It will be our own: Community empowerment in the North
The establishment of Nunavut overshadowed another story of empowerment, that of the Community Empowerment program. This was initiated in 1996 to break the "vicious cycle of dependency and despair" afflicting the communities of the Northwest Territories. It provided staff to facilitate a pr...
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ftdatacite:10.25316/ir-1424 2023-05-15T17:46:50+02:00 It will be our own: Community empowerment in the North Murchie, Graham 1999 https://dx.doi.org/10.25316/ir-1424 https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/6513 en eng Vancouver Island University - Royal Roads University Canada, Northern--History Canada, Northern--Politics and government Community development--Canada, Northern Community Empowerment CE program Text Article article-journal ScholarlyArticle 1999 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.25316/ir-1424 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z The establishment of Nunavut overshadowed another story of empowerment, that of the Community Empowerment program. This was initiated in 1996 to break the "vicious cycle of dependency and despair" afflicting the communities of the Northwest Territories. It provided staff to facilitate a process of capacity-building (planning, assessing, training and evaluation), technical support materials, and limited funding. Despite a vigorous start-up campaign, there was little interest in the program. An examination of the program, led by the author, established that many communities saw it as downloading and promoting bureaucracy's goals rather than their own. Efforts to make the program more oriented towards community development were carried out: program staff and community "champions" were trained, materials were provided in aboriginal languages, and a reframing of the program was publicized. Within a year, a number of communities had undertaken some or all of the four steps, and positive examples were reported. In this article, a number of principles of community capacity-building are set forth to guide both community planners and community development practitioners as they undertake their complementary but different roles. : La création du Nunavut a relégué au second plan le programme d'autonomie de la communauté. Ce programme fut amorcé en 1996 pour mettre fin au «cercle vicieux de la dépendance et du desespoir» dans lequel vivaient les communautés des Territoires du Nordouest. Il mettait à leur disposition des ressources professionnelles afin de faciliter le renforcement des capacités (aménagements, évaluation, formation et expertise), des ressources matérielles et un financement limité. Malgré une campagne de lancement très dynamique, le programme suscita peu d'intérêt. Après une étude conduite par l'auteur, il a été conclu que ce programme était perçu par les communautés comme une occasion pour la bureaucratie d'imposer ses propres objectifs plutôt que de défendre les leurs. Les visées de ce programme furent alors rectifiées davantage en faveur du développement des communautés: formation de cadres et de «chefs de file» de la communauté, publication de documents dans la langue locale, et campagne de diffusion du programme dans sa nouvelle version. En une année, plusieurs communautés avaient entamé certaines des quatre étapes du programme, sinon toutes, et on enregistra des exemples concrets de progression. Cet article énonce un certain nombre de principes de création des capacités d'une communauté qui peuvent être utiles à la fois aux professionnels de l'aménagement du territoire et aux intervenants du développement communautaire dans leurs missions distinctes mais complémentaires. : Abstract in English and French; text in English. : https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/6513/Murchie.pdf?sequence=3 Text Northwest Territories Nunavut DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Nunavut Northwest Territories Canada |
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DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
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ftdatacite |
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English |
topic |
Canada, Northern--History Canada, Northern--Politics and government Community development--Canada, Northern Community Empowerment CE program |
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Canada, Northern--History Canada, Northern--Politics and government Community development--Canada, Northern Community Empowerment CE program Murchie, Graham It will be our own: Community empowerment in the North |
topic_facet |
Canada, Northern--History Canada, Northern--Politics and government Community development--Canada, Northern Community Empowerment CE program |
description |
The establishment of Nunavut overshadowed another story of empowerment, that of the Community Empowerment program. This was initiated in 1996 to break the "vicious cycle of dependency and despair" afflicting the communities of the Northwest Territories. It provided staff to facilitate a process of capacity-building (planning, assessing, training and evaluation), technical support materials, and limited funding. Despite a vigorous start-up campaign, there was little interest in the program. An examination of the program, led by the author, established that many communities saw it as downloading and promoting bureaucracy's goals rather than their own. Efforts to make the program more oriented towards community development were carried out: program staff and community "champions" were trained, materials were provided in aboriginal languages, and a reframing of the program was publicized. Within a year, a number of communities had undertaken some or all of the four steps, and positive examples were reported. In this article, a number of principles of community capacity-building are set forth to guide both community planners and community development practitioners as they undertake their complementary but different roles. : La création du Nunavut a relégué au second plan le programme d'autonomie de la communauté. Ce programme fut amorcé en 1996 pour mettre fin au «cercle vicieux de la dépendance et du desespoir» dans lequel vivaient les communautés des Territoires du Nordouest. Il mettait à leur disposition des ressources professionnelles afin de faciliter le renforcement des capacités (aménagements, évaluation, formation et expertise), des ressources matérielles et un financement limité. Malgré une campagne de lancement très dynamique, le programme suscita peu d'intérêt. Après une étude conduite par l'auteur, il a été conclu que ce programme était perçu par les communautés comme une occasion pour la bureaucratie d'imposer ses propres objectifs plutôt que de défendre les leurs. Les visées de ce programme furent alors rectifiées davantage en faveur du développement des communautés: formation de cadres et de «chefs de file» de la communauté, publication de documents dans la langue locale, et campagne de diffusion du programme dans sa nouvelle version. En une année, plusieurs communautés avaient entamé certaines des quatre étapes du programme, sinon toutes, et on enregistra des exemples concrets de progression. Cet article énonce un certain nombre de principes de création des capacités d'une communauté qui peuvent être utiles à la fois aux professionnels de l'aménagement du territoire et aux intervenants du développement communautaire dans leurs missions distinctes mais complémentaires. : Abstract in English and French; text in English. : https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/6513/Murchie.pdf?sequence=3 |
format |
Text |
author |
Murchie, Graham |
author_facet |
Murchie, Graham |
author_sort |
Murchie, Graham |
title |
It will be our own: Community empowerment in the North |
title_short |
It will be our own: Community empowerment in the North |
title_full |
It will be our own: Community empowerment in the North |
title_fullStr |
It will be our own: Community empowerment in the North |
title_full_unstemmed |
It will be our own: Community empowerment in the North |
title_sort |
it will be our own: community empowerment in the north |
publisher |
Vancouver Island University - Royal Roads University |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.25316/ir-1424 https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/6513 |
geographic |
Nunavut Northwest Territories Canada |
geographic_facet |
Nunavut Northwest Territories Canada |
genre |
Northwest Territories Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories Nunavut |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.25316/ir-1424 |
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1766150694081921024 |