Developing a Community Needs and Action Plan

1. Developing a Community Needs and Action Plan Ciaran Lynch

2. Outline of presentation • What is planning? • Why should you plan? • Key elements of making a plan • Key features of a good community planning process Ciaran Lynch

3. So what is planning? • Not a mystery • We all do it all the time • Question - • What did you have to do so that you could be here this evening? • Have a goal – learn more about community engagement • Decide on an objective – come to the meeting • Take into account those affected – family say • Consider the other factors affecting yourself – other things you need to forego • Examine your resources - transport • Organise the resources or get new ones - petrol • Apply the resources – implementation – drive here • We do a lot of this semi-unconsciously and the same can happen in community planning • In particular, we can focus on actions with internal, unstated objectives which may or may not be shared by others • So one of the purposes of a community planning process is to make explicit and share our goals and objectives Ciaran Lynch

4. Here’s a definition • A deliberate attempt by an organisation (community) to determine from a large range of possible alternatives a set of arrangements or means which are intended to achieve its pre-stated objectives or ends over a prescribed period. • And another • Community development planning consists of a public participatory and usually interactive form of town or neighbourhood planning and design in which diverse community members (often termed “stakeholders”) contribute toward formulation of goals, objectives, fund/resource identification and direction and planned project implementations Ciaran Lynch

5. And some planning models • Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) • Rational Comprehensive • Advocacy Planning • Disjointed Incrementalism • Integrated Area Planning as developed by Tipperary Institute • The ADOPT Model as developed in Ballyhoura – (Audit, District selection, Organisation, Planning, Training) • Some fundamental principles the same in all of them Ciaran Lynch

6. Why bother? • Identifying and responding to a community’s felt needs • Helps to harness new energy in an area to address the needs • Builds a sense of community and develops relationships • Provides a solid community basis for contributing to other plans and strategies • Helps in making applications for funding and to convince funders • Helps to avoid unhelpful internal community competition • Helps to solve problems in a collaborative way • Provides a mechanism through which those whose voices are often not heard have a chance to be heard Ciaran Lynch

7. Where can the urge come from? • Strongly-felt local issue which is not being addressed • Sense of opportunity passing you by • An unexpected resource which needs to be well spent • A sense of decline and of falling behind • An enthusiastic group that decides – something needs to be done! • But fundamentally – a problem or an opportunity Ciaran Lynch

8. The approach - basics • Agree a vision for the community/issue • Often we agree that there is a problem but maybe not what a solution would look like • If starting from an issue base agree what are the key issues • Economic • Social • Environmental • Set goals • Set objectives • Agree actions • Identify potential resources • Identify initiating tasks – and who is taking each on Ciaran Lynch

9. The goals • Goals are issues stated in a positive way • What is it that we want to achieve? • An issue looks backwards – a goal looks forwards • A lot of time and energy is spent looking backwards – use it to move on!!!! Ciaran Lynch

10. Goal Words • In ten years time I hope that my community will be • The best at/for…. • One of the best at/for… • The biggest • The richest • The most creative • The most successful • One of the….. • Better than it is now with regard to…… Ciaran Lynch

11. Objectives • The goals are the dream • The objectives are the details of the dream • Objectives are more specific • Objectives are the more specific targets that you might want to achieve Ciaran Lynch

12. Objective Words • In the next ten years we will • Have • Own • Have organised • Have a membership of • Have won • Be Ciaran Lynch

13. Where are we now • We have looked at where we would like to be in the future, what we need to achieve to get there and the things that will help us. • If we are to start plotting precise paths to where we want to be one really important thing is - • WHERE ARE WE NOW?? • Need to be clear on this • What is the evidence? • Is it more perception than reality? Ciaran Lynch

14. Finding out your present situation • For this you will need information • Three steps • What kind of information would you like to have • Where can you get it • How good is the information Ciaran Lynch

15. Uses of information • State where you are now • State what the trends are - good or bad • Be a basis for future trends • Decide on where things will be in the future • Some information already exists • Some you may have to gather Ciaran Lynch

16. SWOT • This can be really boring but its kind of important - lobbed in to every planning process • It’s a way of looking at the place in which you have to operatein the context of your goals and objectives. Not the thing to start with. • Strengths • Weaknesses • Opportunities • Threats Ciaran Lynch

17. Strengths • These are the things about your present community that will help you have a successful future • You will need to support your strengths, use them and make sure that they stay in place Ciaran Lynch

18. Weaknesses • These are the things about your community that will prevent you being successful in the future • You will need to overcome weaknesses so that they become strengths or at least become neutral Ciaran Lynch

19. Opportunities • These are the elements in the external environment that will help you achieve your objectives • These need to be identified so that you can develop strategies for making use of the opportunities Ciaran Lynch

20. Threats • These are the elements in the external environment that will prevent you achieving your objectives • Threats must be addressed so that they do not in practice interfere with the achievement of your objectives or so that their effects are minimised Ciaran Lynch

21. Picking the route – the projects/actions • We know where we want to be • We know where we are • We know the main things we need to achieve. • Now we can identify the actions needed to help us reach our objectives • What exactly would you do? • What targets would you expect to have reached by certain dates? • Projects don’t have to involve construction • New organisation • New activity • Revitalising an existing activity Ciaran Lynch

22. To carry out a project • We need resources • People • Money • Places • Things • Sometimes we need the help or agreement of crucial people • Sometimes we need the absence of opposition of others • Do we have them? Can we get them? • If we have no idea of where resources might come from is it a real project? Ciaran Lynch

23. Implementation • Often actions are identified but never happen • They may be impossible – scrap them if they are • They may have no-one assigned to them – make sure there is • The initiating tasks may not have been identified • Very important to do this at an early stage • If you can’t identify how to start the action then maybe the action can’t be carried out anyway • Just going to mention the importance of monitoring, evaluating and reviewing • Should have identified processes for this Ciaran Lynch

24. An example • Vision – • That Waterford would be the best team-sports county in Ireland • Goals • Win the hurling All-Ireland • Win the Ladies Football All-Ireland • Top the FAI Premiership • Waterford GC win the Jimmy Bruen • Waterford footballers……… well you have to be realistic!!!!! Ciaran Lynch

25. An example………. • Goal • Win the hurling All-Ireland • Objectives or critical success factors • More players • Better skills • More upper body strength • Better motivation Ciaran Lynch

26. An example………. • Objective • More players • Action • Appoint schools liaison officer • Tasks • Put on County Board Agenda • Include in budget • Advertise position • Contact schools • Identify administrator etc. Ciaran Lynch

27. And finally • Elements of a good community planning process • Positive in its focus • Inclusive in its process • Collaborative in its mindset • Giving recognition to all a community’s positive aspects and working with existing resources • Realistic • Creative in its responses • Broad in its remit • Implementation as a key element • A good interface of community knowledge and external expertise Ciaran Lynch

28. Community with Experts Community Review Ciaran Lynch