The old saying “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime,” might be a cliché, however it’s something we have top of mind as community development and social impact consultants – how can we ensure communities are equipped to continue delivering positive impact when our job is finished?
As one of Australia’s largest multi-disciplinary community engagement and social impact consultancies, we’ve been working alongside Australian communities for more than 30 years. Our mission extends beyond social research and engagement; we strive to leave a lasting legacy by empowering local stakeholders from the outset.
From the moment our feet touch the ground, we implement action, ensuring communities are equipped to sustain their progress and continue delivering impact long after our involvement ends.
At Creating Communities we follow a similar line of values, not just delivering high quality community engagement and strategic communications but working with communities to implement and deliver strategies and actions that build on their needs and aspirations. We offer end-to-end social value creation for organisations seeking to deliver lasting, positive change.
In Newman, we collaborated with Nyiyaparli and Martu, local organisations, community groups, government, and industry to create a strategic roadmap for an equitable economy. We swiftly implemented “quick-wins” to build trust and initiate change, working closely with stakeholders.
Over the past five years with Newman Futures, we’ve partnered with over 80 local organisations and stakeholders to deliver 26 projects and strategies. Our team has been hands-on, coordinating stakeholders, standing up projects, cleaning streets, providing training, monitoring progress, submitting grant applications, cooking sausage sizzles and making countless cups of tea. This approach has allowed us to build local skills, identify gaps, and upskill community members.
As a result, more community groups are collaborating on projects that contribute to sustainable, lasting impact. While we continue to work with the Newman community, our role as backbone organisation of Newman Futures has transitioned to a support role as stakeholders are now driving the project.
This is just one example of how we’ve empowered local people to lead change in their communities. Across WA, we’ve partnered with community members to establish playgroups, community sheds, and business networks – the list goes on. Once the community has the knowledge, skills, and capacity to sustain these initiatives independently, we proudly step back and watch their progress as supportive bystanders.
