Dr Alana Hulme Chambers and Dr. John Donnelly donnelly consultants community development – from design to evaluation Community Engagement Tools

“…the first act of power people can take in managing their own lives is ‘speaking the world’, naming their experiences in their own words under conditions where their stories are listened to and respected by others.” Friere & Macedo (in Labonte, Feather and Hills, 1999, p3).

Community Engagement Tools For individuals &/or groups Many and varied Should be participatory Should be user friendly Should be contextual Should result in meaningful (and measureable) data Should allow for triangulation

Community Engagement Tools Project design : Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) A strength based approach Highlight peoples’ strengths as they perceive them To determine shared objectives To determine understandable, measureable indicators Tools: o Stories o History o Fruitful tree

Community Engagement Tools PRA (Participatory Rapid {rural} Appraisal) _appraisal issues/empowerment-and-land- rights/participatory-learning-and-action

Community Engagement Tools Project implementation and monitoring A shared process beginning with an understanding of the intended change process A baseline measurement of indicators Agreed activities Periodic measurement of indicators Comparison with baseline Discussion of the change (+/-, or not) and response to this change - Monitoring

Community Engagement Tools Project implementation and monitoring Monitoring begins with PRA and the baseline – the situation Activities are responses to the initial monitoring Subsequent monitoring informs the ongoing project Understanding of the shared monitoring process by ALL helps to ensure the changes anticipated by the project, are realised Understanding, participation and ownership is empowering, ensures rights are respected and enhances sustainability

Community Engagement Tools Tools: o Ten Seed Technique o Pocket Chart Ten Seed Technique (TST) Jayakaran, Ravi, Dr. (2002) World Vision China.

Community Engagement Tools Objective(s)IndicatorsBaselinePeriodic monitoring √×√×√×

Community Engagement Tools Project evaluation A shared assessment of what change has occurred and the impact it has had Involving ALL in the planning of the evaluation in empowering, ensures rights are respected and increases participation Evaluation is a natural progression from the shared, participatory monitoring process Tools: o Appreciative Inquiry (AI) informed discussion groups o Ten Seed Technique & Pocket chart

Community Engagement Tools Appreciative Inquiry (AI) informed focus groups ry Cooperrider, D.L. & Srivastra, S. X. (1987) Appreciative inquiry in organisational life, I Passmore, W.A. & Woodman, R.W. (eda.), Research in in organisational change and development (Vol. 1), Jai Press, Greenwich CT.

Thanks! Dr John DonnellyDr Alana Hulme Chambers donnelly consultants community development – from design to evaluation