Promising Practice Profiles

Animation Project

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Project practice

Community development and education project in a public housing estate

Project undertaken by

St Vincent de Paul Society

Start date

2003

Focal areas

Supporting families and parents

Creating child friendly communities

Program

Local Answers (LA)

Issue

Individuals, groups and communities often feel they have no input in decisions that impact their lives. It is known that healthy and just communities are those that have the freedom to make choices and the capacity to implement them in order to address and diminish disadvantage. Increasing the control and resilience that individuals, groups and communities feel they have in their lives results in stronger families, communities and society.

The communities in which the Animation Project works (Sydney's outer south-western suburbs) are, according to social researchers, among the most disadvantaged in New South Wales. In the 1970s, five broad-acre public housing estates - at Macquarie Fields, Minto, Claymore, Airds-Bradbury and Ambarvale - were developed. Many of the problems associated with local disadvantage have become concentrated in these estates, but these problems can mask the many positives and the potential of the residents. The Animation Project demonstrates that in every community, no matter how stressed, there are people providing local leadership in many ways and others ready to do so if the climate is right.

Program context

The Campbelltown Animation Project is an innovative community development and education project auspiced by St Vincent de Paul, which has been implemented with residents of large social housing estates in Sydney's outer south-western suburbs.

Activities have included facilitation of resident driven grass roots projects, informal and formal training as identified by participants, support and mentoring of community leaders, regional networking of participants and public housing residents, community arts projects and documentation. Examples include establishment of Community Laundromat and Coffee Shop, successful advocacy for bus route changes, installation of four public telephones, resident exchange visits with Sydney-wide social housing tenants, Training for Community Action course in partnership with University of Western Sydney, production of two books and two films documenting stories of social housing.

Objective 1: To engage residents of five target communities in mutual learning and community building projects that address local priorities, whilst encouraging individuals to reflect together and act on issues of mutual concern.

Objective 2: To validate and support emerging and existing community leadership through learning opportunities, mentoring, peer support, exchanges, conferences and by strengthening relationships between participants and Animation Project workers.

Objective 3: To develop regional networks where neighbourhood expertise and learning is identified and shared; and where participants reflect, plan for and take action on issues that directly affect their quality of life.

Objective 4: To raise awareness of and promote discussion about animation approaches to community development and education, by documenting the experiences of the Animation project, recording resident's voices, publication of relevant resources and dissemination of information.

Objective 5: To maintain quality mechanisms that support internal and external accountability and sustainability through reflection, co-ordination and administration.

Practice description

The process of "animation" - of bringing to life, energising, inspiring - is based on a strong belief in the power of "ordinary" people to effect change in themselves and their communities, if supported, encouraged and trusted. The Animation Project focuses not on achieving a pre-determined set of outcomes or on what non-government organisations can do for residents but on how residents can be supported to discuss and act on the community needs that they regard as important. Each community action residents decide to take together brings about some change and, over a period of time, people's self-belief grows.

Rather than being dependent on a set of predetermined activities the success of the Animation Project is based on following a particular process and a set of principles. The activities or actions are less important than the processes used. Below are the key processes involved in the Animation Project:

Listening and building relationships

An "animator", or group of animators, works within a community to draw people together to share their common problems. In the first stages of the animation process, much emphasis is placed on understanding and listening to the local community, on building the self-esteem of the people involved and on building a sense of solidarity or unity. The approach is flexible, responding to the community rather than bringing a preconceived way of engaging the community. The aim, in these early stages, is to encourage people to see that they are not alone in the problems they experience and that they have talents and abilities which can be used in finding solutions.

Identifying and analysing issues

The next phase aims to encourage the group of people who have been drawn together to analyse the causes of some of the problems they face, and to work how they collectively can best respond. With one community, this occurred using a community artist to map and draw aspects of the community. Participants were invited to stay after a regular community lunch to work with the artist. Art provided an opportunity to discuss issues more deeply. The community animator working with the artist asked the participants some strategic questions to identify and analyse issues.

Identifying and undertaking action

The group then begins to try to bring about some positive change, by acting on some of the collective solutions the group members have nominated. Each piece of collective action becomes both a learning experience and a source of personal and collective growth. Each success or failure is carefully discussed and analysed and future steps mapped out. For instance, one group with assistance from the community Animator wrote to a politician. They received a letter saying that their correspondence had been received and would be responded to in the future. This generated enormous enthusiasm and confidence among the group who reported it to the larger lunch group. Prior to this, no one had received any response to letters they had written to a person or organisation in authority. Eventually, a full response arrived that was unsatisfactory to the group. However, the confidence they had developed enabled them to persevere over several years to ultimately gain the changes to a local bus route, which greatly increased the quality of their life. The bus company has now informed us it is their busiest route. While they were working on this, they began to address other issues including lobbying for public telephones and developing a community Laundromat and coffee shop. At each step, the community Animator works alongside the group asking questions, assisting with information, reflecting group conversations, assisting the group to identify actions and to learn from those actions.

