+61 2 9514 7884Based primarily on academic literature related to the project's themes. Links suggested here are divided into Key References (texts that are most relevant) and Secondary References (other links that can also support our work).
Governance and Decision Making - Key References
"Governance Processes and the New Public Service" - An Issue Paper Prepared for the ASPA Strategic Planning Process. Janet V. Denhardt and Robert B. Denhardt Arizona State University. See Ideas Kit for summary.
" Deliberative Democracy and Local Governance: Towards a New Agenda," Marcus Andre Melo and Gianpaolo Baiocchi, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Volume 30.3 September 2006 pp. 587 -600. See Ideas Kit for summary.
" A Code of Ethics & Conduct for Councillors and Officers Facilitating Community Empowerment," J Wills & K Nash, Just Communities Project Document, 2006.
"Time For Democracy - The Aberdeen Agenda: Commonwealth Principles on Good Practice for Local Democracy and Good Governance", The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), 2005. 9pp.
"The expanding role of the governance professional in local government" - Spokes/Hennessy Here (723KB)
The Good Governance Guide: The Principles Of Good Governance Within Local Government, the Good Governance Advisory Group, The Municipal Association of Victoria, February 2004. 52pp. File also resides here (webpage).
Governance: What is it about? A internet based resource from The Improvement Network (LAst Accessed Feb08).
The Good Governance Standard for Public Services, The Independent Commission on Good Governance in Public Services, UK, 2004 40 pp.
Management Frameworks - Key References
[Book] The New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering, Denhardt, Janet and Robert Denhardt, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk 2003. Summary (SSchwarz - 1 page Wd Doc). Journal articles by same authors on same theme:
" The New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering," Public Administration Review, Nov/Dec 2000, Vol 60 No 6., pp549-559;
" The New Public Service: An Approach To Reform," International Review of Public Administration, 2003, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp3-10.
See also "Governance Processes and the New Public Service" - An Issue Paper Prepared for the ASPA Strategic Planning Process. Janet V. Denhardt and Robert B. Denhardt Arizona State University. See Ideas Kit for summary.
Community Engagement - Key References
" Diagnosing and Remedying the Failings of Official Participation Schemes: The CLEAR Framework", Vivien Lowndes, Lawrence Pratchett, Gerry Stoker, Social Policy & Society, 5:2, 2006. pp281-291. Summary in Ideas Kit.
More CLEAR Project documentation here (EU website)
Community consultation and the hard to reach: local government, social profiling and civic infrastructure (Swinburne ARC Project) (website)
LGSA South Australia Community Engagement Project (website)
VLGA Community Engagement Resource Website
NSW CommunityBuilders (website)
NSW Department of Urban Affairs and Planning: Ideas for Making Community Consultation Work (2001) (pdf - 283KB)
Conference (commercial): "Community Engagement in Policy Development" (April 08) Flyer (pdf - 400KB)
[More pending]
Links Archive
All links sent to Network Members throughout the project (via ListServe or Newsletter), and ordered by most recent.
December/January Newsletter Links
RESOURCE - AUST LG: Community Indicators Victoria - December Newsletter: www.communityindicators.net.au/civ_newsletter_december_2007 A few items here of interest perhaps:
* Ballarat City Council was one of 16 Councils that purchased additional questions in the Community Indicators Victoria Survey
* Review of Local Government Community Planning (Vic)
LINK - AUST GOV: WA Inquiry into collaborative approaches in government. Deadline for Submissions: 31 March 2008. Administering Committee: Community Development and Justice Standing Committee, Legislative Assembly, Parliament House, WA: www.parliament.wa.gov.au/web/newwebparl.nsf/iframewebpages/Legislative+Assembly+-+Current+Committees
LINK - FACT/FIGURE: The average wealth of an Australian household in 2005-06 was $563,000, up 14% from 2003-04, according to figures from the ABS. The average value of household assets in 2005-06 was $655,000, and the average household liability $92,000, resulting in an average household net worth of $563,000. Posted 28-11-2007 www.apo.org.au/linkboard/results.chtml?filename_num=182809
REPORT - AUST: The project report ' Towards New Indicators of Disadvantage: Deprivation and Social Exclusion in Australia' by Peter Saunders et al: www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/reports/ARC_Exclusion_FinalReport.pdf
NEWS - AUST LG: Item in November 3 ALGA news re Council improvement: "MAV supports reforms to improve governance"
LINK - NZ LG: UTS CLG is allied with the NZ's AUT Local Government Centre, and their first newsletter is here: www.ipp.org.nz/localgovtnewsletterpage.htm Includes an overview by Dick Sorabji (New Local Government Network UK) of current English local government scene/status and Place Making after Lyons . AUT's resources link is quite comprehensive also.
