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Engaging Communities in Enterprise

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  • ‘I just wanted to say thank you very much for the workshop, I thought it was absolutely brilliant and made me think on a deeper level of what community is all about. The book is great and very inspiring so thanks for that too. I had a lot of fun and it wasn’t one of those meetings where we were talked at it was very interactive and I really look forward to the next one’
  • ‘good networking event’
  • ‘good style of delivery’
  • ‘good selection of talk and exercises – kept my attention’
  • ‘met new people; found out about other organisations; loved the opportunity to share and learn from others’
  • ‘excellent delivery and content’
  • ‘the whole day was very good :-)’
  • ‘liked the style and format; good exercises and examples’
  • ‘built rapport and gained more info on partners’
  • ‘opportunities to network and see the LEGI bigger picture’
  • ‘presentations very good.  re-assured about things I did in the past.  learned about innovative ways to deal with disaffected’
  • ‘good mix in terms of style and delivery – light hearted but meaningful tasks – theoretical and practical
  • ‘informative – with interesting ways of getting the points across’
  • ‘good networking, meeting other LEGI partners, more information about enterprise, the activities were educational’
  • ‘liked the interaction, presentations, venue, networking and the presenters’
  • ‘liked the mix of activities – fun and engaging’
  • ‘liked the process model and the stages, Boyatzis Model and the group work, the learning from the videos was good and the interaction with others’
  • ‘I liked the exercises that put us out of our comfort zones’
  • ‘I see that many people could really benefit from both you and Anne as I have to admit that I have been on so many workshops and training days but I have to say yours was the best by far’
  • ‘I liked Anne, I think she is very knowledgeable and is a great presenter. She thinks outside the box and  stretches other peoples thinking. I have just been sharing my day with [colleagues] and telling them how fantastic the workshop was. I would like to include the others from our team if possible onto your next planned workshop as its important that we can all learn as much as possible to benefit the people that we try and reach everyday within our jobs’

This was just some of the feedback from the first time we ran our ‘Engaging Communities in Enterprise’ workshop.

I am delighted to say that we  plan to run it again in London on September 26th.  You can find out more and book your place here.

I run the event with Anne Sherriff.  Anne has a strong background in regeneration, in particular community engagement, communications and marketing, and developing effective partnerships. She joined re’new in 1996, having previously worked for Bradford City Challenge and before that the Community Development Foundation.

Initially appointed to lead and co-ordinate Leeds’ SRB2 funded East Bank regeneration programme, Anne’s role with re’new has developed to now encompass overall responsibility for all of the company’s work throughout East Leeds as well as leading the development of renew’s neighbourhood management and community activity. Anne also coordinates re’new’s corporate marketing and communications activity, and leads on the development of new business across the Leeds city region.

The East Bank regeneration programme encompassed housing and environmental renewal, economic development and social and community development. Throughout, the ability to engage successfully with local residents was key to the success of the regeneration programme.

Forming and sustaining effective partnerships – between agencies and with local communities – is fundamental to successful intervention at neighbourhood level. Anne developed and led the East Bank partnership and has subsequently coordinated the formation of the to’gether Partnership. This is a unique multi-agency approach to solving inner-city problems in east Leeds based on shared responsibility among public agencies and buy-in by local residents, including developing a ‘residents network’ of local people who have endorsed the to’gether Partnership, currently numbering over 1000 and still growing.

Anne has been involved in community development and community engagement for nearly thirty years, as a practitioner, trainer and manager. Committed to developing innovative and effective solutions to local issues, and to ‘joining up the dots’ between disparate interventions and approaches, she is an effective and creative strategic leader whilst retaining a pragmatic approach to getting things done. Anne is an experienced Investment in Excellence facilitator committed to enhancing personal and professional development opportunities for those working in or with local communities.

Connecting with a Vision for Leeds

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Our Vision for Leeds is an internationally competitive European city at the heart of a prosperous region where everyone can enjoy a high quality of life.

Leeds Initiative Vision for Leeds – 2004 2020

That must seem like a pretty distant vision for many Leeds residents.  For the tens of thousands that are living on incapacity benefits.  For those who have no job.  For those who work in the third sector and are more interested in social justice than international competitiveness.  For parents who are struggling to raise and educate their children.  For pensioners. For migrants and refugees.

But the problem is not with the vision per se.  The problem lies with the resources available to help a very wide range of people and communities to connect with it.  To understand why it is relevant to them and how it can help them to make progress on their agenda.  How it can help them find a sense of belonging in a Leeds community that is striving to make ‘progress’.

