Coalition Building

What is a community coalition?

A coalition is a group of community members from different organizations who come together to pursue a common goal. Teachers, parents, elected leaders, social workers, citizens, police officers, doctors, youth, and many more can all make a difference. Everyone has a role to play in preventing and reducing alcohol and drug problems in Alberta.

How do coalitions help?

• They define a community’s strengths and weaknesses, and use these indicators to plan a strategy.
• They identify gaps and work together to fill those gaps.
• They share similar concerns but from a variety of perspectives, better representing the whole community.
• They improve communication delivery through the numerous members.
• They are more visible to decision-makers, the media and the community.
• They conserve resources by eliminating duplication of efforts.

Communities are unique. Therefore, they require strategies that are unique to their own situation. To be successful, groups promoting change must represent the community they wish to change. To do this, coalitions should look to build their membership with different people who share similar interests.

• Find out more about Community Coalitions in Alberta.
• Community Action on Drug Abuse Prevention Manual:  This manual provides communities with some practical tools and advice on working together to address substance use, assessing needs, figuring out what to do and measuring success.
• Evaluation Framework for Municipal Drug Strategies: This guide from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities outlines basic principles and key considerations to help communities develop local drug strategies that reflect a national approach.
• Developing Effective Coalitions: An Eight Step Guide:  This tool guides advocates and practitioners through the coalition-building process, from deciding whether or not a coalition is appropriate to selecting the best membership and conducting ongoing evaluation.
• The Tension of Turf: Making it Work for the Coalition: Turf struggles are commonly seen within coalitions, but are often misunderstood. The Tension of Turf describes common types of turf struggles and the reasons they happen, and includes recommendations for limiting the negative aspects of turf.