Public Participation Networks

Creating and promoting a Vision of Well-Being

for

Our Communitiesfor

This and Future GenerationsMichael Ewing

Coordinator of the Environmental Pillar

Public Participation Networks (PPNs)and their

“Visions For Community Well-Being”• The Plenaries of the County/City PPNs and the

Municipal District PPNs will commence their work by going through a process to set out what they consider is necessary to promote well-being in their community for present and future generations.

• This statement will act as a guiding vision statement for everything done by the group that drew up the statement e.g. choosing representatives, taking positions on issues, developing activities of any kind etc.

• Well-being statements should be reviewed by the PPNs bi-annually.

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Individual Well- Being

According to a study by the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) “a person’s well-being relates to their physical, social and mental state. It requires that basic needs are met, that people have a sense of purpose, and that they feel able to achieve important goals, to participate in society and to live the lives they value and have reason to value”.

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Global to Local

Local communities can do much to develop and protect well-being but they must do so in the context of what is happening in the wider global community.

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World Population

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Species on the verge of mass extinction

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Community Well-Being

A society’s well-being requires that economic, political, environmental, cultural and social developments all be sustainable. It also requires a focus on inter-generational justice to ensure the well-being of future generations is promoted. 18/07/2014 11

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Sustainability• The Human race developed within and is entirely

reliant on the natural environment for its well-being

• Human social structures initially evolved within the limitations of the natural environment and they must start to do so again in order to flourish.

• Economic systems were developed within the context of those social structures.

• There is a huge disconnect between the capacity of the natural ecosystems to withstand abuse, and the economic systems that are driving their destruction.18/07/2014 14

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Development of a Vision

• The development of a vision for the well-being of our communities for this and future generations can begin that search for a sustainable future for all members of the community.

• A shared vision is lacking at the national level, but could grow from these local community visions.

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What do we mean bySustainable Development ?

The term was used by the Brundtland Commission, 1992 which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

It is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations.

Brundtland noted"...the "environment" is where we live; and "development" is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable."

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How do we now see the sustainable interaction of the Pillars?

Sustainable development should tie together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social challenges facing humanity.

As early as the 1970s "sustainability" was employed to describe an economy "in equilibrium with basic ecological support systems.“

Ecologists have pointed to The Limits to Growth and presented the alternative of a “steady state economy” in order to address environmental concerns.

The use of ecosystem management goes mainstream and ecological accounting is born.

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“ No subsystem can expand beyond the capacity of the total system of which it isa part”

- Jonathon Porritt

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Developing the Vision

•People working together with shared understandings and expectations are what provide a place of strong community.•Doing so within a shared understanding based on the limits to growth presented by the natural environment creates a community that cares for the needs of this and the generations to follow.

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Public Engagement and Participation

•What? From engagement to participation

•Why? To enable whole community engage in

decision-making to improve well-being of this and

future generations.

•Who? All with a stake in the area or issues

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Guiding Principles

•Active Citizenship•Resource Allocation and Promotion of Equality•Helping to engage with issues affecting people•Respect for individual freedom

•Social Dialogue•Participation•Trust•Accountability and Transparency•Independence

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PPNs - Key Principles of Working

• Implement and abide by good governance structures.

• Work in an inclusive, respectful, transparent and collaborative manner.

• Act as the vehicle to gather feedback and input into policies and plans being developed by local authorities, reflecting both areas of disagreement and, where there is no consensus, the range of views.

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PPN Structures • The Public Participation Network (PPN) will be organised:

– At County/City level– At Municipal District level

• Each PPN will have:– County/City Plenary at County/City level which deals with

county/city level issues and is the ruling body for the County/City PPN

– A Municipal District Plenary in each Municipal District which deals with issues at a municipal level issues and is the ruling body for the Municipal District PPN

– Linkage Groups which deal with specific issues – A secretariat at county/City level that is a facilitation and

communication mechanism, but not a decision-making body.

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Municipal District PPN

• Each Municipal District will have a PPN.• Develops its own vision for the wellbeing of its

community for this and future generations• Has the freedom to engage as it sees fit in

whatever way it wishes to promote local development and in this way it can harness local capacity and strengthen local development in a very real manner.

• Municipal District Plenary

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County/City PPN

• All registered organisations in the County/City are members of the County/City PPN.

• They work together on agreed objectives based on promoting the well-being of this and future generations in this area.

• County/City Plenary

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Creation Set-up and Operation of the PPNs

Council prepares a list of all Community Groups in the county

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Community groups are asked to declare that they are one of the following types

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The three Electoral Colleges form the Plenary of the PPN. The Plenary of the PPN is the ruling body of the County/City PPN.

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When a position arises on a council committee, the Council writes to the Secretariat and asks them to nominate someone. The Secretariat writes to all community groups and invites them to a meeting. At the meeting an attendance list is taken

Local Authority Committee

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Attendance Attendance list becomes Linkage Group

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PPN Linkage Groups

• Role is central• How it works• Communications protocols• Each representative taking up a position for the

PPN must – Represent the views of all the members of the Linkage

Group and not just those of their own organisation.– Abide by the communications protocols set out above.

