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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:38 am
Time: 11:38 am
Results for community development
1 results foundAuthor: Fraser, Jennifer Title: Engaging Local Businesses in Community Development and Crime Prevention: A Literature Review Summary: Crime Prevention Ottawa (CPO), in partnership with Ottawa's Community Development Framework, commissioned a literature review to discover what has been done to engage local businesses in community development and crime prevention initiatives. Covering research and examples from several countries, this review looks at why businesses should be involved in community development, the challenges of engaging businesses, examples of innovative approaches to engaging businesses, and some tools and processes that can help community groups engage businesses. Engaging businesses in community development and crime prevention work makes sense when the multiple risk factors for social problems are recognized. Businesses have a lot to offer community groups: resources, ideas from a fresh perspective, and specific skills honed in a business environment. Many businesses are now committing to social responsibility, but their involvement in community development also "makes good business sense" in improving their image, attracting customers, and retaining employees. Overall, pairing business development with community development can create business opportunities and improve the vibrancy of communities. Of course, engaging businesses in community development and crime prevention work can be challenging. Businesses and community groups tend to "speak different languages" - businesses work in a fast-paced, competitive environment toward specific, short-term goals, while community groups often work on long-term projects toward more abstract goals. Businesses may not see their role in community development and crime prevention and may be reluctant to participate in perceived "negative" issues. Community groups looking to engage businesses might want to consider picking specific components of a project in which a business can concretely participate; clearly establish expectations, roles, and timelines for all parties' involvement; and, frame their project in positive terms. Despite these challenges, there are many examples of innovative ways communities have engaged businesses in development and crime prevention work. Community groups have successfully worked with Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) or Districts (BIDs) in New York City, Baltimore, and Winnipeg. Innovative partnerships devoted to curbing alcohol-related violence in entertainment districts have been established in Montreal and Edmonton. Some Toronto-based projects have highlighted the importance of getting businesses to invest in youth and working on focused neighbourhood revitalization projects. Community-business partnerships have also been facilitated by governments in Vancouver and the United Kingdom. A number of tools exist to help community groups identify, approach, and maintain relationships with businesses they would like to engage in development and crime prevention work. For example, the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime and the Institute for the Prevention of Crime outline five steps for effective implementation of crime prevention initiatives and the Tamarack Institute has produced a six step process for obtaining business involvement as well as a "needs-features-benefits" tool for making the case for business involvement. This literature review shows that, despite challenges, community-business partnerships for community development and crime prevention initiatives can be advantageous for all stakeholders involved. Understanding what is already known about engaging businesses in community development and crime prevention is important for CPO and will help to inform future relationships among local business owners, community partners, and residents and to promote joint community development and crime prevention initiatives in the Ottawa region. Details: Ottawa: Crime Prevention Ottawa, 2012. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 26, 2017 at: http://www.crimepreventionottawa.ca/Media/Content/files/Publications/Neighbourhoods/Engaging%20Local%20Businesses.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: http://www.crimepreventionottawa.ca/Media/Content/files/Publications/Neighbourhoods/Engaging%20Local%20Businesses.pdf Shelf Number: 146388 Keywords: Business Improvement DistrictsCommunity DevelopmentCrime PreventionCrime Prevention PartnershipsNeighborhoods and Crime |