Tuesday, November 10, 2009

reference requested on recent minutes

Hi again Kerlina

the reference for the community engagement case study is

City of Playford 2009, Community Engagement Case Study Imagine Peachy, viewed 22 Oct 2009, <http://www.playford.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/CE_case_study_Imagine_Peachey.pdf>.

regards
George

Reference List

Kerlina has discovered that using the Harvard Referencing Guide we are unable to use the conversations with the Mayor, Maria Callander and Silvana Cusack as part of our reference list.

We would like this noted as we have used quotes and information as part of our presentation and without them, our reference list is not be complete.

Thanks
Julie

Final

Hi Gals and 1 Guy

I did send a card to Mayor Lindsell as promised. I look forward to presenting with you on Wednesday. I have enjoyed being part of this group despite the hiccups!! We have ecxelled as we have delivered some good work.

Kerlina thank you for your thoroughness and forward planning, George thank you for your good humor ,picking me up and driving miss daisy!! Candi well what can i say power point presenter WOW!!.

looking forward to seeing you in 2010!!

Julz

MINUTES, TASKS AND REFERENCE LIST 06/11/09

Hi guys

I completed the minutes and tasks on Saturday 7/11/09 along with reference list and have just noticed it has not got on. So will try again.

Regards.
Kerlina

Subject: Working In Communities (External)
Lecturer: Caro McCarthy
Tutor: Ann Sharley
Presentation Date: Wednesday 11th November, 2009 at 1.40pm.
Group Members: Julie Fielke, Candi Virgo, George Flouras, Kerlina George


REFERENCES

City of Playford 2009, City of Playford Community Profile, South Australia, viewed 15 October, 2009, <http://www.playford.sa.gov.au/>


Community Engagement Case Study


Ife, J and Tesoriero, F 2006, Community development: Community-based alternatives in an age of globalization, 3rd edn, Pearson Education Australia, New South Wales.

Imagine Chicago 2009, Bringing Community imagination to Life, Chicago, viewed 19 October, 2009,


Imagine Peachey, Community Working Together Can Make Things Happen 2009. South Australia, viewed 15 October, 2009,

Kenny, S 2007, Developing communities for the future, 3nd edn, Thomson Publishing Company, Australia.
WORKING IN COMMUNITIES PRESENTATION MEETING
Dated Friday 6th November, 2009 at 7.30pm at Kerlina’s house.

PRESENT: George Flouras, Candi Virgo, Julie Fielke and Kerlina George (Minutes).

DISCUSSION TOPICS:

Viewed and discussed slides for presentation and the need to check that all points are being covered as is requested in the Course Information Booklet.

Checked referencing on slides correlated with Harvard Referencing system.

Sought opinions on whether we should keep outline as the first slide. All agreed this was a great way to introduce topic.

Kerlina wondered if she should develop an overview or summary of our group process such as goals, timelines, resources, group participation and contribution, division of responsibility, expectations and evaluation and place this at the beginning of the minutes. Group members felt the blog and minutes were thorough enough, therefore this had already been achieved through our blog, so no need to repeat. Kerlina was happy with this opinion.

George and Candi decided to expand on the socio demographic elements of the slide presentation eg unemployment, income, population and community well being.

Kerlina suggested George’s socio demographic information should go on the blog as a contribution to the presentation. All agreed.

Julie wanted to thank the Mayor for his time regarding the interview. Julie thought sending a thankyou card from all of us noting our appreciation. All agreed.

Discussion regarding slide allocation and which member felt most comfortable presenting the particular slides they were going to present. These are as follows:
Julie Introduction
Indigenous people and land acknowledgement
Location and interview

George: Assets, challenges and strengths
Socio demographic and CALD information

Kerlina: Theoretical perspectives
Ecological and social justice/human rights principles
Appreciative Inquiry

Candi: Goal, priorities, trailer
Linking theories back to practical
Conclusion


Time Line: Wednesday 11th November at 1.40pm.

Further topics discussed were assets, strengths, challenges and community spirit and the need to back this up with examples. Julie suggested talking about the Community Reference Group. This forum was developed for the purpose of community members wanting to discuss certain topics/issues. This is then taken to the council where it is decided where this information needs to be addressed and which community member(s) have the skills to deal with the topic. This process showed valuing local skills and building social capital but also highlighted informal and formal power in a positive light.

Some of the strengths which could also be intangible assets mentioned were: high volunteer membership with an over 50 age group, team work, resilience and community ownership. Major driving force was Neighbourhood Development Officer Sylvana Cusack. Kerlina suggested she appeared to be the bridge between the community, council and other various organizations. She also had an excellent rapport with these groups.

The challenges discussed were; the aging population, teenage pregnancy, high unemployment rate, vandalism and closure of a catholic school due to lack of students and attendance.

The physical or tangible assets discussed were the new Northern Suburb GP Super Clinic, opening early next year to address the health issues of the community and ease the high demand for services at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. The John McVeity Community Centre at Smithfield Plains was also considered an asset by the group.

Kerlina asked have we addressed the core principles of working in communities such as ecological and social justice/human rights in our presentation. We all agreed that certain elements had not been sustainable over time such as the closing down of Bridgestone Tyres and reduced shifts at Holdens therefore having a negative effect on the community.

Kerlina suggested these principles needed to be clearly defined in the presentation (the textbook contains this information).

Candi wanted to maintain a positive spin on things, therefore she suggested we each leave the meeting with some thought needed to be given to this area.



TASKS:

George to write a paragraph on the above principles and send copies to the rest of the group.

George to send reference details to Kerlina regarding Community Engagement Case Study and check other references on reference sheet.

Julie to send thankyou card to Mayor.

Kerlina to complete minutes and reference list and place on blog. Kerlina asked for each member to scrutinize reference list in case Kerlina has missed any glaring errors.

