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How Citizen Partnerships co-produce projects with Yamato City in Japan

Outcomes

The projects undertaken by the Citizen Partnership fall into three types:

  1. Small-scale community-led projects which could be scaled up through the financial contribution and technical expertise of the municipality;
  2. Projects in which citizen groups took over the management of public facilities – in the UK this would be referred to as community asset-transfer;
  3. New community projects co-designed by the city council and community groups.

Proposals for new community projects were the most common type of proposal but these projects were often turned down by the city government officers because their objectives were often not clearly defined.

Examples of each of these types of project:

1. Small-scale community-led projects: Child care support

This was one of the early projects of the Citizen Partnership. It supported families by providing day time child care and supporting a ritual bath. The activity was launched in 1997 by active mothers in Yamato City, who believed there was a need for it, although they had little money to fund it. They started by using the home of one of the mothers as an office and set up a phone line which mothers could ring if they needed child care. In 2001 they registered as a nonprofit organisation. Mothers who wished to make use of the child care service had to pay ¥720 for one hour childcare during a week-day from 7AM to 7PM and ¥180 for every 15 minutes additional child care support beyond those hours.

When the discussions about the Citizen Partnership first started, city government officers asked the nonprofit organisation if they would try to work with the city government as one of the early pilot projects. The nonprofit organisation agreed, as its services were still not widely known about.  After a one year trial period, the project was chosen as an official Citizen Partnership project. It was renewed every three years and after nine years the government decided that the service was a core service needed by local citizens – since 2011 the NPO is funded annually by the city government to deliver the service.

2. Community asset transfer of a community centre

Yamato City managed a community centre which was established next to a new junior high school in 2003. When local citizens proposed that the community centre could be run as a Citizen Partnership project, the city government agreed and transferred the community centre to a local community group. The community group provides activities and support for local children and children of immigrants to reduce school truancy.

3. New community project with the City Council: Child care advisers

The purpose of this project is to qualify volunteers as child care advisors, who support parents in ensuring child care, including health coaching for their family. Once qualified, the child care advisors get specially designed shopping bags, so that parents can recognize them in supermarkets and approach them for help.

The project was started by a nonprofit organisation which is active in supporting children with physical disabilities. It proposed this idea in 2003 and 2004, but the project was rejected at first by Yamato City because its objectives were unclear. After two years of discussions, the city government officers accepted the idea and the project was finally agreed in 2005. 

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