The social inclusion concept advanced by the Laidlaw Foundation holds expectations for action at the policy, institutional, program and practice levels. What use is an analytic framework or tool unless it points to not only change, but also where change should occur, and which groups should assume responsibility or take leadership in making change?
This notion of agency based on sound analysis arising from application of a value-based framework is very relevant to the mission and work of community organizations called social planning councils. Brian Wharf (1992) in a book of case studies called Communities and Social Policy in Canada writes:
"[A] social planning council has two principal objectives, the facilitation of citizen involvement in the development of social policies and the exercise of an independent voice in social policy. However, in pursuing these objectives, the council developed a distinctive position for reforming social policies in order to improve the lot of the poor and the powerless."
Thus, with a focus on both policy and community action and a commitment to social justice and equity, social planning councils are well-positioned to promote socially inclusive approaches and strategies. They are committed to the translation of sound research and value-based analysis into policy change, systems reform, and community action that enhances social and economic well being for all.
In the last few years, the 26 social planning councils in the province of Ontario, organized as the Social Planning network of Ontario (SPNO), have pursued the development of an evaluation framework for social planning practice. In this study, the SPNO has found the literature and research on social capital to be compelling and relevant to the work of social planning. Woolcock (2001) argues that "an emerging consensus across the social sciences . . . built on an increasingly solid empirical foundation" leads to the definition of social capital as "the norms and networks that facilitate collective action." Woolcock (2001) goes on to link social capital to the concepts of social exclusion and inclusion in challenging the criticism that social capital "neglects considerations of power, especially those who are relatively powerless", by asserting:
"At its best, a social capital perspective recognizes that exclusion from [public, private, and civic] institutions is created and maintained by powerful vested interests, but that marginalized groups themselves possess unique social resources that can be used as a basis for overcoming that exclusion, and as a mechanism for helping forge access to these institutions. Intermediaries such as NGOs have a crucial role to play in such a process, because it takes a long time to earn both the confidence of the marginalized, and the respect of institutional gatekeepers. In short, it takes an articulated effort of both 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' to help overcome this exclusion, but it can be, has been and is being done, with positive and lasting results."
Since social planning councils work in this terrain between policy and practice, between institutions/systems and community, a focus on social capital seemed to be worth exploring in the SPNO evaluation framework. Its compatibility, if not complementarity, with the concept of social inclusion is obvious. Social capital is also distinctively grounded in community relationships, as Coté (2001) says:
"While human capital is embodied in individuals, social capital is embodied in relationships. Social capital is increasingly seen as a useful concept tool for understanding the role of relations and networks in social and economic development."
The research questions that emerge for the SPNO are:
(1) How do social planning councils and their human resources contribute to the formation of social capital in the community?
(2) What is the extent or the limit of the impacts and outcomes of a social planning councils work in social capital formation?
(3) Can social planning councils develop and apply a set of general or specific strategies in their work to intentionally facilitate and support social capital formation and activation at the community, systems, and policy levels?
Addressing itself to these questions, the SPNO has undertaken a series of community case studies on social capital formation. It is using the following conceptual framework to study strategy development related to the three main sources of social capital (Woolcock, 2001):
Social inclusion is identified as one of the social outcomes that SPNO sees resulting from the formation and activation of social capital.
SPNO has completed two community case studies on social capital formation, and is in the process of completing the research for a third. They are:
Research in each community involves:
Research summaries of the Halton and Kitchener case studies are available on the SPNO web site at http://www.lks.net/~cdc/spno.html. The full detailed research reports are available from the Project Coordinator (contact information at end of this outline). The presentation at the CCSD/Laidlaw Conference on Social Inclusion will report on findings related to:
Halton Food for Thought
Kitchener Festival of Neighbourhoods
Supporting the formation and activation of social capital is one way that community-based organizations such as social planning councils can contribute to the creation of a socially inclusive society. This case study research seeks to help social planning councils and other community development organizations learn how to do their work more intentionally and strategically to that end.
Coté, Sylvain (2001). The Contribution of Human and Social Capital. isuma. Canadian Journal of Policy Research/Revue canadienne de recherche sur les politiques. Ottawa: Government of Canada's Policy Research Secretariat. Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 2001).
Wharf, Brian (1992). Reforming Income Security in Ontario. In his Communities and Social Policy in Canada. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
Woolcock, Michael (2001). The Place of Social capital in Understanding Social and Economic Outcomes. isuma.Canadian Journal of Policy Research/Revue canadienne de recherche sur les politiques. Ottawa: Government of Canada's Policy Research Secretariat. Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 2001).
Peter Clutterbuck has worked in the voluntary human services sector at the community, provincial and national levels for more than 25 years. He has worked in organizational, program and community development capacities in the fields of disability, health promotion and social development. Community and coalition-based advocacy is a particular area of his interest and experience.
Peter just recently completed almost 10 years of leadership at the executive director level with the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto and its predecessor organization, the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto. Since May of 2001, he has combined a community research role with the Social Planning Network of Ontario (SPNO), with half time independent consulting and research out of his company, PC Human Resources.
His work with the SPNO involves researching four community case studies on the social capital formation strategies of local social planning councils. Peter’s involvement since the spring of this year with the Laidlaw Foundation in developing the Social Inclusion framework has been on behalf of the SPNO, which has included social inclusion as an explicit desired outcome of the work of social planning organizations in Ontario.
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