Victory Village Forum

More than 250 delegates attended a Victory Village Forum in Nelson, July 27–29, 2011. The forum aimed to showcase the Victory Community — ‘Kiwibank New Zealand Community of the Year’ in 2010 — and share information about family-centred, community-led development.

The three-day forum, organised by Victory Village, Inspiring Communities and the Families Commission, was fully subscribed – underscoring an interest in New Zealand in thinking differently about how we work within and across communities, and promote family-centred, community-led ways of working. This new way of working requires thinking about what is best for families, and allowing communities to lead the changes they want to see.

The forum received widespread interest and the more than 250 delegates came from central and local government, iwi, community organisations, social service providers, education and health sectors, business and funding agencies. The diverse mix of people represented the individuals, groups, agencies and organisations working at all levels of family-centred, community-led development.

The forum gave the participants maximum opportunity to share information and extend their networks. Concurrent workshops, run by facilitators who work within family-centred and/or community-led development, discussed starting points for this way of working, and the skills required. The homegroup sessions allowed participants to safely share their ideas and experiences; their successes, challenges, reflections and learnings.

The discussion in the World Café was structured around specific questions that delved more deeply into issues associated with family-centred and/or community-led ways of working. Finally, the plenary sessions invited guests with different backgrounds, and therefore perspectives, to speak more broadly about the current ‘environment’ for familycentred, community-led development.

Overwhelmingly, themes of pride, achievement and positivity emerged from the forum. Participants shared stories of communities using their strengths to lead locally run initiatives, local government and businesses understanding the importance of applying the ‘family lens’ and successes ‘against the odds’. The forum emphasised and endorsed the importance of local communities leading family-centred action. Change must be driven ‘from the ground’, and communities must ‘own’ the process if they are to be successful. There is a desire to see the learning and insights gained at the forum shared with key community funders, policy makers and central government. A set of resources, case studies and support materials would be a useful way of disseminating the wealth of ideas and experiences shared at the forum with all those wanting to know more about this way of working.