Community Cohesion HACT February 2005

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Community Cohesion HACT February 2005

• Ted Cantle
• Chair, Community Cohesion Review and Associate
  Director IDeA

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What Was Found..

• Polarised and segregated communities
• Parallel lives
• Ignorance, fear and demonisation
• Lack of honesty and openness
• Lack of leadership and values
• Many initiatives, but also part of the problem

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The Challenge of Community Cohesion

• To break down segregated communities and the
  fear of difference
• Continue to tackle unequal life chances, poverty
  and disaffection.
• With less initiatives, more mainstream and new
  approaches
• And build the real civil renewal with vision
  and leadership

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The Fear of Difference

• Rigid social and economic patterns
• Limited conceptions of others
• Challenged by all differences
• Cross-cultural or bridging capital limited eg
  black/white friends

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In a Changing World

• In 1965 75m people lived outside home country,
  now 180m do so.
• 300,000 Brits now live in Spain, more in other
  countries (200,000 in NZ)
• 25m tourists to UK and millions from UK to ever
  widening list of countries
• 8 BME in UK US 10 Canada 17 Australia 23
• And globalisation in many forms, students,
  business, brands, internet, etc

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Is The UK Multicultural?

• 4.6 million BME people
• Varies from place to place, 50 BME in London -
  growth of international cities other areas
  still mono-cultural
• London over 300 languages in schools
• More change from ethnic conflict, climate change
  and from economic needs?

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Coming to terms with Change

• Understanding migration changing social and
  economic patterns. (but may provide a platform
  for racist views)
• Recognise Social Class
• Tackle structural issues (cf students)
• Build bridges between identities
• Provide for social and psychological needs

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Do We Feel Multicultural?

• Race and Migration 2nd or 3rd biggest issue now
• less say a negative feature of locality
• BNP making small inroads (cf Europe)
• Many aspects are positive

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Parallel Lives

• physical segregation of housing estates and inner
  city areas cities compounded by separate
  educational arrangements, community and voluntary
  bodies, employment, places of worship, language,
  social and cultural networks
• Replace segregation with clustering
• And with economic and political integration
• And cultural difference

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What is Community Cohesion?

• A Cohesive Community is one where
• There is a common vision and a sense of belonging
  for all communities
• The diversity of peoples backgrounds are
  appreciated and positively valued
• Those from different backgrounds have similar
  life opportunities
• Strong and positive relationships are being
  developed between people from different
  backgrounds, in schools and within neighbourhoods

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Parallel Lives Changing Attitudes and Values
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Parallel Lives Changing Attitudes and Values
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Parallel Lives Changing Attitudes and Values
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Parallel Lives Changing Attitudes and Values
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Leadership

• Vision of community harmony and to establish
  wider debate and climate (vacuums are filled by
  extremists)
• Cross-Party, cross-sector, agreements
• A public service ethos
• A role for informal leaders eg celebs,GPs and
  the press and media

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And Leadership in the Community

• Local and community organisations With new ways
  of working
• New BME and host concepts and both need
  leaders
• Internal cohesion v wider societies
• Structural changes and funding regimes to
  incentivise people and orgs.
• Training and development incl visits

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A Programme for Community Cohesion and Local
Engagement

• Local needs and issues
• Must be mainstream, not left to VOs
• Tackle disadvantage and disaffection
• Cross-cultural programmes (bridging)
• social
• associational
• structural

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Local communities .

• Education review admissions/change parental
  perceptions, to promote more mixed intakes
  twinning and joint teaching, sports and social
  links parental networks pre-school and
  supplementary HE/FE
• Housing lettings and development programmes
  (and Sustainable Communities), shaping
  communities?

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Local resources ..

• Press and media and informal communication
  networks
• Faith and other networks
• Police and community safety
• Youth resources and cross-cultural
• Sport, Leisure and Culture and environmental -
  opportunities

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The Developing Agenda

• Embedding a commitment to multiculturalism
  breaking down the fear of difference more
  generally.
• New structures to develop theory and practice
• But who takes responsibility to promote good
  community relations, begin cross-cultural
  contact, reduce intolerance?