Ruth DeSouza » Community

Community

Community can be defined as a group of people having common interests or forming a distinct segment of society. My active involvement in the community has seen me become engaged in voluntary work that enhances the wellbeing and settlement of migrants and refugees into New Zealand and I have been involved in advocating for supportive and inclusive national policies. This commitment is reflected in my previous role as Trustee of Auckland Regional Migrant Services Trust (ARMS).I am interested in the place of diverse communities in society in particular ethno-religious diasporic communities, disability and sexuality communities and geographic communities (like mine in West Auckland).I am also a Board member of The West Auckland Living Skills Homes Trust Inc. (WALSH Trust) which was established in 1988 that serves people in the West Auckland community who experience mental ill health

A useful resource is the Glossary of Terms for the Voluntary Sector on the Envision.ca website. The Queensland Government has a great site called Get Involved which has loads of useful resources.

To this end Andy and I started the the Aotearoa Ethnic Network an electronic mailing list for everyone involved in ethnic community issues in Aotearoa/New Zealand. A prime motivator for developing the journal was our observation in the email list that opinions, dialogue and experiences that were shared were largely absent from the public domain.

I had the privilege of attending the International Conference on Engaging Communities in August 2005 which was an initiative of the United Nations and the Queensland State Government in Australia. The Brisbane Declaration on Community Engagement was prepared following deliberative discussion and feedback prior to and during the conference. A number of online initiatives were introduced to maximise opportunities for people to participate in the conference, including those who were unable to travel to Brisbane. I would encourage people to listen to audio broadcasts of selected sessions via the internet.

Civil society

The place where collective actions are initiated to free social actors and to combat the workings of an economy dominated by profit and the political will to dominance (Touraine, 2001).

Community development resources

Community development is the process or effort of building communities on a local level with emphasis on building the economy, forging and strengthening social ties, and developing the non-profit sector. or more simply, activities that increase the positive outcomes possible within a community by linking individuals and organizations working toward common ends.Wikipedia defines it as a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities.

Ethnic networks

Governance

Defined on the Envision.ca website as the actions of the volunteer board of directors of an organisation with respect to establishing and monitoring the long-term direction of that organisation.

ICT

Information and Communication Technologies refer to telephones, cellular phones, computers, the Internet, handheld computers, software and related technologies. The links between ICT and Social Capital (the extent, nature and quality of social ties that individuals or communities can mobilize in conducting their affairs) are being debated at length. Although research is not definitive on ICT’s ability to increase or support social capital. Andy Williamson’s research shows that when technology is used to support the work of people who are active in their communities ICT has the potential to increase social capital. The Aotearoa Ethnic Network is effective in this regard as it succeeds in not only helping with bonding capital (resources for ethnic communities that provide a sense of identity and belonging and practical support networks) but also assists with bridging capital where genuine links between diverse communities are created.

On 12 June 2006, Ministers of the European Union (EU) Member States and accession and candidate countries, European Free Trade Area countries and other countries adopted a Declaration on eInclusion which will provide political guidance for future action (Riga Declaration). This dDeclaration aims to set targets for making information and communications technologies (ICTs) more accessible for all Europeans. The term eInclusion has been coined to refer to both inclusive ICTs and the use of ICTs to achieve wider inclusion objectives. eInclusion has been identified as a pressing concern by Europe’s Information Society studies which found that barriers to access of ICTs have significant economic and social consequences. With the Riga Declaration the Ministerial conference made a commitment to achieving a barrier free information society. A number of specific targets were set out, namely to:

1. To significantly reduce regional disparities in internet access and increase the availability of broadband coverage in under-served locations
   
2. Halve the gap in internet usage by 2010 for groups at risk of exclusion, such as older people, people with disabilities, women, and unemployed persons.
   
3. Assess (by 2007) the need for new approaches (including legislation and public procurement) to ensure access for disabled users to Information Society tools and services.
   
4. To ensure compliance of 100% of public websites to common standard and practices for web accessibility by 2010.

NGO's

NGO (Non-governmental organisation) defined by Envision.ca is usually associated with non-profit or voluntary organisations. A Non-profit Organisation is an organization governed by a volunteer board, and whose business is not conducted for profit. Organisations of this type are said to belong to the non-profit or third sector, which is to say, they are neither government (public sector) nor business (private sector).

Volunteering

A volunteer is someone who enters into or offers themselves for a service of their own free will; or it can be an organization relating to, or composed of volunteers.

West Auckland

Okay I admit it, I am a proud "Westie", I think we do things rather well here, such as Shared Vision, The Wellbeing collaboration, the online portal and much more

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Copyright © 2003-2007 Ruth DeSouza. All rights reserved. Contact: ruth[at]ruthdesouza.com.