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Greetings
Over this month, the Bank of I.D.E.A.S. has been involved in presenting and work shopping at a range of events within the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, initiated by the Newcastle City Council and the Lake Macquarie City Council. This newsletter contains a wide range of projects from the Hunter that are inspirational.
Over this month, the Bank of I.D.E.A.S. has been involved in presenting and work shopping at a range of events within the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, initiated by the Newcastle City Council and the Lake Macquarie City Council. This newsletter contains a wide range of projects from the Hunter that are inspirational.
(Albert Einstein)
This is a very practical initiative by the City of Newcastle to enable residents to have more direct input into decisions that affect the future development of the City. By registering, residents record their areas of interest and are selected to participate in two-five consultations each year. Participation is voluntary and residents can withdraw at any time. Regular newsletters and a webpage for members provide updates on survey results and consultations.Click here for more information.
The Bank of I.D.E.A.S. has just finalised an agreement to bring Paul Born from the Tamarack organisation in Canada to Australia and New Zealand in November. The Bank of I.D.E.A.S. considers Paul a leading international facilitator in the practice of ‘community conversations’.Paul will be facilitating six workshops in the following locations in November 2010 -Melbourne (3 Nov), Adelaide (5 Nov), Perth (8 Nov), Sunshine Coast Qld (10 Nov), Sydney (15 Nov) and Auckland NZ (17 Nov).
More details will emailed to all newsletter subscribers in the coming 2 weeks. For details on Paul click here.
It has been a privilege for the Bank of I.D.E.A.S. to work with Council staff and residents in their exciting
‘Sustainable Neighbourhood Program‘. This initiative is a unique community planning initiative that seeks to reduce Lake Macquarie’s ecological footprint, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Its theme is –
“Sustainability is the aim, community action is the answer, and citizen engagement is the method for promoting change”.
Key to the approach is the development of Sustainable Neighbourhood
Groups (plan is for 200 within 10 years) who are developing Sustainable
Neighbourhood Action Plans and will drive achievement of the actions
they identify. Click here for more information.
Thanks to Bob Ashford for drawing our attention to this gem. This is a landmark publication by Richard Louv that defines the problem of
‘Nature -Deficit –Disorder’ in children in a most convincing manner. It explores how our society has removed children from nature and the consequences. Above all, it shares the importance of nature in teaching, healing and stirring a child’s curiosity. It is one of those call to action books.
Click here for details. Click here for the most wonderful ‘Resource Guide’ by Richard for practical ideas for parents, teachers and community members to encourage enjoyment of children in the outdoors. Click here for details of the ‘Children and Nature Network’ that is working to develop children’s’ reconnection with nature.
- Raising Responsible Teenagers
- Raising Competent Teenagers
- Getting Teenagers Connected
Of particular value on the website is the collection of local government policies on community gardens and their “Community garden Fact Sheets” including:
- ‘Checklist for New Community Gardens’
- ‘What is the Community Garden’
- ‘Safety in the Community Garden’
- 'What is Organic Gardening’
- ‘How to Compost’
- ‘How to build a non-dig Garden’
- ‘Integrated Pest Management’
- ‘What is Permaculture’
Rik Hart, General manager of Warringah Council in NSW has a long history of community consultation innovation. Recently, Council was informed by State Government that they needed to create 10,500 more housing units and incorporate 25,000 more residents by 2031. Rik utilises a Town Hall Summit methodology as a way to engage 500 residents in a day event that involved interesting communication technology and values clarification gaming.More details on this interesting consultation event click the following links to visit the Council's website, PDF document and view a DVD of the day.
Copies of this wonderful resource has just arrived at the office of the Bank of I.D.E.A.S. This is the essential text for anyone wanting to explore the Transition Towns concept.
Click here to order a copy
Click here to download a related media.
TThe Main Street Center of the US National Trust has produced this amazing new resource. Cost is US$50. Available online through Amazon. Another related resource worth getting is
“The Economics of Historic Preservation- A Community Leader’s Guide”. An invaluable collection of stories, facts and practical strategies. Costs $25 new or $16 used from Amazon.
For more information, check out the following websites Big Mob Help and Youth Tree.
With a federal election on the horizons in Australia, Vibewire Youth Media Inc is partnering with a major media organisation to be at the forefront of finding fresh, exciting and diverse perspectives from Australia’s young people. This has yet to be released and they are currently recruiting young video reporters for the project which will be launched in July.
electionWIRE will be a national repository of news, views and opinions. The site will be a space where user-generated content will meet incisive, hard-hitting journalism. Whether it is youth unemployment, immigration, the ETS, homelessness or health, the electionWIRE reporters will be on the ground asking tough questions and getting unpredictable answers. They will be guided by their peers to find the stories that haven’t been told in a new, bold and unexpected style. The teams, comprised of a journalist and a multimedia producer, will be stationed all around Australia. They will be trained, supported and guided by a senior editorial team, ensuring the delivery of quality journalism.
