PowerPoint presented by Jim Diers during his tour of New Zealand August 2012. Arranged by Inspiring Communities www.inspiringcommunities.org.nz

1. BUILDING STRONG COMMUNITIES

2. POWER OF COMMUNITY

3. Power to Care for the Earth
Ballard Neighbourhood, Seattle

16. Power to Prevent Crime
SODO Neighbourhood, Seattle

21. Power to Care for One Another
Wodonga, Australia

35. Power to Demand Justice
London, England

38. Power of Community:
• Care for the Earth
• Prevent Crime
• Care for One Another
• Demand Social Justice
• Create Great Places
• Emergency Response
• Health and Welfare
• Happiness
• Democracy

39. YOUR TURN:
Share your own story
about the power
of community

40. COMMUNITY IN CRISIS
Single-purpose land
use
Increased mobility
Longer work days
Fear
Electronic screens
Consumerism
Globalization
Specialization
Professionalization

41. Ballard Neighbourhood, Seattle,
Seattle

43. Keys to Opening Your Community
to Greater Participation

44. #1 – Have Fun!

45. Fremont Neighbourhood, Seattle

77. #2 - Start where people are:
►Their block
►Their language and culture
►Their networks
►Their passions
►Their call

78. #3 …but don’t leave them there:
Strive for Results!

79. #4 – Don’t sit on your assets:

80. Every individual has gifts
of the head, heart and hands

81. YOUR TURN:
What are your skills,
passions & knowledge?

82. Labeled People:
• Homeless
• Unemployed
• Poor person
• Non-English speaking
• Single parent
• Addict
• Offender
• Disabled
• Old person
• At-risk youth

83. What Young People have to Offer:
• Creativity
• Time
• Energy
• Impatience
• Greatest stake in the future
• Expertise on what young people think

84. Toppenish, Washington

92. DISCOVER BURIED TREASURE
IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

97. Every place has:
• Gifts of individuals

98. QUESTION TO PONDER:
Whose gifts are
underutilized in your
community?

99. Adelaide, South Australia

105. Every place has:
• Gifts of individuals
• Voluntary associations

106. Individuals share their gifts when they
are in association with one another

107. QUESTION TO PONDER:
What are the community
associations where you live?

108. Columbia City, Seattle

123. Every place has:
• Gifts of individuals
• Voluntary associations
• Built and natural environment

124. QUESTION TO PONDER:
Where you live, what are…
-the bumping places?
-the visible treasures?
-the buried treasures?

125. Riverina, New South Wales

129. Phinney Neighbourhood, Seattle

132. Eastlake Neighbourhood, Seattle

135. White Center, Washington

143. Every place has:
• Gifts of individuals
• Voluntary associations
• Built and natural environment
• Local economy

144. QUESTION TO PONDER:
How could your community assets
strengthen your local economy
and how could your economy better
support your community?

145. Lake Street, Minneapolis

159. Yackandandah, Victoria

162. Every place has:
• Gifts of individuals
• Voluntary associations
• Built and natural environment
• Local economy
• Culture and identity

163. QUESTION TO PONDER:
-What is the unique identity
of your community?
-What are your cultural and
historical assets?

164. Eritrean Community

165. Every place has:
• Gifts of individuals
• Voluntary associations
• Built and natural environment
• Local economy
• Culture and identity
• Local agencies

166. Agencies vs. Associations
STAFF & BUDGET VOLUNTEERS
CLIENT
CITIZEN
CONSUMER
NEEDS ASSETS

167. QUESTION TO PONDER:
What are the
underutilized assets
of agencies
where you live?

168. Columbia School, Seattle

171. QUESTION TO DISCUSS:
What could you
accomplish by
mobilizing community
resources?

172. STEPS TOWARDS AGENCY-
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

173. Do No Harm:
• Don’t distract the community from its own
priorities.
• Don’t force the community into the
bureaucracy’s silos.
• Don’t take people’s time without showing
results.
• Don’t make the community dependent.
• Don’t undermine the community. Follow
the Iron Rule.

