Enhancing the Capacity of Grassroots Groups to Engage: Practical Initiatives from a Community/Local Government Partnership

Creyton M¹*, See M²* and Bourke P²*

1. Volunteering Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
2. Brisbane City Council, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Grassroots organisations play an invaluable role in the community working hand in hand with local government. These groups connect and engage citizens at a local level, providing community input and strategic advice, contributing their skills, experience and influence in the care of community assets and resources. This paper will consider practical grassroots capacity building delivered through an innovative partnership between Volunteering Queensland and Brisbane City Council’s catchment and bushcare programs. The partners set out to develop specific initiatives to assist groups at a grassroots level, which have resulted in three programs targeting three audiences: community leaders, the grassroots organisations and the local community volunteers.

Since 2001, the Community Peer Leadership Program has provided leadership development for voluntary leaders across a broad range of community sectors. This six month program provides both broad community education and technical skills development. It has been successful in enhancing both individual skills and knowledges, and building both organisational capacity and fostering local community networks.

Over the past two years further programs have been developed which focus specifically on natural resource management and local bush care programs. The Catchment Group Strategic Capacity Building Project has focussed on building the work of Catchment Groups throughout Brisbane by providing an intensive capacity audit with catchment groups followed by development work tailored to groups’ needs. The Capacity Building Initiative focuses on facilitating conversations between local bushcare and catchment groups which assists in building regional Capacity Action Plans with the aim to enhance knowledge sharing, networking and coordinated strategic action.

The paper will consider what are the critical areas for grassroots capacity building; the rationale, impact and outcomes of different approaches and what have been the common themes, opportunities and challenges in strategically assisting groups to further build capacity.

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