Before providing leadership and mediation, we must understand the 4 factors of a Sense of Community
1. Membership
1.the feeling of belonging
2. Influence
1.a sense of mattering. Working both ways, with members feeling like they have influence over the community and the community having influence over members. It works best with the idea of giving first before asking for anything
3. Fulfilment of needs
1.by joining the community you get something in return for your participation. It could be a support network or skills – as in volunteering
4. Shared emotional connection
shared history or experiences – including common causes and challenges.
And then we focus on how to analyse our community and the power of community mapping.
EXERCISE: Community Mapping Activity
Draw a map of your community
Think About
- The places with different services
- Institutions and Infrastructure
- Location of the places important for your community, for the grassroots, for development, art, culture, inclusion
- Use different colours to write the above words on your map
Now talk to the members of your community and think deeper
THINK ABOUT
- What is the state of your community?
- How accessible are the Institutions and Infrastructure to a migrant community?
- Are you happy with the conditions for migrant involvement ?
- Use different symbols to mark different state, opinions and feelings on your map
The symbols you can use to express different state, opinions and feelings on your map
Positive places
Issue or place of concern
No access
Negative places
Decision making
Deep analysis example
Google mapping is an incredibly popular method of mapping virtually anything is it free and extremely versatile. In addition to adding pins, you can also embed photos or videos into the pop-up bubbles so they can be viewed instantly without having to follow a link.
For more instruction on the use of Google Maps, search “google mymaps tutorial” to find useful and practical content.
Community Mapped. What Now?
Community mapping can encourage people become powerful advocates for the transformation of the communities in which they live. Involving new communities in such exercises can show what is like to be a migrant in that community, the issues faced and the supports that are needed. Once you’ve done your initial mapping, and drawn from it, the needs and gaps of that community; keeping local agencies informed will help you keep the agreed priorities at the front of everyone’s mind.
Example
The City of Leeds, UK has harnessed the strengths of migrant communities to help growing numbers of new arrivals, fleeing war or looking for a better life, settle into the city. The city’s belief is that a citizen-led approach would enable communities, in the first instance, to identify their unique needs, and to develop and implement their own solutions to address those needs. This approach also means the city itself could benefit from the more appropriate use of existing services, the creation of additional and more relevant services, better-informed and more employable new citizens and the establishment of more cohesive and productive communities.
More About Leeds
Leeds has a long-held commitment to support asylum seekers and refugees and is dedicated to being a city of sanctuary. The Leeds Migrant Access Programme Training Programme | Migration Partnership is a way for those who have already made links in Leeds to help others. It was developed by Leeds City Council and two local not-for-profit community service providers, Touchstone and Feel Good Factor.
The prorgramme aims to reduce pressure on highly impacted services. It does so by raising awareness among new arrivals of how the system works, and by helping them put down roots through strengthened relations with existing settled communities.
Read The Full Story
2016 Awards_Cities in action_Leeds.pdf (eurocities.eu)
Additional Reading
Migration in Leeds Strategy.pdf – SEE MAPPING ON NEXT SLIDE FOR THE CULMINATION OF THEIR WORK …..