Candi to finalise information for slide presentation and double check referencing. Kerlina suggested to view certain examples of slide referencing in the lecture handouts.

MEETING CONCLUDED AT 10.45PM. NEXT MEETING TUESDAY 10th NOVEMBER AT 6.30PM IN THE LIBRARY TO PRACTICE PRESENTATION AND FINE TUNE ANY RELEVANT AREAS.

Monday, November 9, 2009

comparing the info trailer to theoretical perspectives

Hello again

Just finished re-reading the ecological, social justice and human rights perspective as dealt with in Tesoriero. It is probably a little unfair to say how the concept of the existing information trailer (IT) comes up compared to these perspectives, however it can be done in a broad way, which can also suggest areas of improvement.

Tesoriero develops the ecological perspective by drawing on the following four core principles of ecology: holism, sustainability, diversity and equilibrium.
looking at the IT and the theme of -

Holism: this principle values creating links between such things as knowledge and action. The trailer serves this purpose by obviously making info available to contribute towards empowering the public to address their issues (the volunteers actually manning the trailer providing a fine example of this through their efforts).
Sustainability: Having a strong passionate volunteer base is a vital ingredient for maintaining the trailer into the future. Also the way the trailer disseminates info and what info it carries can be compared against this principle i.e. are the brochures printed on recyclable paper, is there info dealing with the theme of sustainability.
Diversity: The trailer at any one time is manned by the volunteers, the community development officer and representative from DFC. This combined with questions from the public provides a forum for a range of discussion's to be had, where local solutions and ways of doing things can be aired, especially by the public.
Equilibrium: Equilibrium values input by all. As mentioned previously the trailer is a cooperative venture between the parties mentioned above which provides a place and space where all parties can express themselves stakeholders, including the residents of the Peachy Belt.

Tesoriero states that social justice and human rights perspectives are required as they are critical in defining the way in which the ecological perspective is to be implemented.
Social justice and human rights deals with such issues as social equity (access to basic resources and opportunity), dealing with oppression etc. The information trailer in a simple and effective way is providing the knowledge and opportunity to deal with social justice issues ranging from information regarding legal advise to where to hire equipment gardening.

Guys please consider this as a draft we can play around with tomorrow.
thanks
George

Peachy Belt demographics etc

hi all

it was good to meet on Friday and consolidate what we got.

As mentioned at the meeting, below I have posted the City of Playford (Peachy Belt) demographics (we are using) to enable all to see and consider what will be included in the presentation. Large parts of it presents quite a negative picture, so I guess one also needs to bear in mind when reading this the initiatives we have discovered, that are being undertaken to address the needs the statistics point too.



Unemployment

The unemployment rate in the Peachy Belt is considered to be high,
ranging from 10.6% (Smithfield), 17.4% (Smithfield Plains) to 17.6% (Davoren Park) compared with the state rate of 4.5%

Income

3.8% (average) considered to earn a high income (compared to 15.7 % for Adelaide Statistical Division ASD)

55.1 % (average) considered to earn a low income (compared to 43.2% for ASD)


Population

The population the Peachy Belt as of 2006 was 10, 232 (Smithfield 1459, Smithfield Plains 2548, and Davoren Park 6225).

On average 28.6% of the population is aged between 0 – 17years
and on average 15.6% of the population is aged 60 years

Overall population numbers are expected to rise due to the Playford North redevelopment.



Community Wellbeing

Typical of lower social economic areas the City of Playford has a lower life expectancy than other council areas with pockets of the community living in vulnerable situations.

This is evident in the following snapshot:
Compared to the Adelaide Statistical Division (ASD) there are:
Double the amount of adolescents considered at risk and double the domestic violence assessments.
3 times the incidence of teenage pregnancy.
More people relaying on the public hospital system (34% compared to 54% for ASD)
Considerable more reported psychological distress reflected in the access of mental health services.


CALD

In the City of Playford there are increasing numbers of newel arrived residents from all over the world (22% born overseas compared with 24% ASD). 2.6% of the population are indigenous residents.

Common countries of overseas birth are: UK 14%
Italy 0.7%
Germany 0.7
NZ 0.6


The above figures are reflective of the Peachy Belt area where the majority of people born overseas come from the UK i.e. on average 12.5 % of the population compared to 5% residents are born in non English speaking countries.

Due to small figures the detailed statistics for minority group numbers are only available for Davoren Park which also lists 0.5% of the population born in Vietnam and 0.5 % born in Philippines


(Taken from City of Playford council website, State of the city report 2008 - data based on 2006 ABS)

regards
George

p.s Candi I will shortly post how the eco and social justics perspectives relate to the information trailer

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Interview with the Mayor

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post to share the interview with the Mayor, Martin Lindsall.

Mayor

Kerlina, I'm glad that you'll be able to make a time to go out and see what the Peachey Belt is like. I have uni on Thursday as well, so I won't be able to make it to the actual trailer. I may go and check it out when uni has finished though, I'm sure I'll pick up some information for work/my clients from there.

Thanks for typing out the minutes and posting them.

I could put the PowerPoint presentation on the blog (upload it to my web host and link it here the way that I have done with the interviews and photos) so that you can download it and then view it on your computer, but it will be easier if we just have the one copy on my computer for now. I'll be in at uni tomorrow and if I get a chance, I might even test it out while I'm waiting for my tute to start.

I will take the time tomorrow to make sure that the information on the PowerPoint presentation is referenced correctly.

See you guys on Friday!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

MINUTES AND TASKS OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Hi Guys,

I completed minutes and tasks and tried puting it on the blog at 1.00am this morning but I had trouble placing it on the blog so I have emailed it to you instead. I have since tried it again and it has worked yeah!!!!

If there is anything you are quering please let me know

WORKING IN COMMUNITIES PRESENTATION MEETING
Dated Sunday 27th September, 2009 at 2.00pm in UniSA Library.