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Local Authority Committee

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The only exception is for the LCDC. Here, the colleges are asked to meet separately and nominate someone(s) to the LCDC18/07/2014 38

2

Council asks each of the colleges to elect 2 people to the Secretariat

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Council calls a Plenary meeting of all community groups in each Municipal District. The Municipal District Plenary is the ruling body of the Municipal District PPN.

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3

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3

At each Municipal District meeting the attendees are asked to elect 1 person to the Secretariat of the PPN

9

2

Secretariat now has 9 (or more) members. It is a support/service mechanism for the PPN but is not the decision-making body!

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Establishment of PPNs

• Pobal Committee– Sean Healy– Cormac Clancy– Sean McLoughlin– 2 County/City Council People– 2 Pobal People

• Ensuring the guidelines are delivered on• Guiding the drafting of the SI on Framework for Public

Participation• Development of FAQs as a tool for driving the good

implementation

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Local Community Development Committee

Local Government (Amendment) Act 2014THE LOCAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (SECTION

128E) REGULATIONS 2014, SI 234 of 2014

Context

• Putting People First• Working Group Report on Citizen Engagement

with Local Government, Feb 2014• Local Economic & Community Plan Draft

Guidelines, Planning subgroup on Alignment, March 2014

• Guidelines for the establishment of Local Community Development Committees (Non Statutory) April 2014

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Local Economic & Community Plan • LECP will be a 6 year plan

– The duration of the first LECP will be extended or shortened to facilitate synchronisation with the RSES

• Prepared by the LCDC and the local authority• 2 Elements

– A local economic element—prepared by local authority– A community development element—prepared by the LCDC

The LCDC will be established as a committee of the local authority . Local Gov Act 2014. The LCDC will be independent of the local authority in the discharge of its functions.

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LECP Guiding Principles

• Promotion and mainstreaming of equality• Sustainability• Maximising returns from resources—avoiding

overlap and duplication • Participative Planning• Community consultation and Engagement• Community Development Principles • Accessibility and Ownership

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Shared & Separate Processes

• LCDC• Prepare and Adopt

the community elements of the LECP

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• Local Authority—Economic and Enterprice SPC

• Prepare and adopt the economic element of the plan

• Prepare and adopt the overall LECP

Make up of LCDC: 15-17 members9. (1) The private sector members of a Committee comprising 15 or fewer persons shall include—(a)a minimum of 2 persons representing community and voluntary interests within the administrative area of the Committee,(b) a minimum of 2 persons representing social inclusion interests within the administrative area of the Committee,(c) a minimum of 1 person representing environmental interests within the administrative area of the Committee,(d) a maximum of 3 persons representing local development or community development bodies operating within the administrative area, subject to a maximum of 1 representative per local development or community development body,(e) such number of persons representing local and community interests and social partners as may be considered appropriate by the chief officer in consultation with the Corporate Policy Group.

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Joint Steering Group makeup

• Not to exceed 6 members • Appropriate members from LCDC and local

authority as well as others considered appropriate

• Members with appropriate skills, capacity and experience

The JSG should agree and adopt processes and protocols for meetings and decision making mechanisms

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Shared & Separate Processes • Shared elements (community & economic)

– Scoping and agreeing content of the 2 elements– Drafting the 2 elements– Co-ordinated consultation processes– Joint approval processes

Once complete the LCDC will consider & adopt the economic element of the LECP and the local authority will consider and adopt the community element. The elected members may only make amendments to the LECP in

relation to consistency with the County/City Development Plan and the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies

.

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Corporate Policy GroupsAnd

Strategic Policy Committees

Guidelines for establishment and operation

Circular LG07 - 2014

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SPCs

It is the task of the SPCs, as committees of the council, to advise and assist the council in its work. SPCs have a major role in assisting and advising the council in relation to functions of a strategic statutory nature, i.e. policy to mirror the functions of a local authority, e.g. preparation of a development plan. They also have a function in other, non-statutory policy fields, such as urban, village and rural renewal plans, policy related to the development of work programmes and the establishment of priorities such as integration of sustainability principles to particular services,

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Size and Make-up of SPCs

Each SPC should have as a minimum a total membership of nine. This will enable a range of opinions and perspectives to be represented both from the elected members as well as from the sectoral groups. Particular care should be taken to avoid excessively large or unwieldy committees; Nonetheless some flexibility in the level of membership should be considered if particular local circumstances indicate the need for greater membership. Each SPC must have one-third of the membership drawn from sectoral interests.

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SPC for Economic Development and Enterprise

Specific consideration should be given to inclusion of the Environment Sector on the SPC for Economic Development and Enterprise in view of the expertise available within the sector in relation to sustainable development. Nominations for places allocated to the Ennvironment will come from the PPNs, but till then from the Environmental Pillar nationally on an interim basis.18/07/2014 56

Thank You Go raibh maith agaibh

www.environmentalpillar.ie

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