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| Communities update |
From the Chief Executive
Some expected that the term "big society" wouldn't survive the summer. The idea was ridiculed as vacuous; damned as a cynical cover for public spending cuts and disparaged by Tory MPs as a disaster on the doorstep. Disproportionately big cuts to public funding for voluntary organisations haven’t helped. Yet, for all that, at least for now, the Big Society looks set to stay. Our work in communities – setting up websites, carrying out ethnographic research, involving communities and frontline workers in redesigning services – shows that people like the concept of self-government. And massive cuts in public spending make shifts in responsibility unavoidable. That’s why we’ve tried to take a constructive approach. Our short pamphlet on the Big Society sets out many practical examples of the kind of work that could be grown, as well as recommendations to government; its aim is to provide a blueprint for how the Big Society could be more than just a slogan. We were glad that David Cameron backed one of our new initiatives – the Citizens’ University – in his key party conference speech in October, and we’re proud that so many of our ventures and social enterprises are thriving even in a very difficult climate. Others are moving quickly into pilots and pathfinders, including a new organisation to promote resilience, Mydex (offering a new way of managing personal data) and I Do Ideas (a radical approach to youth-led grant-making). Our new Community Action Toolkit (an online compilation of over 4 years of work with dozens of local authorities and communities) aims to help those who are on the frontline of the Big Society – councillors, community activist, residents’ associations. Meanwhile, with a groups of partners in three continents, the Future Communities programme is drawing lessons from the failed urban developments of the past to help planners and developers get things right this time. The Social Innovation Exchange (SIX) goes from strength to strength with a successful summer school held in Singapore in September and following the launch of the European Union’s ‘Innovation Union’ strategy which took on many of the recommendations made by SIX. Meanwhile across the Atlantic we published our first reports in the US, jointly with the Center for American Progress, focusing primarily on how governments could innovate more effectively. In this update we focus mainly on our work with communities, and how people can be helped to work with each other, rather than only having things done to them or for them.This has been a primary concern for us ever since the launch of the Institute for Community Studies in the 1950s. Today these questions seem to be on the public agenda as never before.
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| Visit the Young Foundation's Blog -- from Yvonne Roberts' views on equality in the UK to Coco de Mer's Sam Roddick discussing why the public debate about sex remains so superficial. Have you seen ... |
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Devolution and community empowerment are at the centre of the political stage once again. But experience over the past decade has shown how challenging they are in practice. Among other things, devolution and empowerment create risks which councils and public servants need to manage. They also demand that agencies change the way they view and work with communities and service users. Over the past five years the Young Foundation has worked with dozens of local authorities in England, hundreds of community groups and residents, and many councillors, housing associations and local public agencies to understand what works when it comes to understanding, engaging and empowering communities. Now we have brought together the main lessons in a community action toolkit. The portal shares local stories, practical advice, case studies, guidance and research findings about what people want for their communities. So, if you are a resident keen to set up a local web site, a local charity who needs more volunteers or a council employee asking yourself how to get more people involved in local action click here. For more information contact Saffron Woodcraft Read more » |
The Young Foundation, in partnership with NESTA and a group of civil society organisations, is testing out a new approach to citizen skills. The focus will be on skills which can be learned relatively easily but which can make a huge impact when it comes to dealing with the costs of everyday crises. We have identified four core areas: crisis (first aid, using defibrillators, how to intervene if someone is at risk of harming themselves), safety (how to de-escalate a conflict that may result in a fight, how to intervene in anti-social behaviour, self-defence), support (allowing family, friends or neighbours to live independently, organising community events, being involved in local decision making) and sustainability (basic nutrition and cooking, home maintenance skills, making your home more energy efficient). The courses will be run in libraries, colleges and pop-up shops on every high street and will last between 4-10 hours.
For more details visit www.citizensuniversity.org.uk.
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Wired estates
We are working with two estates in London to explore how a free wifi service and lap-top loan scheme, introduced earlier this year, are affecting communication and neighbourly behaviour of residents. Evidence about the impact of hyperlocal websites on community social capital is relatively limited. This benchmarking research aims to understand how residents currently use the internet and, in particular, local websites and social media. The results will be used to develop a series of practical projects to increase resident connectivity, drawing on the lessons from Local 2.0. For more information about this work contact Lucia Caistor-Arendar |
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From our work ...
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 | | | | | UK Education Secretary Michael Gove launches the first Studio Schools at a gathering of over 300 leading education experts and practitioners. The schools offer an innovative new curriculum involving practical learning and paid work in Blackpool, Kirklees, Luton, Newham, Oldham and South Tyneside. They cater for 14-19 year olds with a range of abilities and are designed to better suit the needs of young people who might not reach their full potential in traditional school environments. The UK Centre for Justice Innovation will be launched in partnership with the New York Center for Court Innovation (NYCCI) and with the support of the Hadley Trust. The product of a six month feasibility study by Aubrey Fox of NYCCI, the Centre picks up on a central recommendation in the Young Foundation’s report Turning the Corner: beyond incarceration and reoffending. Local 2.0 launches two neighbourhood websites: Nottingbarnslive.com and Fairstead.org in partnership with local agencies and local residents in Notting Barns, North Kensington and the Fairstead es | |
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