Municipal governments (and other forms of local governments, most notably Regional Districts in the case of British Columbia) have the daunting task of addressing the day-to-day lives of their citizens, facilitating a process of local engagement that can achieve a “sense of community among members” in a way that tempers “individual ambitions with concern for others”.
PDF Report: Kelowna & Municipal Social Policy – A Historical Overview of Public Records (July 5 2022)
This report overviews:
- The roles, responsibilities, and powers of local government
- The history of social / community planning in Kelowna (and in particular the findings of a 2006 SPARC report on defining this role)
- Kelowna’s 2012 Social Framework
- The value of alignment across levels of government
- The basic vision of the Official Community Plan and Council Priorities
- Recent and emerging items related to Social Wellness at a municipal level, including:
- the Regional Housing Strategy,
- the Central Okanagan Poverty and Wellness Strategy,
- the recent Kelowna Community Safety Plan,
- the Youth Services Framework,
- and other developments
We are in a period of increased attention to the social development of our communities, such that they remain safe, engaging, and prosperous places to live, play, and work. These strategies and frameworks – when drafted in response to identified community needs and challenges, and when cumulative and compatible with all other guiding documents – add more specific guidance to local governments on navigating their own role in fostering social development at a local level, as well as providing the community an overarching direction and focus to social development in our community.
This applies to the work of our own group, the Kelowna Homelessness Research Collaborative, as well as the work of all other non-governmental stakeholders involved in the broader social support system. Frameworks help guide action-oriented partnerships. They guide research inquiry to explore evidence-based solutions. They also demonstrate community need, supporting the case for dedicating internal funding to relevant causes, as well as supporting proposals for external funding.
We look forward to following progress on existing and planned Social Wellness files.
