Download Discussion - Community Development Alliance Scotland

Community Development: What Vision for Scotland? 25 June 2014
Equality and Human Rights workshops
Douglas Guest (EHRC) made initial comments on the role strong communities can
play in working toward Equality and upholding Human Rights.
David Reilly gave a brief community development response and facilitated a
discussion around the general theme:
If community development is about achieving social justice for all – how can we
make sure that everyone contributes and benefits, regardless of protected
characteristics?
Discussion was structured and recorded as follows:
1. What do we need to do better or differently to support communities to be
able to take part effectively and equally?
We need to start by helping people to realise that they are actually part of a
community (particularly communities of interest). We should encourage them to
perceive – believe – and act.
There is a need for basic awareness raising activity which encourages us all to see
the connections between equality / human rights and our daily lives.
Take power back to work to the community’s agenda [and] we shouldn’t exist to
deliver some else’s community plan.
We should argue for communities to have a say on the big resource decisions – but
not just smaller local issues. This should change.
The ideology of Community Development should better challenge the impact of the
prevailing ideology of market forces and its effect on social justice. We should not
be afraid to challenge paradigms and say that there is an alternative.
We should be better able to challenge prejudice that exists within ‘deprived’
communities - prejudice against others, and against minorities within their
community. This needs time and sustained relationships.
We should not be afraid to challenge negative stereotypes within communities.
For a positive action approach to who ‘we’ choose to support as leaders within
communities – we should be targeting the under-represented.
We should work creatively.
2. What support or tools are needed to make this happen?
Money and resources that enables and supports community development practices.
Sustainability – good projects continuing – long term investment – don’t pull our
funding!
More funding, for work that is working. [countered by] For us to be better able to deal
with the reality of short term funding.
Places to meet, share and heal – bringing people together.
For Community Development to become organised, with places to meet, talk and
take collective action.
To be better at working with partners to make the most of what resources we do
have.
For communities to challenge ‘us’ as professionals.
Education for Human Rights with simple accessible tools that we can use.
Tools on human rights, animations, messages and visual inputs that we can use.
CPD – training and workshops on equality and human rights.
We should build the tools to combat discrimination into out ay-to-day practices.
Free people to be creative and professional – professional in the true sense of the
word which is to do what you judge is correct and not what you are told to do.
3. What is your vision for community development in Scotland – of how
different strands of policy and practice could be brought together to achieve
better results?
To turn the legally unacceptable into the socially unacceptable.
Don’t over intellectualise – just get in about it.
Those of us involved in community development should have a good, long critical at
ourselves.
We shouldn’t be afraid of conversations or dialogue about race or discrimination –
even when they are challenging.
Keeping a focus on our common humanity would achieve a lot.
Human rights should be our passion, not our obligation – our approach and training
should reflect this.
Equality should be at the forefront of everything we do, day-to-day.
Let’s develop a common or joint understanding of human rights and equality and
more joint training on human rights.
We should be ambitious but realistic.
Day to day, we should challenge pessimistic assumptions; it doesn’t have to be like
this, there is another way.
David Reilly