RESOURCE - UK INDICATORS: Lot of data here from UK regarding Indicators: National Indicators for Local Authorities and Local Authority Partnerships: Handbook of definitions - Draft for Consultation. Published 8 November 2007 www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/indicatorsdefinitions
TOOL - UK: Ethical governance toolkit: www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=1115850
LINK: ARC Project from Deakin: DP0452030 Professor Baogang He. Title: Western Theory of Deliberative Democracy and Chinese Practice of Participatory and Deliberative Democracy. Summary: This project is aimed to study how various participatory and deliberative institutions are pursued and promoted by peasants and residents in local governance in China. It is the first study that builds a bridge between Western theory of deliberative democracy and Chinese deliberative practice, adding to our knowledge of local participatory institutions in local China, contributing to a better design of, and improvement of, these institutions, and developing lessons and policy implications that will be broadly applicable not only to most parts of China, but also to other developing countries and beyond. www.deakin.edu.au/arts/research/arc.php They offer Public policy studies for democratic governance
NEWS - AUST LG: From LG News November 15, 2007: Mildura pilots new model for community planning . A joint project between Mildura Rural City Council and the Victorian Government to pilot a new model for engaging local citizens in community planning is due to be completed by around the end of next year. For further information contact Mildura Rural City Council's Community Planning Coordinator, Chris Westwood, on (03) 5018 8196.
RESOURCE - AUST LG: Councillor Resource Kit: www.lgat.tas.gov.au & the role of councillors in a healthy democracy: www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=7581964
PROJECT - UK: (UK) Engaging the workforce in service transformation. The Front Office Shared Services (FOSS) project investigated examples of multi-agency service delivery.
GENERAL: "There is nothing wrong with listening per se. In fact, some listening is vital - but it has to be the right sort." See Newsletter.
October/November Newsletter Links:
LINK: Welcome to Deliberative Democracy at the Australian National University http://deliberativedemocracy.anu.edu.au/research.php Humanities, ARC
RESOURCE: Electronic Engagement: A Guide for Public Sector Managers, Dr Peter Chen http://epress.anu.edu.au/engage_citation.html Free electronic book. Page 93 of interest in terms of a table of levels of e-engagement, which cites the next reference: The OECD E-Government Project, explores how governments can best exploit information and communication technologies (ICTs) to embed good governance principles and achieve public policy goals: http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,2686,en_2649_34129_1_1_1_1_37405,00.html http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/62/23/2501856.pdf
RESOURCE - AUST LG: From the Municipal Association Victoria website. Context: Resources from the latest "Future of Local Government Summit" of February this year:
* Communities Matrix: Assessment for Kirkland Lake, Ontario as developed by the Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL), Canada. An excellent range of tools for measuring community vitality. File size: 218 KB
* Tools for Building Strong Communities, as presented by the Centre for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL), Canada. Presented by Mike Stolte as part of an MAV seminar in February 2007. File size: 1 MB. To find these files, Go to: www.mav.asn.au > Events > Major Events > Future of Local Government Summit. The Future of Local Government Project hyperlink at this page links to a Resources page.
