Partnerships in Community Development

By Silvina Antunes, 2nd year MDP student

Part of the business case process

Since classes finished at the end of the semester, I have been at my field placement full-time and I am able to get much more done and really engage with the work! My primary task since I began working full-time is to build a business case document for a visiting artists housing program that is going to be located in a new UWCRC owned and operated building that is currently under construction. This involved doing research on similar programs, completing financial projections, and analyzing and outlining the expected benefits that a program like this could provide.

Aside from this, I had the opportunity to sit in on meetings with Indigenous communities interested in conducting community development projects in partnership with UWCRC. These meetings were very insightful because I had the opportunity to learn more about certain issues that are important to communities as well as learn about opportunities that exist and the methods of conducting community development in when organizations and communities partner together.

All in all, I am so grateful to have completed my placement at UWCRC. I learned so much about project management, project planning, research and report writing however, I think the most important lesson I will take with me is the importance of partnerships. It sounds obvious, but it was very inspiring to see first-hand what projects and programs arise when organizations partner together to create solutions to issues that are important to both of them! 

Claire Reid (L) MDP Director and Silvina (R) at the site of the Arts District building

Indigenous Development in Canada - Notes from Treaty 4 in southern Saskatchewan

By Dev Kashyap, 1st Year MDP Student

When I first started considering options for my University of Winnipeg Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) field placement it didn’t take me long to realize that for my domestic placement I wanted to apply what I had learned in a community or in communities that I had an existing connection within Treaty 4 of southern Saskatchewan, Canada. There were no other prospects that made me prouder; contributing and applying my knowledge to Canadian Indigenous communities in the mantra of “tending to your own backyard, before tending to the needs of your neighbour’s”.  I am proud to be doing my field placement in the community that was home to my Elder and “uncle” Art Kaiswatum, Piapot First Nation.

Road to Piapot First Nation

My field placement has allowed me to strengthen ties to a community close to where I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan. I have come to understand and learn about the different aspects of development within Saskatchewan Plains Cree communities, focusing on economic development. In particular, my work has drawn me to learn about economic development as it relates to Piapot First Nation’s urban reserve in the city of Regina, and the different options available to the community as part of an effective and sustainable  long-term economic development strategy.

It is important to remember when working in development that things in the “real world” don’t revolve around the institution’s agenda and timeline. Things unfold in the developmental process around the needs, situation and pace of the communities for whom the efforts are intended. This has been an important reminder on my domestic field placement so far. It has helped maintain a good working relationship with Piapot First Nation, in terms of understanding  why objectives and timelines have been difficult to adhere to, and understandably so: Band elections were in the middle of my scheduled field placement.

It has been important to remain patient and overlook my own academic requirements and allow the community to move through the often intense process of political change through the democratic process. The challenge of uncertainty in terms of working within a time constraint has developed into an opportunity to spread my wings, and utilize my family’s network to take on additional work in the area of health with Ochapowace First Nation, also in Treaty 4. This opportunity utilizes my previous work experience to assist a community that has just gone through political change at the band governance level and is working to evolve it’s relationship with Health Canada in terms of health funding on-reserve. I am excited to be a part of the process in the coming weeks.

Miigwech.

Planning for Indigenous Communities

By Nathan McCorrister, 2nd year (part-time) MDP student

 

This past summer (2013) I had the privilege of undertaking my domestic field practicum at the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation (UWCRC).  I was pleased to be able to receive approval from the University of Winnipeg (U of W) Masters in Development Program (MDP) to choose my field practicum with the UWCRC given my personal interest and area of focus in community economic and business development.  Given a past working relationship with the UWCRC with my current career (I’m a part time student) and my knowledge of the work the UWCRC does in terms of community and business development for the U of W, it was an obvious choice for my domestic practicum.    

      

The UWCRC is a non-profit charitable corporation, created to support the U of W by developing a sustainable university and is guided by a four pillared concept of sustainability: environmental, social, economic and cultural.  The UWCRC is mandated to develop partnerships with community, private and public sector organizations.  The UWCRC developed a comprehensive campus development plan that has and continues to expand the campus and the land scape of downtown Winnipeg (The University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation, 2013).  

Wayne Flamand (L) and Nathan McCorrister

I was given the opportunity to work with senior staff, particularly Mr. Wayne Flamand, on a few of the projects the UWCRC is currently developing including work on the Merchants Hotel redevelopment considering various options and uses for the building and developing a new business proposal within a new public institution developing financial projections and cash flows based on market conditions and other related factors.  One of the valuable lessons learned working with UWCRC is that in any business venture careful planning and assessment must completed and followed through to increase successful outcomes.

As many Indigenous communities are turning to social enterprise economic development as one of the tools to improve social conditions in their community, there is an increased amount of Indigenous communities that are venturing into new businesses.  As there is such a scarce lack of resources, monetary and human resources, with Indigenous communities, all the more effort and time that should be given to careful planning and assessment of any business idea and or plan. Many Indigenous communities across Canada have great examples of successful business ventures and related business or community economic development plans.  As some of my experience and research has shown, business success takes time it doesn’t happen overnight, it will take careful planning and foundation building both from governance and business perspective.

Just as important as planning and assessment is, our sustainable development course work, and as experienced by some of you had in the field, has proven that it’s also important to take the time ensure a participatory approach to community economic development.  The participatory approach can often take some time and or a community may already have a good vision or plan that they would like to see occur or implement, in any event it’s important to take the time to meet and communicate with community members in identifying a community’s vision, goals and objectives whether for economic development reasons or other.  Here at the UWCRC this is an approach that was undertaken with its comprehensive campus development plan and that is now successfully being implemented.