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Starting Up is a companion document to Measuring Up, which provides a step-by-step approach to implementing Measuring Up.

Download Starting Up in PDF
Download Starting Up in Word

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Step 1 – Passing Council Motions
Step 2 – Forming your Measuring Up Committee
Step 3 - Appoint a Measuring Up Committee Facilitator
Step 4 - Identify your Accomplishments and Conduct a Community Inventory
Step 5 – Plan and Complete a Community Assessment
Step 6 - Set your Targets
Step 7 - Start Again

Passing a Council Motion or Resolution is one of the first, and one of the most important, steps that your community can take to begin implementing the Measuring Up guide and process. It will reinforce your community’s commitment to increasing accessibility and inclusion and influence others to participate in this process.

For more information go to Passing A Motion (in PDF or Word), an overview document which provides sample wording for motions and template Reports to Council.

The Measuring Up Committee forms the core group of people that will lead the Measuring Up process and engage the wider community in the initiative. With this in mind, your Measuring Up Committee should reflect the full diversity of your community. Make sure there is representation from a broad spectrum of perspectives, including:

From your disability community:

• Think cross-disability and multi-sector
• Include people representing:
  • Hearing impairments
  • Visual impairments
  • Physical disabilities
  • Intellectual disabilities
  • Mental health disabilities
  • Temporary or chronic health challenges

From the community:

• Local government
• Business and employers
• Seniors
• Youth
• Multi-cultural groups
• First Nations
• Local Spirit of BC community committee
• Local service clubs
• Local community foundations
• Local education and health services providers
• Local media

For more information go to Forming a Measuring Up Committee (in PDF), a document which provides start-up information including sample Terms of Reference for your Committee.

Once formed, the Committee should appoint a facilitator (the facilitator does not have to be someone from the agency that applies to the Measuring Up Fund). The facilitator could be a member of Council, a municipal staff person, or a volunteer. Wherever possible, try to find and support a person with a disability to fill this role.

This step allows you to establish a baseline of how accessibility and inclusion currently works in your community. This will help you understand where you are starting from and show you where you need to go. It is also an opportunity to properly recognize the efforts towards increasing accessibility and inclusion that are already being done in your community. Make sure you communicate this good news with the broad community, including local media.

How will you do this?

• Gather your Committee to work through the Measuring Up guide
• Rank the level you are at in each area and make notes about why you ranked yourselves the way you did
• Consider previously completed assessments or projects in the areas of accessibility and inclusion that were undertaken by local government, community organizations, or other community groups
• Identify a list of proposed priorities for action

Build upon the results that emerge from Step 4 to develop a plan for conducting your broad community assessment. The plan should include:

• Groups or sectors you plan to engage
• How you will engage your whole community regardless of ability
• Methods for conducting the community assessment
• Resources, both human and financial, that you will need
• How you will accommodate differing opinions
• How you will define and document success
• How you will collect, use and maintain the information you gather, especially stories that relate community experiences of accessibility and inclusion
• How you will communicate the results of the inventory to the broad community
• A reasonable timeline for the assessment – if possible, time the assessment to coincide with local government community planning cycles or other community events and celebrations

Your completed community assessment will result in a list of priority projects for the community to work on to improve accessibility and inclusion. Choose the most achievable, inspiring and affordable projects to complete first. This will allow you to accomplish successes and celebrate early, which could increase community interest and attract new people to your Measuring Up process.

2010 Legacies Now can connect Measuring Up Committees with other opportunities for funding to help complete these targeted priorities. Projects can also be accomplished with in-kind funding from local government, businesses, community foundations and other sources.

Measuring Up is a process that can be used again and again. Each assessment leads to action plans for positive change, which is turn generates new priorities and projects as well as improving the process in the next cycle. Each time you renew your Measuring Up process you will deepen your dialogue and increase the energy with which you conduct your process. Once you have acted upon your targets and projects, assess your success and develop a new plan for your next priorities!