174. Remove Agency Barriers
to Partnership:
• Centralized decision making
• Cookie cutter programs and
regulations
• Inaccessibility (location, language,
hours, runaround)
• Bureaucratic red tape
• Know-it-all attitude

175. Build Community Capacity:
• Offer leadership training
• Assist with outreach tools like translation
• Work with associations of all types
• Provide forums for networking
• Offer non-meeting options for engagement
• Share stories of successful communities
• Highlight community strengths
• Move beyond citizen participation to
community empowerment

176. Department of

177. PARADIGM SHIFT NEEDED

178. Move from Siloed Thinking

179. To Holistic Approaches

180. Little City Halls and Coordinators

181. Move from Starting with Needs

182. To Starting with Strengths

183. Neighbourhood Matching Fund

184. What makes Matching Fund unique?
• Community matches with its assets,
including volunteer labour
• Community determines priorities
• One time projects only
• Any group of neighbours can apply
• Proposals reviewed by peers
• Quantity and diversity of participation
key to selection and evaluation

185. High Point Neighbourhood

188. Alki Neighbourhood

189. Carkeek Park

192. Alki Neighbourhood

194. Duwamish Tribe

196. International District

197. Keys to Success
• Ownership by community
• Outreach beyond usual suspects
• Volunteer match
• Small amounts of money
• Training and technical assistance
• Minimal red-tape and paperwork
• Support by the council as a whole
• Sharing of stories

198. Move from Top-Down

199. To Community-Driven

200. Neighbourhood Planning

201. Keys to Neighbourhood Planning
• Comprehensive plan provides framework
• Community initiates the planning
• Community engagement must be broad and
inclusive
• City provides funding & technical assistance
• Community hires its own planning expertise
• Community defines its own scope of work
• Community drives plan throughout process

202. Delridge

229. Value of community-driven planning:
• Implementation happens – plans don’t sit on
the shelf
• Resources are multiplied – government
resources leverage community’s
• Appropriate development occurs –
respecting unique character of neighbourhood
and culture of community
• More holistic and innovative solutions result
• A stronger sense of community is built

230. QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
-What are local agencies doing
to move towards more place-based,
strengths-focused, community-led
ways of working?
-What more could they do?

231. TOOLS FOR BUILDING
STRONG COMMUNITIES

232. Learning Conversations
CREDENTIAL
WARM UP TALK
MOTIVATION TO ACT
● Gifts/talents to contribute
● Dreams to realize
● Concerns/needs to address
WILL THEY PARTICIPATE?
WHO ELSE DO THEY KNOW?

233. Visioning
King County Senior Services

234. Photos of Central Area Gathering by Max Wells

243. Actions from Initial Gatherings
Neighborhood walking map
Planning for senior co-housing
Gay/lesbian community projects
A one-stop lifelong learning website

244. Peppi’s Woods Maintenance Project

245. Time bank from Shoreline to Edmonds

246. Intergenerational, multicultural dance party

258. Summit

260. Open Space Technology
High Point Neighbourhood, Seattle

278. Time Banking

280. Timebank UK

283. Tea Vans
Portland, Oregon

286. Edmonton, Alberta

288. Welcoming
Waterloo, Ontario

290. Melbourne, Victoria

294. Big Lunch, UK

301. Vashon, Washington

305. WELCOME VASHON PROJECTS
Restorative Justice Program
Amigos en Vashon
Ferry Dock Welcoming Signs
Challenge Day at Vashon High School
Checkers in Town
Breakfast at Sally’s
Cross-Ability Friendship for Students
Stone Soup
Welcome Wagon
Hire Vashon
Time Bank
Homesharing
Create Community Center
Establish Free Clinic
The Wave Campaign

306. Port Phillip, Australia

309. QUESTION TO DISCUSS:
What ideas from this
workshop do you plan
to implement?

310. jimdiers@comcast.net