Goal 1 Contribute to Building more Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities

Goal 1 of SICAP aims to empower communities to identify and respond to their own needs. It is concerned with the principles of participation, empowerment, capacity building, and collective action, and is underpinned by a community development approach. Goal 1 is underpinned by current policy, which emphasises the importance of inclusive community engagement, empowering communities to address social exclusion, and social enterprises as a key vehicle for community development and providing employment opportunities to disadvantaged groups.

This is done through providing direct supports to local communities and developing the capacity of Local Community Groups, which represent or work within disadvantaged communities and target groups. This is to ensure that they can better engage with other stakeholders, actively improve the lives of people in their communities, and address the social exclusion issues that affect them.

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Social Enterprise Activities and Supports

Louth Local Development support social enterprises to increase their capacity and assist them in linking with SICAP target groups through services or by providing training, volunteering and employment opportunities. The types of activities that could be undertaken with social enterprises include providing training/supports to:

• Increase the level and /or type of services delivered to SICAP target groups;

• Increase the sustainability of the enterprise and their ability to contribute to the social and economic development of disadvantaged areas;

• Develop or explore developing new social enterprises.