3ni’s Director, Dan Crowe, recently participated in Capacity’s ‘Fundamentally Different’ podcast, to discuss why neighbourhoods are best-placed to be the catalysts for change and efforts to improve the lives of local people. Dan was joined by by two experts in this area: Madeleine Jennings, Head of Policy and Communications for Local Trust and Stephen Perez, a dedicated community leader with a passion for improving the lives of those around him, and a long track record of involvement with the Big Local programme.
Hosted by Capacity Director Emma Lord, the panel had a great discussion exploring why neighbourhoods matter, and how the people that live there are best placed to identify solutions to the challenges faced in their area. The conversation focussed in particular on the topic of social infrastructure: the spaces, networks and connections that give us opportunities and improve our quality of life. Social infrastructure is often the key ingredient that makes community-led change work, especially in under-resourced and disinvested areas that have high levels of deprivation and poor connectedness. Dan explains why securing support and resources is the first step to take when looking at improving outcomes in these areas:
‘For doubly disadvantaged communities, there needs to be a focus, targeted support and investment over the long-term to enable communities themselves to build up capacity and that confidence so they’re able to be in the driving seat and take actions on the priorities that matter most for them.’
When social infrastructure is in place, communities are able to pro-actively take advantage of opportunities that arise and develop bespoke and locally-responsive initiatives, just like they did in the Big Local programme. But this capacity building often needs to take place first, and partner organisations such as the local authority need to go at the rhythm of communities, not race ahead.
The panel also touched upon what the definition of a neighbourhood is, how to approach national policy when working hyper-locally and what is the best way to measure success. Listen to the whole podcast on Youtube or Spotify.