Communities Managing Change is an 18 month programme of action research and collaborative enquiry based in neighbourhoods in Birmingham.  The programme will be delivered by Chamberlain Forum working with a number of neighbourhood and community groups in Birmingham.  It is supported by Barrow Cadbury Trust which has agreed to fund the majority part of the programme.

The aim of Communities Managing Change is to research innovative approaches to tackling poverty and inclusion through more sustainable communities, ie communities that can manage change.  Between October 2011 and December 2012, five projects  will be undertaken to look into different aspects of community strength and resilience.  Reports on these projects will be published at intervals during the year.

Findings from these projects should enable the programme, by March 2013, to set out, convincingly and thoroughly, the idea of communities managing change as a basis for addressing poverty and inclusion; and to illustrate the relationship between this approach and emerging ideas and policy around localism; coproduction; social capital and assets; neighbourhood equity; and learning as dialogue.

(image from Communities Managing Change Event in May 2012, courtesy of Eddie Currall, thank you)