Community Engagement: A partnership approach in Co Offaly
Catherine Corcoran (Tipperary Institute)
Abstract
Tipperary Institute (TI) is a third-level education and development organisation, dedicated to rural development. This paper focuses on one of TI’s development projects and explores TI’s role as a trainer, researcher and development agent. Tipperary Institute has been engaged in partnership with a number of community development groups, local authorities and local area Partnerships in Ireland in developing new processes of community planning. From this work, the Institute developed a framework for this which it called Integrated Area Planning or IAP. This planning process offers an opportunity to the parties concerned to develop a shared vision and agreed set of objectives and actions around local development priorities and to develop this plan while working in a collaborative way.
One of the community groups involved in developing an IAP was a development organisation in Ferbane, County Offaly. Ferbane is a small town that suffered economic decline, unemployment and population drift as a result of the decline in its traditional base as a peat-based electricity generating area. Ferbane Development group and West Offaly Partnership commissioned Tipperary Institute to facilitate a process of Integrated Area Planning in order to provide the required planning framework for the regeneration of the area. The Plan was completed in 2002 and is now in the process of implementation.
Building on the success and lessons learned in Ferbane, a second phase of the project was developed. It aims to strengthen capacity in the County to develop area plans and to implement them in a collaborative way, while also strengthening relationships between all parties involved. This project, which started in 2007, was funded by the Carnegie UK Trust and involves a partnership between Tipperary Institute, local Development Associations, Offaly Co Council and West Offaly Partnership.
In the past, Tipperary Institute has acted as the main facilitator of the IAP methodology. This new project has allowed the Institute the opportunity to develop the skills and experience necessary to develop a framework that can now be replicated by the other partners in the process. It therefore focuses on developing the skills of other partners to allow them to replicate the IAP process in other towns in Offaly. It also affords TI the opportunity to research the IAP process as it is implemented. Therefore Tipperary Institute acts as the Trainer for facilitators who come from the other partner’s organisations (West Offaly Partnership, Ferbane Development Group and Offaly Co Council). Tipperary Institute also acts as the Researcher of the process as it is implemented.
The presentation will focus on the methodology used in the process and on the lessons learned from this partnership.
