Wyandot Leadership

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Wyandot Leadership

• Government Community Involvement
• October 17, 2006

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Objectives

• Discuss concept of community and the community
  development process
• Explore public service opportunities and
  leadership challenges
• Identify critical issues in the community that
  can be addressed as part of the leadership
  experience

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Exercise 1

• Illustrate your concept of community.

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(No Transcript)
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Types of Community
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Concepts of Community

• Space-based
• a physical setting for social relations (eg
  township, village, school district)
• Identity-based
• a morally valued way of life (eg free-enterprise
  system)
• people, place/territory, social interaction,
  psychological identification/attachment
• collective interaction people are the basic
  foundation
• Aristotle-
• community means fellowship in Greek enjoyment
  of mutual association, fulfill basic needs and
  find meaning in life

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Exercise 2

• List and describe the resources or assets of your
  community. Why do you think they are important
  to community? Prepare to provide a group report.

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What is an Asset?

• Something useful

An asset becomes capital when it is invested.
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What is Capital?

• Resources invested to create new resources over a
  long time horizon

The goal of community development is to invest
all your assets or resources.
Examples??
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Exercise 3

• Describe a healthy community. What are the key
  components to a healthy community?

• Healthy eco-system, vibrant economy, social
  wellbeing

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Built Capital
Financial Capital
Natural Capital
Political Capital
Healthy Ecosystem Vital Economy Social Well-Being
Cultural Capital
Social Capital
Human Capital
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Human capital

• Education
• Skills
• Health
• Self-esteem
• Self-efficacy

• includes the skills and abilities of people to
  develop and enhance their resources, as well as
  the ability to access outside resources and
  bodies of knowledge in order to increase their
  understanding, identify promising practices, and
  to access data

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Cultural capital

• Symbols and language
• Ways of knowing
• What we value
• Ways of acting
• Definition of what is a problem

• reflects the way people know the world and how
  to act within it. Also includes the dynamics of
  who we know and feel comfortable with, what
  heritages are valued, collaboration across races,
  ethnicities, and generations

• To build cultural capital Different heritages
  are maintained and valued

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Natural capital

• assets that abide in a location, including
  resources, amenities and natural beauty provide
  possibilities and limits

• When maximized Sustainable, healthy ecosystems
  with multiple community benefits

• Air
• Water
• Soil
• Bio-diversity
• Landscape

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Built capital

• refers to the infrastructure that supports that
  community such as telecommunications, water and
  sewer systems, roads, etc.

• Sewers
• Buildings
• Water systems
• Roads
• Electronic communication

• Built capital enhances other community capitals
  because infrastructure
• -serves multiple users
• -can be locally maintained and improved
• -links local people together equitably
• -links local people, institutions and businesses
  to the outside

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Financial Capital

• Savings
• Debt investment capital
• Tax revenue/abatement
• Grants

• refers to the financial resources available to
  invest in community capacity building, to
  underwrite business development, to support civic
  and social entrepreneurship, and to accumulate
  wealth for future community development

• Appropriately diverse and healthy economies
  characterized by
• -reduced poverty
• -increased business efficiency
• -increased business diversity
• -increased community residents assets

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Political capital

• Organization
• Connections
• Voice
• Power

• reflects access to power and power brokers the
  ability of a group to influence the distribution
  of resources, including helping set the agenda of
  what assets are available.

• To build political capital
• -excluded people are organized and work together
• -excluded people know and feel comfortable around
  powerful people
• -the issues of excluded people are part of the
  political agenda

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Social capital

• Reflects the connections among people and
  organizations or the social glue to make things
  happen.
• Bonding social capital consists of interactions
  within specific groups.
• Bridging social capital consists of interactions
  among social groups.

• Mutual trust
• Reciprocity
• Collective identity
• Sense of shared future
• Working together

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Social Capital Bridging and Bonding

• Bonding
• -Tight, exclusive networks
• -strong distinction between insiders and
  outsiders
• -Single answer focus

• Bridging
• -Open and flexible networks
• -permeable and open boundaries
• -legitimization of alternatives

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Human and Social Capital Goals

• Improved community initiative, responsibility,
  and adaptability
• -shared vision
• -build on assets
• -creative strategies for responding to changes

• Increased use of the knowledge, skills, and
  abilities of local people
• -identify capacities
• -enhance capacities
• -recombine capacities

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Exercise 4

• Identify opportunities for civic engagement.
• As a group, list and describe opportunities for
  turning assets into capital in your community.
  Name as many of the various local government
  offices, public institutions, and organizations,
  committees, boards, etc that you can. What
  role(s) do they play in community development?

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Local Leader Interviews

• What are some of the most critical issues facing
  residents of Wyandot County?
• What issues could be addressed with an immediate
  response?
• Which issues require a long term strategy?
• What role can you play in addressing these issues?

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Exercise 5

• Illustrate your concept of community.

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Key Concepts

• Types of community
• Overlapping layers of community
• Assets/Capital/Engagement
• Local opportunities for engagement