Vibrant Communities Trail Builders have been influential in the development of many of the provincial poverty reduction strategies. There is a growing interest across Canada of the unique approaches taken by each province. This series will profile provincial efforts, progress achieved and the role of both place and community engagement in the strategies. Each month, a different province will be profiled and the series will end with a call led by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy analyzing the strategies and the importance of communities in poverty reduction. Register now for Newfoundland & Labrador’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, the first call of this series.
Measuring Community Change
This three part series explores four metrics papers, Less Poverty, More Vibrant Communities, More Collaboration and More Community Engagement, which have been developed by Vibrant Communities as part of the Ontario Trillium Foundation's 'Community Capacity' Series. Each paper explores a variety of promising practical tools that measure the impact and change in a community. The tools and approaches identified in each of the four papers provide an interesting overview for communities engaged in collaborative processes to increase their effectiveness.
Getting the Most Out of Evaluation - Often evaluation processes are static and focus on end of project results. Mark and Jamie talk about designing an evaluation process for maximum impact. With the end-user in mind, Vibrant Communities is asking key stakeholders about the questions that should be asked, the format of the end product and how, as a participant in the evaluation process, might they use the results to inform their work. This process has uncovered some interesting questions, reflections and has increased engagement in the evaluation design, product development and potentially in how end-users will engage with results. Jamie and Mark share interesting insights and early lessons learned. Learn more here.
Measuring Poverty: Ontario's Deprivation Index - This session will explore the research process and development of the Ontario Deprivation Index. A ‘deprivation index’ is a list of items which are widely seen as necessary for a household to have a standard of living above the poverty level. Almost all households not in poverty will have all these items, but households in poverty are likely to find some of them unaffordable. By asking whether a household can afford all the items on the list, we can identify those that are poor. Michael Mendelson will discuss the community-based research process used to develop the ‘list’ for Ontario. Michael will also discuss working with the Government of Ontario to include the deprivation index as one of the indicators for the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy. Learn more here.
More Collaboration and Citizen Engagement - This session explores the Canadian Index of Well-being as an example of a measurement approach to determine if a community is increasing collaboration and citizen engagement. Tamarack has developed two papers, More Collaboration and More Citizen Engagement that explore 20 metrics drawn from a variety of sources including Vibrant Community experiences and local, national and international sources. This session will provide an overview of one approach and some common themes which cut across the different measurement tools. Learn more here.
Less Poverty and More Vibrant Communities - This session will explore different measurement approaches used by a variety of organizations and collaborative processes to determine if a community is increasing collaboration and citizen engagement. The metrics are drawn from a variety of sources including Vibrant Community experiences and local, national and international sources. This session will explore the Vancouver Foundation's Vital Signs as one approach to measuring community change. Learn more here.
Foundation
This two part series explores two concepts that have proven useful in understanding the nature of poverty and the phases of multi-year efforts to reduce poverty. They are foundational concepts that many people in Vibrant Communities wished we would have embraced more fully BEFORE starting long term, community wide, poverty reduction campaigns.
Phases of Collaborative Efforts to Reduce Poverty - This session explores the phases of community change efforts using the lens of eco-cycles. Garry Loewen will interview Mark Cabaj about the different elements and phases of community change efforts and the transition traps that prevent groups from moving from phase to phase. The accompanying resourcealso describes the implications for multisectoral engagement, management, leadership, resources and evaluation in each phase, as well as a number of big ideas about creating a resilient community effort. This includes the controversial statement that it is sometimes more productive to allow an effort to wind down in order for something more robust and durable to emerge. Learn more here.
Framing Poverty as a Complex Issue - This seminar, featuring Liz Weaver and Mark Cabaj, makes this case for framing poverty as a complex issue, describing key features of complex issues, and explores the implications for leading and managing a community wide effort to reduce poverty. It includes surprising conclusions such as, “We need collaboration and competition in local efforts if we ever hope to make progress on poverty.” Based on new work on complex issues by Brenda Zimmerman and Dave Snowden and with real experiences from over 12 collaborations in Canada. Learn more here.
A Comprehensive Approach to Reducing Poverty
Vibrant Communities’ Mark Cabaj will speak with those involved with Vibrant Communities and other place-based initiatives across Canada about comprehensive approaches to poverty reduction, e.g., strategies that work across a range of substantive issues, such as employment, housing and education, as well as levels of action – household, community, levels of government).
Strategic Drivers for Comprehensive Approaches - In the third call of this series, Mark Cabaj interviews Garry Loewen about using a strategic driver approach to achieve comprehensiveness. The new resource incorporates the resiliency framework outlined by Sherri Torjman of the Caledon Institute for Social Policy. Learn more here.
Poverty Compendium: A Tool for Communities - Mark Cabaj interviews Garry Loewen about the Poverty Compendium, an overview of the strategies that groups in North America use to reduce poverty. This new resource outlines the different ways that poverty is understood and how different perspectives affect the selection of strategies. These perspectives can also be used to categorize and describe the individual strategies, frameworks, and processes that groups have used to move toward greater levels of comprehensiveness. Learn more here.
Comprehensive Strategies for Deep Outcomes - What are the different ways to pursue comprehensive approaches to poverty reduction? What are the strengths and limitations of such approaches for achieving deep and durable outcomes? Mark Cabaj interviews Eric Leviten-Reid about a new paper exploring these questions. Learn more here.
Policies That Reduce Poverty
The Caledon Institute for Social Policy and the Vibrant Communities movement bring practitioners and government policy makers together to reduce poverty and improve the prosperity of all Canadians. Learn what elements are key to any poverty policy, what roles communities and governments can play in policy development, and what tools are available to help place-based initiatives create lasting change.
Community Roles in Poverty Reduction Policy- Mark Cabaj, Sherri Torjman and Anne Makhoul explore how communities engage in public policy making as they seek improved access to public programs and services, or help designing local spaces and programs that respond to their concerns. Learn more here.
Reducing Poverty: Ten Core Policy Areas- Sherri Torjman and Mark Cabaj will discuss ten major policy areas that comprise the core of a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy, including examples of how governments and communities across Canada are making them work. Learn more here.
Less Poverty and More Vibrant Communities
Framing Poverty as a Complex Issue 