Change agents emerge

As the group develops, the Animator's role diminishes to that of a friend and supporter, with the direction of the group being taken over by the people who have emerged as the group's natural leaders. Over an extended period, the group's collective self-confidence and wisdom grows - as does the personal self-confidence and wisdom of each of the members. The change can often appear slow, but over a period of time, the change is profound. People who previously felt that they had no control over their lives and could do little, become vital leaders of their community. Gradually the Animator provides opportunities for participants to increase their decision-making roles, helps group members to identify strengths and learning opportunities, assists with training, mentoring individuals and openly discusses changes in roles. The Laundromat and Coffee Shop has now been operational for seven years. The community leaders from this and other groups requested deeper learning opportunities and a course was developed in partnership with Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education and UWS - "Training in Community Action". This was integral to developing greater learning across the community. One student cohort as part of their course assessment put on a conference attended by 200 community workers and government representatives on working in community.

Core values of the project

Staff reflection

The Animation Project staff and committee deliberately discuss and reflect on its theoretical underpinnings, values and beliefs. The project is anchored in the Catholic Social Justice tradition and its development has been strongly influenced by the popular education, civil rights and community development movements and by the work of Paulo Freire and Myles Horton.

Wholistic approach and strengths-based approach

The program is focused on the whole person and avoids a narrow skill-development approach. Skills and competencies are developed as part of a focus on the whole person relating to other persons in the context of the action group and of the community. Growth, development, skill-acquisition occur through a continuous process of action and reflection.

Transfer of power

Animators learn and receive as much as, if not more than, what they "teach" or give. There is a genuine loss of power involved, particularly at first, with animators learning that people already have all the answers and are indeed the experts in their own lives. In the process of animation both animators and people change. Staff and committee members engage in ongoing reflection for each activity in the project. In the community work and community education field there is a lot of talk about building the capacity of communities; the Animation Project believes there is scope for workers to examine their own need to develop their own capacities. Four questions that were useful are:

Active listening

Listening is a core animation activity. It is a complex activity - part skill, part attitude, and part commitment. Its importance cannot be overstated. The effective animator is first and foremost a good listener in a particular kind of way, seeking to hear the people's giftedness, pain and suffering, change and potentialities, key words and crucial concerns, as well as the subtle interplay of personal and structural-systemic realities in their lives. In relation to the latter, and in Freirian terminology, a good animator listens for the generative words and themes uttered by individuals, groups and communities. It is these words and themes that, after a period of relationship and trust building, constitute the beginning of the animation process and continue to frame its subsequent unfolding. Generative themes can bring people together and generate energy for action. Another aspect of listening used in our group work with local grassroots project participants is reflecting back to groups what animators hear over time, putting that in writing and giving it back. This is underpinned by respectful relationships with community members, listening, local decision making and acknowledging power relationships.

Finding voice

The fundamental importance of listening to people whose experience is of never being listened to can be dramatic. It also keeps hold of the thread(s) that may flow through many meetings. Translating verbal culture into written documentation is important in building momentum. It also acts as an alternative media, something that is real, reflects participants' experiences and is an alternative to the mainstream media including government publications. Reporting on public housing estates is nearly always negative or stereotypical of tenants' lives and their communities. An alternative media provides credibility for the existence of another story, history or tradition that is valued. This leads to the learning and action cycle: telling the story; reflecting on the story; learning from the story; leading to more action; reflection and learning; and so on. The Animation Project believes that listening, dignity and respect have been understated in community education theory and practice.

Summary of principles and practice that the Animation Project believes encourage sustainability:

Research base

There is a significant body of theoretical literature and case studies on the effectiveness of popular education/animation approaches including the use of the action/reflection cycle. The literature and practice wisdom identifies a similar target group to the one that the Animation Project wished to work alongside: namely, the marginalised and powerless. The literature discusses the efficacy of starting with the knowledge and experiences of the participant and making it relevant to their experiences. It implicitly and explicitly acknowledges the strengths of communities as well as acknowledging the social, political, cultural and economic forces that impact on communities. These assumptions were consistent with those of the staff and committee of the Animation Project.