LINK - UK: Equality and Human Rights Commission (UK) publications http://www.eoc.org.uk/default.aspx?page=19326
NEWS - AUST LG: Local council e-consultation guide 2007, Jackie Bailey / Darebin City Council and Deakin University Centre for Citizenship and Human Rights
"e-Consultation is emerging as a valuable tool for councils to engage with their community. This guide is intended as a practical tool to help councils set up their own e-consultation strategies and looks specifically at the use of e-forums, online polls and online surveys. Posted 17-04-2007" http://www.apo.org.au/linkboard/results.chtml?filename_num=147079
TOOLS: On the theme of tools and guides and participation... http://learningforsustainability.net/tools/guides.php
PAPER - AUST: Gary Nairn releases Australian Government Consultation Blog discussion paper (24 September 2007) http://www.smos.gov.au/media/2007/mr_252007.html http://www.agimo.gov.au/services/consultation_blog www.agimo.gov.au/publications/2007/september/consultation_blog_discussion_paper (PDF - 602KB)
NEWS - AUST LG: Councillors to trial use of personal web pages as election campaign tools
New South Wales councillors will be given assistance to develop their own personal web pages to connect with their communities online in the lead-up to next year's local government elections. The trial is to be conducted by the associations' Local Online Communications & Linkages arm. The free web pages will be created for councillors through the website http://www.blogger.com Reem Abdelaty, Program Director, Local Online Communications & Linkages www.lgsa.org.au
NEWS - AUST LG: SA council successfully engages community
A South Australian council has successfully implemented an innovative community engagement framework to help its residents participate in the council's decision making processes. The City of Onkaparinga uses an approach to community engagement that involves: informing its residents of decisions being made by the council; consulting with the community and gaining residents' input on the council's decisions; involving the community in the planning and implementation of pending council decisions; and collaborating with residents to better understand their needs and concerns.
The project has been recognised as a model for best practice by the South Australian Local Government Association, who included it in its 'Community Engagement Showcase', released earlier this year. The council has recently won the Best Policy Framework Award at the IAP2's 2007 Core Values Awards, where it was recognised for its innovative techniques and solutions for community engagement. For more information, visit here: www.onkaparingacity.com/web/page?pg=1917&stypen=html
SPEECH: Democracies everywhere are on shaky territory says Professor John Keane, special guest speaker at the University of Sydney: www.usyd.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1980
LINK (UK): 'Communities Secretary Hazel Blears will today [19 October 2007] publish an 'empowerment action plan' - setting out how the Government will deliver on its commitment to bring about greater devolution and empower communities'. Links to story and various documents: www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/516935
LINK: Local innovation in rural housing: Affordable housing quotas, equity mortgages and land release policies are three ways in which councils can deliver low cost housing. We look at examples of innovative planning policies in 18 local authority areas: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=7407493 See also AHURI site on same theme:
BOOK - Staff Pick: How effective are your community services? Procedures for performance measurement (Third Edition), ICMA The Urban Institute, 2003 (1992). $91.20 US, via Robert Mellor, Program Manager at UTS CLG. American title. Recommended for local government monitoring and evaluation of services such as library, parks etc, e.g.> using visual recognition ratings for litter, parks. Robert uses this in his teaching on the UTS-CLG unit 'Principles and Practices', part of our Graduate Diploma Local Government Management.
