'Community Development and participation in decision making processes', Chris McInerney was invited to present and facilitate a workshop in the EU URBACT II funded project entitled SURE. SURE stands for “Fostering diversification of local economies by using innovative Socio-economic methods of Urban REhabilitation in deprived urban areas” and is co-funded by the ERDF in the URBACT II Programme (http://urbact.eu/sure). Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is one of eight cities involved in this SURE network. 

The workshop was attended by approximately 30 people, from Romania, Hungry, Cyprus, Greece, Belgium, Finland and Spain.

Chris presented a synthesis of perspectives on:

Community development as a process of empowering / supporting local people to help themselves (as opposed to service delivery model - doing things for people).
Creating a supportive environment for communities to take action, with a focus on civic participation / decision-making / education and training / more effective communication.
Co-production, co-ordination and co-operation (establishing an eco system where communities, agencies and other stakeholders work together for common aims).