For a vision to be effective a wide range of stakeholders have to be able to connect with it and make sense of it in their own context, and then to use it to leverage action – to make things happen.  Otherwise it is just words.  I suspect it is no accident that this ‘Vision for Leeds’ appeals so directly to the white collar community, to the developers and the investors.  To those that have power shall be given more.

Visions can help to pull us towards a more attractive future, but only if they are relevant to us and are dripping with possibilities for action.

In the world of organisational and business development the ‘Vision backlash’ has started.  Instead of dreaming of distant possibilities those leading the backlash ask:

  • ‘What is it that we are on the verge of becoming?’,
  • ‘How, at this time, is it possible that we could change?’

This ’emergence’ based on a process of ‘presencing’ (understanding the ‘here and now’ and then acting to tip the balance in favour of progress) honours the past as much as the future. It ensures that the future is rooted in the strengths and cultures of the past.  It encourages placemaking based on history as much as on the future.  And this matters because it is the history that has shaped us all.  Our cultures, our psyches our potentials and our preferences.  Development that honours who we are, what we have become and what we believe it is possible for us to be.

Perhaps we should compliment the Vision with a real understanding of what we have the potential to become – not by 2020 – but right now.

Enterprise and Community Development

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Peter Block has been an incredibly powerful writer and thinker on development and change for decades, primarily in the context of business and organisation.  I am a big fan of his work.

His latest book is called “Community – The Structure of Belonging” and it  provides both practical and philosophical insights in to community development.

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Praise for Peter Block’s “Community: The Structure of Belonging”

“From the person who gave us the best book written on business stewardship comes the best book on how to transform the places where we live, work, and play into authentic, effective communities. Some of Peter Block’s conclusions may surprise you, but this compelling book is a must for all who love the places we call home enough to rethink our approach to building and maintaining community.”
–Dennis Bakke, CEO, Imagine Schools, Cofounder and CEO Emeritus, AES Corporation, and author of Joy at Work

“Every earnest public servant, every volunteer, every disillusioned citizen, every civic leader, and every community activist or businessperson who truly want to make their communities better should read this book. It can serve as a guide or manual, but Community at its heart is a book of questions, and Peter gently and persistently reminds us that we are the answers.”
–James Keene, President, Alliance for Innovation and Western Director, International City/County Management Association

“In this wonderfully practical book, Peter Block defines the nature of a community with manageable dimensions, creative directions, and hopeful possibilities. His methods lead us to a restoration of the joy of a genuine common life.”
–John McKnight, Professor of Education and Social Policy, and Codirector, Asset-Based Community Development Institute, Northwestern University

“Peter Block clearly identifies the essential ingredients, qualities, questions, atmosphere. and actions needed to create and build vital communities filled with possibility, generosity, accountability, and deep engagement. Outstanding in its relevance, practicality, and clarity.”
–Angeles Arrien, PhD, cultural anthropologist and author of The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom

“This book is more than practical advice on execution of theory; it is a spiritual primer for the building up of community and transforming hope that we so desperately need in today’s world. Peter has touched us once again in that place we call `soul'”.
–Clint Kemp, Founding Pastor, New Providence Community Church

“Peter’s work has become the cornerstone of how our police department has developed over the years. What we have pleasantly discovered is that the more our capacity grows to work in partnership with each other, the more our capacity to serve our community is enhanced.”
–Michael Butler, Chief of Police, Longmont, Colorado

“After being engaged for many years with transformations in the U.S., Latin America, and Africa, it is exciting to find a practical and deep methodology that integrates great ideas and points at new applications. Peter’s book is critical for anyone concerned about reenergizing the quality of life in our workplaces and in our communities.”
–Steve Zaffron, CEO, the Vanto Group, a Landmark Education Company

You can order the book online here.

If you have already read it perhaps you can share your thoughts?

Or else recommend your favourite books on enterprise and or community development.

A Sirolli Primer

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I am a big fan of the work of Ernesto Sirolli.  He has been working on encouraging enterprise, primarily in disadvantaged communities for over 30 years now and has built up a wealth of experience and knowledge on the field.  He has also developed a proprietary methodology called Enterprise Facilitation® that is taught to communities by the Sirolli Institute.  He has visited Leeds on a couple of occasions now and talked with members of the Sharing the Success programme and others interested in his work.

How much of what he teaches do we believe is relevant and valuable to our work in encouraging enterprise?

What aspects of his teaching do we choose to ignore?  Why?

What aspects have we learned from and put into practice?  What results have we got?

If you have not heard Ernesto speak there are several good places to start to learn about his ideas.  One of the best is this web page from New Zealand.

BizzFizz which is operated by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a very similar type of programme.  Links to both Bizzfizz and Sirolli can be found in the sidebar to the right.