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About this Site
Contents
1. What Is Community Building?
3. Vision, Objectives & Measurements of Success
What is Community Building?
Community building is about people from the community, government and business, taking the steps to find solutions to issues within their communities. Coming up with their own solutions to problems that affect them, adapting what has worked elsewhere and enlisting support from government or other partners, gives people a sense of achievement and empowerment. Community building is based on participation of people, individually and as a community, who act together to create change. It incorporates many concepts including community renewal, social capital, community diversity and sustainability.
Background of the Site
communitybuilders.nsw is an interactive clearing house where users are encouraged to contribute to content and ongoing development.
The site was developed in response to a desire expressed by communities across NSW to access information about what others are doing and what works to make their community safer and more inclusive, enterprising and resilient. The initiative was announced by the Premier at the Strengthening Regional Communities Forum held at Dubbo, in September 1998.
Users include everyone involved or interested in making our communities more dynamic and successful, ranging from community members of all ages, different community organisations, community workers, and all levels of government and business.
The New South Wales Government (Australia) coordinates this site as a joint government and community project in partnership with a wide range of people involved in community building.
communitybuilders.nsw went live in February 1999. The site has since evolved, and will continue to evolve, to accommodate new ideas and developments in community building, to incorporate new technologies and in response to user feedback and suggestions.
Vision, Objectives & Measurements of Success
Our vision for this site is that it serves as a practical resource and communication channel to people who are working to strengthen the capacity of their communities.
Our editorial policy reflects the following objectives. The site will:
- Offer opportunities for different government organisations, community groups and individuals to come together as users and contributors.
- Feature material which is of use to those interested in community capacity building
The editors will:
- Select information and discussion topics which are lively, interesting and informative and which will inspire site users to think about how they may begin building their own community, or to re-invigorate existing community builders.
- Use feedback to ensure that visiting the site is a regular activity after people's initial visit.
- Endeavour to provide accurate and comprehensive information which is written in a clear and concise manner and is easily accessible and downloadable.
Measurements of the success of the site will be:
- Numbers of visitors to the site
- Feedback on the usability of the site
- Feedback on the type of articles people wish to see
- Use of the discussion forum
- Subscription to enewsletters
- Assessment of other sites linking to it
- Research on usability will also be conducted as required
Editorial Policy
Communitybuilders.nsw, as a NSW Government site, must set the highest standards in relation to the accuracy and relevance of the material it publishes. It also intends to make every reasonable effort to ensure the relevance and accuracy of links to other sites.
All published material on the site:
- Must be written clearly and concisely for a web audience.
- Must, in the opinion of the editors, be informative and related to the stated vision, objectives and structure of the site.
- As a general rule, should have been originally published in the last five years (although there may be some exceptions to this rule for highly regarded, 'seminal' literature).
- Links must have been checked to ensure relevance with the site and that a reasonable quality of information, clarity and speed is possible. It is not expected that the whole of any site could be perused before agreeing to it as a link.
- Must be as current as possible (if changes are required to published information, please email the webkeeper).
- Not be an advertisement for a for-profit organisation
- Not include inappropriate or illegal material, including breach of copyright
- Not be “for sale”, “wanted to buy” or “position vacant” articles
Material submitted by users must:
- Be original and where references to other published works are made, the contributor must have written permission to use the references.
- Have a contact name and telephone number or email address supplied and the author must be prepared to deal with incoming enquiries regarding the information.
Contributors must be prepared to have the material edited by the communitybuilders editors or to have suggestions as to how it could be presented differently to reach the target audience more effectively.
Acceptable event submissions will always be related to community building and will consist of:
- Community events
- Conferences and seminars
- Training courses and workshops
- News and announcements
For-profit and fundraising events may be acceptable, as long as they are relevant to the site’s vision and objectives.
Acknowledgments
Much of the information used on the site has its origin elsewhere. Acknowledgments will be made relating to this information, in such a way as to fairly acknowledge the work of others.
The Bank of I.D.E.A.S. inspires this site
One of the people who gave advice on developing this website was Peter Kenyon, a man with a passion for community building and with a wealth of experience in motivating people who are interested in building their own communities.
The Bank of I.D.E.A.S holds the Australian trademark rights to the name, 'Community Builders'. This has been done only to ensure the integrity of a specific leadership training methodology which the Bank of I.D.E.A.S has implemented from America. The NSW Government has been given permission by the Bank of I.D.E.A.S to use the title communitybuilders.nsw for this website and is very happy to describe the resources provided by Peter and the training methodology used by Community Builders.
They are happy to agree to its use in the title of the site, but with specific reference to the fact that the name in Australia does relate to a specific program which is to be summarised as a resource on the site.
Featured organisations
Southern Cross Community Enterprises
Southern Cross Community Enterprises is an independant, self funded charity that supports programs, services, and non profit enterprises in NSW communities.