PRESENT: George Flouras, Candi Virgo, Julie Fielke and Kerlina George (Minutes).

DISCUSSION TOPICS:

All members discussed various topics that would be considered appropriate for our presentation. In this discussion questions were raised regarding:

Accessability to information

What references would be utilized and whether they were authenticated.

Candi had completed some preliminary research and suggested the “Imagine Peachey” Information Trailer as an appropriate topic for our presentation. As Candi works in the Playford district she was able to access pamphlets and brochures for the meeting. Candi had also conducted an interview with Sylvana Cusack a Neighbourhood Development Officer and had recorded it and placed it on the blog therefore we were all able to listen to it.


After much discussion it was agreed by all that this would be a really interesting topic which would meet the criteria that the presentation was being assessed on and information was readily available.

Kerlina suggested to keep in mind that we now must cover concepts and principles outlined in lectures and text such as ecological and social justice and human rights perspectives and valuing local knowledge, skills, resources and processes, informal and formal power bases etc. Kerlina and George both gave examples on how this could be achieved in the presentation.

Candi mentioned that during the course of the interview Sylvana had suggested that her approach to community development is one of an asset based philosophy. Kerlina then gave a definition from a book by Susan Kenny.

References were then discussed. Julie and Candi provided more brochures as a reference point. Julie also mentioned that she had gone on to the Playford Council website which is a very informative website.

TASKS:

Julie and Candi to visit trailer in order to gain more information.

George suggested taking photographs for the power point presentation will be useful as students can the see what we are referring to.

George to look at socio demographic profile and retrieve information regarding history of the area and the trailer. Also mentioned that he might be able to access book on asset based approach from his boss.

Kerlina to update reference list and take minutes of each meeting in order to have this information for the outline.

Candi mentioned that she would like to organize the power point presentation.

MEETING CONCLUDED AT 4.45PM, DATE OF NEXT MEETING YET TO BE DECIDED.


WORKING IN COMMUNITIES PRESENTATION MEETING
Dated Friday 23rd October, 2009 at 7.30pm at Kerlina’s house.

PRESENT:
George Flouras, Candi Virgo, Julie Fielke and Kerlina George (Minutes).

DISCUSSION TOPICS:

Discussed socio demographics and the need to keep it context of Peachey Road and the local area.

How are we going to address the CIB criteria such as describing the people, population size, CALD, population health. Kerlina suggested accessing the Public Health website for this information.

Candi mentioned that Sylvana had suggested that it takes 2 buses to reach the local hospital which is proving very difficult for most citizens in the area. As this is considered a low socio demographic area, it was decided that this should be added in the power point presentation.

We also looked at location and whether it was possible to place this on a slide. Candi said she could do this.

Kerlina mentioned community assets (eg physical assets aswell as valuable resources such as volunteers) and what they were and if we can go into more detail regarding this area.

Kerlina discussed references and had borrowed some new books to ascertain further information for some of the topics outlined. This also could be added to the reference list.

Kerlina mentioned again the importance of keeping in mind the theoretical perspectives of the course and where we could show it’s relevance to our project.

Discussion occurred over appreciative inquiry – Kerlina looking at various references on google scholar.

Julie suggested interviewing the Mayor which she has been able to organize. Kerlina suggested elaborating on Playford Pathways questions and how mayor addresses social justice/human rights issues. Topics such as low income, inequality and some other complex social issues need to be addressed.

Lengthy discussion on:

· Community strengths

· Community wants to be part of decision making process therefore attending community forums and showing a participatory, collaborative and inclusive approach

· Challenges eg school vandalized, Catholic school closed, low socio economic area, high level of unemployment, high teenage pregnancy, infant mortality.

· Social Capital, people are resilient and tenacious (Sylvana mentions this in the interview).

TASKS:

Kerlina to type up minutes and place on the blog.

Kerlina and Julie to discuss questions (indepth) to the mayor during the course of the week to make sure concepts and perspectives are covered and backed up for presentation.

Julie interviewing mayor.

Candi to organize information on timelines, goals, funding and various agencies.

George to update socio demographic information re population health, CALD statistics.

Kerlina and George to work on outline together and incorporate information already gathered preferably before next meeting.

MEETING CONCLUDED 11.00PM. NEXT MEETING DATED FRIDAY 6th NOVEMBER, 2009 AT 7.30PM AT KERLINA’S PLACE.

Friday, October 30, 2009

TOUCHING BASE

Hi everyone,

It is very late and at the end of the week so apologies for anything that does not make sense or gramatical errors.

I spoke to Caro this week just to let her know what we are up to and get any feedback which might be useful. She was very pleased with our blog and impressed with the amount of work and time that we have put into. So well done every one!!. I asked her if she felt there was anything we should be doing to enhance our presentation. She mentioned that it is really important to use some of the terms that we have been learning about eg valuing local skills and local resources etc and backing this up in our presentation and blog. Unfortunately Caro had not read my blog which I sent early one morning where I had covered these areas but hopefully she will look at it again. She also said how important it is to reference everything that is relevant especially in our point presentation (Candi I wonder if you mind double checking this has been done in the slides).

Julie it was great to hear that the interview went so well can't wait to catch up and hear all about it. Thankyou for going out there and doing this.

Candi I would love to get out there unfortunately it is not the lack of time but the time the trailer is open. It falls at the same time my psychology tutorial is on and by the time it is finished the trailer will be closed. However I will try and do a drive around soon to get a bit more of a feel for the place as I used to work out there and have friends out there. Also thankyou for all your hard work with the slides can't wait to catch up and see how they look.

I have been busy too. I am part of a working party called KidsMatter a government program for early intervention and prevention for mental health issues in school aged children based at selected primary schools around south australia. This meeting on Wed had a guest speaker Patrick Moran Principal for Elizabeth Primary Schools. They are doing some fab work out there I was really impressed.

