We have decided to share these learnings with you through a series of mini bulletins. Featured in this month's newsletter is our ACE's KEY LEARNING #4: The Challenge of Community Building.

Community can best be defined by four feelings - a feeling of belonging to something or some group, a feeling of pride in that group, a feeling of being part of something important and of being included, and ultimately a feeling of not being alone, of knowing that others in our community will help us even if they don’t know us. (Everett, 2009)

This description of community as feelings explains why defining community building is a challenge and why it is difficult to justify as a priority within government or bureaucratic settings that are more apt to measure importance based on the budget and number of staff assigned. Most are more comfortable and secure in managing the more tangible facilities, programs, and services, rather than the more organic and less straightforward aspects of community building.

Community building is challenging to articulate and justify, even though many practitioners truly understand, value, and embrace the many benefits and outcomes it delivers. Community building efforts result in experienced citizens taking responsibility for enhancing the quality of life in their communities, the growth of the community volunteers and leaders, trust and collaboration, more innovative ideas and solutions being generated and implemented more quickly, and overall social, economic, and environmental impact. Perhaps more critical, they have seen the resulting hope and understanding among those involved that they can, and do, make a difference.

Even though many ACE Communities have used community building as a vehicle for building both a sense of community and their community’s capacity and resiliency to change and grow, the challenge is that it is rarely legitimized as a core service, often done off the side of the desk, and rarely addressed as a responsibility of those in leadership roles, as a written policy, or provided with core funding by government and foundations.

And to read the whole report for a limited time, click here!

Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation and the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation (ASRPWF) join forces with the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA) every year to bring Energize to Alberta's recreation and parks community.

One of the highlights of the Energize Workshop is the Recreation Volunteer Recognition Awards.  The awards are presented to four Albertans, who are recognized as leaders in developing and delivering recreational programs in their communities.  Nominations are are being accepted until June 22, 2012.

Click here for more info and to download nomination forms!

If you have any questions, please contact the ChooseWell team at choosewell@arpaonline.ca

And here is a list to make it even easier:

• Thursday, April 12, 10:00 - 11:30 am: Orientation to Master Community Building Certification with Brenda Herchmer. Cost: FREE

• Tuesday, April 17, 12:00 - 1:30 pm: Unleashing Local Capital with Dan Ohler and Paul Cabaj. Cost: FREE

• Tuesday, April 24,10:00 - 11:30 am: Using the ACE Communities Scanning Tool to Determine Assets and Priorities with Barb Pedersen.  Cost: $25.00

• Wednesday, April 25, 10:00 - 11:30 am: Do you want Funding for Alberta Culture Days? with Janet Naclia. Cost: FREE

• Thursday, April 26, 10:00 - 11:30 am: Facilitation Techniques for Community Building: Let’s Meet and Talk in your Community! with Barb Pedersen. Cost: $25.00

Please contact Janet Naclia, ACE Communities Creative Cultural Liaison, at jnaclia@aceleaders.ca with any questions.

Community building is a ―field of practices directed toward the creation or enhancement of community among individuals within a regional area (such as a neighbourhood) with a common interest. It is sometimes encompassed under the field of community development‖ (2009, Wikipedia.org). However,
community development is often interpreted in many ways, sometimes failing to convey that fundamentally it is about making sure stakeholders are empowered to control decisions, projects, programs, and policies that affect them as a community.

The term community building is a less ambiguous and therefore more appropriate terminology because, regardless of how one interprets or defines the term community building, it will be accurate because ultimately community building is simply about being a catalyst for change that results in positive impact. That change could be manifested in the short term as a quick-win project or initiative that builds trusted relationships, or, as a longer term, community-driven and owned planning process. Both are crucial and will require parallel efforts.

Community building typically involves applying a community development approach in order to cultivate relationships and engage citizens. This often occurs within the context of (1) facilitating thedevelopment and ongoing growth of individuals and community organizations that are delivering
programs, services, and facilities; and (2) serving as a catalyst for linking individuals and groups around common issues. This linking often results in the formation of both formal and informal networks, coalitions, and alliances.

The ACE Communities team works with local leaders to enhance organizational capacity building, support the development of leaders, provide opportunities for training and learning, facilitate, coach, and mentor. In practice, this community building often seems to be a blend of practitioner competencies related to both science and art.

Unfortunately, ACE Communities has struggled to find support or investment to ensure sustainability for this essential community building support, or for the training and education required to ensure these competencies are widely available. However, ACE Communities has developed the competencies and many of the resources that could be utilized to further this training. The challenge remains as to how this work can be continued and sustained.

• Will your party support a long term delivery of community-level programs and public policies that will directly influence public behaviour towards a healthy lifestyle?

• Will your party ensure that the Alberta Lottery Fund is focused on its original community development purposes?

• How will your party support, through financial investment, a dedicated program to develop and enhance essential community parks and open spaces in Alberta's urban and rural municipalities?

In releasing the letters, Welsh stated,  "Extensive research has clearly demonstrated that recreation and parks, in its broadest context, including sport, play, physical activity, arts, culture and outdoor activities are key components of improving the health, well-being and quality of life of Albertans. As well, such activities reduce crime and vandalism, improve child development, reduce workplace absenteeism and strengthen families and communities".

The Association has asked the five leaders to comment on these issues on or before April 4th, 2012. The responses received by that date will be provided to the Association's members and released publicly.

ARPA is a voluntary, non-partisan and not-for-profit association of more than 1300 recreation and parks professionals and community leaders in more than 120 municipalities providing services to more than 3 million Albertans.

The letter and attachments that were sent to the Party leaders can be found on the special internet election web page set up by the Association.

Stay tuned for further updates!

Master Community Builder certification will be available for:

• Local Leaders
• Practitioners
• Community Coaches

Preliminary information on each of these certificates can be found at this link.

Keep an eye on the ACE virtual Learning Centre for upcoming webinars!

The Call will be open until end of day Friday, March 30th, 2012. You can enter more than one submission and you are encouraged to share the above link with others. Please note that the online survey tool will allow you to begin creating your submission, and then save and return to it at a later date/time to finish.

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Recreation and Parks Connects - they connect communities, they connect families, they can even connect different sectors to achieve a common goal - a better quality of life for everyone. We in the recreation and parks sector cannot work in a silo to achieve the many outcomes and milestones we have set out in our plans for the future. More than ever before, it is important to reach out to others to include them in our conversation to make a healthier, more livable society.

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For more information on ARPA's Annual Conference and Energize Workshop, please visit: http://arpaonline.ca/events/arpa-annual-conference/