CAPACITY BUILDING

PCC’s Community Capacity Building team can be contacted at ccb@parracity.nsw.gov.au or by calling 9806 5138.

In order to work more effectively with the diverse communities of Parramatta, in late 2005, PCC restructured its Community Development Unit into a Community Capacity Building team. The community capacity building approach is a bold new step for PCC in the way it undertakes social and community service provision across the Local Government Area. In fact, Parramatta’s approach is a new model for Local Government in NSW. Following extensive planning the approach was implemented in late November 2005 with the commencement of a Community Capacity Building (CCB) team.

The team comprises two (2) Community Capacity Building Officers who work strategically across the whole Local Government Area to ascertain community issues and identify community strengths in order to develop effective responses for the whole community. The Community Capacity Building Officer, Social Enterprise will join the team January 2007. This position will focus on linking social and economic factors to increase the wellbeing of Parramatta’s communities.

There are also three (3) Community Place Development Officers who work in local areas and neighbourhoods to assist communities to grow, develop and achieve their aspirations.

The Unit also has an ATSI Service and Capacity Building Project Officer who works with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and provides information and advice to residents, community organisations, other Council services and government agencies.

The Team is managed by a Service Manager who also works with community groups and the not-for-profit sector.

The information below provides a brief overview of the model and the logic that supports it. Essentially the model is about enabling long term community-driven social change, rather than short term ‘quick fixes’. The community capacity building approach to the delivery of Social and Community Services rests upon the following principles:

A holistic approach: Our approach recognises the diversity that exists within the Parramatta LGA and the need to recognise that diversity in our responses to community needs, wants and aspirations. The approach recognises that our community members do not necessarily belong to one homogenous group and may actually identify as a member of many different groups within their lives.

An issues based approach: In recognition of the diversity that exists even within identified groups such as ‘young people’, the CCB team takes an approach of looking at issues rather than particular ‘groups’. In looking at the factors that contribute to these issues the team can then work in cooperation with the community to determine the most appropriate response and relevant strategies to address the issue at hand, rather than branding an issue as the problem of a particular group of people or community. The approach is about seeing the complexity of our communities and working in response to that complexity, rather than trying to make people fit into one identifying category.

A whole of community approach: The CCB team view the role as that of ‘enablers’. The whole of community approach values the contribution that members of our communities have to make in regard to their needs, wants and aspirations and works to move away from a welfare based model and towards a model of community based solutions for community issues. The model also appreciates the importance of developing strong partnerships with the not-for-profit and business sectors and of using their expertise to develop sustainable outcomes for our communities.

A strengths-based approach: In addition to seeking to work with the community on a range of issues, the community capacity building model also seeks to identify the strengths in our communities and to support and grow them so that communities become robust and resilient. We also apply this approach to our not-for-profit and business sectors by recognising the strengths and the values they bring to the communities of Parramatta, and the potential for working in partnership to build on those strengths and to mobilise additional resources to expand them to areas where they are needed.

In practice, the CCB team has three areas of responsibility:

To build the capacity of the community: We work with community members to identify their areas of concern, their needs and their aspirations and work to build their capacity to address needs and concerns and achieve their aspirations. An example of this may be working with residents in regard to developing community leadership and self advocacy skills that can be used by them as individuals but can also be used collectively by communities to advocate in regard to particular issues.

To build the capacity of PCC: The CCB team holds the view that every service in PCC is a community service provider. It is our role to build the capacity of the organisation to understand the communities it services and to ensure that the needs of those communities are considered in all aspects of service provision. An example of this may be ensuring that the community is considered in PCC’s strategic and town planning processes, and working to ensure that this becomes part of ‘business as usual’ rather than something that is only done occasionally or for a special purpose.

To build the capacity of the not-for-profit sector: We will work alongside local not-for-profit organisations and groups to support the work they do. We will do this in the following ways:

• Supporting the development of the sector through the provision of PCC sponsored opportunities for professional and sector development.
• Working with you to advocate for better resourced and better planned service provision across the Local Government Area.
• Working in partnership with you to ensure that strategic planning processes on a local and regional level consider the needs of the community, but also the impacts on the not-for-profit sector and developing strategies to manage and resource responses to these.
• Providing you with the best information possible about our communities and the sector.
• Working with you to help you work together and to establish partnerships across our sectors, and assisting you to share information, resources, skills and knowledge.
• Working on projects that compliment and add value to the work of the sector.

We appreciate that this model will be an organic, living process. Being a cooperative model, how it develops and its level of success will depend on how we all work together over the coming years to benefit our communities. We look forward to working with you in what are sure to be exciting, challenging and rewarding times.

In the community capacity building section of PCC’s website you will find a range of resources and information that will be of use to those interested in the model, and that will grow over time as we engage with new projects in the local area.

See the ‘useful links’ page for resources on community capacity building and community place management.