Community Development

"Communities are often faced with fantastic opportunities, brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems."

Community Strategic Planning

Community Strategic Planning is a holistic process involving broad based community participation and commitment in establishing priorities, essential community needs, directions for the future and their associated action and contingency plans.

The process of Community Strategic Planning is more important than the plan itself.
The process of researching, thinking, visualizing, interacting, conceptualizing, evaluating, problem solving, strategizing, decision making, consensus building, etc. ...builds commitment.

The process, that is, thinking strategically, involving the community in decision-making and establishing consensus on priorities and essential community needs, can result in:

• Shared responsibility through partnerships
• Local support, cooperation, communication and commitment
• Quality, affordable, accessible services
• Improved return on investment generating the best value for dollar spent
• Increased investment, assessment and revitalization
• Wise use of community resources
• Sustainable development
• Rejuvenated and focused citizen interest, enthusiasm and optimism

Five Basic Steps:

• Prepare A Plan For Planning
• Conduct A Situation Audit
• Establish/Follow The Game Plan
• Define Individual Action and Contingency Plans
• Outline Monitoring Strategy

Simply put, and in the context of community development, the philosophy of approach is much the same as that adopted by Community Futures Development Corporation.

• Recognize the inevitability of change
• Begin with the people and the current opportunities and proceed in stages realistic to the situation
• Stop doing what isn't working - concentrate on what is best and make it better
• Encourage greater coordination and cooperation among the various local groups agencies and institutions
• Provide for many advances on a broad economic front, rather than one single thrust
• Wherever possible try to nurture positive attitudes
• Help make as many other groups and individuals as effective as possible
• Encourage as much participation as is possible and reasonable
• Be flexible and adaptive, remain alert and receptive to new opportunities
• Function as a catalyst, bringing into an environment, all the elements necessary to create success without being used up in the process
• Don't spend time doing something that someone else can do better, if you can get them to do it
• Be responsive to community discussion without being led too far from the principle objectives
• Create an environment which will allow each and every individual the opportunity for personal growth
• Share any credit as broadly as is possible

The Community Strategic Planning Process should be custom made to fit the community - it should be adaptive, flexible and comfortable to use.