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Listen
Section six: Inclusion and involvement
Title DIY Guide To Improving Your Community: getting children and young people involved | Author(s) Save the Children (Scotland) |
Date 2005 | Publisher/ web link Save the Children
http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/* | Geographical focus Scotland | Theme / topic focus Children and young people |
Size 158 pages | Accessibility Good - not aimed only at professional workers | Cost | Coverage |
Type Practice handbook | Primary audience Youth workers and volunteers |
Summary of content Based on the experience and learning from Save the Children's Community Partners Programme, this is both a guide to the issues involved in involving children and young people, and an enormous collection of activity sheets, games and exercises for use in the process. These have been tested with 9-15 year olds. It sets out a process that includes: - consulting young people about their views
- understanding their rights
- supporting them to put their ideas into action
- working alongside others to bring about real change.
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Comments / assessment A surprisingly rich resource. Could do a great deal to persuade people that involving young people can be a reality. There are also many things in it that could probably be used with other groups besides children and young people. |
* http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/docs/diy-toolkit.pdf
Title Same Difference? Guidance on community learning and development activity with equalities groups | Author(s) ODS Consulting Ltd |
Date 2007 | Publisher/ web link Communities Scotland
* www.scotland.gov.uk/Learningconnections | Geographical focus Scotland | Theme / topic focus Equalities, community learning and development |
Size 105 pages (pdf version) | Accessibility Available on-line or as a pdf | Cost Free download | Coverage Scotland |
Type Web-based guide and resource | Primary audience Community learning and development practitioners and managers |
Summary of content An online guide for people working in community learning and development ( CLD). Offers guidance and support to help practitioners work effectively with equalities groups - defined as those promoting equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion and beliefs, and sexual orientation. Covers the legal framework, approaches to equality, best practice, understanding needs, service planning and organisation development, with a primary focus on CLD activity with equalities groups. There is a useful 'quick guide' to working with equalities groups, eight case studies, and signposts to sources of additional support. |
Comments / assessment A useful and accessible resource to help CLD prepare for and develop work with 'equalities' groups - an ever-increasing priority for CLD support. It is primarily practical, and thus does not include material on questions of integration and cohesion, or on the strategic choices that have to be made when deciding which groups to work with, and to what ends. |
* http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Life-Long-Learning/Learning connections/samedifference
Title Listen hear: The right to be heard | Author(s) Commission on Poverty, Participation and Power |
Date 2000 | Publisher/ web link Joseph Rowntree Foundation
http://www.jrf.org.uk/* | Geographical focus UK | Theme / topic focus Poverty |
Size 68 pages | Accessibility A substantial report, but constantly uses the voices of the people consulted | Cost Free download | Coverage Barriers to participation |
Type Enquiry Report | Primary audience Policy makers, service providers, activists |
Summary of content The UK Coalition Against Poverty carried out a two-year project to support people experiencing poverty in identifying the barriers to their involvement in decision-making processes. The report discusses these barriers, including decision-making structures, personal and practical barriers and the issues facing particular groups. It then looks at 'real participation' quoting examples from experience. |
Comments / assessment Background reading for anyone thinking seriously about what enables people to participate. Sets 'capacity building' - which it endorses - in its wider context of the resources and structures needed for people to be heard. |
* http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/eBooks/1861347804.pdf
Other resources
The Save the Children Guide goes a long way to supporting the involvement of children and young people, but more resources, news and information on the subject can be accessed through 'Participation Works', which is 'an online gateway to the world of children & young people's participation' supported by a variety of UK agencies: http://www.participationworks.org.uk/ .
We have not included a specific resource on working with ethnic minorities here, but a 'How To ... Guide to Community Engagement with Minority Ethnic Communities' is part of the Scottish Centre for Regeneration guide and is probably currently the key resource for this purpose in Scotland.
The Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations ( CEMVO) launched its Scottish Office and Capacity Building Programme in 2004. Depending on continuing funding, this could be one of the key resources for people working with ethnic minority groups. http://www.cemvo.org.uk/scotland/index.asp
We considered 'Promoting Inclusion of Minority Ethnic Communities: A Best Practice and Training Guide for Scottish Tenants' Groups' produced by Positive Action in Housing. Introduces the issues and provides basic pointers to the policies and practices that might promote inclusion, with case studies, and could be useful to some, but is very sketchy and focused on housing issues. http://www.paih.org/archive/reports/tenantsbestpracticeguide.htm
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