Community-led advocacy can promote understanding and cohesion.
Activism and advocacy are both essential for meaningful policy reform because they serve different but complementary purposes.
Activism raises awareness of social issues, making it harder to ignore and building momentum.
Advocacy involves working directly with policymakers and stakeholders to provide valuable insights, data, and expertise.
Activism builds public pressure, while advocacy leverages that momentum to influence policy decisions.
Some key social issues in New Zealand where activism and advocacy have led to policy and social change include LGBTQ+ rights, indigenous rights and racial equality, women’s rights, environmental issues, housing and cost of living, healthcare, crime and restorative justice, and family violence prevention.
Community organisations, councils and government all play crucial and interconnected roles in addressing social issues and driving social change.
Community organisations raise awareness, advocate for policy change, and promote the rights and interests of vulnerable or disadvantaged groups.
Community organisations are responsive, pilot innovative solutions and promote inclusion and cohesion, building bridges between vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and government services.
Local councils develop and implement local policies and programs to address social issues and promote community wellbeing.
They also provide funding and resources to community organisations. Elected members represent the interests of residents and ratepayers, bringing community views into decision-making processes.
Central government’s responsibilities include public service delivery, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of citizens, and addressing social issues.
Central government provides funding and resources to councils and community organisations, supporting initiatives and service delivery that meet existing policy criteria.
Effective authentic collaboration between these groups is crucial for leveraging resources and expertise, and driving meaningful social change that builds community capacity.
Ultimately, the goal is to create a more just and equitable society where we all have access to the support and resources we need to thrive.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a commonly referred to psychological theory that proposes that we have different levels of needs which must be fulfilled in a particular order to reach our full potential.
The hierarchy is often depicted as a pyramid, with our most basic needs at the base and our more advanced needs at the top.
Our physiological needs for survival, such as food, clothing and shelter, are at the bottom of the pyramid.
Safety needs for security, stability, and protection like personal security, health, employment and property come next.
This is followed by our love and belonging needs for social connection, relationships, and a sense of belonging, like friendship, family, and community.
Then come our esteem needs for self-esteem, recognition, and respect such as status, strength and freedom.
The top tier, self-actualisation, encompasses needs for personal growth, creativity, and fulfillment.
The theory suggests that lower-level needs must be met before higher-level needs can be met, so interventions must be targeted at the level of unmet need.
Levels are fluid because needs can overlap, priorities can shift as circumstances change, and contextual factors such as culture or environment can impact which needs we prioritise and how they are experienced.
This fluidity acknowledges progress may not always be straightforward, we may move back and forth between levels, and human needs are complex and dynamic.
For example, significant life events, such as a move, job loss, or relationship breakdown can lead to regression as we adapt to new circumstances.
Experiencing trauma or abuse can lead us to regress to safety needs, as we may focus on feeling secure and protected.
This might be apparent in those of us affected by domestic and family violence, or abuse in care.
A disability or serious health issue can lead to a regression to physiological needs as we focus on meeting our basic needs for healthcare and wellbeing.
Grieving the loss of a loved one can cause us to regress to love and belonging needs while we struggle with feelings of loneliness and isolation.
This might be particularly challenging if we are elderly and already socially isolated.
Unmet needs, particularly when cumulative, impede our ability to grow. They contribute to stress, anxiety and mental health issues.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can also be applied to families and communities to understand our collective needs and wellbeing.
At a community level physiological needs encompass access to food, shelter, and basic healthcare for all.
Safety needs encompass stable housing and a safe environment. This includes public safety, emergency services, and disaster preparedness.
Love and belonging includes supportive relationships, community cohesion, and inclusive activities.
Esteem encompasses recognition, respect, pride in individual accomplishments and family achievements, community pride and celebration of achievements.
Self-actualisation needs include opportunities for personal growth, learning, and pursuing individual and collective goals, and opportunities for community development, innovation, and collective progress.
By understanding the hierarchy of needs we can better understand complex needs, develop targeted interventions, and work towards creating environments that support our communities, in meaningful ways, from the bottom up.
Policies and funding must reflect our social responsibility to ensure that we all have access to basic support (food, clothing and shelter), irrespective of our capacity to meet expectations, for collective mental health and wellbeing.
Our community cannot thrive when we turn our backs on people struggling to survive.
