‘What is it that Love Cities helps its various Partners around South Africa to do?’
Our core focus is to build a thriving community through collaborative partnerships in each of the following key areas: Place Development, Social Development, Skills Development, Economic Development and Narrative Development. When these areas are healthy, then a community thrives!
We assist our partners to implement long term, measurable, and sustainable solutions in the following areas:
Place Development, also known as Placemaking, is an approach to planning, designing, building and maintaining public spaces in a way that focuses around the people that use and benefit from the space. Placemaking is more than just building, it includes paying attention to the physical, cultural and social identity of a place. For many communities, placemaking has been a way to reimagine and renovate their public places. Placemaking is another way to build environments that benefit health and well-being, and create a sense of pride.
Initiatives focusing on maintaining, and developing community infrastructure, supporting the environment and creating safe, beautiful and functional community spaces. These include:
Full-time teams responsible for landscaping, cleaning verges, development and rehabilitation of public parks, utilising underdeveloped land, redesigning urban spaces and key economic hubs.
The repair and maintenance of key infrastructure including roads, verges, gutters, pavements, potholes, community facilities, signage etc.
Recycling programs and other environmental projects (e.g. river health, alien invasive clearing)
Social Development refers to the process of creating a more equitable and just society by addressing the social and economic disparities that hinder human well-being. It involves investing in people, especially the most vulnerable, to enhance their capacities, opportunities, and freedoms. By tackling poverty, inequality, and social exclusion, social development helps build vibrant, resilient, and thriving communities where everyone can reach their full potential.
Our approach to achieving a more equitable society centres around three main focus areas:
Using the Greenlight tool, our teams help communities identify poverty areas, and facilitate discussions to help them organise themselves to leverage their own resources to solve their own problems
These include various teenage pregnancy and drug awareness campaigns, financial literacy workshops, mobile health clinics, counselling and support groups, programs for young mothers, men’s mental health etc.
Using various sporting codes and performing/visual arts to strengthen communities by leveraging the power of these platforms for expression, connection, and celebration of diversity, building a foundation of trust, respect, and shared values
With our swop shop concept, where the poor can exchange recyclable waste for tokens to spend at our Street Store, those in need can get their basic food, clothing, medical needs met in a dignified manner. Various charity drives run throughout the year help us to ensure we show compassion and love to those in need.
From cradle to career, Love Cities has a dream of adding value all along the developmental journey of people. Education in schools lays the foundation for lifelong learning, equipping students with essential knowledge and critical thinking skills. Complementing this, Skills Development programs for unemployed individuals provide targeted training that enhances employability and addresses local labor market needs, are also a priority. Together, these initiatives foster a skilled workforce, reduce unemployment, and stimulate economic growth.
By investing in education and skills development, we believe communities can break the cycle of poverty, enhance individual potential, and create a more resilient and prosperous society for all. To make this dream a reality, we have launched the following key projects:
Our EduTeam provide focused training for teachers in Foundational Literacy, Entrepreneurship, IT and Coding, Environmental Studies. With cutting-edge curriculum, resource support and a robust leadership development program for Principals, this initiative is seeing amazing results. Our goal is to ensure stronger schools as central beacons of hope for communities.
This Centre houses our professional skills courses, including Work Readiness, Computer Literacy, Admin, Hospitality, Baking & Catering, Barista, Sewing, Retail, Beauty (Nails), and Homebased Care. This ecosystem of theoretical and practical training, student counselling and mentorship, a job centre to help bridge the gap between employers and prospective recruits, and a special focus on ‘giving back’ through volunteer hours; creates a pathway for the unemployed to develop their potential.
To improve the productivity, skill level and assist with workplace culture improvement, our Work Ready Lite program is tailor made to the needs of existing employees, addressing critical gaps in employee skills proficiency and helping employers to build competent teams that add value to the communities in which they are positioned.
Economic development is a critical cornerstone of community development as it drives growth, enhances living standards, and fosters social cohesion. As the economy grows critical issues such as unemployment, poverty, inequality, crime, social unrest, low community morale and lack of innovation are addressed.
To adequately address these challenges, Love Howick seeks to create meaningful partnerships between the private and public sector to drive economic growth by:
In the KZN Midlands this includes working to grow our tourism market through launching the Midlands Magic video series as a marketing tool for all tourism stakeholders to use; organising key events like the Midlands Food Market and Taste Tour; partnering to install the Outdoor Art Gallery, unique tourist offering; and help develop the Howick Falls Precinct. We are also involved in developing small scale farmers to further add value to growth in agriculture.
to ensure greater access to reliable internet and mobile networks that boosts businesses, education, and communication, enabling participation in the digital economy and fostering innovation.
to ensure a capable, skilled workforce that adds value to the economy.
between local producers and consumers keeps money circulating within the community, fuelling further growth. The Midlands Business Network was setup to cultivate these market linkages between local business and promote optimism in this sector.
through our flagship entrepreneurship development pipeline with theory, practical application, business bootcamps, mentorship programs and opportunities to apply for seed capital funding.
Ensuring that infrastructure is looked after, and our area is aesthetically appealing to tourists, investors, businesses and local citizens is also a key priority of ours as all these factors are huge contributors to a thriving economy.
Positive Narrative Building is essential for community development as it shapes perceptions, fosters unity, and inspires action. When communities share uplifting stories, they highlight their strengths, resilience, and achievements, which can counter negative stereotypes and foster a sense of belonging among residents. This collective identity encourages collaboration and engagement, as individuals feel more connected to their community’s goals and values.
Moreover, a positive narrative can attract resources, investment, ignite creativity, drive innovation and garner support from all stakeholders, helping to create a shared vision that everyone can by into. By showcasing success stories and the potential for growth, communities can create a compelling case for funding and partnerships. This ‘glass half full’ attitude is key to changing mindsets and ultimately behaviour, which is essential if we are to see any long-term change in communities.
Developing a positive narrative is not just about storytelling; it is a strategic approach that unites people behind the possibility of what their community could become, instead of just sharing in the disappointment of what is. To accomplish this we focus on:
using various tried-and-tested approaches and technologies, community forums are tasked with the responsibility of investigating the skills, talents, networks, institutions, economic opportunities, financial resources, physical and natural assets that already exist in a community. This creates a treasure chest of possibilities that can be leveraged to help citizens solve their own problems.
Storytelling is a powerful mechanism for changing narratives and creating hope because it fosters emotional connections, builds shared identities, inspires action, preserves culture, simplifies complex issues, encourages participation, and helps communities envision a brighter future.
Develop a clear and consistent communication plan that includes social media, newspapers, blogs, video, visual and performing arts, publications, and community events. Use these platforms to share positive stories, celebrate achievements, and promote community values.
These projects are consistently evolving and are underpinned by the Love Cities core philosophy of empowerment over dependency, personal agency over helplessness, collaboration over competition and long term progress over short term results