Planning and Implementing Strategies to Solve the Issue at Newtown Train Station - Case Study Example

Planning and implementing strategies to solve the issue at Newtown train station Introduction Every community needs to develop in a positive way. Lack of essential factors may inhibit development of a community. For instance, the community of Newtown is experiencing accessibility issue which is affecting their lives. Accessibility at Newtown station is extremely restricted and unsafe for individuals with a variety of mobility impairments, parents with prams, people negotiating the station carrying shopping bags that are heavy and older individuals (Burns, 2006). Access provisions like lifts, which lack at Newtown station is hindering the community from utilizing the railway as a safe and easy method of transport. It is as well preventing the community from reaching the Newtown Neighborhood Centre where supports and services are provided. This inequity issue at the station is of great concern to the people of Newtown community. Due to this, this paper will discuss the strategies to be used to resolve this issue using capacity building. Importance of planning and implementing strategies in solving community issues When a community is going through an issue that is affecting its development, there are some measures that need to be put into consideration. Planning and implementing a strategy to get an effective resolution is key in getting issues solved. However, people need to work towards a common goal. Strategies that are put should be realistic, measurable, attainable, and time bound (Grant, 2008). This will enable a community to resolve its issue and monitor its progress. Therefore, so as to attain community development, individuals need to be able to develop their ability to identify their issues and plan methods of resolving them (Cavaye, 2011). Additionally, individuals need to be assisted to develop their ability and improve their desire to take part in the process of decision making connected to greater economic and social development. Donors, non-governmental organizations, government and other institutions and organizations that are related are most in charge in encouraging communities to attain their visualized capacity. Capacity building Capacity building involves strategies planned and implemented in order to achieve sustainable development (Verity, 2007). It also involves relations of human capital, social capital and organizational resources in a particular community that can be controlled to resolve communal issues and enhance and sustain the community’s wellbeing. This is basically what the community of Newtown needs to do in order to solve the issue of inequity at the Newtown train station where there is lack of accessibility provision. Capacity building within a community is recognized as an important strategy to reinforce the wellbeing of families, individuals and communities and strengthens a lot of work of non government and government agencies (Robinson & Green, 2011). The benefits of capacity building in a community is that it empowers an individual as well as groups, it develops knowledge, confidence and skills, increases social relationships and connections, responsive policy and service delivery based within the community recognized needs and solutions (Cavaye, 2011). Capacity building also augments the voice of the community and boosts community acceptance of curriculum since they have been engaged in their development. What the Newtown council will do to add disability access to the train station In order to solve the issue at the Newtown train station that is affecting the people within the Newtown community, the Newtown council will have to plan and implement a number of strategies in order to achieve this goal. However, the community itself must participate in this objective. Some of the strategies used in capacity building in order to add disability access to the train station include: Use of media to create awareness The approach to be used for capacity building through media is multidimensional approach. This method involves all parties which entails workers of community development and government funding units. They all have a mutual goal of improving the capacity of the community. The best method of making views known through the media is in media release or simple statement that is short. This is best used when there is a particular announcement to be made, or get attention to an issue to be published. The rationale behind using media as a means of capacity building is because the media is able to manage the image of the public and provide a clear scenario of the state of the Newtown train station. The media also may give out a good message regarding the issue. Some media can provide free publicity regarding the issue affecting the community of Newtown. Through media publicity, community awareness, skills and knowledge is enhanced hence people get enlightened on how to utilize their own capacity to resolve the underlying causes of issue affecting them (Schuftan, 2012). The media used are magazines and television. Since media is general way of delivering information, a lot of people get informed about issues affecting their community and hence air opinions on what can be done to solve the issue since capacity building enables people to develop skills, confidence and knowledge. When using media as a means of creating awareness through capacity building, a speaker can represent the community of Newtown so as to speak on behalf of his members and provide accurate and faithful information regarding the issue affecting the community and what can be done to reduce the problem. Use of social media to create awareness Social mobilization entails getting people air their views regarding specific matters through social interactions (Schuftan, 2012). The approach of using social media is bottoms up. This is a democratic method to capacity building. It involves the right of everybody to a share that is equitable in the resources of the world and to make