Building stronger communities has the potential to improve their social and economic wellbeing and positively influence environmental and cultural outcomes. ICEPA is committed to developing activities that support and facilitate community strengthening and wellbeing, particularly in Melbourne's west, and projects/activities that test the bounds of this newly emerging area of policy and practice, through the following projects:
A Fairer West
Capacity Building for Community Strengthening
Employment and Learning
Neighbourhood Houses in Victoria
Reigniting Community in the West
Sustainable Communities and Environments
Victorian Community Indicators (VCI) Project
Events
Links and Resources
A Fairer
West
Partnership of Networks
ICEPA, in partnership with nine other organisations, is leading the establishment of a partnership between the major networks in the western metropolitan of Melbourne to build an avenue for advocacy and engagement on priority social policy issues in the region. In 2005, a regional attended by 120 people: A Fairer West Challenges and Opportunities, agreed that a regional advocacy based network was needed and a planning group was established to oversee its establishment. The planning group is currently undertaking a major consultation in the region to inform this next step.
Capacity Building for Community Strengthening (including the former Community Building Resource Service)
Until February this year, ICEPA was responsible for delivering a range of capacity building services and resources, known as the Community Building Resource Service ( CBRS ), funded by the Department for Victorian Communities (DVC). As an outcome of this work, a range of resources remains available to communities through DVC. Additionally, ICEPA has developed an expertise in the area of capacity building for community strengthening in Victoria.
Employment
and Learning
As part of the BraybAs part of the Braybrook and Maidstone Neighbourhood Renewal Project, ICEPA is the auspice for the Employment and Learning Co-ordinator (ELC). The role of the ELC is essentially a strategic one in forming partnerships to bring additional employment and learning resources into the Braybrook and Maidstone communities to address needs identified by residents. In practice, however, the ELC is also involved in assisting individuals to access jobs and training.
Neighbourhood Houses in Victoria
The Neighbourhood House sector offers an important platform for community strengthening in Victoria including locally managed facilities backed by community owned processes and considerable expertise in community engagement practices. In Victoria the sector is made up of 338 funded Houses (plus a number of unfunded Houses), 16 regional networks and a statewide peak body. ICEPA has been working with the peak body, Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres (ANHLC), to identify opportunities for the sector in the current community strengthening policy environment.
Reigniting
Community in the West
ICEPA is working in partnership with The TORCH and Moondani Balluk to develop a cultural community development project with Australian Indigenous people living in Melbourne's Western region. Re-Igniting Community (RIC) is an existing place based TORCH initiative that has been implemented in local communities in other parts of Victoria. The partnership with ICEPA and Moondani Balluk aims to explore how a RIC can be developed differently in the western region.
Sustainable Communities and
Environments
This area of work draws on the experience of a team of ICEPA Associates with a strong interest in exploring the connections between strengthening communities and sustaining the environment. This is a new area of ICEPA's work that is still in development.
Victorian Community Indicators (
VCI
) Project
The Victorian Community Indicators Project is a VicHealth funded initiative designed to strengthen and consolidate local government work on the measurement of community wellbeing, the development of community plans and the engagement of local citizens and communities.
Events
The Community Strengthening and Wellbeing hub hosts a range of events such as forums, seminars and networking opportunities, and in particular events that focus on developing community strengthening and wellbeing activities and knowledge in Melbourne's west.
Links and Resources
ICEPA is collecting a range of links and resources, including references for journals and publications, related to Community Strengthening and Wellbeing activities and projects.
