The document discusses building partnerships between government and community. It outlines two approaches: agency services which are top-down and focus on needs, and burgerkracht which empowers citizens and focuses on community strengths. Communities face crises like single-use zoning and increased mobility that reduce social connections. The government's role includes providing basic services while ensuring rights, but true partnerships require moving beyond top-down approaches and silos to empowering communities and supporting their priorities. Steps include funding community-driven projects, removing bureaucratic barriers, and building capacity through leadership training and networking forums. Success is measured not just by numbers but also by stronger, self-sufficient communities.

1. BUILDING GOVERNMENT-COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIPS

2. Two Paths to Healthy Communities:
1. Agency services
2. Burgerkracht

3. AGENCY
SERVICES
BURGERKRACHT
Professionals/
volunteers/clients
Citizens
Top-down Democratic
Focus on needs Focus on gifts
One way Reciprocal
Siloed Holistic
Depends on money Depends on
relationships

4. COMMUNITY IN CRISIS
Single-purpose land use
Increased mobility
More time working
Fear
Electronic screens
Globalization
Professionalization
Specialization

5. CRISIS =

6. DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

7. TYPE OF
ENGAGEMENT
GOVERNMENT’S ROLE CITIZEN’S
ROLE
Customer
Service
Provide services Taxpayer/
Client
Citizen
Participation
Engage people in
government’s priorities
through its processes and
programs
Advisor/
Volunteer
Community
Empowerment
Support people to come
together as a community
to act on their own
priorities
Producer

8. ECONOMY IN CRISIS

10. Every place has:
• Gifts of individuals
• Community associations
• Built and natural environment
• Local economy
• Culture, history and identity

11. PLANET IN CRISIS

12. Central Area, Seattle

23. Whatever the question,
community is the answer.
-Margaret Wheatley

24. POWER OF COMMUNITY
Care for the Earth
Care for One Another
Prevent Crime
Respond to Disaster
Promote Health
Sustain Local Economy
Advance Social Justice
Create Sparkling Streets
and Eyes

25. UNIQUE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
• Make and enforce laws
• Ensure people’s basic needs are met
• Safeguard people’s rights
• Plan and manage transportation system

26. Co-creation of Public SafetyC
Emergency
response
Risk
intervention
Prevention
Social
development

27. KEYS TO GOVERNMENT-COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIPS

28. Move beyond siloed thinking

29. to focusing on whole places

30. City of Seattle
Department of

31. Little City Halls and Coordinators

32. Move from starting with needs

33. to starting with strengths

34. Neighbourhood Matching Fund

35. Playgrounds

36. Parks

37. Environment

38. Food Security

39. Renovated Facilities

40. Cultural Centers

41. Youth Development

42. Public Art

43. 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 government as a whole
• Sharing of stories

44. Move beyond top-down

45. to community-driven

46. Neighbourhood Planning

47. Columbia City

55. 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 neighborhood
and culture of community
• More holistic and innovative solutions result
• A stronger sense of community is built

56. STEPS GOVERNMENT CAN TAKE
TO PARTNER WITH COMMUNITY

57. 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.
• Never do for people what they can do for
themselves.
• Don’t treat third sector organisations as
the surrogate for community.

58. Remove Barriers:
• Centralized decision making
• “One size fits all” programs and
regulations
• Inaccessibility (location, language,
hours, runaround)
• Know-it-all attitude
• Obsession with measuring results
• Bureaucratic red tape

59. Palmerston North, New Zealand

60. 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
• Highlight community strengths
• Share stories of successful communities
• Move beyond client services and citizen
participation to community empowerment

61. Measuring Success
You don’t make the hog fatter by weighing it.
-Iowa farm proverb

62. “Not everything
that can be
counted counts
and not everything
that counts can be
counted.”

63. Port Phillip, Australia

66. www.neighborpower.org