Vibewire is currently scouring the country to find six reporting teams to cover the federal election. If you are aware of young people who may be interested, click here and pass on the flyer or contact Justin Franks on justin.franks@vibewire.org.
The Beanstalk is yet another amazing Newcastle/Hunter community initiative involving 150 residents. The Beanstalk was established in 2004 by three friends who were concerned at the lack of access to healthy and safe food for the community. Most people they knew cited affordability as the reason they could not eat organically. There was also very little support given to farmers practicing environmentally sound agriculture in the Hunter region, with certification and transportation costs the main issues for small farm businesses. A dialogue began with a farmer and The Beanstalk was established. From its humble beginnings on a veranda to its current location in East Newcastle, the organisation has flourished. Members now have access to affordable, healthy and local produce and it supports at least four local and sustainable farmers each week. In their words – “This benefits the Hunter Valley farmers, our urban community and ultimately, our earth”.
The objectives of the Beanstalk are:
- To develop direct links between the sustainable organic farming communities and the urban communities of the Hunter Valley
- To offer farmers fair prices and support them through difficult periods
- To build consumer awareness of sustainable agriculture and empower the community to consume ethically
- To minimise resource consumption and packaging
- To foster community skill sharing
- To create a viable and sustainable community organisation.
Click here for an interesting article from the Center for Rural Affairs, USA on the value of Community Gardens and community relationship building.
The Strengths and Assets Summit will be held in Newcastle, 30th November until the 3rd December 2010. The Summit brings together the 6th Australian Family and Community Strengths Conference (AFaCS) and the 2nd Asset Based Community Development Asia Pacific Conference (ABCD) in a celebration of over 10 years of concentrated development of strengths based policy, practice and research in the Australasian family and community services sector.This event provides an opportunity to learn from what is now known about good practice, and to explore how we can effectively measure the impact of our work. Importantly, the Summit will foster meaningful dialogue between practitioners, researchers and policy makers. Delegates will be able to move between conference programmes on the two overlapping days.
For more information download pre-conference and call for paper brochures.
The Murray River Group of Councils comprise the six Councils along the Murray River in Victoria including Mildura Rural City Council, Swan Hill Rural City Council, Gannawarra Shire Council, Loddon Shire, Shire of Campaspe and Moira Shire.
Click here for more information.
This is another great Hunter / Newcastle institution which focuses on the national and built environment and innovative approaches to understanding the interactions of people with the environment. The Institute is a part of the University of Newcastle and an excellent illustration of both regional solutions for a sustainable future and university / community partnership.Click here for more information.
This is an exciting visionary exercise that is providing Newcastle residents with numerous opportunities to influence the City’s future through expression of their values, aspirations and practical recommendations.Go to the City of Newcastle's website for more information.
For more information visit the Renew Newcastle website.
- benefit existing users of the place with potential to increase
- increase community use in positive ways
- show evidence of a collaboration and / or partnership
- involve community members in doing the project.
Click here to view his acceptance speech.
“Community Development is about the journey of discovery, rather than the planned arrival. It is about a community being helped to be self-determining which contradicts the idea of clearly defined objectives. We cannot know in advance how long a process may take or where it may end up. In this case, community development is a more chaotic, unpredictable and post modern activity than most planners or managers would like and does not fit neatly, if at all into conventional bureaucratic guidelines…”
(Jim Ife, Community Development: Creating Community Alternatives)
To read more, visit Australian Geographic’s Online service.
Incidentally, subscription to Australian Geographic is strongly recommended to any community builder interested in being kept abreast of interesting sustainable community and economic development initiatives.
- In a Bucharest hotel lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.
- In a Leipzig Elevator: Do not enter the lift backwards, and only when lit up.
- In a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your values at the front desk.
- In a Japanese hotel: You are invited to take advantage of the chamber maid.
- On the menu of a Swiss Restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.
- Outside a Hong Kong Tailor Shop: Ladies may have a fit upstairs.
- In a Bangkok dry cleaner’s: Drop your trousers here for best results.
- In a Rhodes tailor shop: Order your summer suit. Because it is a big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.
- In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and send them in all directions.
- In a Norwegian cocktail lounge: Ladies are requested to not have children in the bar.
- In a Budapest Zoo: Please don’t feed animals. If you have suitable food, give to guard.
- In the office of a Roman doctor: Specialist in women and other diseases.
- Theme One: Understanding Change
- Theme Two: Knowing Oneself
- Theme Three: Being Enterprising
- Theme Four: Exploring our Community as a Place of Opportunity
- Theme Five: Testing and Tasting the Enterprise Option.
You can download the four games (1) (2) (3) (4) books produced as resources for the Program below.
To access the entire Toolbox (contains Resource File, library of relevant publications, printed booklets and copy of suggested DVD’s) at a cost of $2850 contact Bank of I.D.E.A.S. on pk@bankofideas.com.au.
