Neighbourhood Renewal: Wendouree West case study

30 March 2006

Neighbourhood Renewal through community engagement and education: Wendouree West case study'. CECC has recently been engaged by the Department of Human Services and Wendouree West Community Renewal team to undertake research and produce a case study detailing community engagement and changes in local education approaches.

The study will build on previous projects with the Department of Human Services which have included:

Wendouree West Community Skills Survey (2003 - ongoing)
Neighbourhood Renewal Skills Survey Sustainability and Recommendations (April 2005 - Current)
Strategic Review of Employment and Learning Coordinator (ELC) Network (June 2005 - January 2006) Research project completed in partnership with Brotherhood of St Laurence

The need for this study was identified in the recommendations of the Strategic Review of the ELC Network. The case study will produce a practical resource, which will demonstrate the benefits that can emerge when the education sector and communities engage in a renewal journey.

Managed by the Wendouree West NR Manager, Gerardine Christou, with research being undertaken by Helen Thompson, Steve McEachern and Craig Marshall of CECC and the University of Ballarat, the study will be completed by June 2006.

The Wendouree West site is also the focus of a University of Ballarat ARC research project, Individual, Institutional and Community 'Capacity Building' in a Cluster of Disadvantaged Schools and their Community, which will be conducted over a three year period, and will explore 'insider' understandings of school and community dynamics, and the curriculum and pedagogical responses and practices that attempt to break the debilitating cycle of entrenched educational and social disadvantage.

For further information please contact Helen Thompson on 03 5327 9418 or email h.thompson@ballarat.edu.au.