Building social capital through partnerships

Ben Cairnswww.ivar.org.uk

19 October 2006

Local Government Association Conferenceon ‘Building Social Capital with the third sector’

Building social capital with the third sector

Overview of the concept of social capital

The policy context of cross-sector partnership working

Learning from the recently completed Partnership Improvement Programme

Conditions required for building social capital with the third sector

Overview of the concept of social capital

“those tangible substances [that] count for most in the daily lives

of people: namely good will, fellowship, sympathy, and social

intercourse among the individuals and families who make up a

social unit.... The community as a whole will benefit by the

cooperation of all its parts, while the individual will find in his

associations the advantages of the help, the sympathy, and the

fellowship of his neighbors.”

(L J Hanifan, 1916)

Relevance of the concept of social capital

Building networks of relationships

Networks enhance cooperation, trust and resource

exchange

Networks are “incubators of collaboration”

The policy context of cross-sector partnership working:three overarching themes

Expanded role for third sector in delivery of public services

Civil renewal, social and community cohesion, neighbourhood

governance

Pressures, expectations, requirements to work together across

sectoral divides: complexities and demands of cross-sector

partnership working

Learning from the recently completed Partnership Improvement Programme

Closing the policy implementation gap:

Governance: partnerships require governance in their own right; needs to be appropriate and dynamic

Trust: built around interpersonal relationships, mutual understanding and respect, acceptance of difference

Improvement: needs to be a collaborative and local process

Conditions required for “building social capital with the third sector”

Finding a role for third sector organisations which is appropriate to their mission and distinctive features

Understanding the tensions between the public services delivery agenda and the ‘civil renewal’ agenda

Committing to the principle of proportionality

Moving towards a balance in power

Applying the learning from the partnership improvement programme

Building dense networks, which involve engagement, trust and mutual benefit