Creative Paper Tasmania is an iconic Australian municipal enterprise owned by the Burnie City Council. Developed from an unemployment project, it has evolved into a key Tasmanian tourist attraction. It produces a range of most interesting handmade eco-friendly papers including products from apple pulp, forest floor product and old denim jeans. Famous for its roo-poo paper, they have now added wombat-poo paper. This paper is produced from the droppings of a single wombat name ‘Nugget’. He supplies about 1 kilo of fibre-rich product each month which is processed into one ream of paper!Click here for more on Creative Paper Tasmania.
Street Swags is one of these inspirational stories illustrating that one person’s vision can make a huge positive difference. Street Swags was founded in 2005 by a Brisbane School Teacher, Jean Madden while watching a documentary on homelessness that highlighted the negative effects of a lack of sleep and sleeping on cement had on physical and mental health. She created a swag that is practical, potable, easy to roll up, waterproof and cheap. Street Swags is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on donations to keep producing and distributing swags to homeless people.
Visit the Street Swags website to learn more or make a donation
- One in every two women with children in the homeless service is escaping domestic violence.
- 22 per cent of all people seeking help cite domestic violence as the reason.
- Many men are homeless due to financial difficulty, mental illness and/or drug and alcohol use.
- Homeless couples with children have usually been evicted or have financial problems.
- Children who experience homelessness are more likely to become homeless as adults.
- 18 per cent of all homeless Australian people are sleeping rough on the streets of cities and towns.
For helpful information on this function, check out the following websites and handout:
- Our Community
- Volunteering Australia
- Bank of I.D.E.A.S.
Info sheet –
’45 Ways to Recognises Volunteers’
TThe Bank of I.D.E.A.S. would like to salute 30 years of work by Roger Holdsworth in supporting student participation initiatives through his wonderful resource – CONNECT.
This magazine has been published bi-monthly since 1979 and continues to be full of great stories and resources related to student participation. It is an ‘absolute must’ resource for anyone interested in youth / student participation. 30 years on, CONNECT, in Roger’s words “still talks about an active and heard voice for young people; we still talk of giving young people important things to do as part of their education; we still talk of roles of value for young people; we still talk of young people as partners in education.”
To receive the Magazine email Roger at r.holdsworth@unimelb.edu.au.
Click
on the photo to see this amazing piece of public art. More than 200 artists covered the FB Holden Utility in ceramic tiles and mirrors to commemorate the Town’s famous annual event – the Deni Ute Muster.
The eight lessons are:
- Lesson One: Courage is not the absence of fear – it is inspiring others to move beyond it.
- Lesson Two: Lead from the front – but do not leave your base behind
- Lesson Three: Lead from the back – and let others believe they are in front
- Lesson Four: Know your enemy – and learn about their favourite “sport” (as far back as the 1960’s Mandela began studying Afrikaans)
- Lesson Five: Keep your friends close and your rivals even closer
- Lesson Six: Appearances matter – and remember to smile
- Lesson Seven: Nothing is black and white
- Lesson Eight: Quitting is leading too.
In Australia, the only other projects to receive the Award have been the Sydney Opera House and Snowy Mountain Scheme. What is great about this Award is that it recognised C Y O’Conner, the engineer that designed it, who committed suicide literally days before its successful testing due to the naysayers of the day.
Click here to read the story
- Volunteer skills are not matched with the assignment: volunteers with valuable and specialized skills are often dispatched to do manual labour rather than tasks that use their professional sills.
- There is a failure to recognise the contribution of volunteers: nonprofits need to recognise volunteers both through an organisational culture that values them and through specific appreciation ceremonies and events.
- The value of volunteers is not measured: most nonprofits do not measure the dollar value that volunteers provide to their organisations.
- There is failure to train and invest in volunteers and staff: volunteers need training to understand the organisations with which they are working and employees need to be trained to work with volunteers.
- There is a failure to provide strong leadership: most non-profit leaders are simply not taking the time to develop or support volunteer talent adequately, resulting in a poor or bland experience that leads to an unmotivated volunteer who has little reason to return.
(Anon)
For anyone interested in exploring the community garden idea, Fig Tree Community Garden in Newcastle is well worth studying. Its story and process is inspiration.Click here for more information.
Incidentally, the free electronic monthly newsletter of the Center is well worth subscribing to.
The ICTC Society seeks to facilitate world best practices in the planning, development and management of cities, towns and communities and particularly the planning, development and management of public spaces and infrastructure. This October,
their annual Conference will be held in Coffs Harbour.Click here for more details .
Click here for more on their story.
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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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Bank of I.D.E.A.S.
(Initiatives for the Development of Enterprising Actions & Strategies)
14 Bird Rd, Kalamunda WA 6076
Ph: 08 6293 1848 Email: pp@bankofideas.com.au