The civic economy puts engagement with the public at its core: instead of seeing citizens as mere consumers of goods or services, it casts them in the role of co-producers: as commissioning clients for new house-building (Tübingen User-led Housing), providers of peer-to-peer services (Southwark Circle), co-developers of youth communications (Livity), builders of an enriched public realm (Incredible Edible Todmorden), or active members of a co-operative shop (The People’s Supermarket). Co-investment from local people only works where there is strong backing for new ventures – which is why civic entrepreneurs spend a lot of time reaching out and engaging with communities, inviting in their creativity, time, energy and drive and communicating the diverse potential rewards. They know they rely on a sense of common purpose and mutual trust (often called social capital). In some cases this fertile ground already exists; in other cases, civic entrepreneurs realise that they must help build it. Underlying this is a renewed emphasis on co-production as an organisational and design principle across public services. Its role in place-making, however, is still too often underexploited, as practitioners rely on narrower or less meaningful forms of participation, such as statutory consultations that focus on the physical design of places.
Implications for localities: To create fertile ground for the civic economy, regeneration practitioners need to learn from and work with the approaches pioneered by civic entrepreneurs and see participation in the first instance as citizen coinvestment.
where the basis of shared trust and confidence still needs to be built. This is the only way to create genuine opportunity for the widest possible participation in the civic economy. • The practices of the civic economy go far beyond ‘consultation’ or even ‘co-design’ – people are being invited to take part not just in decision-making but in the longterm running of spaces, shops and services. As is shown by The People’s Supermarket, it is the product, not just the initial process that is participative. Civic entrepreneurs seek to create platforms where deep participation is permanently at the heart and viability of the venture. This ‘we will if you will’ approach helps to bond people in a relationship of mutual trust and accountability. • Meaningful participation occurs within clear, realistic and low-threshold frameworks. Creating these frameworks is one of the core strengths of each of the examples in this book. There are many other examples of successful approaches that are already becoming more embedded in mainstream practice – the London Borough of Haringey is adopting DIY Streets, an approach developed by the charity Sustrans that lets local people take the initiative to make streets more welcoming to pedestrians, playing children and cyclists; and in many places, local third sector groups along with district and parish councillors have been at the forefront of helping local people take over local shops and post offices threatened with closure, providing the political leadership that is essential to change in localities.
• Amongst the successes shown in this book are the myriad ways in which change-makers genuinely invite people to engage – embracing their strengths, sharing their purpose, showing a commitment to action, and creating plausible pathways for tangible change. Their approaches may involve the use of hyper-local websites, social media, creative events or arts-led approaches – but it is not the particular medium of such tactics that we need to learn from. What matters is grounding them in purposeful approaches that connect intelligently with local people’s sense of belonging, the grain of their everyday lives, their aspirations, capabilities and attachment to place – and transcend divisions in communities Compendium for the Civic Economy
|
Conclusion
|
175