Building good practice
The Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector (OCVS) promotes good practice by government agencies in their interaction with community and voluntary organisations. This work is focused on improving funding arrangements and participation in policy development, in order to improve relationships between the community sector and government.
On this page:
Online tools to promote good practice
Our work to build good practice includes:
- Two online toolkits that guide government agencies when they are funding non-profit organisations
and developing relationships with and community sector groups and communities.
» Go to the Good Practice Funding website
» Go to the Good Practice Participate website
Seminar programmes highlight good practice
OCVS hosts interactive seminars to promote information sharing and good practice to strengthen relationships with the community and voluntary sector.
- Good practice in action seminars enable government agencies and their community organisation partners/key community sector stakeholders to share experiences and strengthen working relationships. (These are usually full-day events.)
- Good engagement seminars explore different ways of getting participation by community and government people. (These are usually a couple of hours long.)
Our seminars are about information sharing, results-based learning, and acquiring knowledge and expertise built on the good practice of others. They usually feature a keynote presentation followed by workshop discussions.
We are including locations outside Wellington during 2010 - keep watch for updates.
Upcoming seminars
tbc:
Good Practice in Action Risk and Accountability seminar - Christchurch
Managing risk and accountability in contracting:
Risk-based management of third party funding arrangements
Date and venue for Christchurch yet to be confirmed.
A repeat of the 23 April presentations at a full-day seminar for government agencies and the community organisations they work with.
The seminar will probably run from 9:30am-3:30pm and lunch will be provided. There is no registration fee, but we ask that government agencies cover any travel and accommodation costs related to their community partners' attendance. Places are limited - so watch for date and venue details soon.
Additional details:
The programme will explore four perspectives on risk.
- Nicola White (Assistant Auditor-General, Legal) will discuss the Office of the Auditor-General's insights to risk-based management of third party funding arrangements
- The Ministry of Social Development will present on supporting and facilitating development of a Ministry-wide risk-smart culture
- The Ministry of Social Development's Family and Community Services will cover implementing the Ministry's approach to risk management and high trust contracting
- Carolyn Cordery (Senior Lecturer from Victoria University's Wellington School of Management) will share recent research on how public servants evaluate and manage risk when they contract with non-profit organisations.
Government officials should attend with representatives of their non-profit stakeholders.
» Reserve a place for you and your community partner now
- e-mail ocvs@msd.govt.nz
tbc: OCVS Good Practice in Action seminar
- Wellington Overseas Terminal
» Exploring the new Code of Funding Practice - watch for details here soon
Extend your community engagement skills via networking and training
Local networks of the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) operate in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with regular events usually involving peer presentations from people working in the field of public participation.
» Find out more about IAP2 events in your part of New Zealand
Courses to enhance the skills of public servants when they engage with community groups include IAP2 training developed by the International Association for Public Participation.
Those with a strong interest in extending their skills in participation knowledge and processes may want to enrol in one of the official IAP2 Certificate in Public Participation courses. These include:
- 2-day Techniques in Effective Public Participation course
- 2-day Planning for Effective Public Participation course
- 1-day Effective Communication for Public Participation course
Training companies offering Certificate courses and other engagement training throughout the year include:
» Pattillo’s schedule of Certificate in Public Participation courses in Wellington and Auckland
» Twyford NZ’s schedule of Certificate in Public Participation courses in Auckland
» Victoria University of Wellington's short course on Good Practice Consultation (School of Government/Centre for Lifelong Learning)
» Art of Hosting workshops: Hosting and harvesting conversations that matter
Policy Development Toolkit on the Public Sector Intranet
The Policy Development Toolkit is a single point of access to New Zealand policy development guidance documents and websites. The Toolkit is primarily aimed at New Zealand public sector policy analysts, so it is hosted on the Public Sector Intranet. If you have ideas about content, e-mail the team who put it together (details on the PSI).
» Public servants can access the toolkit on the Public Service Intranet.
Guidelines for distributing information through Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB)
In 2005, the OCVS created guidelines for central government agencies that distribute information through New Zealand’s network of 87 Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB), and provided copies to all government agencies that distribute, or may distribute information through CAB in the future.
The guidelines help ensure that agencies communicate regularly with the NZ Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NZACAB) about new and updated information. They also help to reduce the NZACAB’s administrative costs in this area, allowing the CAB network to focus on its core role of providing information and advice to the community.