Network News June 2018

Community Networks Aotearoa is the umbrella organisation for local community networks throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. We use our collective voice to lead to policy action, social change and community empowerment. To find out more visit our website here.

This newsletter covers topical issues in the community sector. In this newsletter:

• Budget 2018
• Heads up for government providers
• Open Government Movement
• Meet the members
• On Air
• Government reforms/consultations to note
• To blog, nor not to blog
• Things to note before you go…..
• Special offer for members

Budget 2018  

Whilst the budget contained many positive announcements, it was not the transformational budget we had hoped for.

The community sector is an essential part of a healthy thriving society. From housing and health to emergency support and everything in-between, the community sector plays a critical role in individual family, whānau and community wellbeing.

But many in the community sector are operating under severe financial strain. And this strain is having a real impact on the ability of community organisations to meet the needs of people in their community. We are deeply disappointed that this budget hasn’t recognised this, or even indicated a pathway forward.

What’s everyone saying?

You can find a range of commentary here.

We found the following commentaries useful in understanding the impact of the budget:

• Ara Taiohi commentary: Budget ’18: a mixed bag for the young people of Aotearoa
• NZ Council of Christian Social Services commentary: Support for Many, But Social Services Will Continue to Struggle and Policy Watch Budget Special

Heads up for government providers   

Later this month New Zealand Government Procurement will be launching an initiative to help non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The initiative aims to link NGOs that are delivering social services on behalf of government with businesses interested in providing them with discounted pricing. We’ll send out more information about how to check your eligibility and access this initiative when it is launched.

Open Government Movement – interview with Scott Miller, Volunteering New Zealand CEO       

The Open Government Partnership is an initiative aimed at promoting transparency, empowering citizens, fighting corruption, and harnessing new technologies to strengthen governance. You can find out more or get involved here.

Below is an interview with Scott Miller about open government action here in Aotearoa.

How did you get involved in open government – what is your personal story about why you joined the movement?

While the principles of open government have existed for as long as democracy has been championed as the rule of the people, my journey to open government, like most others, has not been linear.

It was several years ago, as the Chair of ComVoices, a national network of NGOs in New Zealand, that I had the privilege of hosting a Parliamentary breakfast on OGP, attended by the OGP Support Unit. This breakfast, a meeting of MPs and civil society representatives, was a seminal moment of a maturing understanding of OGP in New Zealand. It solidified a narrative of engagement that went wider than just an exclusive set of interested parties and government representatives, to a conversation that connected our (civil society) aspirations for a partnership with government that could drive innovation, transparency and participation at both a domestic and international level.

Aside from my time as Chair of ComVoices, I hold roles as the Chief Executive of Volunteering New Zealand, as an Expert Advisor to the New Zealand government on Open Government, and as a Consultant to the Kettering Foundation, a US-based democracy think-tank doing brilliant work on community-led democracy, which is strongly aligned with open government principles.

To continue reading, click here.

Meet the members – Community Waitakere with Mandy Spencer  

Community Waitakere is a community development organisation, serving West Auckland communities for over 30 years. We work within the Whau, Waitakere Ranges and Henderson Massey Local Board areas. Our vision is for connected, thriving and sustainable West Auckland communities.

We engage in hands-on local place-making with a focus on  Lincoln North, Glen Eden, Avondale, Kelston and Glenavon. We work with residents, schools, community groups and organisations to build a sense of community, identity and connection, We see our role as a catalyst – supporting communities to identify their aspirations and then supporting them to engage and  make things happen, growing  their confidence and capability to influence what happens in their local area.

We support communities in the wider West Auckland area through the following programmes:

• Leading in Communities – an 8 week programme growing the capability, of emerging leaders.
• Open Door Days, usually co-hosted with another organisation. Organised around a topical theme they provide space for networking and discussion, and they regularly result in practical co-operations.
• The Community Waitakere E-noticeboard provides a one-stop source of events, updates, and invites, three or four times a week.
• The Waitakere Community Resource Centre provides friendly event and meeting spaces.
• White Ribbon events, and engagement  on other social issues.
• Half-day training courses designed specifically for community organisations, not-for-profit groups and individuals within the social sector.

We believe that the environment and community are inextricably linked, and that we cannot have a healthy community without a healthy environment. Our environmental work includes:

• Managing  Project Twin Streams Henderson Creek since 2008,  providing environmental engagement opportunities that are both practical and meaningful. Over time  people see the difference they can make to create  positive changes in the environment.
• Working in collaboration with the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust’s Whitebait Connection Programme and Auckland Council Biodiversity we initiated a  project that works with the community to enhance inanga spawning opportunities.
• Ngā Puna Manaaki Wahapu is a citizen science based wetland monitoring project focussed on several urban wetlands in West Auckland. Funded by the Ministry for the Environment. It aims to engage the community to improve the state of wetlands.
• More recently we have started with community engagement projects on bats and on habitat  ecological restoration in the Te Atatu Peninsula.

An example of the sort of work we’re doing is our work with the Kelston community. We’ve been working with the community to have a voice and build lasting relationships. We also acted as a platform for starting on the implementation of some of the projects that the community has already identified they want, such as a cultural food festival, Kelston Identity project, community food events, cultural events, block parties and gardening events.

Another example of the work we do is our work with Sport Waitakere to test the interest in the use of green space for public engagement. After holding several events over a summer we started to see new ideas arise from the residents for further community generated initiatives (e.g. “maybe I could organise some belly-dancing for the elderly”). We saw people in the community starting to make connections with each other e.g. Normandy Street Residents got together and started organising their own happenings, such as a great Neighbours Day event.

This success confirmed that green spaces are a great starting point for increasing community engagement, public participation and for contributing to the mental and physical health and wellbeing of neighbourhoods.

To learn more about what we do click here.