He mentioned how the Playford Council plays an important part in a lot of the school activities for instance by providing funding and donations. He also mentioned how important it is to value the local people in community organisations. This school is about to have a fete and a lot of the community organisations have been asked if they would like to help. They have found over the years that community organisations would love to help but never really knew how and were never asked. Hence over the years relationships have been built between community organisations, the councils and the school where this fete is now called the community fete and most of the community organisations are manning the stalls eg Salvation Army doing the sausage sizzle. I thought this was fantastic as it showed collaboration, inclusiveness, effective communication and valuing local resources to name a few which results in positive outcomes and a win win situation. The community organisations get free publicity for their causes, the school gets extra donations to help students reach their goals, the council gets great PR for their fantastic work in assisting with developing a positive community environment. It was also interesting to note that when the school and playford council were looking at a local map which detailed all schools, shopping centres etc a major oversight was highlighted the Elizabeth primary school was not on the map and had never been, even though the school had been established many years ago. This hopefully will be rectified.

I will try and type all tasks and minutes after this blog hopefully I won't be too delerious and send out, if you have not heard from me then you know I have fallen a sleep on the computer!

George I was wondering if you don't mind starting to think about the outline. As alot of the socio demographic stuff might need to be part of the intro and the outline in general. Let me know your thoughts asap. Also could you please send me the details of the references eg messenger press etc as I need to put this on a separate sheet. Maybe between you and I might be able to have a rough draft to show candi and Julie by the time we next meet this Friday and then we can actually finalise it on friday and leave practice time for our presentation as this will be our last mtg before our presentation. Please let me know what you think.

Candi I don't know if this is possible but since you are the techno wiz is there anyway we could view the slides through our blog well before we catch up. Please let me know your thoughts?

Anyway I agree with Julie I think we are all doing well lets hope the markers think so too!!
Have a great weekend one and all and will see you this Friday.

Kind regards.
Kerlina

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

touching base

Hi Guys
I did the interview with the mayor. He was very good. I did explain what our presentation was about and how we are proactive in sourcing information from the net,Silvana and the traikler. I think he was surprised at the extent of our research.He will put together some info that will add weight to our questions.It appears that the city of Playford is very proactive in using local knowledge and being inclusive of the comunity to develop peachy rd. I had a drive a round the smith field area and it is a hive of industry. The excavation is taking place to build 4500 homes over the next 3 years. He mentioned about also bulding 2 more schools in the area.I see also there is a aged care facility ther too. It looks to be very new.The grafitti is rife and housing trust homes are not well kept. I have met with Candi so she is able to put the interview on the plog page. I hope my efforts will enhance our presentation and that both Ann and Caro can see that we are wanting to acheive the best outcome as a group.Kerlina you have a comprehensive report on the previous blogs. Thanks for that. I think we are pulling together to present what i believe is some good work.
See you at K's on Nov 6th
Julie

Monday, October 26, 2009

Agencies involved, timeline, goals, funding, formal/ informal power distribution.

Hello everyone, it was great to catch up with you all on Friday night. Have to admit that I was very tired being the end of the working week.

Good luck for tomorrow Julie, I hope that the questions prompt the Mayor to give you some relevant and interesting information. I am planning to be here in the office, so I'll be able to show you how to use my iPod and voice recorder.

George, the information you provided was fantastic. I've incorporated a lot of it into the powerpoint so far.

Kerlina, I really hope that you can make the time to come out this way and see what the Peachey Belt is like. I'm sure that George and Julie will agree that my photos don't really do it justice!

From memory, it was my job to explore the agencies involved, timeline, goals, funding, formal/ informal power distribution. I have done a quick write up below, mostly using information from imaginepeachey.org.au


Partnerships

Imagine Peachey Information Trailer is a partnership between the City of Playford, Housing SA, the Playford Northern Renewal Project and the community.

In 2007, the Imagine Peachey project was presented with “The Wombat” award by Mike Rann. The award is from the Office of Volunteers and recognises people who have undertaken a community project that has resulted in significant community benefit.

Timelines

Imagine Peachey is ongoing as long as there is a need. It will be available for all the community to access.

Goals and Priorities

The two day forum facilitated by Jim Cavaye identified five main goals:

1. Access to Information
2. Access to Public Transport
3. Making Parks family friendly
4. Safety regarding hard rubbish collection and recycling issues
5. Beautification of Local area



Informal/formal power distribution and funding

Imagine Peachey is a way of life for a dedicated group of residents in the Peachey Belt Area. This group is committed to building on the strengths of the community, addressing issues through discussion and action based projects. Power has been given to the community, but formal power remains with the council who provide funding, along with Housing SA.

Silvana Cusack's position is funded in partnership with City of Playford & Housing SA.

DEVISING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE MAYOR

Goodmorning All,

Fantastic to see you all at my place last Friday with so much enthusiasm and information (and great food to keep the soul going). Thankyou to one and all for making it a very productive night.

I thought I might send a blog explaining how these questions came to be as Julie and I had quite a discussion about them before Julie's blog was sent. Here goes!

Julie rang me wanting to discuss appropriate questions to ask the mayor that encompasses our assignment. I suggested the most important perspectives to working with communities is the ecological and social justice/human rights. Therefore these questions must be framed in the context of these perspectives. The other important element to working with communities is valuing local knowledge, valuing local processes, valuing local skills and valuing local resources. These elements must also underpin the questions. With regards to valuing local knowledge how was the community involved in the decision making process, was it by a council member asking questions at a local shopping centre or were questionnaires sent out. This is important because in some cases councils propose a plan to help the local community and after this plan is devised the community is then asked for their input. Not only does this show informal and formal bases at play but it also shows tokenism as the community should of been invited to responed at the very inception of the plan. This might be a touchy area but handled diplomatically can produce some insightful information.

