Empowerment Works has been far from the only effort to energise people to create an alternative narrative to the Big Society that has decided to jack it in. The admirable Our Society website and its crew have done the same, and I can't do better than Julian Dobson in describing why things are as they are in what has turned into an empty space, so far as lively collaboration is concerned.
Empowerment Works is a movement of people and organisations committed to building support for community empowerment in the South West and beyond. For more information please visit the Empowering Communities website.
Showing posts with label big society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label big society. Show all posts
Monday, 1 October 2012
The last post, maybe
This blog should have
been put to rest some time ago, I guess.
But late last rites are, I hope, better than none.
Empowerment Works has been far from the only effort to energise people to create an alternative narrative to the Big Society that has decided to jack it in. The admirable Our Society website and its crew have done the same, and I can't do better than Julian Dobson in describing why things are as they are in what has turned into an empty space, so far as lively collaboration is concerned.
Empowerment Works has been far from the only effort to energise people to create an alternative narrative to the Big Society that has decided to jack it in. The admirable Our Society website and its crew have done the same, and I can't do better than Julian Dobson in describing why things are as they are in what has turned into an empty space, so far as lively collaboration is concerned.
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Big society – some evidence
‘Crowding out’ is the notion that if the state withdraws, others will rush in to fill the gap. It’s popular with big society thinkers. They may be wrong when it comes to volunteers crowding in, according to the authors of Public Spending and Volunteering: "The Big Society", Crowding Out, and Volunteering Capital.
Monday, 19 December 2011
The Localism Act — Santa or Scrooge?
I’ve opened the shiny present in the capacious Christmas sack of the Localism Act marked ‘new rights and powers for local communities’, and had a horrid disappointment. It rattled enticingly, but what has fallen out of it strikes me as having greatly more potential to disempower than to empower. The year’s labour of the Elves over the Bill has, I fear, been wasted. It’s time to move on.
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Speak up while you can
South West Forum’s timely report mixing useful case studies with grim tidings on how cuts are already muffling the voices that influence decision makers (see previous blog post and here) was welcomed at a meeting at Bath Spa University last week of funders and others who support voluntary sector organisations in the region.
A number of funders have been doing their own surveys into how the cuts are beginning to bite, and sounded gloomy – the representative of one national funder said that the cutbacks in funding advisers and support were really beginning to show.
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Who's Listening to the Big Society?
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Localism – What does that mean?
It’s something I’d rather not be asked by someone with a questioning mind. Should it be a relief that the Government is in the same boat? Or, to wrap it up in the more formal language of the newly published Report on Localism from the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee, there’s a ‘lack of clarity about the nature of localism . . . The Government should be explicit about the choices it has made about what type of localism it wants to pursue.’ Putting it another way ‘the actions the Government has set out so far, both in the Localism Bill and in the programmes of individual departments, give an overall impression of inconsistency and incoherence.’
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Bigger Society
Film Real One are an independent film company who've been collecting people's views on the Big Society idea. Three films have just been posted on their Bigger Society channel and copies have been sent to local MPs and cabinet ministers. Who else do you think should see them?
So far, Film Real One have completed this work unpaid and unfunded. They'd like to roll the project out, and are seeking funding to do so. If you think you might be able to help with this, please get in touch.
So far, Film Real One have completed this work unpaid and unfunded. They'd like to roll the project out, and are seeking funding to do so. If you think you might be able to help with this, please get in touch.
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Big Society Empowerment Policy – going in the right direction?
When the authors of a report which gave a constructive welcome to much of the Big Society agenda in the Spring produce a longer follow-up, and write that ‘the objectives of community empowerment and personal responsibility are in danger of being lost’, it’s worth taking a closer look.
Monday, 22 November 2010
Government ‘upside down’. What does it mean for empowerment?
The department that funds the regional empowerment partnerships is being ‘turned upside-down’, according to a Deputy Director at the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) who came to speak to our national meeting last week. So are its staff, by the sound of it, 40% of whom will be going in a restructuring which will end in 2012.
The restructuring will leave DCLG (note: no more CLG – the ‘D’ is back) with two policy directorates, Neighbourhoods, which will deal with housing and related issues, and Localism, into which responsibility for ‘enabling Big Society’ will fall. That Big Society work will concentrate on three areas: community rights, race equality and integration, and evidence - ‘informing Big Society’.
The restructuring will leave DCLG (note: no more CLG – the ‘D’ is back) with two policy directorates, Neighbourhoods, which will deal with housing and related issues, and Localism, into which responsibility for ‘enabling Big Society’ will fall. That Big Society work will concentrate on three areas: community rights, race equality and integration, and evidence - ‘informing Big Society’.
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Live blog from the Big Society conference
This is a ‘live blog’ from today’s Big Society conference. Presentation and case studies from the day have been added to the Creating Excellence website here, with videos and more still to come . . .
Nearly 200 people gathered today for the Big Society Conference in Somerset Cricket Ground for discussions about what ‘Big Society’ is, what it means for public authorities and community groups in the South West, and what we should be doing about it. The diverse group of attendees including local councillors, council officers and voluntary organisations staff and volunteers were the lucky ones as the event was heavily oversubscribed, with two people interested in every place available.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
The Big Society Conference
On Thursday 200 people will gather in Taunton to discuss how to make Big Society work in the South West. We are using this website to provide a space for discussion from delegates at the conference and those unable to attend to take the conversation forward about what needs to happen to ensure people are genuinely empowered and collectively we can tackle social problems affecting us.
Monday, 11 October 2010
Danger of short-termism in community empowerment
Wiltshire is launching four new local voluntary sector forums, and I attended the launch of the first of these last week to share with them my understanding of Big Society and what it might mean for voluntary organisations. I had an interesting chat afterwards with an experienced community empowerment worker.
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