September Newsletter Links
LINK - UK GOOD PRACTICE: Twelve good ideas - UK suitable for picking up and adapting re good practice and efforts to innovate and improve performance: www.cflg.manchester.ac.uk/downloads/innov_best_practice_summary.pdf
LINK - UK SOFTWARE: The following was an advertisement on the UK's IDeA site by a UK company re software engagement utility [not an endorsement]: "…. Dialogue Designer, the new free online process design tool from Dialogue by Design. See for yourself how it can help resolve the dilemmas of public and stakeholder engagement." http://designer.dialoguebydesign.net/DDdefault.htm# I downloaded a lengthy resource document from this site titled: "… draws upon previous experiences with conducting public and stakeholder engagement and accompanies the online engagement design system" http://designer.dialoguebydesign.net/docs/Dialogue_by_Design_Handbook.pdf [728KB]
AUST - HOUSING: A sustaining tenancies approach to managing demanding behaviour in public housing: A good practice guide Written as a desktop manual to help in the formulation of policy, practice and ideas for sustaining tenancies in public housing. It aims to show how eviction can be avoided through positive measures to provide a supportive environment for tenancies: www.ahuri.edu.au/publications/download.asp?ContentID=40327_fr PDF file, 6.84 MB
RESOURCE - AUST LG: New publication lists leading community engagement practices A new publication has been issued that lists the leading-edge methods that South Australian councils are using to engage with their communities. The publication, developed by the Local Government Association of South Australia in collaboration with the SA Government, documents 25 case studies of how the state's councils are engaging with their local communities. South Australian councils have until September 7 to submit their feedback on the new publication and express their interest in participating in a trial of a model to improve effective community engagement as part of the project's second stage. The new 'Community Engagement Showcase' publication will be sent to all South Australian Councils and is also available here: www.lga.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Community_Engagement_Showca se_-_June_2007.pdf 966KB
RESOURCE - AUST LG: The City of Melbourne Case Study by Ivan Zwart and the City of Maribyrnong Case Study (PDF) by Nicola Brackertz has been released by the Community Consultation and the 'Hard to Reach' research project. www.sisr.net/cag/docs/melbourne.pdf This project website is worth keeping in mind.
LINK - UK: Audit Commission [UK] - Report: Seeing the light Date 16 May 2007 Abstract: This report is intended to encourage local authorities to consider innovation as one way of achieving sustained performance improvement. By providing practical advice and support, based on authorities' own experiences of innovating, it aims to assist in creating the conditions in which innovation is fostered, developed and managed effectively. It will be most valuable to senior managers, elected members and officers in local councils and fire and rescue authorities, and will be of particular interest to those managing strategic business processes or those involved in overview and scrutiny arrangements. It also has relevance for other local public bodies, particularly those involved in local strategic partnerships: http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/reports/NATIONAL-REPORT.asp?CategoryID=&ProdID=687E80A7-C07E-4d2e-9197-D70A9F271463&fromREPORTSANDDATA=NATIONAL-REPORT [450KB]
LINK - UK: Engaging the workforce in service transformation. This report is one of the outputs of the front office shared services (FOSS) project. Research from this project shows that a move to a more citizen-centric, but simultaneously collaborative, way of working can produce real benefits for both the citizen and the participating agencies. However, the changes can also prove challenging for both workforce and management. Engaging the workforce in service transformation (PDF, 10 pages, 173KB) www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=7062879
RESOURCE - AUST LG: Strategy Paper from the Center for Digital Government February 2007 http://nicusa.com/pdf/CDG07_NIC_Engage.pdf [Thanks Mark, from Penrith City Council]
August Newsletter Links
JOURNAL: Journal Theme: Recasting Decision Making in Local Government, German Journal of Urban Studies Vol. 45 (2006)' No. 2: www.difu.de/index.shtml?/publikationen/dfk/en/06_2/ www.toolkitparticipation.com
DISCUSSION: Forum on 'Community Engagement Data Collection' Follow discussion thread here: http://communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/forums/read.php?3,110395
AUST LG: "Talk of the Town" - Warringah Community Summit - 16 September www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/home/ToTInfopage.aspx
ARTICLE - AUST LG: 'The Expanding Role of the Governance Professional In Local Government', by David Spokes and Jill Hennessy, City of Port Phillip, Victoria, Keeping Good Companies, [CSA] October 2006. Here 700KB
PAPER - CANADA: Integrated Community Sustainability Planning: A Background Paper [2005, Canada] from 'Planning for Sustainable Canadian Communities Roundtable' Organised by Prime Minister's External Advisory on Cities and Communities September 21-23, 2005: www.infrastructure.gc.ca/communities-collectivites/conf/documents/icsp-discussion_e.shtml
A funny thing happened on the way to the council; Local democracy.(New Labour's new ideas for resuscitating local government)." The Economist (US) 378.8466 (Feb 25, 2006). [In August Newsletter]
List-Serve Posts: July 06 - July 07