Community Based Local Environmental Development in Dialogue — Toward a Common Future.
The creative attempt to put community based work in dialogue with distribution of Green Funds turned the Sagene district into one of Oslo’s eco-urban centers of inspiration. With historical roots in its efforts for Local Agenda 21 and its cooperation with Our Common Future, the Sagene district has displayed effectively radical small steps and good models for co-management. The district was named as Oslo’s greenest enterprise.
Description of the work — the background
We meet professional advisor Susan Guerra (SG) who has had ”green and social” local environmental development as her specialty for many years. She is a creative bureaucrat and one of many essential forces in the district’s work with sustainable local development. She tells us that the idea for Green Funding came from the politicians. Before that, there was a focus on environmental ”lighthouse certification” for businesses in the district. ”We called attention to the fact that this needed funding if the commitment was to be properly carried out,” SG says. 200,000 Norwegian crowns were allocated and an environmental network was established. This worked nicely and inspired not just district agencies, but also residents to make efforts for the local environment.
Green Funds were released for the first time in in 2013. A 50% environmental consulting position was established, earmarked to administer and develop work connected to Green Funding. This was groundbreaking work that has led to the total of 2,900,000 Norwegian crowns that today are distributed to 118 different projects. Even though there have been economic cutbacks for other budget posts, the politicians have persisted with funding for green initiatives. In 2017 the yearly budget was increased by 800,000 Norwegian crowns. The largest amount up to now. Organizations have received the most support — associations, housing cooperatives and condominium owners, as well as green entrepreneurs. Several of the district’s own service locales have also applied for and received funding. Thematically, the main emphasis has been on urban farming, biological diversity and sustainable food culture. In 2017 there has been more focus on sustainable consumption and resource management.
SG goes on to explain that they saw a need for a networking forum to connect the wide variety of groups that were receiving funding, but the consultancy post was withdrawn for a short period of time and there weren’t resources in the district to follow through on this. It was therefore felicitous that the Idea Bank Foundation could come with its project From Feather to Chickens (supported by the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation) 2014- 2015. This provided a good basis for exchange of experiences and the creation of networks between the various groups. After this external incentive, an annual networking forum for those who have already been funded and for those hopefuls who are considering applying for funds, has now become part of the district’s annual calendar. This networking forum is designed to inform about the funding, give advice about applying and not least, create a network. There has been increasing support and interest for these forums. During the last meeting on January 10, 2017 there were more than 60 participants.
When once again funds were made available for an environmental consultant in 2014, one obtained the possibility to examine combining ”lighthouse certification” work with stimulating environmental engagement through Green Funding. Among other things, this resulted in a climate and environmental strategy that was adopted by the City District Council on February 9, 2017. This was very concrete and pointed out what the district could achieve locally.
Under the subheading: Environmental Communication and Information, it reads: ”The Sagene Community Center shall bolster its role as an environmental and competency hub for sustainable development.” This should be done by:
1. Facilitating a «Green Conferencing» offer and publicizing this as an offer for agencies, districts and organizations.
2. Contributing toward strengthening networking among environmental organizations and environmental enthusiasts.
3. Highlighting district environmental work in community centers.
4. Becoming a link between district service agencies, the people and environmental organizations that want to participate in sustainable district development.
5. Becoming one of Oslo’s eco-urban inspiration centers.
Under the subheading Green Funding it reads: ”The district shall grant annual funding following the framework for facilitating increased environmental engagement among the district residents and the service agencies, as well as strengthening the local environmental network.” By:
1. Advising applicants about deadlines and following up on approved projects.
2. Arranging for annual information/networking forums for applicants and for approved projects.
3. Putting forth an annual summary to the district board reporting the results.
4. Highlighting project results through district communication channels and actively working for visibility in the media.
Green Funding has established its own Facebook page and the good experiences have inspired several other districts in Oslo as well as the Horten Municipality to distribute Green Funds based on the Sagene model.
Experiences other can learn from
The common denominator for all this is dialogue and cooperation — ”hands on” work with the local communities. This is based on what SG and her colleagues have learned over time from their work with the Sagene Community Center, Haarklous Place (see the narrative: The Magic Turtle on Haarklous Place) and others. “We’ve encouraged both younger and older residents to initiate activities on their own terms,” says SG.
It was this common denominator that SG and her colleagues wanted to examine more closely when they invited Dutch action researchers from DRIFT (Dutch Research Institute for Transitions) to a professional seminar and learning workshop: Time for Something WILD. This was done in partnership with Groruddal’s Commitment Group planning office, Tøyen Community Promotion, the Old Oslo City District and the undersigned. Transition Management (TM) is a comprehensive long-term method that uses both historical and future oriented approaches. TM has great relevance for community based development work. (For more information about this see: Transition Management in the Urban Context.)
SG points out that the various professional groups and different cooperative models generate a variety of labels and designations. Some speak of ”co-action” while others speak of ”co-creating.” Our colleagues in the social housing service just use the term ”cooperation,” SG tells us. We need to look at the similarities and the differences in these models/designations. Most important to emphasize is that there is not just one applicable model. More than anything else, the developmental and interactive oriented work needs to lead to practical action. It’s been our strength to be able to work with a variety of external professional groups; for example the Ideas Bank Foundation and those of you who are part of the Hope Grows in the Garden project. Transition Management as an “outside” professional supplement inspired us to see where we were going in the long run. Another strength is that SG has now taken on a new position as professional advisor. One of her most import jobs is to watch over and facilitate eventual dialogue with external actors and oversee internal networking, as well as one-on-one work.
Ideally, there should be two yearly network meetings, says SG. The one we already have in January and one more at the end of the year where we could put more emphasis on exchanging experiences and common learning. SG recounts an inquiry she recently received about how one might establish a recycling workshop on Haarklous Place. It was incredible to see the response this email elicited from a wide variety of people. Now it’s been turned into an brainstorming initiative — there will be a meeting to plan a ”stunt” connected to this idea during Sagene’s District Days in May 2017. An important question is: How do we embrace an initiative like this and facilitate self-organization. What we have learned so far is, when we are many ”chewing on the bone,” its important to have rules for interaction. We need to keep the broader view but at the same time preserve our own goals. We need a big stage and to dare to test things out. Processes take time! It should be fun for individuals to volunteer — one shouldn’t set too strict a framework. ”It has to be fun to make it sustainable.” People need to enter into activities on their own terms. It’s a delicate balance. ”You have to go with what’s out there” — and not least: you need to dare to go slowly while at the same time retain your vision, SG concludes.
(From 1st of November 2018 Guerra retired from her job in Sagene and is now an active retiree working from her sole proprietorship “SMGuerra Culture and Sustainability Services”. New in the job as community developer is Hodan Ahmed.)
Questions
Check your district/community: what are they doing for local environmental development?
How is the cooperation between your local community and the public service sector?
Are there some good local examples that you can continue to build on?
Contacts
Susan M. Guerra, writer and facilitator, SMGuerra Culture and Sustainability Services
Email: donasusana2012@gmail.com
Hodan Ahmed, community developer, Unit for Culture and Local Environment, Department of Public Health, Culture and Child Welfare, Sagene District, City of Oslo
Email: hodan.ahmed@bsa.oslo.kommune.no
Fredrik Monclair, Unit Manager, Unit for Culture and Local Environment, Department of Public Health, Culture and Child Welfare, Sagene District, City of Oslo
Epost: fredrik.monclair@bsa.oslo.kommune.no
