WTA Education Services Ltd

Applying Action Competence

About Action Competence

Involving and engaging groups in policy and its implementation

We have been developing and implementing a method of involving adults, young people, hard to reach groups or communities in meaningful dialogues with decision-makers and policy-makers at all levels. The method has proven to be effective for a variety of policies and their implementation including: recycling, waste reduction, radioactive waste management, forestry management, food waste management and bittern conservation.

The method encourages young people in hard-to-reach groups to become involved in environmental policy consultations and creates dialogues between local authorities and socially disadvantaged groups. It is not an attempt to write more educational materials but provides an educative and social process for teachers, youth group and community group leaders to investigate:

· what people consider to be the key problems or barriers to participation or implementation of local policy issues

· ways of identifying and correcting any misconceptions

· how to take effective practical action.

 

The Action Competence Method

Action competence was developed in the early 1990s in Denmark, in the context of school health education, with the goal of developing critical thinking skills and abilities to engage constructively with local communities while taking action to resolve problems.  Action competence is centrally concerned with encouraging positive engagement within political structures (e.g., local authorities / government departments / research groups) in order to address current issues (e.g., climate change waste minimisation). 

Action competence is already reflected in research papers into citizenship in the UK which suggests that some groups do not become involved through electoral or social engagement (i.e., voting and volunteering). Our approach importantly enables, demonstrates and facilitates a different mode of civic engagement, i.e., making one’s voice heard about issues to those who are perceived as being influential.

 

Examples of completed projects can be seen by clicking here.