THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS IN IMPROVING SOCIETAL OUTCOMES. AN EXAMINATION OF NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT COMMUNITIES IN SINGAPORE IN RELATION TO THE COMMUNITY COALITION ACTION THEORY.

Abstract

Coalitions are a common intervention practice to address health or social issues which involve diverse sectors of the community. The Community Coalition Action Theory, a framework developed through years of practice and research of such coalitions, is used as an organizing framework in this study which examines the coalition status of four government-partnered work groups in Singapore’s nature scene. The study draws on chairperson, secretariat experiences and participating members’ perceptions on coalition functioning. While all 14 practice-proven propositions hypothesized by the theory are present in these work groups, three of the propositions, namely coalition membership, structure and member engagement were examined in detail. Collective strengths included strategies for recruitment and shaping of core stakeholder base across coalition development, maintenance of loose structures and approaches for notice and organisation of meetings. These had noticeable influence on member engagement in terms of trust within the work group and commitment to coalition goals. Noteworthy unique characteristics such as public member involvement and capacity building in place for staff were also documented as principles to inform future community collaborations on environmental or social issues.