Mr Hawkins, who takes on the role of director at Inspiring Communities, told the Otago Daily Times the job’s challenges, when compared to being Dunedin’s elected leader, felt like "drinking out of a garden hose compared with a fire hose — it’s a bit similar, but on a smaller scale".
Mr Hawkins outlined three aspects to the charity’s work: helping communities speak up for their needs; helping the government to work better with communities; and advocating for investment in community development.
"The charity believes communities have the power to deliver on their dreams and aspirations and our job is to enable that to happen ... build on their strengths and lead their neighbourhoods rather than being led by government or its agencies," Mr Hawkins said.
The local government sector had been talking for a long time about localism and devolving power, Mr Hawkins said, and now communities needed to be "at the centre of their own destinies".
Strong communities, with people connected to their neighbours, were helpful in a world with a "less stable climate ... and getting more fractious".
Mr Hawkins said communities could be "messy and complicated". It was incumbent on the government to ensure there were equitable outcomes for all communities, he said.
Devolving local decision making, or discharging responsibilities for community welfare to charities, could be "deployed cynically" by the central government to avoid it taking responsibility for things, but a focus on building strong communities could "elevate the perspectives of people at the pointy end", he said.
Connection with others was also a "human need as loneliness is a real problem".
Opportunities to foster community connection could be cheap and easy, he said.
"It doesn’t have to be big stuff. Sometimes the barrier is having 50 bucks to buy a bag of sausages to throw on a barbecue to bring people together."
Mr Hawkins said he was "as guilty as anyone" of not helping out as much as he could in his own community and he struggled with his own work/life balance, but there was "no shortage of opportunities for people to get stuck in and get to know neighbours better".
Mr Hawkins’ new role is part-time and he also remains chairman of the Cosy Homes Trust.
