What Makes Communities Tick?: Exploring the Relationship between Local Government and Social Capital

Woolcock G¹*, Renton DG²*

1. UQ Boilerhouse Community Service and Research Centre, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
2. Local Government Association of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

While there are many commentators in the area of social capital, there are very few documented examples of practice at an international or national level that directly relate to Local Government. The Local Government & Social Capital Action Research Project (LGSCARP) was a pilot project in 2003–2004 between the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) and the UQ Boilerhouse Community Service & Research Centre (CSRC) at the University of Queensland in conjunction with five participating Local Governments – Waggamba Shire Council, Maroochy Shire Council, Broadsound Shire Council, Thuringowa City Council and Mt. Isa City Council.

The LGSCARP was essentially an exploratory exercise that sought to ‘demystify’ social capital and its important implications for Local Governments in Queensland. The project deliberately did not seek to impose any singular understanding of the concept of social capital but rather attempted to align some of the claims of social capital theory with the practice of Local Governments, focussing specifically on their community development activities. Nonetheless, there were a number of common findings that emerged over the course of the project, namely the importance of leadership, communication, learning, measurement and collaborative partnerships.

The paper will also trace developments post-LGSCARP through 2004–05 in furthering the links between local government in Queensland and social capital theory and practice. Some of the key focus areas here will be various training and learning events, attempts to benchmark community well-being measures, and the often frustrated efforts to integrate local government work on social capital with similar state and federal government initiatives.

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