Complex local and
social issues don’t lend themselves to “quick
fix” solutions.
To make a strategic impact on the issues
our communities face, we have to think and act in broader,
more comprehensive ways.
Comprehensive Community Initiatives (CCIs)
are locally based efforts that work to improve community conditions
and the lives of individuals and families by working comprehensively
across social, economic and physical sectors.
CCIs operate according to community building
principles. They:
- Acknowledge the importance of strengthening capacity
at the local level
- Enhance social capital and personal networks
- Develop leadership
- Encourage partnership and collaboration.
In the Vibrant Communities
initiative, communities and national organizations from across
Canada are exploring how comprehensive community initiatives
(CCIs) can be used as part of a deliberate strategy to reduce
poverty in communities across Canada.
| What are CCIs? How
do they operate? |
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| CCIs have often led
to "tensions" that need to be understood and
worked through for initiatives to work. |
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| The first step a community
must take in implementing a CCI is to engage a cross-sector
of people in the planning process. |
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While comprehensive approaches are relatively
new in Canada, communities in the United States of America
have been experimenting with them for some time now. Anne
Kubisch of the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. has been
sharing the American experience with CCIs with Vibrant Communities'
members for more than a year now. Anne continues to teach
us about the role CCIs can play in revitalizing our communities.
Check out some of the video clips of Anne by clicking on the
links at the right.
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