Popular Education and Community Organising Strategy for Transport in Fairfield

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Popular Education and Community Organising Strategy for Transport in Fairfield


Project proposal jointly prepared by Rick Flowers, Centre for Popular Education and Christine Laurence, Fairfield-Liverpool Transport Development Worker, Western Sydney Community Forum Aim The strategy seeks to improve transport access and equity for disadvantaged residents in Fairfield. The strategy will use a popular education approach, in that it is designed to foster dialogue as opposed to manage a consultation and aims to draw on people's stories and experiences rather than identify needs, in order to draw people beyond possibly superficial understandings of issues and into more deeper reflection, and to imagine a world that could be different. The strategy takes a community organising approach in that a variety of groups and individuals will be recruited and supported to plan local campaigns to address transport access and equity. This should lead to the development of a Fairfield Transport Development Network. Outcomes It is anticipated that the strategy will have the following outcomes: greater community participation in transport planning and decision making processes an increase in advocacy to improve transport access and equity for disadvantaged residents in the local government areas of Liverpool and Fairfield strengthened links with appropriate government departments, peak organisations, regional bodies, providers, consumer groups, private sector agencies and associations an increased awareness of the role of public transport as a socially and environmentally sustainable transport choice identification of public transport issues and priorities and strategies to address them. Process The project intends to achieve its aim by developing and implementing a training and support strategy with, and for, community members. The project will build skills and increase the capacity of community members and local groups in the Fairfield Local Government Area to influence transport planning. The groups to be approached to join the network might include, for example - TAFE student groups, Asian Women at Work, local union members, workers in factories, local senior citizen groups, carers groups, members of the Fairfield Council Access committee, Gandangara Aboriginal Land Council, local schools and members of playgroups. The strategy will support network members to develop resources such as a kit for community members to use to speak to local groups, a slide kit illustrating a vision for a transport-better future, school curriculum aids, postcards, fact sheets on how transport is currently planned and what good community participation in transport planning might look like. April – June 3 months Organise awareness-raising and consultation meetings and seminars The purpose of these is to gauge the nature and extent of interest in transport issues – who is interested and what is the nature of their interest. These meetings can also serve to help identify future organisers. April – June 3 months Recruitment March – June 4 months Allows one meeting/month with community groups Prepare a draft resource kit with participation from community groups. The aim of the kit is to trigger discussion, pique curiosity, provoke further investigation, encourage people to value local views and ideas about transport planning. It is likely that sections of the kit will draw on existing works and re-package them for this particular interest group. The kit might contain: stories and photos of residents, workers, students and business-people about their experiences of transport, could include stories of how they have seen change happen, their participation in transport planning to date. This is so that the kit starts with people's experiences, their knowledge and understanding of transport issues, as opposed to drawing on 'expert' knowledge to tell them what the problems are and what might be done to address them facts and figures about transport in Fairfield, for example, numbers of people who walk to the shops, numbers of bus trips, road noise, air quality vision: accounts of people's visions of better transport tips on how to get contribute to the transport planning process. This could include information on how transport is currently planned, proposals for better community participation in transport planning and how to help your community group work more effectively. June Train facilitators to promote and use the resource kits The facilitators will be offered a half-day or two-hour workshop that introduces the kit, considers the types of groups they might facilitate, discusses how much time different groups might be willing to spend, and exchange views about facilitation techniques. July – October Trial the kits and plan further recruitment, mobilisation and action The facilitators will be supported to lead their groups through the resource kit and devise and implement strategies to become involved in the transport planning process. A learning circle approach might be taken. November - December Revamp the kit and re- distribute Transport Development Worker, and new network continue using the kit to bring new people into network and support on-going action. January – June 2005 Write report and articles. Centre for Popular Education prepare report and articles in consultation/with participation with project team and participants as available. A paper about community action and transport written by Rick Flowers in 1987 is attached.