Capacity Needs Assessments Asset Maps & Interviews Agenda for 2/10/09

Agenda Review last class and new terms Begin introduction to data collection tools –Asset Maps –Interviews & Oral Histories Develop Interview/Oral History Questions Homework

Capacity and/or Needs? A capacity-building or asset-based approach fosters hope by shifting the focus from "what's wrong with us" to "what's right with us." It assumes that, even though there may be problems, there are also untapped resources and capacities inherent in every individual, organization, or community which can be put into use to improve current conditions.

5 levels where capacity can be built Individual Team Organization or institutional Community System

Types of Assets 1. Human capital refers to the skills and abilities of each individual within a community. 2. Social capital includes the networks, norms of reciprocity, and the mutual trust that exist among and within groups and communities. 3. Cultural capital includes values and approaches to life that have both economic and non-economic implications. 4. Political capital is the ability for a group to influence the distribution of resources within a social unit. 5. Financial capital consists of money that is used for investment rather than consumption. Financial capital is important because it can be transformed into built capital. 6. Built capital includes factories, schools, roads, restored habitats, community centers and the like. 7. Natural capital is the landscape, air, water, soil and biodiversity of plants and animals.

Capacity Building is Ongoing Your studying how to write for a moving target. Capacity, at any level—-individual, team, organization, community, or society,—- is not a fixed attribute, but instead an ever- changing one. –For example, a successful student organization may become disorganized when its leader graduates. Until a new leader emerges, the group may need to find a way to strengthen its leadership capacity.

Capacity Building is Ongoing Capacity strengthens and diminishes in response to internal and external changes. As someone engaged in capacity-building, you will need to anticipate, learn, and adapt to (sometimes unexpected) changes—-and to help your community partners do the same, so that your work together has impact and is sustainable.

Last Class: Asset Maps We overviewed what we thought might be the capacities in communities at various levels. We developed a draft of an asset map We identified a few questions that we might ask organizational representatives

Why Map Assets? What do we learn about a community/organization by doing an asset map?

Asset Mapping for Professional Writers Resource Identification: Mapping allows us to identify the resources and capitals that can be utilized to support development initiatives, processes, and products.

Asset Mapping for Professional Writers Foundation for Strategic Planning and Implementation: Asset mapping can either lay the foundation for development of a new strategic plan, enable the realignment of existing efforts and/ or lead to useful documents.

Asset Mapping for Professional Writers Deepened Understanding of Key Systems and Linkages: A comprehensive asset mapping process leads to a deeper understanding of the ways in which individuals, teams, organizations & institutions, & governmental systems interact with each other and with outside entities.

Asset Mapping for Professional Writers Catalyst for Partnership: Asset mapping aggregates the knowledge possessed by a few individuals and makes it available to others who may conceive of new ways to leverage the assets. A visual resource map, prepared as part of the mapping process, can help demonstrate to stakeholders that they work within a regional “community.” As stakeholders see common interests and organizational links, they may be inspired to strengthen or form partnerships.

Asset Mapping for Professional Writers Helps identify data collection tools Because asset maps strive to overview capitals and linkages at many levels they help us identify: What we need to know From whom What tools are best used to obtain this

Asset Mapping for Professional Writers Helps identify data collection tools, cont.’ Interviews: + access key informants’ knowledge - limited perspective to 1 person Oral Histories + access memories of development, histories of progress, institutional memory - limited perspective to 1 person

Interviews Your goal: to be able to quote your interviewee directly in your papers to make sure your group members/Ellen are on the same page –Taped? Not required –Answers written verbatim? yes –Fieldnotes on these with answers completed? Yes

Oral Histories Your goal: to be able to quote your interviewee directly in your papers to make sure your group members/Ellen are on the same page –Taped? Not required –Answers written verbatim? yes –Fieldnotes on these with answers completed? Yes

Asset Mapping & Interviews Take out your homework and work together in your group to decide: 1.What assets you identified in your map 2.What capitals you need to know about 3.What linkages between capitals you need to understand 4.Who you will ask these questions & how 5.List the open and closed questions you might ask Upload this list to Angel in a new page titled : interview questions

Homework Chapter 4 of Fieldworking –Create a visual map the space of the organization –Note what kinds of capital are present in this space –Note the ways in which the space situates vis-à-vis related spaces