Liverpool’s Pop Up Civic Innovation
In 2019, we opened the doors to our first Centre for Civic Innovation in Liverpool, Sydney, where we helped a range of local people develop their ideas, assess the viability of existing initiatives and amplify the social impact of local business. The prototype was such a success that Liverpool City Council is now considering our proposal and we are talking to several other organisations interested in helping us to build a more permanent Centre for Civic Innovation within the next few months.
We knew this area would be the perfect place to prototype our first Centre for Civic Innovation after reading Liverpool City Council’s Innovation Strategy and visiting the community.
The south-west area has been designated as one of Sydney’s three metropolitan cities. The Local Government Area includes the new Badgerys Creek Airport. Housing is significantly more affordable than in the inner-city suburbs of Sydney, and the population is rapidly growing through migration and young families moving to the area. Fifty two percent of the population were born outside Australia and 64 percent speak a language other than English at home.
When we shared our vision for the Centre for Civic Innovation with Council, they invited us to build and run a pop-up Centre in their community for two months as a prototype. Council gave us a key to a shopfront in an arcade in the Central Business District, and we fitted it out with a little help from our friends at engage2, D-Scribe and 5B.
The Liverpool pop-up Centre for Civic Innovation was open for 18 days between 18 October and 12 December. When people arrived at the Centre, staff from engage2 and interns from Settlement Services International invited them to share what they wanted to do for Liverpool community and turn their ideas into reality.
One wall in the Centre illustrated the process of making ideas happen, and we painted a tree on a second wall so that we could map local organisations and the ‘ecosystem’ for civic innovators. Our team used this information to connect civic innovators to people and organisations that could help them deliver change in Liverpool, and to create personas and pathways for civic innovators.
Fifty people came into the Centre during the 18 days we were open, around three per day. Fourteen shared their ideas for Liverpool, and one local business owner wanted to amplify his business’s social impact in the area. CCI helped these people develop their ideas by facilitating 16 connections to relevant people and organisations. We also supported two innovators by helping them assess the viability of their initiatives.
One of these innovators, Svitlana Fatiuk, had already started a not-for-profit organisation called Do What You Can, which helps new migrants build up the confidence and skills to join the local workforce. Participants in Svitlana’s programs develop their resumes, learn about Australian workplace culture, and develop basic skills to enter the retail, office and hospitality markets. Do What You Can helps them find internships with local businesses.
Stephen Rutter, one of CCI’s directors, helped Svitlana redesign and test her business model so that the service she was offering, rather than the job seeker. Svitlana also met with Patricia Kaziro, one of our coaches, and spent time with Amelia Loye our Executive Director who helped her refresh the objectives of her not-for-profit organisation, develop service lines and a budget.
The second innovator, Nelson, wanted to use his art to help people heal pain and find their pathway. Amelia helped Nelson develop and cost out his service lines and identify potential partners in the community who could help him develop a social enterprise and market his initiative.
We had a wonderful time in Liverpool! We couldn’t be happier with the response we got from the local community and the support of our partners. Our assumption that there are lots of people who want to help their community was validated, and it was an honour to hear their ideas and support the development of these ideas where we could. We now know we can help people turn their ideas into reality, and this service is valued.
In December 2019, after closing the shop, Council invited us into their office to share our findings with them. We have since met with their innovation and economic development teams to explore how we might continue providing this service in Liverpool, including a permanent Centre for Civic Innovation.
Amelia Loye,
Executive Director, Centre for Civic Innovation