Some of you may already know that our development officer Vikki Carpenter offers collaboration and support to Community Development Alliance Scotland (CDAS) as an Ex Officio on their Board. Recently, at the Community Development Alliance Scotland Annual Conference some of the CLD Standards Council team were out in force supporting this fabulous annual community development event.
We were working hard at our market place stall, offering our amazing goody bags whilst promoting CLD as a sector, the role of the CLD Standards Council as the professional body for the CLD, and the benefits of membership. It was marvellous to meet so many new faces and be at a conference to promote and implement community development policy and practice. What a terrific bunch of a motivated of individuals and organisations.
At the conference we were also co-facilitating a workshop on Community Development Policy and Practice: National & International Standards in Community Development. Some of you might have joined our very own Kirsty Gemmell, along with Anna Clarke from the International Association for Community Development at one of their three workshops where they were focusing on the three key standards for community work across UK and Ireland.
- All Ireland Standards for Community Work (PDF)
- Community Development National Occupational Standards (PDF)
- IACD International Standards for Community Development Practice (PDF)
There were some critical and informative discussions around navigation of these documents, their alignment and synchronisations, as well as the differences in implementation across the home nations. Discussions were had around navigation between documents, how they are implemented differently across the UK and Ireland, clarity and synchronisation of the 3 standards, and how they are have clear articulation connected to values. Participants also posed questions opening discussion about the importance of meaningful community engagement regarding CD policy and standards, how those consulted need to see their voice as well as the change that follows, connecting their input throughout processes, our role around climate change, human rights and being the vital but often exhausting link between grassroots and legislation/policy shapers.
There was a lot of conversations throughout the day around rights, inclusion and the role of CLD so here is a quote, given to us during the conference from Claire MacGillivray from Making Rights Real. Claire informed us that when talking about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at its launch in 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt stressed that human rights must have meaning in the ‘small places, close to home’.
“Where, after all do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home, so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the neighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works…
Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.”
E Roosevelt
You can read our response to Scottish Governments recent consultation on the proposed Human Rights Bill for Scotland.