What is the culture of Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council? THE SECRET SAUCE
What is the culture of Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council?
THE SECRET SAUCE
The most recent evaluation of the Council’s community plan illustrated what various elements of WRCPC’s culture look like in action. These elements also come out of a rich body of literature on community organizing, grassroots momentum and citizen engagement. We didn’t just make them up, but rather, over time, we have refined, revised and at times erased certain approaches based on experiences and community feedback. More than just focusing on strategy we have taken care to create a way of working in and with the community that is conducive to building broad ownership of the issues. It has been said that “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. And we agree. The best strategy is only ever as effective as the will to implement it. That sustainable preparedness to work for the best of the community has taken a long time to come together to define our culture. The impact of WRCPC is directly linked to this empowerment agenda. The following statements outline some of the core aspects of WRCPC’s culture along with a selection of illustrative (but by no means exhaustive) examples, some of which are described in more detail in the Appendix. These aspects have been present in one way or another in all of the initiatives of the Council from the early days onwards. While these statements reflect ambitious values and principles, WRCPC consistently continues to strive to adhere to them. This is achieved, in part, through ongoing critical reflection and evaluation.