Change - in my view - is about taking risks, about letting go of things we thought were important, and trying to remain true to our core vision in spite of what life throws at us. This is as true in the business world as it is in the world of ‘the third sector’ – or even politics. The enduring ideas are those built on vision and belief in something important – in our case, the ability of human beings to solve their own problems given the right environment and support.
Unfortunately there is not much evidence of this spirit in the public sector at the moment, nor in Political life (big ‘P’) in Northern Ireland. In the public sector we have delay after delay in the implementation of important changes, such as the establishment of the ‘Education and Skills Authority’ and the wider implementation of the ‘Review of Public Administration’. Progress on both these fronts is very much tied to the political stalemate at Stormont – where it seems impossible to take decisions on important issues that will move our society forward. The continued absence of a policy to replace the former ‘A Shared Future’ framework is a case in point.
In the midst of all this chaos and frustration, some important things are happening around our work with young people. Two recent events, both held on 9 November, illustrate this well.
The ‘Up Against the Walls’ event on that date was the culmination of more than a year of activity by youth workers, volunteers, and young people looking at the impact of Belfast’s 88 so-called ‘Peace Walls’ on the lives of the young people living next to them. The process was the brain-child of consultant Tony Macauley who grew up close to where I did on the Woodvale Road in north-west Belfast. The event was held to mark the 20th anniversary of the greatest dividing wall in Europe – the Berlin Wall – coming down due to ‘people-power’. Young people gathered at the longest wall – in west Belfast to play drums, shoot hoops, and talk to leading citizens including our current Lord Mayor, and Children’s Commissioner.
Later that same day we launched the ‘WIMPS Peace Channel’ at the Crumlin Road Gaol. This was the culmination of a project that saw four groups of young people living either side of two interfaces make films about the impact of the walls on their lives. The Lord Mayor, Naomi Long (accompanied by Frank Macoubrie the city’s High Sherriff) formally launched the project and praised the young people for their work and commitment. Her motto for her year in office is ‘Belfast Without Barriers’.
One thing that struck me about the work is that we were able to do so much with a small grant. We were given access to the venue free of charge, and the funding we already had from the International Fund for Ireland, meant that we were able to apply staff to the project, as did the local agencies on the ground. The result was young people having conversations they hadn’t had before, and meeting people they wouldn’t normally meet – both in terms of their neighbours on the ‘other side’, but also having the chance to meet the Mayor, the High Sherriff and a range of policy makers and practitioners. You could really see the pride in their faces as they watched their films and the reactions of others to these films.
All of this was brought into sharp relief by another recent experience – the conclusion of more than a year of discussions, submissions and debates with the European Programmes Body following our submission of an application to the Peace III programme for funding to support our international work with colleagues from conflict regions around the world. To cut a very long story short, the application was unsuccessful – in spite of being short-listed for an economic appraisal. I have rarely felt so mistrusted as I did during this arduous process. In the end we were told that we would have had more success had our project sought 100% funding (we were looking for half the funding, levering in the rest through other grants and fundraising), and had we not focused so much on our international colleagues – in spite of the strand looking at Northern Ireland as an ‘outward and forward looking region’.
An enormous amount of time and resources were wasted in the almost 18 months that it took to get a decision. Not just the time of Public Achievement staff, but also the cost of an economic appraisal which took several weeks - to justify a decision that appeared to have already been taken.
In my view, bureaucracy is destroying trust, stifling good work and killing creativity. The fixation with audit (at the cost of just about everything else) is creeping into other public funding mechanisms, and even the funding mechanisms of other bodies with public sector involvement - such as the International Fund for Ireland.
I am all for accountability – it is vitally important and part of our active citizenship model when we work with young people and their communities. However I am opposed to wasteful fixation on bureaucracy and audit at the expense of trust, and common sense. For example, we have frequently experienced situations where funders reject changes to projects based on reflective practice because it was not what we signed up to – maybe two or three years previously when funding was agreed.
It would be helpful for those involved in these administrations to look at concepts of social capital, how it is created and destroyed. Social capital is built on trust, reciprocity and community spirit. I would argue that this way of funding destroys trust, is driven by top-down concerns, and is therefore not likely to assist in building community. Many of the areas where millions have been spent are no further on in terms of community spirit and infrastructure – and it is my belief that these communities will not develop until there is a genuine sense of partnership between funders and the funded – real trust, and a shared vision of the future. Can we build peace on any other foundations?
In the meantime, organisations like Public Achievement and our local partners must continue to illustrate that there are better ways of investing funds – public or otherwise – that help us to build more democratic communities together.