The Animation Project has particularly drawn on Political Analysis, Structural Injustice, Development and Human Rights Education and Catholic Social Thought. Authors such as Paulo Freire, Jack Mezirow and Myles Horton informed practice (please see Appendix "Paulo Friere and Animation"). The project was also inspired by the literature and practice of the Training for Transformation and Community Development Resource Association of South Africa and the Doris Marshall Institute in Canada.

There is also much similarity with the Asset Based Community Development Approach and other strengths-based empowerment community approaches.

Professor Mark Peel writing in the Lowest Rung provides a compelling case for building on the strengths of public housing tenants and listening to their voices if society wants to bring about effective change in marginalised communities.

Tony Vinson's Dropping of the EdgeDistribution of Disadvantage in Australia identifies the communities that are in need of approaches such as animation and has informed the geographical areas in which we work.

Deprivation and Social Exclusion by Peter Saunders et al. (Social Policy and Research Centre, Nov 2007) provides a framework for understanding our interventions and highlights the impact of the lack of respect and dignity and increasing stigmatisation as barriers to full participation in society. These are areas that the Animation Project specifically targets.

Dr Judy Stubbs has written extensively on tenant participation in social housing and her research report Leaving Minto, co-authored with one of our community partners and staff members, contains a comprehensive literature review on tenant participation.

The Animation Principles has been practiced in regions such as South Asia, Latin America and Southern and Central Africa.

Outcomes

Demonstrated increase in the control and resilience that marginalised individuals, groups and communities feel they have in their lives which strengthens families, community and society through:

  1. development of community initiatives;
  2. increasing confidence to claim individual and community rights;
  3. increased participation in civil society; and
  4. greater sense of competence, self-confidence and self-esteem.

These achievements have improved community co-operation, brought significant changes to the lives of many individuals and begun to change people's perceptions of residents of these suburbs.

Evidence of outcomes

1. Development of community initiatives

Examples of community initiatives undertaken to date:

2. Increasing confidence to claim individual and community rights

The actions listed in the above section are a direct outcome of increasing confidence by community members and groups to claim individual and community rights. These achievements demonstrate some of the tangible outcomes of working alongside communities in the Animation program - things that will make a practical difference in people's lives: a laundromat, a changed bus route, pedestrian access, a park. These are changes by communities for communities. Yet these actions also demonstrate the less tangible, but just as important, changes individuals and communities have undergone - the increased belief in themselves and others, the understanding of the power of collective action, a growing awareness of the social, political and economic systems that shape and govern their world and increased skills in community organising and community management.

The community-driven outcomes also demonstrate how the Animation Project privileges the role of those who experience various forms of inequality, poverty and exclusion. Such privileging is comprehensive, encompassing among other things people's self-understanding, their experience of community and society and the development of strategies for action.

3. Increased participation in civil society

3.1 Increased volunteerism - Participants begin or increase their community volunteering

Outcomes are measured by interviews with, and self-reporting by, participants, focus groups held with participants by external evaluator, action research by staff, external university research (see Considine, Watson, & Hall, 2005), annual evaluation workshops with project participants and staff reflection:

"the first time I have ever been involved as a volunteer was in the Laundromat, now I am involved in all sorts of things." (Resident over 50, lived in Claymore for 15 years)

Scores of residents have begun participating in their local community contributing their knowledge and experiences as well as enhancing their skills. Many of these volunteers have gone on to become community leaders involved in mentoring new volunteers.

Dr Leanne Craze, who evaluated the Animation Project in 2002, reported that volunteers reported the following changes as a result of their involvement:

3.2 Establishment and support of independent community organisations

"We have become incorporated and have our own independence."

Fostering self-determination and local community control are key principles of the Animation Project. Six independent community organisations have evolved from its work including Claymore Community Laundromat and Coffee Shop and Kids Community Park with B.E.S.T., Airds Focus Group and Bradbury Hearthouse Focus Group, Minto and Northern Campbelltown Community Action Group.

These groups hold community forums with decision-makers and elected representatives raising housing, health, transport and education issues. The resident action groups also undertake individual and systems advocacy, provide information to their local communities, host public meetings and network with a range of government and non-government housing organisations.

The Animation Project has worked alongside local community organisations to access additional resources. Throughout this process participants' fund raising skills have been enhanced and tested as they have participated in submission writing workshops and been actively involved in developing and making written and verbal presentations to grant-makers.

4. Greater sense of competence, self-confidence and self-esteem

4.1 Learning and training outcomes

"I've learnt about power and rights. I know now I have power within myself to bring about change. This gives me strength, motivation to involve myself in community activities. Together we have power to bring about change to resist injustice."

