The North East Valley already had a community programme, The Valley Project.It was a good starting point for exploring what was already happening in the community and useful in building a picture of the strengths, skills and resources available in the community to help achieve shared community goals.
Community dinners were already a feature, so the Valley Project used these to get more ideas from their community on what they love in the area and what they'd like to see more of.
The Valley News community newsletter was an important asset that was already supporting community-building activity in the Valley.
When the Valley Project started taking a community-led development approach, they used existing assets and ways of bringing people together to communicate with their community, start conversations, and get more input from the community.
The best way to develop your community, hapū or iwi is to build on the strengths that are already within it.
Using a community-led development approach, the communities of Dunedin's North East Valley have come together, connecting with each other and their environment. Their initiatives include a community garden where people work together, growing and taking home their own vegetables; a community workspace where all are welcome and a food-share programme.
People are "doing stuff, not just talking" and in the process, they're creating a resilient, caring community for all.
North East Valley was one of four communities that agreed to work in partnership with Community Operations to pilot the Community-led Development approach over five years.
Check out their website at: northeastvalley.org
Watch their video to find out more about the Valley's people, places and stories.