Transcript Ideas matter Communicative Planning

What Have Councils Ever
Done For Young People?
Stuart Boyd
Senior Strategy
Consultant
Adelaide City Council
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Youth Development Conference
12 February 2015
Overview

Context

Strategy development

Social planning

Internal advocacy
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“We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect their parents.
They are rude and impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no
self-control."


"What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they
disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets, inflamed
with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"


6,000-year-old Egyptian tomb
Fourth Century BC Socrates or Plato
"The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no
reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint ... As for
the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behaviour
and dress.“

AD1274, Peter the Hermit
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Local Government Can Be
Weird!
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Local Government Strategic Planning
Strategy:
Those decisions that have high medium-term to long-term
impact;
• Focus on activities (doing the right things well)
• Analysis leading to resourcing and implementing decisions
• Create value for customers & key stakeholders [Public Value]
Adapted from Hubbard, Rice and Beamish – Strategic Management – Thinking Analysis Action
“In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a
general direction and implement like hell.”
Jack Welsh, former CEO General Electric
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Local Government Role & Principles
Local Government Act 1999 (SA) (Section 6) include:
• to provide services and facilities and in a socially just and ecologically
sustainable manner;
• to encourage and develop initiatives for improving the quality of life of the
community; and
• to represent the interests of the community to the wider community.
The objectives of Councils (Section 8) include:
• to participate with other Councils and spheres of Government in policy and
planning;
• to ensure a proper balance within its community between economic,
social, environmental and cultural considerations;
• to ensure equitable access to services, facilities and programs.
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‘It’s more than just project management, it’s the
understanding of Council’s overall strategy’
Elected member – research focus group
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Local Government Strategic Planning
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Councils’ Role Flowchart
Does the Community need it?
Planner role – encompassing research and community engagement
Yes
No
Don’t provide it.
Is Council best placed to provide
it?
Assessed against Council’s own Policy
and policy of others
Yes
None – no role for Council
No
Yes But!
Only to develop best model
Does Council have the
resources to provide it?
Project Manager or
Outsourcing
No But!
May be no-one else
<
Short Term Owner
Work to develop
capacity of others –
broker Coalition of
the Willing
<
Yes
Don’t provide it but
work with others to
see that it is
provided.
Coordination, Capacity
Building, Regulating,
Advocacy or Part
Funder role – bring
together stakeholders,
resolve issues
No
Provide it.
Council as the Owner of the
activity
Work to gain the extra
resources.
Scope of Social Planning!
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Social Infrastructure Diagram from Planning for Urban Infill,
Elton Consulting (2011)
1.
Strategy and Policy (Council-wide and Youth specific)
2.
Participation of young people
3.
Coordination and Capacity Building of Agencies
4.
Running Events and Programs
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Strategy - Many Councils do this
Council Strategic Management Plan
Reactive rather
than proactive
services
Policy/strategy
Ill-defined, not in
place or not
implemented
Extraneous
community
expectations /
media
portrayal of
young people,
etc
Engagement/ participation
Strategic
Program/event
Services not
targeted to
areas of need
Ineffective
use/waste of
resources
Not all relevant
stakeholders
involved
Capacity building/
coordination
Events/programs
Poor outputs
and outcomes
Lack of long
term viability
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A Better Way?
Council Strategic Management Plan
Policy
Clear outcome
measures
Strategy
Extraneous
community
expectations /
media
portrayal of
young people,
etc
Engagement/
participation
Capacity
building/
coordination
Events/
programs
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Clear output
measures
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
“Relate to and Understand Young People”
10%
0%
Key to engaging young people
in the business of Council
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
Youth Officers may face differing, and sometimes
competing, expectations from
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

Line Manager
Council Executive
Elected members
Young People and
The General Community
Highlights need for clear policy/strategy
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Youth Officers
Community
Managers
General Managers
Elected Members
Externally focussed
More internally
focussed
More internally
focussed
Externally focussed
Social Justice
Social Inclusion
Social Inclusion
Social Inclusion
Motivation
Social Justice vs
Social Inclusion
Most important
skill/knowledge
Ability to understand Ability to understand Ability to understand Ability to understand
and relate to young and relate to young and relate to young and relate to young
people
people
people
people
How do you know a
Youth Officer is
Outcomes – ‘making
doing a ‘good job’? a difference’
Outputs – collect
these numbers
because they are
expected.
Outcomes - capacity
Outcomes – capacity
building,
building of young
Outcomes most
sustainability, broader
people and the
important;
impact
sector
community capacity
building and young
Outputs- numbers
Outputs – are
people’s citizenship.
are important for
expected to collect
justification of work,
these numbers
budgets, etc

Involvement in Council’s activities – including
Strategic Planning

Directly involved and/or running youth events
/activities

Models of gaining participation need to be
targeted

Young people working alongside other
community members
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Youth Participation
Young Person Elected
member
Long-term change /
strategic
Other Civic
Participation
Civic leadership
S41 Youth Advisory Committee
------------------------Youth Advisory Committee
Operational:
projects/programs
Young People on Community
Reference Group
Broad consultation/participation on
specific projects and events
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Better decision
making
What Have Councils Ever
Done For Young People?
What have Councils ever
done WITH young people?
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