Organise community events and activities
Overview
This standard relates to the roles of community development practitioners in supporting the organisation of events and activities within communities. These events may include public meetings, workshops, open days, consultation displays and neighbourhood forums amongst others.
This standard is relevant to all community development practitioners.
The community development standards are arranged in six key areas:
Understand and practise community development
Understand and engage with communities
Group work and collective action
Collaboration and cross-sectoral working
Community learning for social change
Governance and organisational development
This standard is within Key Area Three.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- negotiate to establish the purpose of the event or activity
- agree the plan for the event or activity with all those involved
- plan the event or activity so it is accessible, inclusive, legal and safe to all in the community
- support members of the community to obtain the required resources for the event or activity
- provide information to those involved in organising the event so they can carry out allocated tasks
- select types of publicity to attract target participants
- support community members to review and update plans to achieve required objective
- obtain consent from individuals about the use of their information and images for different purposes
- evaluate the event or activity to inform future actions
- support communities to make use of their legal rights
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- the factors involved in organising community events and activities
- what accessible, inclusive and safe community events and activities look like
- ways to involve and develop people
- collective approaches to decision-making
- how to develop equality and anti-discriminatory practice within groups
how to support the roles people take in groups
how to access resources and support for community events or activities
- how to meet legal requirements for organising and running community events and activities
- how to use quality improvement techniques for organising events and activities
- how to support communities to develop their knowledge of relevant law and legal remedies
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Community development is underpinned by a set of values which distinguish it from other, sometimes related, activities in the community. These values are at the core of community development and underpin each of the standards. The values are;
- Social justice and equality
- Anti-discrimination
- Community empowerment
- Collective action
- Working and learning together
The following examples illustrate how each of the community development values might inform practice in this standard. These statements are not part of assessment requirements.
- environmental considerations are taken into account in the planning and use of resources
- venues are chosen that meet the differing needs and circumstances of individuals attending
- the knowledge, expertise and skills of community members are used to their full in planning and running the event
- opportunities are taken for collaborating with other groups in planning events/activities
- reflective evaluation is carried out so that future events and activities can benefit
Behaviours
Skills
Glossary
Anti-discriminatory practice
Actively removes barriers to involvement, promotes diversity and challenges stereotyping, inequality and injustice amongst individuals and organisations.
Collective action
Working together with others to achieve a common aim.
Community
The web of personal relationships, groups, networks, traditions and patterns of behaviour that can develop among those who share a geographic area or identity or interest.
Community development practitioner
A person doing community development work as a paid worker, unpaid worker, group member, community activist or volunteer.
Community Engagement
A way to build and sustain relationships within and between communities, community groups or organisations, public sector, third sector and other agencies. It provides a foundation for collaboration helping them to understand and collectively take action.
Consultation
Activities which seek the views of individuals and communities to gauge opinion, involvement or ideas about issues in order to shape decisions and actions.
Empowerment
A process where people gain control (eg confidence, knowledge, skills, resources) to affect decisions impacting on their communities.
Evaluation
Entails an overall assessment of the achievements, effectiveness and impact of work carried out.
Learning
Can be informal, formal and non-formal:
- Informal refers to experiential and personal learning
- Formal learning refers to what we gain from courses, academic studies and continual professional development
- Non-formal education is that which can be informal or formal but occurs in non-traditional settings e.g. in communities.
Organisation
Any collection of people in the community, voluntary, public and private sectors and any hybrid configuration across these sectors. It refers to community groups, charities, community and social enterprises, statutory agencies, businesses.
Resources
This covers any physical or human resource that supports the community development process and could include technical equipment, IT-based resources, buildings, sources of specialist knowledge, local assets
Support
The work a community development practitioner may undertake to ensure the group can pursue its aims. The types of activities may include: providing information, moral and motivational encouragement, researching particular topics, identifying sources of help, listening to group members' ideas and thought processes and reflecting them back, facilitating decision-making, acting as an advocate, coach, mentor, critical friend.
Technology
This refers to both hardware and online tools/apps which can be used in practice and communication (including social media).