Valuing local processes - Did members of the community meet all together at a community meeting hall to discuss goals and is this how this particular community likes to discuss goals or was it done some other way. In keeping with the ecological/social justice,human rights perspectives, was the diversity of community members (eg CALD, elderly, unemployed, single mums etc) considered to ensure they were given a voice in the process. Julie can you please double check this has been addressed as I didn't print off the questions before I started blog (Thanks gorgeous).

Valuing local knowledge and skills how is this be being addressed?

Valuing local resources how is this being addressed?

Anyway after discussion Julie has come up with a great list of questions and one which I am looking forward to hearing the answers to.

Goodluck Julie for tomorrow.

Regards.

Kerlina

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Revised questions.

1. How do you see the Imagine Peachy project as part of the wider redevelopment happening in the Playford Council area?

2. Imagine Peachy seems to be quite extensive and far reaching. How was the Peachy Rd Community involved in the development process?

3. In particular, how did the Council go about inviting involvement, eg what publicity material was used?

4. In your evaluation, what do you think is the most successful way to get community support for the concept?

5. Bringing Peachy Road to life is an exciting and I suspect challenging process. Within the precinct, who does the Council work with? Which groups, organisations, cultural groups, individuals are be involved?

6. How does the community show their enthusiasm about the development? Also, can you tell me how they are helping progress the project?

7. Given the diversity of the different cultural groups, have publicity materials in different languages etc been produced? Are there interpreter services available to promote the concept amongst these groups.

8. How do Council utilise local knowledge and skills to advance the project?

9. Part of the plan is to utilise the environment and increase awareness amongst the community of the importance of the environment. Can you outline for me how you envisage the community take responsibility for improving and protecting their environment? Will this educational process be a high priority for the Council?

10. In 20 years time, what do you think Peachy Rd will look like?

Questions for the Mayor that i have revamed and try to incorperate an ecological approach

1. Can you outline for me what is actually meant by the Peachy Road development


2. The Development seems to be quite extensive and far reaching. Was the Peachy Rd Community involved in the development process and if so could you outline what that involvement was.

3. In particular how did the Council go about inviting involvement eg what publicity material was there.

4. In your evaluation what do you think is the best way to get community support for the concept.

5. Bringing Peachy Road to Life will be an exciting and I suspect challenging process, within the precinct who will the Council work with. Which groups, organisations, cultural groups, individuals would be involved.

6. Is there evidence that the community are enthusiastic about the development and if so can you tell me how they are helping progress the project.

7. Is there a diverse number of culturally distinctive groups in the Peachy Belt, if so was there a planned approach to ensuring their feed back and involvement.

8. Given the diversity of the different cultural groups has publicity materaials in different languages etc been produced and is there interpretor services available to promote the concept amongst these groups.

9. As I said earlier the project seems to be both exciting and diverse. Has Council given much thought as to how local knowledge and skills can be utilised to forward the project or will the majority of the work be outsourced?

10. Part of the plan is to utilise the environment and increase awareness amongst the community of the importance of the environment .Can you outline for me how you envisage the community begin taking responsibility to improving and protecting their environment? Will this educational process be a high priority for the Council?

11. Finally Major if you were to look into the future say 20years what is it you see the Peachy belt being?

Questions for the Mayor

These are some questions that Julie has come up with to ask the Mayor of Playford.

1. How did the Playford council ask the community to be involved as part of the collaboration process when establishing the vision for Peachy Rd?

2. What was the most successful way to get community support for this?

3. Who does the council work with to bring Peachy Rd to life? E.g groups of people, organisations, cultural groups or elders.

4. What process were in place for the community to have input in to developing Peachy Rd. E.g. surveys, questionnaires

5. How is the community helping to bring Peachy Rd to life?

6. How is cultural diversity incorporated in community consultation?

7. To explain the vision for Peachy Rd to different cultural groups with in the community, are there flyers in other languages or interpreter services available?

8. How are the skills within the community used to develop and accomplish goals?

9. Part of the plan is to utilise the environment and increase awareness of the importance of the environment. How will the community be involved for taking responsibility to improve and protect their environment?

update

Hi Guys,

Candi, they're great photos.Thanks for taking the time. It's handy having you working in the vicinity.

I had spoken to the Development Officer at St Columba College which is near Peachy Rd. He informed me that Peachy Rd is almost abondoned however there are great plans for this area as they expect the RAAF base to expand to over 3000 people over the next 2 yrs.

This will add to the development of Peachy Rd as well as the housing development already in progress. The Catholic School has been closed for over 12 months. This was a due to a drop in numbers. Housing development is anticipated to grow to 5000 over the next 5 years.

Because of the oppressive structures and discourse the vandalism and graffiti that exists in the area has become accepted as the 'norm'. Therefore there is a need to raise consciousness to allow people to explore their situations that frame their lives so they can bring about change. Would you agree?

I have contacted the mayor and await a reply to my request of an interview. I some how think this wont happen in a hurry.

Julie

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Photos of Peachey Road

This is the Welcome sign at the southern end of Peachy Road.

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Graffiti on shops.

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The community centre.

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An abandoned building. Willow noticed the broken windows, so I explained the broken window theory to her. She's only 4, so it had no impact on her!

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A church on Peachey Rd. Churches are often an important part of the community.

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The health centre.

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The SHine building.

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More shops. Apparently these are some of the most profitable phone boxes in Australia.

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Construction work in progress. Presumably a big new service station?

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Graffiti on the SHine building.

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The SHine building again with the construction on the left.

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These are the flags at the northern end. The landscaping is neat and attractive.

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Thanks for visiting the Peachy Belt.

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Monday, October 19, 2009

Interview with Silvana

Silvana

If you click on the link above, you will be able to hear the interview with Silvana Cusack, who is the driving force behind Imagine Peachey.

Look what I found!

