Community Waitakere was a key partner in hosting the Community Economic Development (CED) conference that was held in Waitakere in February 2010. The conference was an outstanding success, with over 300 delegates and 50 presenters from UK to Canada to Australia to Aotearoa making presentations about social enterprise, social finance, developing community assets and how profits can be utilised for community benefit .

“Profits for community benefit”

 CED Conference

Appreciation and positive feedback flowed in from delegates post-conference -  and there was an overwhelming sense that attendees, from both community organisations and councils, left the conference feeling inspired and empowered. A fire was ignited in Waitakere over the two days of the CED conference. In recent months Community Waitakere has been working with leaders in this emergent sector to fan that flame to ensure that the embers continue to glow and empower our communities well into the future.

A mantra that emerged from this inspiring conference was:

“Community enterprise for viability: community asset ownership for sustainability”

Asset transfer was one of the more challenging subjects at the conference. Annemarie Naylor from the Asset Transfer Unit at the Development Trust Association in the UK gave us much food for thought. Community Waitakere's Di Jennings subsequently wrote an article on asset transfer for the Inspiring Communities newsletter that can be found here.

Proceedings from the conference are posted on the CED Conference Website.  This includes powerpoint presentations, a 5 minute DVD and filmed plenaries. The material is well worth a revisit if you were at the conference – and definitely worth checking out if you were unable to make it.

The results from the conference participants survey have been analysed and the report is also available on the conference website.  A key outcome was that 88% of delegates were interested in being a part of a social entrepreneurs and social enterprise network to keep the momentum moving into the future.

CED Network

On the back of this response, Community Waitakere has acquired seed funding from the ASB Trust to initiate a community economic development networking initiative. The aim is to create an “ecosystem” that enables the sharing of information and ideas, peer support, pointers to information/ resources, raise awareness and support development of this emergent sector.  Initially web based it is intended that the network will develop over time to include a national, regional and local focus. A key theme emerging to date is to develop a business plan with a strong financial sustainability focus – so that the initiative is walking the talk of moving beyond grant dependence.   No small challenge then!

Setting a date for a follow up conference within the next 18 months is a priority. So watch this space. The development of local networks that feed back information to the national network for sharing and cross fertilisation of ideas, challenges and inspiration is also intended.
If you are interested in receiving email bulletins about the developing CED Network,  sign up here.

CED Newsletter

June 2010