2022: The ‘Can Do’ Year
This year was a challenging one for all of us and, as politicians keep telling us, we’re not out of the woods yet. Christmas does however offer some welcome time to reflect, recharge batteries and look forward to the year ahead.
2021 was another year of innovation for the housing sector. From supporting residents through the pandemic to squaring up to climate change, we’ve strengthened our reputation as the ‘go to’ people for Welsh Government and other partners.
Our Wales Co-operative Centre Can Do Project is a great example of this. We have been working with housing associations, councils and others across Wales to embed our refreshed Can Do Approach based on:
Agreeing locally with the ‘3Cs’ - clients, contractors and communities – what they want their community investment programmes to achieve.
Identifying a pipeline of all investment opportunities including potential and innovative sources.
Simplifying the measurement of outcomes using the seven wellbeing goals in the Future Generations Act and five ways of working as a guiding fromework.
Capturing lessons and resources and sharing them rapidly and widely. Good practice isn't just an outcome, it's also how you got there.
The project has exceeded our expectations – both in the enthusiasm of partners to get on board as well as identifying innovative practices and resources. We discovered that the Can Do thread continues to run through what we do and the appetite to do more is apparent everywhere.
This month Welsh Government has shown its confidence in the Can Do approach by doubling the resources available. This means we can continue to offer free support to the housing sector and, as significantly, explore opportunities to work with others including Health and Social Care.
Key to success will be learning from you and with you. The support we can offer includes brokering meetings with you and your ‘3C’ partners, helping you decide what you want your investment to achieve, supporting you to choose how to measure success and sharing your story with the sector and beyond. And, central to Can Do, doing anything else to help you fill the ‘implementation gap’ between your ambitions and making things happen.
So if you want to get involved or find out more please get in touch. It would be great if you could join us and be part of making 2022 the best Can Do year yet.