Imagine Peachey website. This might be handy!

photos

Hello everyone,

Unfortunately I left my camera at work today, so I can't transfer the photos. Julie contacted me earlier today to let me know that we are meeting at Kerlina's on Friday night. That will work for me.

On Friday night I will bring my laptop and we can make a start on the powerpoint presentation. It is a bit difficult to do anything more than aesthetics at the moment, without information from you guys. If you can have some dot points summarising your information on a USB drive, then I can slot it straight in.

George, I think you might be the only other person who has been out there, but at the start of Peachy Road, there is a sign that welcomes people to Peachy Road on one side and bids them farewell on the other. I think the photos I took of this sign would make a good start and finish to the presentation.

I have embedded the Google Maps street view of the sign I am talking about, but I am pretty sure my photo has turned out better!


View Larger Map

Is there any information that people would like me to research? While I have done all of the tech stuff, I think it is important that I still do some of the information gathering.

Kerlina, the best way to contact me is by mobile phone - I was sure you had my number, but here it is just in case. 0417 876 024

In lieu of the photos, I will edit and upload the interview I did with Silvana.

Missing/OOPS

Me Again
My intro has disappeared. sorry not sure how this happened. The last few lines were to say there will be clarity around the relevance of Peachy Rd and Imagne Chicago.

Peachy Rd is based on the concept of Chicago. This will have more relevance when we do our presentation which will high light the people,location, challenges and strengths of the Peachy Rd community along with goals ,funding, distribution of power.

Community devlopment is consultation,to value local knowledge,empowerment and collabaration. My understanding is this the bases to use an ecological perspective with in Peachy Rd project if Imagine Chicago is to be used as a model to develop this community in Payford?

Holism-No beginning or end with inter connecting relationships, Sustainability-resources are maintained,Diversity - systems that grow by a variety of ways of doing things,Equilibrium-the importance of the relationship and to maintain a balance between all stakeholders.

What are the groups thoughts on this/ I could be way of!!
Jules

Overview of Imagne Chicago

Im not sure this over view actually does the community inniative justice. I beleive this is what the City Of Playford is basing Peachy Rd on.after my interveiw with the mayor Of Playford



Imagne Chicago - Bringing community imagination to life by bringing together different discourse and practises around a common goal. Founder of this inniative Bliss Browne learnt about the history of Chicago over a 9 month period. She listened to community concerns and hopes which created a vision for a community regeneration process. This led to forming a design team to engage in civic inquiry that was structured around intergrational activitys with key stake holders like schools,community developers and cross cultural programmes and projects who were committed to the cities future. This enabled them to establish meaningful connections.This also began the process of collabaration with local organisations,faith groups,businesses and other community groups. This allowed for community capacity buliding using a strengths based approach. Forums were used to inspire,inform and bulid sustainable networks,goals and visions for lasting change. This helped create immagination for public good encouraging and equiping people to engage in creating hopeful futures for their families and communities with positive out comes.

Lets set a date

Hi All
Im back too. hoping on one leg though,most inconveinient!! George has offered to pick me up as he comes past my pace. I rang george. He can do wed/thurs/fri if we have too. Candi can do any night and i can do any night. I suggest we do Thurs at Kerlinas. waiting to hear from her. I will ring George and Candi to confirm. Candi sorry to hear your unwell,its nearly the end of term!! Im in the middle of an overview of Imagine Chicago. will post it shortly. Im yet to contact the mayor of Playford but hope to have that date and time by the time i see you. I can relate to summer school and winter school committments. Its been on going from day one.Im looking forward to having a real summer break!!cLaying on a beach i think with a DRINK!!P.S Ann theres been many phone calls as well. I think our blog is taking shape. See you all soon.Jules

hello!

Hi guys,

Sorry I have been a bit absent, my blood pressure issues have returned and there was discussion about me being hospitalised. I'm on medication now to stablise it, but that has it's own side effects.

Anyway. George, the photos look fantastic. On Saturday I went for a drive with Anthony and the children to take some photos of Peachy Road. I will upload them tonight and post them.

I am free any night this week to meet up. I have my major Law assignment out of the way now. Just the exam left in that subject to do. I am happy to pick up Julie and chauffer her to your place, Kerlina.

Kerlina, I know what you mean about winter school, I haven't had a break from uni since I started when Dexie was 5 months old! This summer will be the first time I haven't been doing a uni subject. Looking forward to the break!

Cheers,
Candi

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Thankyou George

Hi everyone,

Thanks George for going out there and getting some great pics, it will be good to put this on our power point presentation. Our presentation is Nov 11 so we really do not have much time and a lot to do. I suggest we do as much as we can via the blog then when we have a substantial amount we meet and put it all together so it appears coherent. I invite everybody's thoughts on this one!

We really need to look at the socio demographic stuff and get info on that fairly quickly as that forms the basis of what we are presenting.

I would love to go ahead and do more but feel I really need to hear what others have done so I am not reinventing the wheel so to speak.

I am hoping to get to the trailer this week however my psych tutorial falls in the middle of the time the trailer is open but I will see what I can do.

Before we get together perhaps we all need to state what area each of us are going to look at/research for the presentation again and complete what needs to be done and then meet.

Kind regards to all.
Kerlina

PS If I sound a bit panicky that's because I am!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Imagine Peachy info trailer/next meeting




Hi Kerlina Candi and Julie
I did get out today to view the trailer (couple of pics I took above) which was a really worthwhile thing to do. Shaun one of the local identities and volunteers associated with the trailer, who has been involved with various projects in the area for the last 12 years, was very generous with his time/sharing his knowledge and cleary passionate about his community. There were also representatives there from Housing SA maning the trailer, including the housing relocation manager of the Playford Alive Urban Renewel Project who I got a chance to talk to. Silvana Cusack the Community Devlopement Officer who I understand is usually there unfortunately was not present. The trailer which is such a simple and effective idea was being used by all these various stakehoulders to get information out into the community.
Kerlina I agree that we need to get together very soon to pool our info. I'm afraid that this Sunday I have a family committment, however I am free any night next week if this suits others.
George

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

NEXT MEETING

Hi everyone,

Would everyone like to meet at my place this Sunday and spend a good part of the afternoon getting things sorted. Unfortunately time is going quickly and I feel we really need to get moving on this otherwise it will show in our presentation.

