Community involvement UK

"If you are gathering information or knowledge from a community, you should consider yourself an instrument of the community, providing it with a service rather as them providing you with a service. The information gathered must remain theirs, not yours." Saul Cozens, September 2010, based on Chris Messina’s comments in 2006 about neue sweatshop labor / davepress.net / Inspiring Quotes 20
Community involvement is used here as a term similar to , and more recent terms such as .
Community involvement is about people and communities being able to play a full part in decision-making, for example local decision-making, and so influence the decisions which affect their lives. It is also about community empowerment, for example through access to appropriate information and adivce.
Proper community involvement is not tokenistic. Instead it is on-going, valued, meaningful, provides extensive opportunity and is genuinely and extensively influential.
Proper community involvement is not about allowing mere comment on decisions that have already largely been taken. Instead it begins at the design stage, the very beginning of any project or programme.
Proper community involvement does not include measures of success being foisted upon the community, or worse still simply being ignored. Instead it gives a primary role to the community in judging how successful a project or programme has been.
=== Action Ideas ===
* Participatory carbon budgeting
* Participatory budgeting
* we20
* Local referendum UK
* Participatory journalism
* Street parties
* Local quality of life conferences
* Community involvement weeks
* Youth Forum
==== Collaborate ====
* Open source conference design
*Open involvement
==== Petitions ====
* We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Encourage the Royal Mail to offer a free postcode database to non-profit and community websites. Submitted by Stuart Harrison – Deadline to sign up by: 06 January 2010 Sign the petition
* created by Feargal Hogan and reads: 'We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that ALL government websites make their information available free of charge to all users in ways that others can easily use.' Sign the petition, deadline to sign up by: 04 May 2008
==== New Ideas ====
* Places, projects and networks pages in this wiki
** Sustainable (Your town) pages in this wiki
** Local sustainability directories in this wiki
** Local sustainabiity picture libraries (online); share your pictures in this wiki (you need to be logged in to upload files - see Community Portal)
==== New technology focus ====
*BarcampUKGovweb
*E-Petitions to the Prime Minister. BETA TEST. E-Petitions in the "Environment" category
*Podnosh grassroots channel Podcast for active citizens. Birmingham Community Empowerment Network (Grassroots Channel)
*WriteToThem.com
*PledgeBank Helping people get things done
*local pledge banks, see for example Barnet PledgeBank / London Borough of Barnet
=== Campaigns UK ===
*Mash the State Grassroots campaign to encourage UK government and public sector organisations to make their data available to the general public. Challenge 1: Councils: Give us an RSS news feed by Christmas 2009. Only 15% of UK local councils have RSS feeds.
=== Consultations ===
*2008-04-10 online discussion forum closes, 'Unlocking the talent of our communities', Communities and Local Government Communities and Local Government, March 19 topic
* 2008-01-19 (Closing date for comments) Community Empowerment Action Plan, Communities and Local Government Communities and Local Government, October 19 Comment on the action plan
*National inquiry to explore the opportunities and challenges for rural councillors and what stands in the way of them doing more to help rural people have greater influence over local decisions. Launched 6 February 2007. The deadline for sending in views is Friday 18 May 2007. Commission for Rural Communities / Rural issues
=== Related ===
*The Civic Crowd mapping initiatives and ideas for citizen-powered change, providing an open public domain resource
*The Glass-House, community-led design
*Local e-Democracy National Project
*Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health
*New Politics Network
*Joseph Rowntree Foundation Independent social policy research and development
*Involve Aiming to bring about institutional change focusing on public participation
*www.participatorybudgeting.org.uk - information on participatory budgeting in the UK
*The Scottish Parliament - e-Petitioner
*Designing for Civil Society, David Wilcox's blog on technology, engagement and governance
*Neighbourhoods, Kevin Harris's blog on neighbourhood relations, citizenship, social capital, etc.
*Unlock Democracy
*Together We Can
*Campaign for Direct Democracy GB
References
category:articles with random facts
category:Community involvement
Category:United Kingdom
category:articles with random facts
category:Community involvement
Category:United Kingdom