Enabling Social Action in Stevenage – Stevenage Borough Council

• Lead Member Stevenage Borough Council
• Categories Community

The Enabling Social Action Partnership is a nationwide project running from March 2018 – March 2020 as a collaborative partnership between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Universities of Sheffield and Hull.

In June 2018, Stevenage was selected as one of two pilot areas to develop this programme based on its commitment to co-operative neighbourhood management.

A period of action research in the local wards of St Nicholas and Martins Wood saw workshops delivered with the local voluntary sector, police, youth services, elected members and the Stevenage Borough Council’s community development team.

The workshops focused on ways of unlocking greater social action within neighbourhoods. As a consequence of the learning and the ongoing development of the council’s co-operative neighbourhood management programme the council;

• Approved a dynamic Community Engagement Framework in February 2019 to facilitate new ways to engage residents in the work of the council.
• Finalised its review of resident involvement and created a new and enhanced community development service.
• Streamlined its process for “Licence to Occupy” to enable communities to take over the responsibility for pockets of green space where they wish to.
• Created ward level groups involving elected members and local residents to determine the priorities for the co-operative neighbourhood management programme.
• Started to pilot participatory budgeting in local neighbourhoods.  

Stevenage Borough Council will be sharing some of its learning at a national event for Enabling Social Action in York during the summer 2019 and looks forward to learning from other pilot areas over the remainder of the programme.

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