Beyond the local: using social networks as policy resource for building resilient communities
K. Healy, A. Hampshire, and L. Ayres
Department of Social Work, Social Policy and Sociology (University of Sydney)
Contact Email:   karhealyarts.usyd.edu.au

Many recent social policy initiatives by State and Commonwealth governments have focused on strengthening community capacities. In the main, initiatives such as the Strengthening Families and Communities Strategy and Place Management approaches focus on community as a local entity. In practice, these policies have directed resources to the analysis of local community needs and the development of localized and flexible responses to these needs. In this paper we will argue that locally focused approaches to community capacity building are insufficient to build resilience in communities affected by rapid social and economic change. Drawing on results from focus groups and a survey of more than 400 residents in urban, regional and rural communities threatened by rapid change, we will demonstrate: the diversity of identified community need; the range of social networks on which these communities draw; and that residents can potentially utilize to build their capacities to respond to rapid change. We will use these finding and drawing on the research of Woolcock and Narayan (2000), we argue for a policy model that recognizes local community networks and which also incorporates analysis of inter-community and institutional network analysis at regional, state, and national levels. We contend that this multi-dimensional model of social linkages provides a more useful framework, than localized notions of community, for policy analysis, and building the capacities of communities affected by rapid social and economic change.

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