Pathways Through Participation » civil society

‘Grandmentoring’ scheme launched: teenagers to receive help, support and guidance from older volunteers

Eddie Cowling — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:44:03 +0000

Last week saw the launch of Welfare Minister Lord Freud’s initiative ‘Grandmentoring’; where older volunteers are paired with young people not in employment, education or training to support them in the pathway into adulthood. Nat Wei, the government adviser on the Big Society argues how the scheme, delivered with CSV, can help create new cohorts of people who have seen the benefit of being more socially active, and who feel a desire to give back which helps others but which also energises them.

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The Big Society: shaping people’s pathways?

Eddie Cowling — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:00:22 +0000

A month on from the end of an election campaign that certainly wasn’t short of talk of devolution, community involvement, and ‘people-power’ from all three main parties, it is now becoming apparent what participation might look like under the new coalition government. The widely discussed ‘Big Society’ is now being implemented into policy, with Downing Street outlining last month how the idea will be at the heart of public sector reform.

The Pathways team and the partnering organisations have been monitoring the developments and debates around the Big Society with interest, and it seems logical that for such a concept to work and be sustained, it is crucial for politicians and practitioners to have a good understanding of how and why individuals involve themselves in various forms of participation throughout their lives.

The new government emphasises how one of the key principles of Building the Big Society is to encourage people to take an active role in their communities, as well as encourage charitable giving and philanthropy. Such forms of participation can manifest themselves in very different ways, so thorough and insightful research is needed to explore the connections and patterns between different participatory activities, something that the Pathways project will also begin to explore as we go into the in-depth interview phase of the project.

Making good society: growing participatory and deliberative democracy

Veronique Jochum — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:30:57 +0000

The Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland, funded by Carnegie UK Trust, has now published its final report ‘Making good society’. The Commission identifies four critical areas in which civil society activity is necessary to make good society:

Growing a more civil economy;
A rapid and just transition to a low carbon economy;
Democratising media and content;
Growing participatory and deliberative democracy.

In chapter four of the report, the one relating to participatory and deliberative democracy, the Commission recommends the following:

Strengthening very local democracy with clear rights to set up neighbourhood councils with powers to raise finance and act.
Refashioning parliaments to allow for more dialogue and engagement, including rights of petition and rights for petititioners to take part in debates.
Reinforcing rights to dissent and reviewing the impact of serious crime and anti-terror legislation on civil society to reduce the risk of unintended harm to civil society domestically and globally.
Investing in deliberation skills. Individuals, civil society associations and public bodies need to help strengthen the skills of active listening, rational argument and effective deliberation.
Developing leaders from all backgrounds. More needs to be done to support those organisations that are effective at identifying and supporting emerging leaders who reflect the communities they serve.
Bridging difference. A related priority for funders is to support individuals or initiatives that are skilled at overcoming conflicts or mutual distrust.
Harnessing the potential of the Internet by using SMS, twitter and social networking sites as tools for mobilisation, education and direct action.