Winner of the IAP2 (Southern Africa) Core Values Award for Organisation of the Year

Princess Vlei Forum Management Committee member Avril Harding (third from left in front row) at the IAP2 Award ceremony in Gallagher Estate, Midrand on 28 August.

The Princess Vlei Forum has been awarded Oganisation of the Year in the Southern African finals of the International Association of Public Participation 2014 Core Values Awards. The Awards were announced at a ceremony in Gallagher Estate, Midrand, on the 28th August. Our entry will now go through to the international finals.

This is a great honour, as the involvement of the community has always been critical to our campaign. This campaign has demonstrated that a vigilant, informed and active community remains the most effective guardian of our natural and social heritage. Now that we have won the struggle against the mall, our focus is on ensuring that the community’s voice is heard as the City decides on the future of Princess Vlei.

We believe that this project presents a great opportunity for the City to engage the community in visualising, transforming and managing the space as a nature and heritage park. Ald Belinda Walker has indicated that the City will listen to the community on this, and we are hopeful that they will take community partnership seriously in determining the future use of this important site. In the meantime, we will continue with our process of engaging with local interest groups on how Princess Vlei can be developed in a way that best serves our environmental and human needs now and into the future.

Below are the IAP2 Core Values for the Practice of Public Participation

1. Public participation is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process.
    
2. Public participation includes the promise that the public's contribution will influence the decision.
    
3. Public participation promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision makers.
    
4. Public participation seeks out and facilitates the involvement of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision.
    
5. Public participation seeks input from participants in designing how they participate.
    
6. Public participation provides participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way.
    
7. Public participation communicates to participants how their input affected the decision.