Community Governance

About this pattern

A key to producing place-based coolth will be a community of commoners who are prepared to initiate action and maintain the social and physical infrastructure that supports this action. Such a group will need a mode of organization and governance that is suited to this task. This could take the form of a registered non-profit organisation/ governing body, set up by elected representatives from within the residential community. In general, this body is voluntary, it enjoys autonomy and it does not have statutory powers over ownership, tenancy and so on.

This form of community governance will enable the concerns of the residential neighbourhood or community/ housing complex to be addressed. These concerns can include:

1. Management, maintenance and upkeep of common areas and facilities, including other cool commons.
2. Communication about cool places and cool/shaded times for different locations in the local area throughout the year.
3. Individual initiatives such as recycling, composting, community gardens, pedestrian infrastructure, shared playgrounds, upgrading of parks, signage and so on.
4. Orientation and spreading awareness of neighbourhood concerns within the membership, and connecting the neighbourhood to local governance mechanisms.
5. Arranging regular meetings, gatherings, cultural events, fundraising and so on.
6. Connecting with other community organizations concerned with local amenity, for instance Bushcare groups, service associations, churches, mosques or temples.

More broadly, community governance can be integrated with strategic activities like a social enterprise lab where ideas are pitched for new ways to sustainably enhance commoning and to put new ideas into the public domain, or activities to promote the membership of other community-led groups – The Seniors Hub in Waverton NSW for instance provides a good hybrid model for interests groups, it assists with aging in place run and is by volunteers but supported by the local council (see references and resources).

Pattern Conditions

Enablers

• Community members who are already active, are usually a place to start with putting community governance in place.
• Community building techniques such as Asset Based Community Development have stood the test of time as a means by which communities can identify success and build on their strengths; these kind of practices can be useful for healthy and productive community governance processes.

Constraints

• Ongoing process of engagement require sustained interest and leadership from within the local community.
• Getting participation from a broad range of diverse residents.
• Handover process and succession patterns have to be clearly identified and set up.

Commoning Concerns

Community governance as a mechanism for commoning practice

Ownership: non-profit or public ownership

Access: Free access to all meetings and programmes, but decision-making power may rest with elected representatives

Use: Community benefit decisions and activities

Responsibility:

Benefit: provide ongoing, adaptive solutions to community living

Care: Residents’ community

Community governance organisations needs to involve constant efforts to strengthen practices and inclusiveness. This is because governance is a lived (and not static) phenomena. If governance is not strengthening, it is likely that it will be weakening.