A New Model of Community Governance
Based on Our Place’s Accountability Pledge process, the Governance Committee at Our Place has developed a proposal for a community governance system which would ensure that diverse government sectors and local non-profit groups are aligning their work in meaningful and responsive ways to local community needs. Much of the work at Our Place, including the Youth Matters Table, already reflects this approach. We are now working to establish a participatory governance model as a permanent mechanism to empower local decision-making on an ongoing basis, in a way that can be replicated across the City.
At the OP Governance Forum on June 13th, 2019, a Steering Committee was convened to co-create a Terms of Reference for an inaugural Our Place Inner City Assembly and to begin an initial consultation regarding the Vancouver City Plan. This model and approach is described further below, and is based on models elsewhere such as the Empowerment Congress in Los Angeles, Neighbourhood Plus in Dallas and the Office of Community and Civic Life in Portland.
While the April 23rd Inner City Assembly Launch Event has been postponed due to Covid-19, you can still email info@ourplace-vancouver.ca to sign up for the mailing list to receive updates or contact us if you’d like to join the Steering Committee.
We are also seeking neighbourhood organizers!
In order to bring this concept to reality, resources will be directed to support each neighbourhood to build their respective governance structure and processes, based on our shared principles and then work collaboratively with the larger Assembly. At the Launch, organizers for each of the five neighbourhoods will be elected to work on:
- convening local ‘tables’ or neighbourhood coalitions of organizations
- supporting residents to connect to resident-based groups (the only membership category eligible to vote in the Assembly)