Candi I have left messages with no response so I don't know what is being placed on the power presentation but I was going to suggest whether you would like me to get a definition of asset based approach so this can be one slide. Let me know your thoughts.

I know we are all really tired especially because we have not had a break after Winter school however if we take the time and perhaps try and get as much done as possible in one afternoon and pool our resources, talents and knowledge I think we have the potential to produce a fabulous presentation with a really good mark, but we do not have long to go.

Can I suggest we all look at the question again and by the time we next meet we might all have something to add therefore the next step would be documenting it on power point and the outline.

Thanks for everybody's input thus far it has been fantastic. Lets keep moving forward folks!!

Warm regards.
Kerlina

Thought/explanation

Hi Guys
Im out of action with a fratured foot. Makes life way tooo difficult. Im of work next week so am available to catch up,candi has offered to pick me up.Great!!. I will organise the interview with the mayor. I will also look at imagne chicago and post a summary. George thanks for going to the trailer sorry im not there for you. Will be intouch ASAP.
Jules

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Hi all

hope this finds you well and not too over run with all the usual committments.

I have got a few things out of the way and hope to focus more on our project. Julie if you want to interview the major I think go for it, as it will bring broader focus to what we are doing. Candi thanks for all the creative stuff you are doing. I did have a look at one of the web sites you posted below and your right as to how much community can be commodified, these "communities" certainly don't sound like they are for everyone, (could be some pressure to conform to the model) especially the more non active and/or solitary types. I'm (Julie have has let me know that she will be in Sydney) aiming still to head up north to check out the Imagine Peachy information trailer this Thursday and will place a posting soon after that.
regards
George
Hi Guys,

Sorry I have not contributed much lately 1 week with bronchial asthma next with bronchial ashma and gastro (not a good mix) just starting to join the land of the living again. Candi your comment on the retirement and education community is relevant as it adds another perspective to what community means so by all lmeans lets run with it.

Julie loved your idea on speaking with the mayor as it would be interesting to hear his thoughts on community and what his perception of it is. It also signifies a formal power base so diplomatically we can try and ascertain what his thoughts are on valuing local knowledge and perhaps how this is shown in decisions being made.

I might try and get my hands on a local newspaper such as the messenger as this sometimes shows various issues and how they are handled between council and community members and perhaps we can mention this somewhere that is relevant. Let me know your thoughts?

Did anyone take minutes on the last meeting which unfortunately I could not attend as I would love to see what was discussed and decided therefore being kept in the loop? Also I need to know tasks assigned to be able to put this in the outline.

Is there another meeting planned and if so when is it? I was wondering if we should all put an afternoon aside and work on everything and try and complete as much as possible before our presentation. Love to hear your thoughts!!. What about this Sunday.

Candi is it possible to send me what you have so far on power point so I can get a bit of an idea regarding the one page outline? Julie and George if you have any socio demographic stuff eg population, history I would not mind a copy of this as well for the outline. It might be useful to view the assigment/presentation question and graduate qualities again just to make sure we are all keeping on track.


Thankyou everyone and looking forward to hearing from you all.

Kind regards.
Kerlina

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

IDEA

Hi Guys
I was thinking about an interview with the mayor. What do you think? I wonder what he sees for the development of peachy. I know that the Catholic school is closed and vandalised and the shopping centre is looking sad. It seems there are great things in the wind but with some difficulties. Im happy to take the time to see him. We could as it has been suggested take some photo's.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Google Images

I have been doing a few Google Image searches for visual representations of community. One of the interesting things I've noticed is that land development companies and real estae agents seem to use the concpet of community as a selling point.

Some examples:

a retirement community

another retirement community

an educational community







This got me to thinking about how the concept of community can be commodified, the idea of the good old days can be romanticised. Not entirely relevant to community development, but I thought I'd put it out there.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Idea

Hi Candi
I think that would be the right thing to do.
Julie

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

powerpoint presentation

Hi everyone,

Thanks for coming on Sunday, it was great to decide on a project. Lovely to meet you George.

I have made a start on the powerpoint presentation and thought it would be appropriate to include a traditional Kaurna greeting. What do you all think? At work, we have them at most meetings/gatherings, as Julie can attest!

Cheers,
Candi
Hi All
I rang the Playford council and the general project number is 1800644780. This may be use full if we need to ring to discuss further information about Peachy Rd. I received emails this morning from Kerlina giving a brief over view of Sundays meeting. Thanks kerlina. Also a list of external students too. These will be greta to keep onhand for further reference.
Julie

Monday, September 28, 2009

Plan

Hi Guys
I was pleased to be able to finally decide on a topic. it was good to catch up and brainsorm some ideas. It seems we are all on the same page which makes working together much easier.Thanks Candi for your input and putting the interview on our page. Im happy to go with George to meet Silvana and check out the trailer. I will contact George and make a time to meet.looking forward to getting together soon.
Julie

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Map


View Larger Map

Sunday 27th September, 2009

Hi All,

I am at the library deciding with the rest of the members exactly what assignment topic we will take on.
Regards.
kerlina

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Imagine Chicago

While I'm here, I thought I'd add a few links. The CDO I spoke to about Imagine Peachy, told me that the concept was based on the Imagine Chicago idea. So I have done some internet searching and found these links.

Imagine Chicago


The Futures Foundation


Imagine Durban

Interview with Maria

Maria

If you click on the link above, you will be able to hear the interview with Maria Callendar, a Community Development Officer from the City of Playford.

