Bulletin #7, February 2019

At a time when politics is becoming increasingly heated and divisive, it is good to remember that there are countless examples of people and organisations working together who rarely if ever hit the headlines. 

In this newsletter we invite you to join in our network activities, and share with you some of the stories and insights produced by our members and others working in a similar spirit.

Because the more we can come together at this time, surely the better.

Please forward this bulletin to others who may be interested, and if you are not yet part of a Better Way group but would like to be, just let us know. 

Steve Wyler and Caroline Slocock

About A Better Way

A Better Way is a network of social activists, from the voluntary sector and beyond, who want to challenge business as usual, rethink and improve services, and build strong communities. We have set out some simple propositions, which have been revised and refined though debate within our network, which we believe, if pursued with courage and conviction, would bring about a radical shift in favour of the common good. The initiative is hosted by Civil Exchange, in partnership with Carnegie UK Trust and is also supported by Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. You can find out more here: http://www.betterway.network/. 

Towards a Better Way ‘call to action’ - an invitation

Over the coming months we are arranging a series of events to produce a Better Way declaration and plan of action, to build momentum for the ideas within our network.  We’ll be publishing this in July, at our third annual gathering – please hold the dates (evening on Tuesday 9 July, daytime on Wednesday 10 July, in London).

Meetings to produce a Better Way declaration

We hope to capture in a concise and vivid - even poetic - way the changes we’d like to see in our new declaration.  We have a choice of four dates for those who’d like to help: 

·       Wednesday 27 March, afternoon 2-4pm

·       Wednesday 10 April, over dinner 6-9pm

·       Wednesday 1 May, over dinner 6-9pm

·       Tuesday 14 May, afternoon 2-4pm

Roundtables to build a plan of action

We want to identify a critical path to drive change in these key areas:

·       Sharing power: how to create opportunities for more people, especially those who are usually overlooked, to participate in setting the agenda.   Thursday 21 March, 12- 2.30pm

·       Tactics for practitioners, which enable people and communities to thrive, not just cope. Thursday 4 April 12- 2.30pm

·       Organisations without walls, which are focused on communities, not structures, and solutions, not services. Thursday 16 May 12- 2.30pm

·       Collaboration and shared leadership, so that people and communities come first.  Wednesday 5 June 12- 2.30pm

All the events will take place in central London –– we are able to make a contribution to travel costs for those coming from outside London. You are warmly invited to join us – just email Alison@carnegieuk.org  to find out more/book your place.

A Better Way approach to impact assessment – would you like to participate?

A group of our network members have come together to design a better approach to impact measurement. They feel that the dominant methods favour the large over the small, the transactional over the relational, doing little to redress power imbalances, and pushing evidence into the role of oppressor rather than liberator.

So, with support from Power to Change, two of our members (Bethia McNeill from Centre for Youth Impact, and Matt Kepple from Makerble) are exploring a fresh approach. They want to find a way to shift the emphasis to what helps individuals and communities to live “their best lives”, on their own terms, and to understand the settings and experiences which are most likely to produce positive outcomes. They also want to test out ways to involve more people in building a shared evidence base, using digital platforms. They are seeking a selection of organisations to work with to try out such approaches – if you are interested please contact Bethia: Bethia.Mcneil@youthimpact.uk.

Better way thinking 

Better Way politics.  Members of the Better Way are starting to imagine what a different, healthier form of politics might look like, what mechanisms might help, and what might attract more people, including the next generation, to want to play a part in political life.  You can read a summary of our recent discussion here.

Social wealth.  Disinvestment in social infrastructure has impoverished communities across the country, hitting some especially hard, especially in the poorest places. In any future efforts, we must not repeat the mistakes made in the past.  So what should the guiding principles be?  Find out what Better Way members thought here.

Better Way collaborative commissioning.  The Government’s civil society strategy promised collaborative commissioning.  But what are the key ingredients for a Better Way?  Find out what our members thought here.

A Better Way place – what would it look like? Find out what our members think here.

Common cause – what others are doing

Civil society futures. The independent inquiry into the future of civil society published its final report in November.  It called for a renewed, revitalised civil society, able to address the biggest challenges of this time, and proposed a new PACT, a shift in behaviours, attitudes and practices. It also set out ideas for a national people power grid, a nationwide infrastructure project to support civil society, connecting us better and allowing people to take control of things which matter to them. Julia Unwin, who chaired the inquiry, has issued an open call for collaboration to take these ideas forward.

Losing control. In February in Birmingham over 300 people came together at a two-day Losing Control conference, to discuss and create bottom-up and collaborative approaches to social change.  A remarkable range of people took part, and the event buzzed with creative energy.  You can find out more, and join the Losing Control network (‘your space, created with you and by you’) by visiting the website here.

A common platform? Last year Compass launched a prospectus for a ‘Common Platform’.  It said: ‘Our intuition tells us there are thousands of organisations and millions of people in civil society and the new economy who want to live their lives very differently – in more egalitarian, democratic and sustainable ways. Can they be joined up and scaled up and can the state be repurposed to serve their needs?’  You can find out more here.

New ‘must reads’

One of founder members, David Robinson, is leading on a Relationships Project, which is moving on apace and keen to engage others more widely. See his recent blog here. If you’d like to get involved, email him on david.robinson@shiftdesign.org.uk

Kindness, emotions and human relationships: The blind spot in public policy is a Carnegie UK Trust report written by Julia Unwin. It recognises that there are ‘strong arguments against kindness’. But it also argues that the rise of technological power to manage information, of digital power to manage communication, and the economic force of austerity have made it ‘ever more important that we look carefully at the role of emotions, and kindness in public policy’.

Another founding member, Kathy Evans, has written this blog, challenging us to ‘Tell it Like it is!’ and stop using language that distorts the truth eg using ‘efficiency savings’ to mean cuts in services.

Community Conversations: Unearthing Community-led Solutions to Youth Violence by Community Links, which has talked to people in their local community to find out why youth violence is happening and what can be done about it.

40 Stories is another new publication by Community Links.  It celebrates 40 years of the local and national achievements of this East London charity by telling the stories of the extraordinary range of local residents, community volunteers, front-line staff, public sector leaders, private philanthropists, politicians, and funders who have contributed to its work.  The foreword to the collection is written by an administrator and an apprentice and they say that in the stories there is ‘sorrow and good news, inspiring ambition and amazing impact, reflection on what there is and what could be – and urgency’. 

And finally…

This month, Community Organisers, the national membership body and training organisation for community organising in England, submitted a paper to government to advise on a forthcoming ‘communities framework’.  The paper draws on evidence of hundreds of front-line community organisers who have listened to thousands of local residents.  It provides a picture of what communities want to take action on, and have more control over, and what community spaces they value most.  One phrase stood out: ‘we want local people to feel like leaders rather than bystanders where decisions are made to or for them.’ 

Yes, and isn’t that what we all want?