen in their communities by having more power and influence over what matters to them.”

Definitions of empowerment • Critical understanding causes of deprivation and discrimination – Paulo Freire • Psychological experience of confidence and self-esteem – assertiveness training/women’s movement

Oxfam’s view on empowerment: ‘We can’t empower others on our terms, but we recognise that people’s consciousness and awareness may change as their practical circumstances change. Empowerment is not something that is ‘done’ to people; it’s about releasing their potential.’

This is about activities, learning and change that focus on how people get involved in their communities It’s also about how groups and networks involve people and contribute to local decision-making Building Involvement

I went down the centre and got ignored. Not going there again! Betty’s been our chair for years – she runs the group so we let her get on with it The meeting had paid staff talking all the time – not for me! We always have the annual bus trip – but people are too lazy to come nowadays We never see Christina nowadays – she’s on that high level committee mixing with men in suits Building Involvementor - how to exclude people?…

Access into the group Participation within the group Participation of the group in a wider network The accountability of the group to its local community The representation of the group by a member Building involvement needs to address five issues:

Building Equality Equal opportunities in CCB: • Will building skills, organisations and involvement only strengthen existing powerful groups in the community? • Will groups on the margins be involved? • Will some groups feel more empowered while leaving out others?

Building Equality – three issues to address

Diversity – second principle in Equality theme • Is capacity building sensitive to different cultures? • Do some groups need separate provision e.g. some women’s groups • Does capacity building challenge discrimination? • Does it enhance diversity and allow people to be themselves?

Cohesion – building links • Can capacity building act to bring people together? • Does it keep groups in their different areas? • Is learning about different groups a part of the content? • Can it be a tool to identify shared problems and opportunities?

Example: A capacity building programme funded by a housing partnership to build leadership and bring communities together in a deprived multi-cultural area of Birmingham Building Equality Neighbourhoods Learning Together North West Birmingham Urban Living Housing Partnership and Fircroft College 2012

Planning CCB It can happen at a number of levels, such as: • A: With one community group • B: With a range of community groups in one neighbourhood • C: Across a whole district Examples of how to use the four building blocks

CCB with a range of community groups in one neighbourhood • How could we get an idea of the overall level of community strengths in a neighbourhood ? • What methods could we use to collect information on this?

CCB with a range of community groups in one neighbourhood Trident area, inner city Bradford • Half million population in Bradford district • New Deal for Communities ten year regeneration scheme • Trident area 10,000 people with many different cultures • Some of the most deprived wards in England • Fifty groups identified in the area • New method jointly devised

Capacity Building