• promoting the power of working together across sectors;
• supporting leadership and learning for community-led development;
• linking people, projects and places;
• developing and sharing resources, tools and new knowledge; and
• being a catalyst for change in communities of place.

Say hello, kia ora, talofa, malo e lelei, ni hao or whatever works for you and your neighbour.
• Bake a batch of muffins for your neighbour or invite them over.
• Next time you mow your grass verge, cut your neighbours' verge too.
• Pop a note into everyone's letterbox asking if people are interested in getting to know one another.
• Exchange phone numbers in case of emergencies.
• Organise afternoon tea or a barbecue for people in your street

• Solutions not problems
• In between: the action is in the interaction
• Making use of what’s there, not what isn’t
• Possibilities: past, present and future
• Language; simply said
• Every case is different

• Howard Sercombe – on youth work as a profession
• Judith Bessant – on the future for youth work in Australia
• Vaughan Bowie – on youth workers and stress
• Heather Stewart – on theorising youth and difference
• David Maunders and Robyn Broadbent – on youth work as a career

"As you see Bulls has some new signage. The idea was to install 4 poles around the town to guide people to services eg toilets, police, info, parking and businesses and I just had to have added our sister towns Cowes in the UK and Victoria. We always had complaints that shoppers didn't know where the toilets and info were so we have now remedied this problem. You all would have seen these types of pointers in the larger cities, and now we have them here in a small town and they are working really well, so there you go they work. Ours are photographed all the time and have become the popular thing on the streets, due to the fact that you can get a whole lot of bull signage in one shot. They are eye catching and were only $61 + gst per panel double sided. The poles were $576 + gst. Council funded this project, together with the new Bulls Information Centre Signage that you can see in the back of the pics. I had to meet with Transit NZ to look at siting of the poles, which they were more than happy with, just as long as they don't encroach onto where the pedestrians are walking and they don't distract the driver or block their vision. It all took a little bit of time however, but that's ok it was worth the months of putting it all together. I asked businesses if they wanted to be included which a lot did, and have about 4 more wanting to be part of it and I charged an admin fee to each one to organise and do the paperwork (invoicing). If you like this idea and would like more information let me know, happy to help."

• ''Take care of the land, and it will take care of you. Take what you need from the land, but need what you take.' (Aboriginal Law)
  
  
• 'Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing generations of our families. Think of your grandchildren and those yet unborn, whose faces are coming from beneath the ground.' (Founders of the Iroquois Confederacy, C1000AD)
   
• 'Today, more than ever before, life must be characterised by a sense of universal responsibility, not only nation to nation, but also human to other forms of life. So choose wisely.' (The Dalai Lama)

Below is a wonderful Japanese folktale added to our collection on the website courtesy from Bruce Dyer in New Zealand. Enjoy and learn. For other great folktales click here.

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often."
 
In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."

All the faces in the world are mirrors.

• The latest Place Making trends and best practice including case studies from around the country and abroad - Place Making as the new environmentalism
• an integral approach to delivering place; i.e. social, culture, environment and economic
• Introduction to Authentic Engagement
• Micro skills of engagement - Engagement tools and processes;
• Open Space
• Café Conversation
• Community Visioning
• Walking the Beat
• Appreciative Enquiry
• Building a Learning Community
• Food and Common Meaning
• How to deal with hotspots and challenging situations
• Facilitation skills
• Engagement and Place Identity
• Place activation processes and skills
• Engagement and Place Management
• becoming a successful and effective Place Leader

• Melbourne - Tuesday, March 16th 2010
• Brisbane - Friday, March 19th 2010
• Sydney - Monday, March 22nd 2010
• Perth - Wednesday, March 24th 2010
• Hobart - Monday, April 12th 2010
• Auckland - Thursday, April 15th 2010

Copyleft Policy

Resources of the Bank of I.D.E.A.S., either in full or in part, can be copied, quoted, reprinted, given away or circulated. Parts may be torn out, extracted and enhanced. In short, all resources are public property. Please use in any way to build the skills and knowledge of citizens in building healthier communities and more vibrant local economies.

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