Introduction
Once we have mapped out our neighbourhood, we might want to explore what our next steps might be.
What we choose to do next and how we choose to do it will depend on each individual neighbourhood. Thinking about the neighbourhood story we created, what could happen in our neighbourhood that would help us and our community feel happier and more connected?
Our Next Steps helps us to identify what is useful for planning and developing our Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP). Often when a group of people get together it can help things progress. Identifying our allies and the positive supporters in our neighbourhood can be useful. Perhaps our neighbourhood might benefit from more peer support. We might discover the need for a group who can support making change happen like an activist network.
Our Next Steps will also allow us to access all the tools and resources developed and used by the OCN team, and create our own Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP).
OCN Tips
- It might be helpful to complete the MAP stage activities '1. Mapping Our Neighbourhood' and '2. How Good is Our Place?' first, using the information gathered there to inform the components in this resource.
- It’s helpful to involve different people who can bring different perspectives when talking about the various components in this resource.
- We can work through the components in any order depending on our neighbourhood e.g. If our neighbourhood already have volunteers we may want to skip that component and concentrate on another.
- Our neighbourhood group or organisation might have already achieved some of these. In that case we can use the components as a review tool or skip a component and go to the one most useful to us.
NAP stage 1 - The foundations
In this section, we will start building our Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP).
In the NAP stage 1, we will be looking at the preliminary conditions to address and systems to put in place for success. These can be considered as the pillars of neighbourhood-based work:
– Networks and Partnerships
– Volunteers
– Inclusion and Steps to Engagement
– Stigma and Visibility
– Barriers and Opportunities
Each category contains the following:
Intro Some of the aims and background to each category, as well as links to useful resources.
Our Experience Examples and case studies of how OCN put this into practice.
OCN Tips What the OCN team have found useful.
NAP stage 2 - Strand-based work
In this section, we will continue building our own Neighbourhood Action Plan. After looking at the pillars of neighbourhood-based work, the second stage of our NAP will focus on the three main strands of work in OCN – Environment, Digital, Art. This can be tailored to our specific needs as a group, so we might not want to focus on more than one strand to begin with.
Each category contains the following:
Intro Some of the aims and background to each category.
Our Experience Examples and case studies of how OCN put this into practice.
OCN Tips What the OCN team have found useful.
OCN Tools and Resources A dedicated section with links to online and printable tools that we can use for the ADAPT stage of the process, while running our own programme of activities.
Building Our NAP
We have developed a printable template to start building our NAP.
The printable version follows the two stages – including:
NAP stage 1 – The Foundations
NAP stage 2 – Strand-based work
The sections in the NAP will include prompts for initial discussion and brainstorming, as well as checklists of possible tools and resources to access, and more practical details.
The NAP building activity is complemented by dedicated guides which are accessible using the NAP Stage index at the top of the page.
We can build our NAP on paper, step by step, as we progress through reading the guides. This will allow us to make informed decisions, know what support is available, and focus on our priorities.