CommunitiesThrive® supports integrated community planning and evaluation through innovative solutions that increase accuracy, participation, and representativeness. This leads to improved decision-making and outcomes.
Through our extensive local government work, we have identified several common limitations of councils’ implementation of Integrated Planning and Reporting (IP&R) frameworks that lead to ill-informed decision-making and resource allocation. To improve community and organisational outcomes, we have developed innovative solutions to these limitations.
The discussion that follows is framed as a response to the Integrated Planning and Reporting Guidelines for local government in NSW (DLG 2013); however, our solutions can create value for councils and other community-minded organisations everywhere. Whilst the full benefit of our solutions is delivered through a comprehensive package that is uniquely integrative, we can also provide individual solutions to support your organisation’s existing work.
Requirements, Common Limitations and Our Solutions
Key IP&R requirements with which we can assist your council include: (1) identifying your community’s needs; (2) delivering community engagement in accordance with social justice principles; (3) identifying your community’s main aspirations; (4) ensuring partnership in the development and delivery of the Community Strategic Plan; (5) integrating your council’s various plans; (6) establishing an ongoing monitoring and evaluation process; and (7) delivering on all requirements within your council’s limited resources.
| # | Requirement and Common Limitations | Our Solution |
| 1. | Identify your community’s needs Commonly limited by lack of comprehensive needs assessment | We undertake a comprehensive Local Opportunities Review (LOR), assessing social, environmental, economic and civic leadership needs and opportunities that are: (a) expressed, based on current and previous engagement undertaken at the local, regional and state levels; (b) normative, based on socio-spatial analysis, growth scenarios, and applicable guidelines and regulations; and (c) comparative, based on benchmarking against comparative areas. Then we provide engagement participants the opportunity to respond to the findings. Notably, the LOR provides an evidence base that can be leveraged by the council and community for funding and other strategic work. |
| 2. | Undertake community engagement in accordance with social justice principles Commonly limited by engaging a subset of the community that is too small, self-selected and homogeneous to be representative | To ensure engagement that is inclusive of the whole community, we first conduct accessible and statistically-valid Representative Surveys (RS) by phone and internet, and then conduct a series of community forums. Our forums: (a) are distributed equitably across the council area; (b) build on the LOR and RS findings; (c) meet and exceed IAP2’s Community Engagement Procedure of 2017, with minutes recorded at each forum and provided to participants for review; (d) present a minimum of two expert facilitators who differ in age, gender and background to mitigate similarity bias; and (e) provide a fun and empowering experience through gamification and co-creation approaches. |
| 3. | Identify your community’s main aspirations Commonly limited by not identifying priority levels or roles | We identify priority levels by calculating the frequency and magnitude of all identified aspirations. Noting that many issues are beyond a council’s direct control but within its sphere of influence (through partnership and advocacy), we identify potential community, council, and partner roles for each aspiration. |
| 4. | Ensure partnership in the development and delivery of the Community Strategic Plan Commonly limited by lack of ongoing partner engagement | We recognise that IP&R is a shared journey, requiring ongoing partnership and participation by a diverse range of representatives from the: (a) community sphere, including residents and other local stakeholders; (b) political sphere, including councillors and local members; and (c) professional sphere, including council staff, consultants and others with relevant expertise. We achieve this through broad engagement and iterative briefings, providing opportunities for community, political and professional review at each project stage. |
| 5. | Integrate your council’s various plans Commonly limited by lack of integration with other community planning processes | We recognise that, despite IP&R, councils often have a dozen or more community-focused plans, each with its own engagement and evaluation process; and it is not uncommon for them to be disconnected from IP&R and budgeting processes, and to ultimately expire before being implemented. Through our comprehensive and detailed approach to IP&R, we help eliminate the need for non-statutory community plans. Optionally, we can also develop other plans in parallel, such as a Disability Inclusion Action Plan or Community Governance (s355) Plan, to provide greater economies and integration. |
| 6. | Establish an ongoing monitoring and evaluation process Commonly limited by poor integration of resident surveys and service delivery reviews | We start with the end in mind and provide measures and baseline data for future monitoring and evaluation. Optionally, we can also facilitate the monitoring, evaluation, and subsequent review through ongoing Local Opportunities Review and Representative Surveys. |
| 7. | Deliver on all requirements within your council’s limited resources Commonly limited by high consultant fees | Our services are so competitively priced that your council probably will not have to go to tender, and your community will be assured great value. Further, whilst our neutrality and unique skills enable us to add value to the CSP as outlined, we believe that the other aspects of the IP&R process are best undertaken by council staff directly (including the Delivery Program and Operational Plan). Optionally, we can facilitate those aspects through low-cost workshops and advice. |
Please see Federation Council’s Community Strategic Plan 2018-2028 for an example of a CSP developed by CommunitiesThrive’s Chris Budhan; and see the Yarrawonga Chronicle article about it. For an example of Chris’ needs assessment work, see his Library Needs Study for Litchfield Council and the NT Government.
We’d love to talk to you about how we can help your community and organisation to thrive. Please Contact Us to start the conversation.
© CommunitiesThrive® 2019 | ABN 48 789 494 281
25 King Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
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