Empowered Community

The photos I am sharing are from the opening of Scene on the Green, a new community venture in Aboyne for the support of the Arts, Culture and Education; and their first programme of activities and events.

This is an entirely community-envisaged and community-led project which had its grand opening at the end of December.  The aims are:

• to be an inspirational venue by encouraging the teaching and training in arts, culture and education in the Community
• to initiate and support the production and display of all creative and cultural activities in Aboyne
• to be a centre for working skills and creative ideas to be developed within an atmosphere of respect and safety
• to be a place for meeting others, to provide an environment for expanding knowlege, and to promote cross-generational collaborations, and
• to attract and retain visitors to Aboyne by being an integral part of the life of the village and its annual calendar of events.

(sounds exactly like what a Community Centre should be, do I hear you say …..?)

The project was the brainchild of a local artist, but it could never have come together without the support of the community.  They have found a venue and people interested in tutoring and leading groups, and had a large turnout to their opening on 9 December with entertainment provided by their own brand new community singing group.

CLD have been in the background supporting and advising, but all the work has been done by the community itself.

Community taking over adult learning

The community here used to love their adult learning – art classes, languages, counselling skills, yoga …..

Then came WALT.

Community Learning and Development work was to be targeted to those in most need, and an affluent community where people loved learning for learning’s sake didn’t qualify.  For several years we’ve limped along, not replacing tutors who left and not developing these types of learning opportunity – struggling to explain the change of direction to the community.  In fact they understood it perfectly well, they just didn’t accept it. 

We may however have found a solution.  The local Development Trust decided, in partnership with ourselves and the Community Develoment Group, to run a programme of classes.  We gave advice and negotiated free use of the community centre facilities for them during their start-up phase.  They called the project ‘Community Education’ – just the slightest of digs at Community Learning & Development!  They advertised for tutors, advertised the programme, took the bookings, and off it went…..  http://www.mdl-education.org.uk

They ran 8 successful classes this term, from Conversational French to Tai Chi, and both learners and tutors are keen for more.  More potential tutors have also come forward.  A small amount of profit has been made, so it is reasonable to think that the project will be sustainable within a couple of years.  The adult learning programmes here in the past generated good profits which were plowed back into the community via the Community Development Group.

Another independent community group further up the valley are also in the throws of developing a learning centre and so the 2 groups have joined forces to look for funding for an admin/development post.  The only problem with the intial project had been that one person (volunteer with day job!) ended up doing absolutely everything – from looking for tutors to booking rooms to taking bookings and cashing cheques.  So a dedicated admin/development person is essential.

So where’s that programme?  Once the MOOC’s finished I’ll be looking for something new to learn!!

 

Empowering Young People

I was approached by a member of a local village development group regarding a large sum of money which had been offered by a mysterious local benefactor to pay for facilities for local young people.  A plan had been drawn up a couple of years before for a mountain bike track on a local estate and the development group were all set to spend the money on making this a reality.  This particular member of the group was a bit uneasy about this when the young people themselves hadn’t been consulted but wasn’t sure what to do about it.  I strongly agreed with her that this should be step 1, and she was then able to persuade the rest of the group to hold off until we had a chance to do this.

We gathered together a fairly random group of local youngsters and helped them to organise a very successful consultation event, using their own ideas about how to advertise it and make it attractive to their peer group.  This was followed up with a voting slip giving the options which had come up at the event which was distributed on the school bus.

The top item was a youth cinema.  Interestingly the mountain bike track didn’t get much support at all, and one or two of the intial group of young people dropped out at this point because that had been their choice.  Those who did want a cinema put their money where their mouth was and did get involved – in a very small village we had 10 young people, aged 14-16, mostly boys, working to get the project up and running. 

The cinema has now been running for a year – young people set up the equipment and show the films, run the tuck shop, organise sourcing the DVDs, run a Facebook page and email group.  One of the boys has submitted a Youth Achievement Bronze Award portfolio, and a further 2 are almost ready to submit.

So – how was that empowering?

Firstly, the decisions about what to spend the money on all came from the young people but they needed our support to be able to design a consultation and carry it out.  Neither the community nor ourselves put any agenda onto them, and the outcome was not what any of us would have foreseen.

Secondly, the young people involved learned a lot about commitment, negotiating, problem-solving and decision-making during the process of bringing the project to fruition – including having to look for extra funding when the pot turned out to be less than expected.  All skills which will continue to empower them in the future.

And lastly, their community is richer for the facility it now has, and the cinema gives the young people a time and place to get together, socialize and see the films that they have chosen to see.  They are in control!

Lindsay

Quotes – Community Empowerment

In my spare (!!) time I teach Mindfulness and I was interested in the parallels re the process of becoming empowered through awareness, choice, action – so first is a quote from Jon Kabat Zinn:

“This simple momentary shift from mindless reaction to mindful recognition [AWARENESS] can reduce the power of the stress reaction and its hold over you.  In that moment you now have a very real choice [CHOICE].  You can still go the route of the stress reaction, but you no longer have to.  You no longer have to react automatically in the same old way every time your buttons get pushed.  You can respond instead out of your greater awareness of what is happening [ACTION].”

 

and then a few others which are more to do with community and community empowerment:

 

“We can begin by doing small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place in living systems, not from above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously.”
— Grace Lee Boggs

 “There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”
— Margaret J. Wheatley

 “In our hectic, fast-paced, consumer-driven society, it’s common to feel overwhelmed, isolated and alone. Many are re-discovering the healing and empowering role that community can bring to our lives. The sense of belonging we feel when we make the time to take an active role in our communities can give us a deeper sense of meaning and purpose.”
— Robert Alan Silverstein

“There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.”
— M. Scott Peck

 “Community is as endangered by surplus as it is by deficit. If there is too much money floating around it enables people to have no need of each other.”
— Bill McKibben

and finally, from Permaculture’s ‘People Care’ ethic:

“2. CARE OF PEOPLE: Provision for people to access those resources necessary to their existence.
As a part of this planet, you matter! This is about ensuring the wellbeing of both individuals and communities. As individuals, we need to look after ourselves and each other so that as a community we can develop environmentally friendly lifestyles. In the poorest parts of the world, this is still about helping people to access enough food and clean water, within a safe society. In the rich world, it means redesigning our unsustainable systems and replacing them with sustainable ones. This could mean working together to provide efficient, accessible public transport, or to provide after-school clubs for kids. When people come together, friendships are formed and sustainability becomes possible.”

OK – I’ll stop now – getting carried away…….

Lindsay