Alexandrina Council’s Community Development Team has won a national award for community engagement. 

The Team recently collected the ‘Community Development Award’ in the 2023 IAP2 Australasia Core Values Awards. 

These national awards are presented by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and recognise excellence in public participation and community engagement. 

Alexandrina Council was recognised for enabling public participation through the Community Wellbeing Advisory Forum.

The forum led to development of the council’s Community Wellbeing Action Plan. This outlines council actions to encourage an active, engaged, inclusive and connected community. 

Chief Executive Officer Nigel Morris says receiving an IAP2 award for community engagement is a significant achievement. 

“This award is a credit to everyone who participated - our community, our stakeholder groups and our staff - and just shows that genuine community development thrives on unity and shared objectives,” he says. 

“We would like to acknowledge former Councillor Karyn Bradford, who planted the seed for a Community Wellbeing Advisory Forum back in 2020. From that point until now, the seed has grown into something special. 

“We would also like to acknowledge Moira Were as a member of the national team at Ethical Fields for walking with us on this journey. 

“Through a collaborative effort with 60 community members and council staff through the Community Wellbeing Advisory Forum in 2021, we reached out to diverse community members, and identified needs, strengths, and aspirations. 

“The result was more than 600 individuals, including those not typically engaged in council consultations, contributed their insights to inform our Community Wellbeing Action Plan. 

“Through the process we have created deeper community involvement, built new relationships across demographics, and strengthened community cohesion. 

“We've even discovered some incredible ‘wellbeing champions’ within Alexandrina's communities.” 

To find out more about the Community Wellbeing Action Plan visit the council website.