Mapping Social Assets

CENI in conjunction with CFNI have been engaged in a research programme to explore the potential of a social assets approach to supporting voluntary and community organisations. This approach assumes that successful community development can be best achieved by investing in, and building on assets. Therefore, in addition to targeting a community’s social needs, community-focused programmes should also pay attention to those capacities and relationships which are important in determining their development potential.

The programme identified two key types of social assets:

• social capital including Bonding, Bridging and Linking and;
• community infrastructure consisting of the level and effectiveness of local organisations

CENI and CFNI have just finished an exercise, funded by a steering group of statutory organisations led by DSD, to produce a dataset of social assets. Using a method known as Nominal Group Technique, quantitative and qualitative data was generated on social capital and community infrastructures for all 890 Super Output Areas in Northern Ireland.

The results of this research will provide important complementary data for policy makers and community-based organisations alike by adding to what we already know about geographical communities, helping target community development initiatives and assisting the design and delivery of mainstream statutory programmes.

The final report of CENI’s innovative and ambitious social assets research programme was launched on 6 May 2009. The full report and summary version can be downloaded from the Publications section of our website.