The Animation Project and Claymore Community Laundromat and Coffee Shop in partnership with Macquarie Fields TAFE Outreach, developed a certificate training course which focused on managing the laundromat. Twenty women graduated from this course in 2000. Over 20% went on to further study in the TAFE system.

The extensive informal learning program includes over 70 workshops, or seminars conducted annually with over 150 participants. Topics covered include:

Each seminar or workshop is based around specific local case studies or projects on which participants are currently working. The advocacy and community projects mentioned above have largely evolved from, and been supported by, this component of the program. Participants self report increased skills.

4.2 Changing images and perceptions

"We've broken ... the mould, the stigma, the stereotype. We have overcome that because we are better than that. We have good self-esteem. I never used to."

"Its not just a place, it's a community."

Living in poor and marginalised communities, Animation Project participants often speak of their common experience of stigmatisation, being stereotyped or studied, a relative powerlessness, at times shame, a sense of being the objects of other people's decisions. As against these experiences, there is also the reality of wisdom, resilience, persistence, insight, creativity, and desire to work for a better world, particularly for children and grandchildren.

The Animation Project has sought to provide a platform for the voices of residents to be heard; to provide opportunities for stories to be representative of, and controlled by, the communities themselves. This had led to an emerging cultural or community arts program, fostering of positive media stories and facilitation of public speaking opportunities. The community arts program has included a community mural (over 100 adults and children were involved in its creation), a community writing project in partnership with Macquarie Fields TAFE Outreach resulting in the publication Claymore Stories involving 23 residents of Claymore. Over 60 people attended the public reading of these stories in the Claymore Community Laundromat and Coffee Shop, two short videos about the social impact of the re-development on the public housing community of Minto, resident-authored fact sheets on community development, and a close partnership with the "Remembering Minto" community arts project (which led to a publication about the Minto Public Housing Estate).

The Animation Project has assisted local social housing groups and their members with:

Dr Craze, in her 2002 evaluation, identified among participants a growing view that there is a shift in public perceptions from both within and outside the communities - that the actions of residents and their promotion has made an impact on perceived and felt disadvantage. Participants acknowledged that this was happening by:

Craze (2002) wrote:

Importantly, there is a shared conviction among those contributing to the final evaluation and to evaluations conducted throughout the project, that the achievements of residents have done much to overcome the label and stigma of the term, "disadvantage".

4.3 Personal change

Participants working together for social change in the Animation Project also tell us about their experiences of personal change. This is often articulated as an experience of finding their voice, discovering that there is "no one above us", discovering particular capacities or becoming aware of the freeing of personal potentialities. This is best demonstrated by individuals' own words - a sample follows:

"I feel good about myself because I'm doing something for the community. When you look how far we've got, and how others have listened to us, it's wonderful. I feel we've achieved things by talking to people. Once I would have thought 'I'm a nobody' but now I know I can speak out ... and you know what? You know how we talk a lot about people 'above us', well, we have found out there is no one above us!"

"Animation is about soul-building ... I gradually got involved in the Laundromat Group and began to realise there was more to life. Being involved helped me regain confidence. I began to believe I can do something, I can take control of my life and ... I can give back. Through this process I've met others, become aware of injustices and the issues that people face on public housing estates. This has all been important in helping me work out my purpose. I now say: I don't survive anymore, I live!"

Some participants in the Animation Project have gone onto further study, employment and significant positions of leadership in the community, for example P&C President.

Participants often said they felt different about themselves after involvement in our training, programs or groups including increased confidence and self belief:

"It opens up a whole new world that was previously inconceivable."

"I believe in myself now and I'm willing to put my self out there and I don't worry as much about things when they don't go right. I get on."

Staff have also noticed the change in relationships with participant groups that demonstrate increased independence and sustainability. Recently staff have noticed that long term participants have begun to address long term health issues. This has been an unintended outcome but reflects the sense of agency participants have over their lives.

4.4 Confidence to network

The participants in the program now consistently request opportunities to come together, share experiences and act together across geographical boundaries rather than work as isolated groups. This has occurred on eight separate occasions. Attendance at these gatherings has been over 150.

There is consistently high attendance at community events put on by the groups participating in the program. In one 6-month period, this has included the Community Leaders Course Graduation (60), Macquarie Fields Expo (500), Halloween (300) and Christmas Carols in Kids Community Park (200).

There has been growing participation in the public realm by those involved with the project. This includes speaking to media, representatives of government and non-government agencies and political representatives:

"I've found my voice and now I don't have an off button."

"Local groups now ask who do we need to speak to about ... [an issue]."

