Overview
The City’s community development work is focused on building relationships around place with the goal of strengthening the social fabric of the community to make it healthier, stronger, more resilient.
To advance this work, the City has initiated the development of a framework and a long-term action plan, bringing together partners from across the community to work collectively to address the determinants of health that impact community well being.
Social determinants of health are the non‑medical factors, such as community well-being, that influence individual and collective health outcomes. Research suggests that they are collectively essential to one’s health, and by extension quality of life.
The plan hopes to clarify each partner’s unique identity, approach, roles, and priorities in supporting community well-being, creating a more coordinated and collaborative foundation for future efforts.
This work is guided by an asset-based, health-promotion approach, which focuses on building on community strengths, supporting relationships, and creating conditions for long-term, upstream change.
Two major initiatives form the foundation of this work:
Better Together Strategy
Better Together brings community partners and local government together across the social determinants of health to plan how we can strengthen both immediate supports and upstream, preventative action.
Neighbourhood Networks Strategy
The Neighbourhood Networks Strategy tests elements of the emerging Community Social Development Framework at the neighbourhood scale. Through a pilot in four Courtenay neighbourhoods, this strategy builds neighbourhood identity, resilience, and a sense of belonging and joy.
Insights from Better Together and the Neighbourhood Network Strategy will come together in a new Community Social Development Framework and Action Plan. This plan will outline the City’s long-term role in:
- Supporting partners who deliver immediate, basic-needs services
- Strengthening upstream systems that address root causes
- Aligning City policies and plans with community aspirations
- Building community capacity and strengthening local relationships
The Framework will guide coordinated efforts across the community, helping Courtenay create the conditions for everyone to thrive.