Examples of our work
The DiCE framework
DiCE is a framework specifically designed to help you to take a community development approach to your (paid or unpaid) work. It is presented as a ‘planning & evaluation circle’, which aims to take you through a process step by step, building on what you already have in place and what you and those around you are already doing.
It has developed from ABCD, (Barr & Hashagan 2000), which has been in the public domain for approximately 10 years, beginning as a contract from the DHSS in Northern Ireland who wanted to demonstrate the impact of their community development interventions. changes has been working with the ABCD framework since 2000, delivering training and consultancy as well as developing the ideas into DiCE.
DiCE:
- includes a 5th community empowerment dimension
- draws on our own four essential ingredients to active citizenship and community leadership (as adopted by the Take Part National Learning Framework)
- recognises current policy contexts
- aims to simplify the process of planning and evaluating community empowerment and community wellbeing
- clarifies the relationship between community empowerment, community well being, community engagement and community development
DICE has developed through action research, peer review, and testing in a variety of different contexts.
Training courses:
- A day workshop called ‘Introduction to Community Development’ in our public training programme, which encourages practitioners to discuss the values and principles, consider what the term ‘communities’ means and explore definitions of community development and current social policy contexts
- Community Development for non-CD managers: recognising the broad contexts for managers, where work areas such as regeneration, housing, partnership working, economic development and planning have a policy and practical remit around communities and community development
- Training on aspects of Community Development (including group work): Transition Co-ordinators; Shoreline Housing Partnership (Grimsby)
changes delivers the module on Community Development & Public Health as part of the Masters in Public Health for Nottingham University Medical School
Development of a guide specifically for Age Concern Organisations to get to grips with what Community Development could offer them – and how to ‘do it’. Following that, changes provided training to workers on how to use the Guide and then undertook some research to map the different ways that Age Concern Organisations interpret and practice Community Development.
Evaluating community development
Training in planning & evaluating Community Development for Chesterfield PCT, Shepway District Council, Sheffield – Sharrow Partnership
changes delivered a presentation and a workshop for the CDX conference ‘Empowering evaluation – evaluating empowerment’ in March 2008 – funded through NEP.
Evaluation of community development projects, programmes & initiatives e.g. IMPACT! – part of the Active Learning for Active Citizenship initiative; Solent Community Development Partnership*; a review of Local Advisory groups to the health service in Durham & Chester-le-Street*
Evaluating projects and programmes from a Community Development perspective e.g. Coventry CEN
Self-reflection toolkit for rural community development workers as part of the RIPE initiative – Rural Inclusion Practice Exchange* funded through Countryside Commission
* as associates of the Community Development Foundation