4.5 Partnerships through a growing reputation for innovation and quality

Stakeholders including staff from other agencies informally report that they notice the impact of our work on individuals and communities.

Animation Project has been asked to be a community representative on External Course Committee for Graduate Diploma of Social Sciences at UWS.

Animation Project awarded Mercy Foundation annual award for achievement in the field of Social Justice. We were nominated by a participant.

Use of the Compass documentary as course material in the following courses - Bachelor of Habilitation (Australian Catholic University), Community Work (University of Western Sydney) and Nationally Accredited Training Certificate IV Family/Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (Aboriginal Family Health), TAFE Qld.

Inclusion of Animation Fact sheets as course material for Bachelor of Education (University of Technology).

Recognition of Animation Training Program by University of Western Sydney (Centre for Learning and Social Transformation) and Australian Catholic University (School of Social Work).

Presentation at University Seminars - Cultural Action Forum and "Educating the Activist", both hosted by University of Technology (Centre for Popular Education).

Participation on selection panel for Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Technology (Centre for Popular Education).

Partnership with University of Western Sydney (Urban Frontiers Program) to submit proposal for internal research grant.

An animation staff member taught the units "Community Work" and "Community Development" at the Australian College of Applied Psychology (Surry Hills). The units are taught as part of the third-year Bachelor of Social Science course at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. The teaching of both units is influenced strongly by the animation perspective.

Policy analysis

This is a very large and complex Promising Practice. It provides an example of highly evolved community development methodology (Animation) being implemented with commitment and exactitude in a large underprivileged community. In terms of policy it provides an impressive example of a major local initiative within Local Answers Program (see: http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/aboutfacs/programs/sfsc-local_answers.htm) supporting families and parents and developing child friendly communities.

It is noted that the timeframe for this project is longer than most other examples, commencing in 2003. The narrative emphasises the importance of active listening and working within the capacities of the community. The importance of long-term partnerships between funders, community agencies, and community is evident.

The range and scale of benefit achieved through this policy practice will have far-reaching consequences for the Campbelltown public housing estate and beyond which may be seen as having substantial effects in terms of long-term sustainability and potential to replicate initiatives with other disadvantaged communities elsewhere in Australia.

It is particularly interesting to see an approach such as Animation that has been developed in South East Asia being implemented with success in Australia.

Evaluation

We did it! Creating opportunities for social and personal change in public housing estates in South and South-Western Sydney, an evaluation of the Animation Programme (2002), by Dr Leanne Craze.

A & K Consulting. (2005). Animation Project participant evaluation report, May 2005.

Project related publications

There is a wide literature on animation programs internationally.

References

Baum, G. (2007) Signs of the Times: Religious Pluralism and Economic Injustice, Novalis: Montreal, Quebec.

Bell, B. (ed.), et. al. (1990). Myles Horton and Paulo Freire: We make the road by walking. Conversations on education and social change. Temple University Press: Philadelphia.

Community Development Research Association. (2001). Annual Report Capetown, South Africa: Author.*

Community Development Research Association. (2003). Annual Report Capetown, South Africa: Author.*

Considine, G., Watson, I., Hall, R. (2005). Who's missing out? Access and equity in vocational education and training. A National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation Program Report. Canberra: Australian Government.

Craze, L. (2002). We did it! Creating opportunities for social and personal change in public housing estates in South and South-Western Sydney.

Di Nicola, M. (2004). Training for community action (Course curriculum document). Sydney: St Vincent de Paul Society.

Dorr, D. (1992). Option for the poor (2nd ed.). Blackburn, Vic: CollinsDove.

Hope, A., & Timmel, S. (1995). Training for transformation: A handbook for community workers. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.

Jacobs, D. (ed.) (2003). The Myles Horton reader: Education for social change. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.

Reeler, D. (2003). If you meet the White Rabbit on the road steal his watch. Capetown, South Africa: Community Development Research Association *

Smillie, I. (no date). NGO learning, evaluation and results: Life in a three-ring circus. Draft commissioned by the OECD Development Centre, Paris.

*CDRA publications can be accessed on the CDRA website

Contact

Teresa Harm
Coordinator Animation Project

Vincentian Social Action Centre
St Vincent de Paul Society,
Campbelltown NSW 2560

Phone: (02) 4627-9177
Mobile: 0409 124 779
Fax: (02) 4627-9155
Email: teresah@svdpwgong.org.au

Ella Hogan
Community Animator
Email: ella@svdpwgong.org.au

Website

http://www.vinnies.org.au

More information

More information on the Promising Practice Profiles can be found on the Communities and Families Clearinghouse Australia website.