Community involvement UK

Winners at the second annual Up2U Participatory Budgeting day, organised by St Peter's Partnerships and Tameside Council, March 2010

An empowered, self-actualized community of active citizens enriches and sustains the quality of life of all who live there. Community involvement is used here as a deliberatly broad term to include for example Participatory and Deliberative democracy . This page is the beginnings of a portal for Community involvement UK. As with all of our community involvement pages or sections, this is about involvement from the point of view of CANs (community agency networks) or community groups themselves. The majority of our information about this is collated via our place pages...Near you. Community involvement UK resources is a separate article.

In the UK, three out of five – 60.3% of the voting population, (Jan 2020) – are unhappy with the functioning of our democracy. In 2005, levels of democratic dissatisfaction in the UK stood at 32.8%, despite the Iraq war.[1]

"The Understanding Society Survey in 2015 showed that only 3% of people in the UK are involved in neighbourhood projects, while nearly 60% agreed, or strongly agreed, that they wanted to work together to improve their neighbourhood." Designing participation systems around people, not institutions, Tessy Britton, Feb 24, 2021.[2]

Community involvement news

UK
Global
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  • News CCC: Reducing emissions 87% by 2040 would help ‘cut household costs by £1,400’, carbonbrief.org (Feb 26, 2025) — Themes that underpin CCC recommendations include “Implementing an engagement strategy”: stressing the importance of the government providing ”clear information to households and businesses”, including on the benefits of low-carbon choices, and “Supporting households to install low-carbon heating”: Government support is specifically needed to tackle the high up-front costs of heat-pump installations and other barriers such as “misconceptions”
  • News Forum to allow young people to shape Folkestone & Hythe's future, BBC News (Feb 24, 2025)
  • News Frome residents win five-year battle for community-led housing project, theguardian.com (Jan 23, 2025) — “What’s really exciting for me is that it’s not actually about the amount of commercial space or the affordable housing it will provide – it’s about the sense of confidence and agency and possibility that I think it will give us as a community.” Fiona Barrows, Frome town councillor
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  • News Strengthening The Connective Tissue Of Democracy, noemamag.com (Feb 27, 2025)
  • News How a New Global Citizens’ Assembly Can Revive Climate Action, europeandemocracyhub.epd.eu (Feb 12, 2025)
  • News Latin America is moving fast to protect democracy from excesses of big tech, theconversation.com (Feb 11, 2025)
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Video

Events

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  • Event Jun 2024 — Month of Community, edenprojectcommunities.com
  • Event Jun 7 - 8, 2025 (Sat - Sun) — The Big Lunch, the first weekend in June every year, everyone is invited, anyone can join in and whatever food people bring to the table is there to be shared, edenprojectcommunities.com
  • Event Jun 7 - 15, 2025 (Sat-Sun) — Great Big Green Week, celebrating communities taking action to tackle climate change and protect green spaces, greatbiggreenweek.com
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Networks

  • 'Don't Go Back To Norma', "a movement of people who commit to change every corner of their lives, and build a movement around these changes. Each divestment from the old normal and each transition to a new platform or service or subscription brings all of us closer to the new world that is possible, and is reachable in this pandemic."
"Now is the time for breaking out of our usual habits and siloed issue areas. We must re-imagine every corner of society, from food systems to education to how we use technology, how we do waste, how we generate energy, and the rhythms and behaviours with which we live our lives. We must do this so that we #dontgobacktonormal." added 08:50, 16 January 2022 (UTC) / dead link removed 21:12, 15 August 2022 (UTC)

Community action projects

Flatpack democracy

"There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about" Margaret Wheatley...The Alternative UK

From Wikipedia:Independents for Frome § Flatpack democracy and its influences

The ideas that lead to the establishment of Independents for Frome were described as "flatpack democracy" by Peter Macfadyen, one of the group's founders and first town councillors. In 2014 the ideas were developed in booklet form as Flatpack Democracy: A DIY Guide to Independent Politics. Flatpack democracy was reported in 2015 as having been directly responsible for the election successes of similarly independent groups in Arlesey, Bedfordshire and in Buckfastleigh, Devon. A further book, Flatpack Democracy 2.0: Powertools for reclaiming local politics, followed in September 2019.

Independents for Frome's flatpack democracy approach has been credited with being the 'crucible' of a new independent approach to local government. Local successes were reported by 2019 in places in South-West England, Yorkshire and County Durham, and in New Zealand. Specific examples in addition to Buckfastleigh include Dartmouth, Devon, Queen's Park, London and Alderley Edge, Cheshire.

From Wikipedia:Independents for Frome

Independents for Frome (ifF) is a local political grouping based in Frome, Somerset, UK. It is known for its independent and non party-political approach and for its espousal of a series of ideas that have become known as "flatpack democracy". Independent councillors elected under the banner of ifF have been in control of Frome Town Council since 2011.

Independents for Frome's development of the town council has been credited with being the 'crucible' of a new independent approach to local government, and is reported as having been directly responsible for the election successes of a number of similarly independent groups elsewhere in England.

The grouping, and the way in which it has run the town council since 2011, has been the focus of several academic research studies. One study reviewed how the council has used techniques of normative social influence to increase political diversity. Others have assessed its wider importance, concluding that Frome is becoming increasingly renowned for its thriving independent political and economic identity, and that it is becoming a mentor for other places that seek to replicate conditions for independent, post-party politics.

See also

External links

  • Flatpack Democracy, DIY guide to creating independent politics
  • Independents for Frome: A different kind of local politics, demsoc.org/public-square/case-studies date not found
  • The Isle of Wight Independent group: Framework for Change, the equivalent of Frome's Ways of Working and Principles rolled into one:

Community Peoples' Assembly

Community charters

"Community Charters are rights-based documents which set out things in a local area which residents have agreed to be fundamental to the present and future health of their community, and related rights and responsibilities."[3]

The UK's first Community Charter was developed by residents of Falkirk, Scotland, in response to the UK's first application to commercialise unconventional gas. The St Ives Community Charter was launched in 2017. The Community Chartering Network is currently providing support for similar initiatives in North Yorkshire, Dartington, and for communities along the river Dart.

The Community Chartering Network is a UK-wide network with a shared commitment to community empowerment and responsible environmental stewardship. It was set up to explore and establish new models for community engagement and rejuvenation around shared lived experiences of place, and essential rights and responsibilities. Its mission is to support communities who wish to ensure genuinely sustainable local development. In achieving this, its aim is to enable truly resident-led outcomes through collective decision-making approaches which are open, transparent and inclusive, and tailored to specific local objectives, issues, needs and context.

Campaigns

  • Do With, network of people and organisations calling for a radical shift in the public sector from ‘doing to’ to ‘doing with’. "Radical and hopeful change in how public services work with people and communities is urgently needed." added 17:42, 31 January 2025 (UTC)
  • We're Right Here, campaign for a Community Power Act, added 14:28, 7 December 2021 (UTC)
  • Petition for fair voting system for local elections in England and Wales, action.electoral-reform.org.uk, added 11:29, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

Unlock Democracy, campaigns for a more participatory democracy in Britain. It continues to work with and support other organizations such as Local Works on the Sustainable Communities Act.

See also: XR and future democracy, People's Plan for Nature, Quotes about community action and the power of community, Rural sustainability UK, Towards sustainable economies UK, Urban sustainability UK, Neighbourhood Planning

local information can be found, or shared, via our many UK location pages

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External links

References

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