Community resources

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"Most people participate in their communities not as part of organised groups, but in doing acts of kindness" Professor Carolyn Kagan, Professor of Community Social Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. / Inspiring Quotes 13

Community resources matter for community empowerment. Although Community & voluntary action has a proud tradition of innovation and doing a lot with a little, it's much harder to do something with nothing. It may be that a community's greatest resource is its people, but community action can perhaps best flourish if backed up with at least some 'real' resources. In partnerships it's been observed that community and voluntary groups can, unfortunately, sometimes get ignored because they are perceived as not bringing any (what other partners percieve as 'real') resources to the table.

• What resources are there in your local community for community groups?
• Are there places for groups to meet (affordably)?
• Is there access to Information Technology and enough support to use it?
• How easy is it for new groups to form and sustain themselves?
• Are there ways for local community groups to network and support themselves and each other?
• Is there access to support for networks (looser groups, coalitions, etc.) and not just older more traditional forms of organisation?

Action Ideas

Articles Set up Project pages, Sustainable (Your town) pages, Local sustainability directories in this wiki Participatory journalism Open Source Ecology	Wanted pages Asset transfer Good Gym see wanted pages and external links below Happy City, Bristol Resources Human library and living books, see for example humanlibrary.org	other ideas Local sustainabiity picture libraries (online); share your pictures in this wiki (you need to be logged in to upload files - see Community Portal) Sustainability centres Sustainability advice service Skill share Community shops and cafes Internet cafes Equipment sharing Shared office space Community websites Young people involved as community centre inspectors, local sustainability libraries or resource centres, including making use of online networks to share books and other resources

Related

SCA SCA's whole Resources section, or category Local Sustainability Ideas Bank Community involvement Communities online Community & voluntary action Legal resources Sustainability networks Youth & sustainability Big Society, Big Society news	Wikipedia Community ownership W	Wikisphere Openstreetmapappropedia

Wanted pages and external links

• Community Capital Tool, decision support and assessment tool designed to facilitate and ground community discussion about integrated planning and monitoring. Comprises two related instruments, the Community Sustainability Balance Sheet and the Community Capital Scan. The Community Capital Tool is fully functional and ready to use, available free online, and is the product of collaboration between CSCD and Telos, Brabant Center for Sustainable Development, Tilburg University, Netherlands.
• School of Commoning. The purpose of the School of Commoning, as a Community Interest Company, is to benefit society, by enhancing individual and collective competences in the creation, protection, and governance of commons.

Community resources - Portal / UK - news - London

References