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Lobbying and Advocacy |
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| We work with a range of community partners, academics and non-government organisations for pro-poor policy. We lobby for changes policy and practice in land use and management. | |
| Responding to Strategic Topical Issues in Urban Land and Housing | |
| DAG engages in participatory urban governance and influences urban development and land management at a local, provincial and national level. DAG contributes to public debate and influences opinion and practice through taking part in television and radio interviews and producing opinion pieces for the local press and online media. DAG aims to build accountable and transparent urban governance by providing opportunities for community organisations and their leaders to become informed and engaged on urban development and land management issues. DAG engages community leaders and organisations through Horizontal Learning Platforms and Friends of DAG seminars, allowing community stakeholders to voice their views and concerns on local decision-making which affect their neighbourhoods. Some examples of DAG’s work in this project include:
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| Creating Accessible Information for the Urban Poor | |
| DAG ensures that housing and urban development decisions made at local level are communicated and understood by community members, through creating accessible popular materials. These materials increase awareness among poor communities and builds their capacity to advocate for their right to the city. DAG has developed Urban Land Matters, a series of accessible publications which present the recommendations made by the Sustainable Medium Density Housing Resource book to government officials as the main target audience. However, these publications can also be used and understood by community leaders to support civil society advocacy for medium density housing options on well-located land. This could include, for instance, public rental housing for low-income households. DAG has produced three case studies of its community driven housing projects in Marconi Beam, Netreg and Freedom Park. The case studies document lessons for those involved in or undertaking People’s Housing Process projects, including community organisations, government officials, housing and urban development practitioners. DAG produces materials on Value Capture, to equip communities with knowledge necessary to advocate for fiscal and regulatory land management tools which would facilitate equitable use of urban land as a public resource for the benefit of all citizens. DAG will produce similar information on Democratic Urban Governance, so that communities can understand the important role they play in decision making on urban land use and management to ensure the poor’s right to the city. |
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| Friends of DAG seminars | |
| DAG facilitates quarterly seminars on topical issues within the urban development sector with representatives from local, provincial and national government, civil society including community groups, academic institutions and other stakeholders. These events provide a regular platform to share lessons, disseminate research, debate and build understanding and capacity on urban land management issues among a range of stakeholders. These platforms give an opportunity for local government to provide accessible information on land management issues and facilitate active community engagement. Community leaders (who are part of DAG’s Leadership Programme) can respond to, and debate, relevant local government plans and strategies. For more information on past seminars click here For more information on upcoming seminars click here To join Friends of DAG click here |
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| Lessons in Social Mobilsation and Advocacy | |
| DAG’s Advocacy Roundtable was held on 18th and 19th November 2009. The event successfully brought together a diverse group of civil society organisations, NGOs and social movements to collectively assess lessons and emerging opportunities for social mobilisation and advocacy at a local and national level. The lessons learnt from the Advocacy Roundtable will be used to develop guidelines on best practice in social mobilisation and advocacy in the context of access to well located serviced land for marginalised citizens. This will be presented at DAG’s National Conference on the Right to the City in 2010. Click here to download the report on the Advocacy Roundtable. |
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