Jess Steele, Locality

People’s History Museum, 3rd March 2011

Community Organisers

Community OrganisingOrganisers listen to people and encourage dialogue. They do not bring any message or seek any specific outcome. Consciousness-raising rather than capacity-building. Find the ‘generative themes’ that motivate people to act.Change ‘the bad scene’ into a specific set of issues that people can take action around.Actions may aim to change the powerful or to create a DIY response, or both.

Guiding Lights• Based on Paulo Freire (Brazilian educator)

– Pedagogy of the Oppressed – listening, dialogue, consciousness-raising

• Saul Alinsky (Chicago rebel) – Rules for Radicals, tactics for effective organising

• Clodomir Santos de Morais – A Future for the Excluded – entrepreneurial awareness, wealth creation by the poor

Drawing on these and other theory & practice to create an indigenous English 21st century community organising movement.

Elements of the programme

• Training• Hosting• Networking• Institute for Community

Organising• Learning & Policy Group

Training Framework• Learning bursaries (£20k x 500) – not salaries• Training for transformation• Blend of residential, guided actions, e-

sessions, action camps and knowledge hub• Trainer network managed by Trafford Hall• Accreditation to be developed with OCN YHR• Signpost to progression via academic partners• Code of conduct

Hosting Approach• COs need ‘a place to be’. Hosted by community-

led orgs – mutual benefits, mutual challenge• 10 Kickstarters – places/orgs identified for the bid

to provide range and get started quickly• Second tranche of Kickstarters – focus more on

equalities groups via Network Partners• Will be 100-200 additional hosts over the lifetime

of the programme• All hosts receive 4 days of Locality support to plan

for resilience & sustainability of the CO roles.

Networking Support• Organising is about building and mobilising local

networks – ‘horizontalism’• Web & social media – Holding page www.dta.org.uk/communityorganisers– Twitter - @corganisers, #corg and #corganisers– Blog – see http://jesssteele.wordpress.com/– Facebook – page coming in a few days

• Experience of networking, peer learning, mutual support

• Lessons Log/Knowledge Hub (wiki)

Institute for Community Organising

• A 21st century Guild, a professional body assuring quality and providing ongoing training and support

• A mutual – owned by COs themselves• Shares retained each year that they maintain

their CPD (ie stay active and engaged)• Brand developed in parallel with the

programme, with a year of independent trading in 2014-15

Learning & Policy Group• High-level group of academics and policy-

shapers, serviced by Manchester Met Uni• Drawing out the lessons from the programme

and feeding them into policy (both Big Society and other fields)

• Chaired by Professor Anne Power, LSE• Other members include: Marj Mayo

(Goldsmiths), Toby Blume (Urban Forum), Tricia Zipfel (Just Change)

Timescales

• Initiation – Feb-April 11• Kickstart phase

first 10 training – Jun-Oct 11second tranche – Nov 11-Apr 12

• Hosted delivery phase – Feb 12-Mar 15new cohorts start every 2 months

• ICO Year of Trading – Apr 14-Mar 15• Closure & final handover – Mar-Jun 15