Local Government Professionals WA are a membership based industry body representing local government professionals working across Western Australia.

Janali & Co. was engaged by Local Government Professionals WA in 2023 to develop a training program focused on evaluating the outcomes and impact of community development. Local governments across the broad spectrum of their work contribute to social outcomes that whilst important, are often intangible and challenging to measure e.g. sense of belonging, social inclusion, community connectedness and civic engagement.

This project aimed to bring life to an existing evaluation framework and toolkit, providing opportunities for local government officers to put theory into practice through hands on learning.

To support Local Government Professionals WA achieve its goals Janali & Co.:

• Facilitated a sector co-design working group with representatives from 7 local governments who provided input into the design of a learning framework and training materials

• Developed course content and facilitation materials including creative and interactive activities to encourage engagement and co-learning

• Delivered a pilot training program following which course content was refined to incorporate participant feedback

• Facilitate ongoing facilitation of the 2-day course for local governments

Both the pilot program and the subsequent programs that have been delivered to the sector have demonstrated the importance of practical learning opportunities. These training sessions have achieved the goal of making the framework understood by individuals and teams and has encouraged them to apply the toolkit and an evaluative lens to their practice.

The ‘Community Development Evaluation Framework Training’ is a regular feature on the Local Government Professionals WA training calendar and can be booked for in-house delivery. Visit our Learning Hub to find our more about this training opportunity and other resources.