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W1 Child Youth and Friendly Communities - Sponsored by UNICEF
Christoph Baker, Italy / Barbara Lambourn, UNICEF
Chaired by Lyn Campbell, NZ Families Commission
Communities that consider the wealth, welfare and future of our young generation are communities with strong
futures. By investing in youth, communities can become vibrant, safe places that continue to grow, offering leisure,
support and jobs for the future generation. This workshop will provide skills and knowledge on how
to lead communities to be more child and youth friendly.
W2 Enhancing Communities Through Local Democracy
Mary Richardson, Consultant / Bruce Robertson, OAG / Dr Jean Drage, Researcher
This workshop will give examples on how to give every member of the community a voice and the ability to
participate in decision-makings. This interactive workshop looks at ways to obtain representation and input across a
broad spectrum of socio-economic groups and diverse cultures.
W3 Achieving Best Practice Consultation with Controversial Projects - Sponsored by City Care
Mary Hay, Christchurch City Council
This creative and interactive workshop will consider the role of affected communities and decision makers in the
development of local projects. The rationale for consultation will be reviewed in the
context of the public participation spectrum, which ranges from simply providing information through to empowering
communities. The importance of identifying all of the people, including decision makers, that are affected by a
development will be discussed. Also considered will be the value of understanding why a project is controversial and
whether its undesirable effects can be mitigated. Participants will get involved in activities that demonstrate
a range of facilitation techniques, which can be shared and discussed within the group. These experiences provide an
opportunity to evaluate how this collaborative approach to working with communities can contribute to better
outcomes when consulting on controversial projects.
W4 Community Boards Preparing for Vibrant Diverse Communities
Getrude Matshe and Mansoor Khawaja, Demographer
Sponsored by Auckland City Council
As New Zealand welcomes an increasing number of immigrants, communities are starting to become more
diverse and multi-cultural. This workshop will look at what needs to be considered to ensure communities
remain welcoming, supportive and safe places to live and work. Getrude Matshe will share her personal
experiences of coming to a new country and will be joined by a demographer who will give statistical information on
immigration and projected figures.
W5 Best Practice Partnerships at the Local Level for the Environment
Dr Bryan Jenkins / Carole Evans
The Local Government Act Amendments of 2002 focus local government authorities on achieving community outcomes through partnerships of government, industry and the community. For regional councils with a focus on the environmental well being component of sustainability, the Local Government Act adds the role of facilitator of community outcomes related to the environment to their traditional role of regulator of environmental effects. This implies a collaborative governance model of sustainability.
Best practice service delivery of community outcomes requires community involvement in goal setting, identifying the issues, considering possible actions and implementing the solutions. This is now occurring in Canterbury in the critical areas of water management, air quality improvements, transport and urban development.
The workshop will address the approach being taken to community partnerships and the role that community boards can play in this process.
W6 Community Boards Leading Community Safety
Dr Carolyn Coggan, Auckland / Victoria Owen, LGNZ and Inspector John Price, Canterbury Police
Sponsored by Armourguard
Working together to contribute to the realisation of the New Zealand Injury Prevention Strategy, SCFNZ considers that local government and in particular community boards, are natural partners for improving safety in communities, in terms of Councils’ wider sphere of influence in
communities. Each year injury has a very significant impact on the economic and social well being of communities. In the 2004 – 2005 year, approximately 200,000 people attended their doctor for an injury that occurred on the road, in the water or as a consequence of a falls outside the workplace, or home environment. These Doctor visits for injuries that occurred in community spaces occurred at a cost of $35 million. Of these 200,000 injuries, 20,000 people were
required to take more than one week off work at a further cost of $104 million dollars in that year alone. Some of these people were never able to return to work again. Councils and community boards have the opportunity to significantly improve safety in their community by contributing to the 3Es of injury prevention by partnering with other groups to educate on safe behaviours, provide legislation enforcement (encouraging compliance with guidelines, standards and codes of practice), and promote the safe design of new community spaces, or the modification of existing hazardous community spaces including roads, parks, recreational, residential or commercial areas. This interactive workshop will provide an overview of the partnership work that SCFNZ are currently supporting to further advance community safety within Territorial Local Authorities throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Incorporated within this workshop, Mike Reid, Manager, Governance, Local Government New Zealand and a relevant Police representative will draw on their considerable expertise to advance the debates related to how community boards can positively influence community safety.
W7 The Value of Council/Community Board Relationships for Communty Leadership
Mayor Dale WIlliams / Dr James Stratford, DIA / Tony Marryatt, Christchurch City Council
Sponsored by Selwyn District Council
This workshop will discuss the importance of creating and maintaining relationships between the Community Board, Councillors, Mayor and staff. This workshop will give examples of how a poor relationship can effect community and Local Government decision making. Learn how to develop a good working relationship with your local Council which will enhance the community. This workshop is led by: A Mayor who has been a Community Board member; James Stratton who is writing a paper on best practice relationships; and an experienced CEO who
has worked in councils with and without Community Boards.
W8 Conmmunity Boards Using Community Development and Media Promotion - Sponsored by CCC Community Support Unit
Dr Love Chile, Auckland / Di Keenan, Christchurch City Council
Dr Love Chile is a well known practitioner and has written several books on Best Practice Community Development.
He will share his knowledge on how to have a good community through community development. Di Keenan has worked as both a newspaper journalist and now as Christchurch City Council Communications and Media Manager. Learn how to get the positive message across so communities support projects.
W9 Developing Sustainability Assessment and Action Plans for Communities - Sponsored by Environment Canterbury
Steve Henry, Centre for Sustainable Practice, Otago Polytechnic
Communities are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues and wanting to contribute towards a more sustainable way of living and working. Learn how to encourage your community to take ownership of their long term visions and achieve their environmental outcomes. This session will discuss how to develop a sustainability plan and the steps communities need to take to implement it.
W10 The Role of Staff in Servicing and Providing Community Boards' Advice - Sponsored by First Direct Taxis
Staff Workshop Only - running for one session only on Friday 20 March, 10.30am- 12.00pm
Mike Richardson, Consultant
The first purpose of a council staff organisation is to assist elected members to undertake their roles effectively. This means that staff must be very clear as to what is valuable from an elected member point of view in helping them go about those roles. In this workshop we will look at the roles carried out by a Community Board and by its individual elected members.
Namely:
- Representation (including addressing constituents complaints and enquiries)
- Community networking and engagement
- Decision-making
- Influencing and advising Council and others
- Civic leadership at the community level
The workshop will discuss how value might best be delivered in each of these areas. To help us do this a panel of Community Board members will be on hand to guide us through their perceptions as to what creates value.
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