people become the founders of their own development. Social media is turning out to be well appreciated basis of networking where people interact and share their views (Reid, 2011). For instance, community people at Newtown can give their views about what the Newtown council should do in order to achieve a goal towards the happening issue. The rationale behind using social media like facebook and twitter is that these sites provide an environment where people can interact and share their views regarding various issues. From these views and opinions, the Newtown council is able to know what can be done according to people’s desires. Therefore the Newtown council needs to encourage every person within the community to participate in social media sites and air their views about what should be done at the Newtown train station. Since social media is often free for access, people within the Newtown community are able to raise their opinions freely (Reid, 2011). Advocacy to create awareness Advocacy is characterized as the method of community development that puts in motion the active process of developing consensus and a mandate for action. Advocacy brings together people who are like-minded and have a mutual goal. The approach of using this method for capacity building is multidimensional approach. This approach is effective in the strategy of advocacy because it entails all parties. The parties involved have a common goal which is to enhance the capacity of the community. The rationale behind using advocacy is that it involves influencing actions that are related to community development by guaranteeing active individuals’ participation in decision-making that are informed and by concentrating more on what is doable and possible, and specifically on how it can be undertaken (Schuftan, 2012). Through advocacy, the Newtown council will make community people to make their own thoughts and desires clear, get accurate and independent information, represent their thoughts effectively and faithfully, help with effective expression of views, and facilitate various opinions to be heard. Using advocacy as a strategy is essential because people’s opinions and views are represented hence the legitimate agency takes the necessary action promptly. Advocacy entails fighting for people’s rights on what they have been allegedly denied. According to Australian Human Rights Commission (2006), everybody is entitled to equal access to facilities regardless of their age, gender, race, and physical state. Challenges of planning and implementing strategies There are various challenges involved in planning and implementing strategies to solve problems. For instance, lack of commitment to plan. Insufficient involvement of people within the community becomes an issue towards capacity development hence hinder the process of solving the problem affecting its community. Another challenge is seen when there is a lot of time planning but less doing. When strategies involve ambitious timing and implementation, people tend to slow down in making informed choices hence the process of problem solving is slowed as well (Grant, 2008). Issues of finance may be a problem especially when there is limited funding. Expected outcomes In every strategy that is planned and implemented, there should be an outcome. Concerning the above strategies, there are a number of outcomes that are expected to be achieved. For instance, when the Newtown council uses media, social media like facebook and advocacy in creating awareness within the Newtown community, some outcomes are expected to be achieved. This includes a community relationship that is stronger, increased number of opportunities that are community-based like training and skills, increased capability in setting and attaining goals, improved capacity of communities to share their thoughts and actions directed towards change, and improved respect for restricted resources. Conclusion Even though the significance of capacity building is broadly appreciated, more focus must be drawn to the recognition and implementation of approaches of capacity building that are effective. Since the final goal of capacity building is to enhance community development, people need to know their human rights through awareness so that some of their rights are not denied like in the case of lack of accessibility provision for older people, people with various disability problems and parents with trams at the Newtown train station. Lack of facilities like lifts and other accessibility provisions for these people depicts discrimination which is against the principle of human rights. Using the strategies used above, the Newtown council will be able to sort out the wishes and desires of the Newtown community regarding what needs to be done at the Newtown train station. Bibliography Australian Human Rights Commission, 2006, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986, Canberra: Legislative Drafting and Publishing. Burns, L. 2006, Newtown Neighborhood Centre, Retrieved on 17 May, 2012, from http://www.newtowncentre.org/_pdfs/glebe_letter_editor.pdf Cavaye, J. 2011, Understanding Community Development, Retrieved on 17 May, 2012, from http://www.communitydevelopment.com.au/Documents/Understanding%20Community%20Development.pdf Grant, R. 2008, Contemporary strategy analysis, Malden: Blackwell Publishers. Reid, A. 2011, ‘Social media community development’ Tags, Retrieved on 17 May, 2012, from http://francis-moran.com/index.php/tag/social-media-community-development/ Robinson, J. & Green G. 2011, Introduction to community development: theory, practice, and service-learning, Los Angeles: SAGE. Schuftan, C. 2012, The Community Development Dilemma: When are Service Delivery, Capacity Building, Advocacy and Social Mobilization Really Empowering? Retrieved on 17 May, 2012, from http://www.afronets.org/files/Empower.pdf Verity, F. 2007, Community Capacity Building, Retrieved on 17 May, 2012, from http://www.health.sa.gov.au/pehs/branches/health-promotion/0711-capacity-building-review-lit.pdf Read More