Cardiff - Conclusions and recommendations
From its findings the Spiritual Capital research project Steering Group draws attention to the following
- All citizens regardless of creed or culture should value Cardiff's religious diversity and appreciate the social contribution made by faith communities to the good of all.
- Cardiff should develop an independent arm’s length organisation to assist faith groups and other cultural groups to promote citizenship and build social capital.
A. This report calls upon faith communities to
1. Give greater priority to working with the City, its structures and policies, being more pro-active, caring about social vision, and not merely reacting every time there is a difficulty or a conflict of ideas with the Council.
2. To become more aware of the welfare of their localities / communities recognising that commitment to the wider community does not imply loss of distinctiveness or faith commitment
B. This Report calls upon Cardiff to
do more than applaud contributions of the faith community’s voluntary activities to the economy and welfare of the city, but to undertake:
1. A fresh systematic appraisal of the part played by the faith communities' voluntary contribution to the work of all Council service areas, and how they are supported and harmonised within the priorities of Cardiff Vision Board.
2. Effective recognition of existing difficulties in establishing and sustaining communications with all faith communities and institutions, whose organisation and governance necessarily, by their very nature, do not resemble those of a local authority or government agency.
3. To seek to establish with some urgency an appointment, within its Diversity team, with the specific remit to make City government better informed about its faith communities and enable greater participation from them in shaping the vision of the city's future through improved consultation, and encouragement of new social initiatives.