Our Methodology
It’s Our Place aims to alleviate intergenerational disadvantage. We work with the whole community rather than a specific cohort or group because we believe that working with the whole community will create longer lasting, positive change. We are a group of local decision makers from government agencies, non-government organisations, and local community groups formally working together and sharing resources to support local communities. We do this through coordinating and facilitating the development and implementation of action plans designed with the community to ignite and sustain positive change. It’s Our Place is neutrally facilitated by Australian Social Investment Trust (ASIT), which enables the work to continue outside of political, administrative, and funding cycles, remaining true to the needs and aspirations of local communities.
Our Principles
• Community at the center of everything we do
• Genuine collaboration and shared commitment
• Adaptive practice and leadership
• Building capacity while addressing issues of concern
• Authentic community engagement
For more information about Collective Impact:
• Collective Impact - Stanford Innovation Review
• Collective Impact 3.0 – Tamarack Institute
Collective Impact
It’s Our Place uses a Collective Impact approach, stepping away from the siloed and short-term programmatic delivery that is often seen in communities while disadvantage continues intergenerationally. Collective Impact is long-term work for sustainable change. Most initiatives take between 10 and 20 years to shift and sustain the change that communities need.
Collective Impact methodology brings together numerous stakeholders to work collaboratively to overcome a challenge.
Collective Impact methodology is based on 5 traditional conditions:
- Collective governance and common agenda of members/partners
- Measurement of outcomes and tracking of progress
- Coordinated services and aligned activities
- Community engagement and communication
- Coordinated support and implementation
How We Operate
It’s Our Place is run by a Backbone Team and multiple Implementation Groups which include volunteers, community members, and staff from member organisations. Overseeing the work on the ground is an Advisory Board made up of representatives from 11 local organisations, community groups, and local government departments.
Advisory Board members re-align and pool resources (both financial and in-kind) to meet the needs of the community and shift long-term disadvantage. The formal collaborative governance structure and pooling of resources ensures that the Advisory Board members place a value on the initiative and work internally and externally to ensure that the communities goals are reached.
The collaboration is formally managed and supported by ASIT. ASIT’s unique charitable structure and governance model enables formal cross-sector collaboration that meets the community’s needs. It provides the flexible collaborative environment that is not restricted by political, administrative, funding, and financial year cycles.
It can sustain the change for the period of time needed by the community to become happy, healthy, vibrant, and sustainable. Our work in this space demonstrates that sustainable change in long-term disadvantaged communities can be achieved within 10 years.
Incubation Model
It’s Our Place uses a world first tested and proven place-based Collective Incubation approach in all of its communities.