Readers may remember we were awarded a learning contract by the Big Lottery Fund to develop a Community Planning Toolkit.  Work has been ongoing on developing and testing the resources and learning materials for this past year and it is hoped that the Toolkit will go live in spring 2012.  It is designed to be a learning resource for the Voluntary and Community Sectors and will focus on five key themes – Community Engagement; Working Together; Outcomes; Alignment and Skills and Resources.  We are organising a learning event in November 2011 for the three pilot Community Planning Projects.  This will discuss the learning, skills and knowledge required for Community Planning and this will feed into the final structure and content of the Toolkit. 

We are currently working with Dr Brendan Murtagh (of Queen’s University) on a research project which aims to help the Housing Executive to develop a strategy to strengthen its role in area-based regeneration.  Our role in the research project is to undertake interviews and case studies to look at the relationship between regeneration, asset transfer and social enterprise.  There are many examples of how assets (in the form of land or buildings) have been transferred from the public sector to community sector ownership and the research will assess how these have impacted on area regeneration. 

We are currently delivering capacity building training for the Women’s Support Network to promote awareness and understanding of community planning and methods of community engagement.  The training will also look at the benefits of collaborative working and forming effective partnerships to share resources and enhance service delivery in communities (particularly services provided by women’s groups).