“Strengthening Communities through Local Partnerships”
 Research Project

Waitakere City Council - a recognised national leader in meeting community needs through partnerships with both central government and the local community, is to now play a significant role in the “Strengthening Communities through Local Partnerships” Research Project.

About the Project	2002
Waitakere Based Research	2003
The local research team	2004
Key Research Outputs	2005

About the Project

The research project had international, national, Christchurch and Waitakere components and took an in depth look at local social sector partnerships, covering areas such as:

• what works and why
• what doesn�™t and why
• what would make things work better

Waitakere Based Research

In 2001, Waitakere City Council supported the University of Auckland�™s application to the Foundation of Research, Science and Technology (FoRST) for a major research project focused on “community partnerships”. The University was successful in obtaining funding for a three year “Strengthening Communities through Local Partnerships” research project.

Waitakere City Council and the University then signed a research agreement, agreeing to work collaboratively on the “Waitakere” component of the project. A report on the process of building a research relationship between Council and the University is attached.

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Research Paper (Size 67K)

The local research team

David Craig (a lecturer from the Sociology Department at the University of Auckland) and Megan Courtney (from Waitakere City Council) formed the core of the local project team. Maori and Pacific researchers were also be engaged to undertake specific research tasks within the Maori and Pacific communities of Waitakere.

The research team can still be contacted on da.craig@auckland.ac.nz or megan.courtney@waitakere.govt.nz

Key Research Outputs

2002

Much of 2002 was spent setting up research relationships and frameworks with a range of organisations across the City.

2003

In April 2003, an event coined, from the “Wild West to the Waitakere Way” was held to celebrate the 20 year history of social development and collaboration in the West. Around 150 community, government and Council leaders came together to celebrate the launch of the project and the first research report- “ The Waitakere Way �" looking back, moving forward”.

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Later in 2003, a series of workshops were held. These “Partnership Pizza Nites” brought together around 170 representatives from many community, council and government agencies. A number of issues papers were prepared for the sessions, along with meeting notes.

Workshop 1: Strengthening Representation (134K)

Workshop 2: Strategic Brokers and Putting Relationships on Paper (226K)

Workshop 3: Decentralisation (213K)

Workshop 4: Partnership from a Maori Perspective (354K)

2004

In April 2004, the research co-hosted a “Regional Partnerships and Governance Forum” along with Sustainable Auckland. This forum featured a series of workshops on working regionally and locally, getting to outcomes, strategic brokers, resourcing coordination, multiparty governance, contracting and funding issues.

Summary Forum Report

After dialogue with key leaders and organisations in the Maori community of Waitakere, a report exploring partnership issues for Maori was prepared by Wayne Knox.

Summary of findings (Size 76K)

Waitakere City Maori Community Research Report (Size 253K)

In July 2004, a hui to discuss the Maori Community Partnerships Report was held at the Council. Around 80 people from a wide range of iwi, community, government and cultural backgrounds attended the hui, which included workshops on two key areas for potential local action:

1. Exploration/development of a Waitakere Treaty partnership framework
2. Mutual capacity building between Maori and Non Maori organisations

Report from July 2004 Hui (183K)

In October 2004, Sally Clarkson completed a review of the Waitakere Community Wellbeing Network. This was a paper which looked the relevance, purpose and future functioning of the Network, a grouping of community sector agencies in Waitakere which had come together as part of the preparation of the Waitakere Wellbeing Strategy in 2001. Community dialogue on best next steps for the network was held in 2004 and 2005.

Wellbeing Network Review (149K)

In December 2004, the ”Potential of Partnerships” report was published. This document brought together key learnings from all the research in Waitakere. It also put forward a number of ways forward for partnership working in Waitakere, which were later discussed and actioned by the Waitakere Collaboration Project and Waitakere City Council.

“The Potential of Partnership” Report (1924K)

2005

Discussion and ideas generated from the Maori Community Partnerships Report and follow up hui resulted in the formation of a Steering Group whose job has been to facilitate a move from research to action. In July 2005, a further hui was held to discuss a further report focused on how to progress Maori Economic Development in Waitakere City within a partnership framework. This work has been well received by the local Maori Community and Council, with plans now in train to develop a Waitakere Creative Cultural Cluster to promote local cultural economic development.

Kura Consulting report July 2005 (407K)

The final report from the “Strengthening Communities through Local Partnerships” Research Project focused on key messages for central government agencies. Titled “Balancing Means and Ends”, the report, written by Rachael Trotman, summarises key issues and puts forward recommendations for making partnering with government more effective.

Balancing Means and Ends (Size 445K)
This document summarises key policy issues arising from the research and puts forward recommendations for action.

With the completion of the research project, Waitakere City Council has undertaken to continue dialogue with both central government and local government on key research findings and potential next steps to strengthen partnering practices in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Key Messages (Size 72K)
This document is a summary of the key action points for central government.