I also have an interview with the Community Development Officer who is involved with the Imagine Peachy project, but it is a bit longer and might need some more editing.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Blog is open.

Hello,

Just wanted to let you all know that I have made the blog open so that Kerlina can at least view it, even if she can't post on it yet.

Cheers,
Candi

Interview on Friday

I have managed to score some time with Maria Callander on Friday. She is a Social Inclusion Co-ordinator from Playford Council, so she should have some good information on Imagine Peachy, or other projects within the Playford Council.

When we meet on Sunday, I will let you know how it went!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Peachey Rd in Playford

Hi All
Glad we can catch up Sunday finally. Ive looked at the Playford Council web site. I rang also. Theres a 1800644780 number we can call to get further info about this project. Its a 15 yr project and it involves developing a community with new services even though Peachey Rd has always been there. I think after further discussion we should give this consideration.
Julie

Sunday catch up

Sunday is fine for me, I'll see you all there!

I imagine that we'll be able to decide what project we'll be working on by the end of the day. Has anyone else thought of other community development projects?

Cheers,
Candi

Monday, September 21, 2009

this Sun meeting

Hi all

I can make this Sunday and look forward to catching up if it suits all.

regards
George

Lets definitely make a night

Hi Guys
hope your all well. I think we should catch up this week just to touch base. Im thinking Sunday at uni just for an hr.Have spoken to Kerlina to see if it works for and it does but time is preciuos for her so say 2pm.can you let me know what works for you.
Julie

Friday, September 18, 2009

hi all
hope you have had a good week.
I can do most nights and weekends.
George

A time to catch up?

We have a busy weekend this weekend, but after that, I'm free any night.

time to meet

Hi All
I can do any nite reallly or weekend as i have other assignments that are due. Let me know what works.Thurs 24th is may be the only nite not doable.
Julie

Thursday, September 17, 2009

A time to meet up?

HiCandi, Julie and George,

Wed is not good for me sorry daughter singing at Festival Theatre for Catholic Music Festival, how about following weekend? Please let me know your thoughts.

Cheers
Kerlina

idea

Hi Guys
Yes candi i agree 'Thinking Fit' does cover a small group with in a community so this probably doesnt fit. I like Georges idea on unemployment though. may be we could consider the new superschool structure out in the Play ford area. This effects the whole community. Its a new concept!! just a thought.
Julie

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

some ideas

Hi Candi,Kerlina and Julie

been getting myself tonight familiar with blogging and your postings (good idea pasteing the assignment question Candi). I had a look at my local council's website which only has standard stuff regarding community info compared to the City of Playford's site, which seems pretty good. Also working in the area of mental health I'm fine with baseing the project on something in this area but am also aware that in the 'peachy belt' there are number of issues that we could focus on related to mental health but that are issues in there own right - for instance I read something in the paper a while back re a pilot program addressing intergenerational unemployment in the peachy belt etc. So I guess its a matter of continuing to throw some ideas around.
regards
George
p.s thanks again Candi for setting me up

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Thinking Fit

Hi everyone,

Julie, Thinking Fit is a great program and I remember discussing it with you before. I think the problem is that it would only involve a small group of people, not the community as a whole, so while we have lots of information on it, it wouldn't meet the criteria as a real community development project.

Candi

Monday, September 14, 2009

first time

Hi fellow Bloggers!!

This is the first time ive used this type of learning.

I feel that Mental Health within the Playford area would be good. As i currently work in this area, its of interest. Im sure within the group we have many resources and experiences to bring to include in the research of a Community devlopment project.

Attached to my job description is a small programme called Thinking Fit. Would this work as a community project as this is currently being run in the South only. To form partnerships and work collabratively with other menatl health services with in the Playford zone to set up such a programme would be beneficial. Why?? because its documented that exercise has a positve effect on our mood.

I have some material we could use if Candi,kerlina and George were in favour.

Assessment Requirements

I just wanted to copy and paste the assessment requirements from the Course Handbook here, so we can refer to it easily.

Assignment 3- Group Presentation- 20 minutes- due weeks 13- 15

Graduate Qualities 1,2,3,4,5,6 & 7.

Community Development Project Showcase.

Choose a community development project with which you are familiar or about which you are able to obtain further information. (Check in with your tutor about your choice before proceeding.) Projects may be identified via searches on community group, government, non government organisation or community engagement consultancy websites.

Part A Group Presentation

Your tutor will allocate groups of 3- 4 students to work together on a presentation to showcase a community development project. Each member of the group must collaborate in the preparation and delivery of the presentation. To do this, each group will set up a Blog through which you will be able to collaborate with each other to research, create and possibly present you presentation. Innovative presentation styles welcome!

Describe the community involved; the people, the location, the assets, the strengths, the challenges.

Describe the project; agencies involved, timeline, goals, funding, formal/ informal power distribution.

Analyse the community development process or processes undertaken to achieve the project. Utilise the theoretical knowledge of the course in your critique.

Part B Presentation Write Up

Each group needs to provide to their tutor a reference list of supporting materials and a 1 page outline describing their group research process including a summary of task allocation.

More links.

I am logged in at work, so wanted to quickly take the opportunity to post these links.

http://www.playford.sa.gov.au

Community Development Grants

We haven't officially decided on the Community Development Project that we'll be doing, but there is a lot of information available from the City of Playford. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has a particular project in mind. :)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Possible projects?

This is Candi and Kerlina, posting on Kerlina's computer.

We've been looking at the City of Playford website and found some interesting community projects.

Imagine Peachey is one.

The Cityof Playford has a strong focus on Mental Health Issues, so this is another area we could investigate.

Virgina Recreational Space is another one.

Working with Communites

We have set up this blog to facilitate our presentation on a community development project.

We are still in the process of deciding what community project we are going to present on.