The more we get involved in our neighbourhood the more we realise how important listening to and hearing from each other is. One of the crucial concerns about working in your community for the good of the whole, is to make sure you are hearing from everyone, all voices, especially those who are on the fringes or more marginalised. This isn’t an easy thing to do but very important to try to do no matter how difficult or time-consuming t it can be.
One action that the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney Clover Moore takes is to hold community consultation meetings regularly to hear from local stakeholders and community members. This was something initiated in lockdown with Covid. It was important then to hear from one another as to how the various representatives and organisations in the community were faring. But the action has continued as our city leaders saw the value of coming together to hear from each other and also to share with the Lord Mayor about how each organisation is going. It is also an opportunity to focus on and share concerns on key issues no matter how seemingly small that particular neighbourhoods and organisations might be wrestling with.
It is a great way to hear from our city leaders and also for each organisation to share about how our community and neighbourhood organisations are doing. In this way city leaders keep their ears close to the ground in terms of hearing what is actually going on in the places they represent. It’s also a chance for the city leaders to respond and implement actions points from these consultations.
What are the communication channels like in your community between city leaders, councillors and local community organisations that work for the good of the neighbourhood? What other things can we be doing to make sure that these channels are kept open, authentic and regular?