Resources

This handbook provides an overview of new methods of community planning within the context of the built environment. It is based on the recognition that local involvement in the planning and management of the environment is the best way to ensure safe, strong and sustainable communities and that this is applicable throughout the world. It is laid out in a straightforward, jargon-free format that reflects its aim of being of use to individuals and residents as well as policy makers and practitioners. After a general introduction there is an A-Z of general principles, followed by the biggest section, an A-Z of 53 Community Planning Methods that runs from Action Planning Event to Video Soapbox. A selection of scenarios follows, covering some common development situations and illustrating ways in which the different methods can be combined in an overall strategy. It ends with lists of useful formats and checklists, publications and contacts.

The Duthchas Project was set up in 1998 in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. It aims to develop local strategies and actions for sustainable development based on the collective knowledge of local people and to ensure that this knowledge/involvement is generated through the use of participatory methods. There are 21 project partners which include the communities from the three pilot areas, along with governmental and non-governmental agencies. This article describes the basis of the project and how it is implemented, a process which has included open public meetings, action plans, publicity, community interviews, a travelling exhibition and the production of a video by the local communities. The article ends by reflecting on what has been learned so far.

The author narrates a personal journey to participation, through her work with local fisher communities in Tanzania, who were trying to stop dynamite and other illegal fishing methods. The use of video as a medium of communication empowered local villagers, giving them a means to forward their claims directly to those in authority. She describes the experience of lobbying the government at the national level, and how she stepped outside her role of NGO worker to accompany the villagers she had been working with to confront the Prime Minister. This act drew on an awareness that a facilitator is not neutral, and that commitment must be personal and political, not just that of professional duty. However, along the way, her journey has been fraught with personal risks as they confronted powerful local elites and opposed vested interests. She reflects on the need to change attitude and behaviour in institutions, and to put our own interests last, for participation and peoples' empowerment to go beyond rhetoric.

This paper describes the experiences of pastoralists in Kenya of getting their needs incorporated into Kenyas 'Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSPs) process. Pastoralists make up a fourth of Kenya's population yet have little political influence. However, they have strong traditional networks, and with input from international agencies and civil society groups have mobilised these to form the Pastoral Thematic Group (PTG). The paper outlines how this group has gone about involving pastoralists in the process, enhancing their own knowledge and producing a policy document. Through advocacy and negotiation, many pastoralist priorities were ultimately reflected in the PRSP, which was approved and commended. The paper goes on to look at the challenges they faced and the lessons they have learned as they engaged in this formal process of participation.

In this article the authors share their experiences from working with farmers' organizations, where a process, which reinforces human values, has helped farmers to keep themselves on the path of self-reliance. The Uttar Pradesh Sudhar Nigam (UPBSN) started up a sodic land reclamation project in 1993, where the main beneficiaries were small-scale farmers. Under the project, land has been reclaimed affecting 150,000 families. The project was initiated through the formation of farmer organizations at village level and the project was implemented in collaboration with local NGOs. To ensure sustainability of the project and the farmers' organisations after the ending of the reclamation project, an exit policy was implemented based on experiences from an extension of farmer-led farmer field schools tried out in the Pratapgarh district. A series of sensitisation workshops and exposure visits to the Pratapgarh farmer field school was organised, and six farmer field schools and 41 farmer clubs covering 740 villages were established. It was soon realised that there were several problems that threatened the sustainability of the new farmer schools, such as lack of vision and self-reliance. This articles presents experiences from dealing with these problems. A workshop was held where several key questions relating to self-reliance were discussed, SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound) goals were set, and resource persons for each school were selected through paired ranking. The authors conclude with some reflections on the project process and on working towards self-reliance.

This paper looks at a Community Originated Livestock Training programme in Bolivia which began in the late 1980s. The programme involved community training in livestock production and healthcare in a sustainable farm system. The priorities were to provide training, and build local people's capacity to develop and administer their own programmes. Three basic premises guided these programmes:|Every farmer should have as much access to information about livestock in their primary language as they want;|If farm families have an understanding of some farm economics, and have good income and nutrition from their livestock, they will want to invest in the health and care of their livestock so that they keep producing a good income;|CAHWs are most valuable in the long term as an integral part of a local organisation rather than only as an individual entrepreneur.|Approaches that are common to these premises are presented in the paper.