INSPIRE
Victorian Community Indicators Project: Measuring Wellbeing: Engaging Communities, 2005
What is community wellbeing, and how can it be measured? Is it related to ‘community strengthening’? Does it include economic and environmental wellbeing as well as social? How do community wellbeing measures link to government policies, and planning? And how can communities be more engaged in all of these processes?
Questions like these are being asked by governments and communities all over the world today, from international to neighbourhood levels. They reflect a series of changes effecting most industrialised countries in the era of globalisation: new ideas about the nature of progress and wellbeing, such as the triple bottom line; changes in the role and responsibilities of governments; a new emphasis on integration and measurement; and especially, changes in communities themselves - in their physical and demographic make-up, the expectations of citizens, and the quality of community life.
Nowhere do these questions have more immediate and practical relevance than in Victorian local government today. Local government is the level of democracy closest to the community and its key role has always been to promote the wellbeing of its local community. But in Victoria in the past 15 years, the climate of local government has fundamentally changed. There have been amalgamations, bigger municipalities, new legislation and planning requirements, and rapid shifts in community growth and composition. Most recently, there have been new policies for statewide community strengthening and development, and legislation requiring councils to develop integrated 4-year community plans based on local wellbeing goals and community participation. Today’s local governments have more need than ever before to understand and engage their communities, and a more direct role in their wellbeing.
This discussion paper addresses some of the key issues outlined above. It is directed to all 79 local governments and their communities throughout the State: Mayors and Councillors; CEOs and Council officers; local citizens and community organisations; and also State government officers working in community development, planning and local service provision.
This report can be found at: http://www.communityindicators.net.au/webpage/framework/list-framework.chtml or in pdf format at: http://www.communityindicators.net.au/webpage/items/09318-upload-00001.pdf
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