A Year of Raising the Village

Photo copyright - T.Dewar

Happy New Year! We have something exciting to launch in 2011 - 52 community building ideas coming your way! There are many different ways to Raise a Village so we are taking some of the innovative and timeless ideas we have researched and will be sharing them with you. Yes, a year of ideas that in and of themselves might not sound like a sustainable village effort, but pieced together they sure are impressive! Our post ideas will speak to the simple things, or the deep impressions, or a collective experience, or an event, or system changes, as we believe it takes all of this (and more)! We ask you to consider the year of ideas as a united tapestry – by taking these seemingly separate patchwork activity ideas and weaving them together into an integrated and coordinated strategy that aims at reducing child vulnerability and increasing community engagement and awareness. We encourage you to take your own grass roots approach and adapt and create what works for you and your community.

As the year of village raising ideas unfold...

• Be open to new ideas that spark a fresh initiative




• Watch for ideas that add to or strengthen an existing initiative




• Consider the “who” – who might be inspired by this idea. Is there something children, families or grandparents may want to take on?




• Might there be an idea that is the very bridge to services you have been looking for?




• What about ideas that will create new partnerships or new shared leadership opportunities?

Challenge yourself and take the ideas that get you bubbling and talk about them with people to see what develops. We ask you to enjoy the flavour of each individual idea and remember that they are part of a bigger, village raising picture!

We’d love to hear your ideas...please comment on any posts or email us through our website (http://www.raisingthevillage.ca/ )

Tracy & Tammy

Village Raising Questions (for the year)

· What activities add value to your existing community plans? (i.e. ECD strategic plan, governance structures, visions).
· What ideas are most “alive” and capable of continued growth?
· What activities will leave a legacy?
· Which ones speak most to “working together”? Engagement? Partnerships?
· Which activities give a voice to children, youth and families?

Take a Change-agent Challenge!

Your group or organization is about to undertake on a new project. As a group you’ve asked:

Why is this project important?

How does this project get to the change we seek?

What are our outcomes for this project?

How will these outcomes happen? (See the mini-steps from last week’s theory of change blog!).

There is excitement, creative brainstorming, goal setting, and a project vision that speaks to the proposed impact on the community. The group is poised and ready to “set out” and begin on the tasks of making the project happen. To-do lists are made, sub-committees begin to meet, and partnerships are a plenty! Awesome Village Raising stuff AND perhaps there is one more step to consider in this creative project process. Have you thought to ask others (beyond your group) about the impact, influence, and leverage of this project before you dive in to the nitty-gritty details?

We call this a theory of change approach or a “Change-agent Challenge” and it goes something like this:

1. For one week, speak to three people a day (including children and youth and family and friends, people on the street etc.) about the vision of your project. Do they understand the vision without too much explanation? Have they heard of your group and your mission before? What are their reactions?

2. Two weeks later – go back! Choose a sample of the people and go back and ask them to repeat the vision of the project! Do they remember the vision? Can they repeat it without prompts? How memorable is it?

3. Do these people feel the vision includes them? What part of the vision is open enough that it speaks to everyone? How is the language engaging and inclusive? Is it something they feel they can “get behind”? Why or why not?

4. Record all the reactions to the project’s vision. This input can provide valuable insight and evaluative “food for thought” for your collaborative group. How is the vision of this project inspiring community members to engage? How memorable is the vision of this project? Is there a need to “tweak”, add to, or simplify the vision of the project? Has anyone provided a comment that sparks a new idea?

Following these steps encourages the project group to look at that question of “How will we know if this project has impact” in a new way. Collaborative projects have the most impact when they nourish meaning and purpose for all group members and the broader community.

Village Raising Question
If you (or your group) had to identify in 20 words or less what this project stands for, what you believe, and what is truly critical about this work … what would those words be?

Village Raising Challenge
Talk to someone you have never met about your current projects! Rather than trying to persuade them to take part – listen deeply at their response. What is there to learn from this person? What lands as important (or not)?

Theory of Change

Change can feel like looking up at a looming “brick-wall” - an insurmountable challenge! We often end up banging our head, pushing a bit harder, screaming a bit louder – all without any results.

“If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.” Those of us working in community can learn much from the way artists think and approach their own creative processes. This quote by artist Mary Engelbreit, speaks directly to the need to take a step back and have a better look at the brick wall itself. Engelbreit is suggesting that if we reflect on how we think about the brick wall – maybe we can approach it in a completely different way, getting completely different results.

This could be applied to a piece of art, writers block, the troubling behaviour of a child, a social issue, personal development….the list is endless. Opportunities for change are endless.

