Italy’s social co-ops – a model for Northern Ireland to copy?

Social care provision is in crisis across much of the world. How can the quality of care be maintained or improved? How can it be made available to those who need it? And how can social care be carried out in an affordable way without underpaying or exploiting its workers? These questions are being asked in many countries and regions. Italy has come up with its own answer – social co-operatives – and its model is being copied across much …

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From the Kingdom to the Compound. What happened to church-related community development?

On a Sunday afternoon in June last year nearly 2000 people gathered at CS Lewis Square in East Belfast for an evangelistic rally organised by a partnership of six of the largest churches in the city. CS Lewis Square is an impressive example of designing and implementing civic space. It’s a testament to the imagination, vision and perseverance of the community and voluntary sector and its commitment to inter-agency collaboration. Furthermore, naming the Square after one of Belfast’s most notable …

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The Stagnation of Urban Renewal

Late last year the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) released the updated Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measures. There were no surprises here: half of the most deprived Super Output Areas (SOAs) are in Belfast, a fifth are in the North West, and the rest are scattered in mostly rural communities. There is very little movement in and out of the top 100. The absence of a steady flow of continuous and dynamic data has contributed to stagnation and …

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