A new Third Sector skills body has been launched to plug the skills gaps and shortages in charities, voluntary groups, social enterprises and other third sector organisation. Last month the Office of the Third Sector, which is part of the Cabinet Office, published research which showed that growth of the sector had stalled and new people had not been attracted to seek jobs.
Experts from a wide range of disciplines have been brought together to carry out research and analysis on the third sector. The aim is to strengthen the evidence base for the entire third sector, including charities, social enterprises and small community organisations. The Third Sector Research Centre is based at the University of Birmingham, which will also provide some of the funding. Additional funding will come from the University of Southampton, the Economic and Social Research Council, Office of the Third Sector and The Barrow Cadbury Trust.
This paper from Communities and Local Government distils out learning from the New Deal for Communities programme about neighbourhood level masterplanning.
Masterplanning involves bringing together strategies for the physical regeneration of an area. Failure to see the big picture can lead to misunderstandings when the masterplan is translated into tangible programmes. It follows that time and resources must be invested into developing a shared understanding of the definition and purpose of the masterplan document. There is evidence that although partners may be working hard together to achieve regeneration aims in the area and use the term ‘masterplanning’ to describe the process that they are engaged in, many are not aware of the wider strategic framework. This lack of awareness creates difficulties further down the road.
© PublicNet is a KnowShare production | Technology by Jag Singh + Hilton & Hilton Ltd | Admin Log in