In 1995, Carol Weiss identified that when people avoid looking at the assumptions around an issue, people get fuzzy and vague in their thinking about how the change will actually happen – they just think of the “now” and the “end result," but not the mini-steps in between. This lack of clarity increasing the likelihood of not reaching the long-term outcome and getting detoured in that big ‘ol area of grey in the middle. Weiss popularized the term “Theory of Change” as an approach to surface the assumptions and then detail the mini-steps of change.

Here is a very simplified example. Let’s say that someone is overweight and out of shape - lifestyle changes can be very hard! This person wants to improve their health, so decides to construct a theory of change to make sure that the strategies they choose align with their assumptions and to help identify the mini-steps to success.

As assumptions are brought to the surface –a strongly held belief is discovered that it takes time to eat healthy.  And in reality, what has been happening is that this person is very busy and rushed and usually ends up eating out. 

Imagine if the strategy to lose weight was to buy a puppy in order to encourage this person to get out and walk more.  While that might be a great strategy for someone else – they would be distracted from the area that has the most potential for change - the issue is really focused on time. Adding an additional task of puppy care would have everyone banging their heads against the wall! On the other hand, practicing the skills of grocery list making, learning how to stock shelves with healthy ingredients, finding resources for quick and easy cooking will help to avoid restaurant eating.  After these mini-steps are successful, the puppy might be another strategy (or not!).

While a HUGE simplification, knowing your end result is just not good enough. Unearthing the assumptions that exist behind the issue will help everyone in a change process design the strategies that will make up the mini-steps towards the greater change.

Sometimes it is how we think about an issue that is the key to great change!

Here are some helpful resources to continue exploring the use of Theory of Change with complex community issues.

Theory of Change.org is a collaborative project of the Aspen Institute and ActKnowledge, offering a wide array of resources, tools, tips, and examples of Theory of Change.

Theory of Change: A Practical Tool for Action, Results and Learning from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The Aspen Institute’s Roundtable on Community Change created “The Community Builder’s Approach to Theory of Change,” which is a practical guide for facilitators, including what to do before and during meetings with stakeholders, suggested participants, and recommended materials.

 “Theories of Change and Logic Models: Telling Them Apart” is a helpful PowerPoint presentation.

Village Raising Question:

We plan to have a future follow-up blog about the practicalities of using Theory of Change - giving examples of issues and topics that Early Years Community Developers face... and how a theory of change can help.

What are your lingering questions about Theory of Change?  Have you used the process successfully?

How Attached is Your Community?

People working with children know the vital role attachment plays in child development. In the first few months of life, infants form some kind of attachment relationship with the person who is primarily responsible for their care (often a parent). We know from the science of early childhood development that early relationships and attachments to a primary caregiver are the most consistent and enduring influence on social and emotional development for young children. * Further, Infants with secure attachment relationships with their caregivers are more likely to play, explore, and interact with adults in their child care setting. **

This got us thinking...could attachment play a role in our ability as adults to attach to our communities? If children with strong attachments are more likely to play, explore and interact with others, could the same be said for adults and our relationship with communities and the groups we work with?

Well, lo and behold, there is a study to give us insight into the role attachment plays in community! Enter, Gallup and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation who conducted a study with a focus on what attaches people to their communities. They asked questions such as; what makes a community a desirable place to live? What draws people to stake their future in it? Are communities with more attached residents better off? The study found three main qualities that attach people to place:

1. social offerings, such as entertainment venues and places to meet
2. openness (how welcoming a place is)
3. the area’s aesthetics (its physical beauty and green spaces).

As community facilitators we recognize the connection between how “attached” people feel to a group (or a collaborative, organization, or community) and how engaged they are in the work. We call this constructing relevance: finding the purpose and meaning that most resonates with individuals, and with the group as a whole, so that people stay energized in their village raising work! When facilitating groups we pay special attention to the space in which formal and informal meetings occur. We do this by:

1. creating a welcoming space rich in dialogue
   
2. asking stirring questions and providing social networking opportunities that are “out of the box”.


3. adding dashes of creativity to liven the space

Perhaps this approach taps into a feeling of connection that encourages play, exploration and interaction with others! Attachment and relevance – two drivers in community building!

Village Raising Questions

How engaged are you to play, explore and interact in your community? How engaged are you in your collaborative or organization?

On a scale to 1-10, how attached are you to your community?

What might bring you a stronger sense of community attachment?

References:
*From the Zero to Three website http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/imhtestimony.pdf?docID=1286
Shonkoff, J., & Phillips, D. (Eds.). (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

** http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/ChildCareResearchBrief.pdf?docID=3542

For more on the above study see the Soul of Community website: http://www.soulofthecommunity.org/