Organizing for Heritage Tourism 4 th Webinar in the Heritage Tourism Initiative North Central Regional Center for Rural Development

Organizing for Heritage Tourism Presenters Francis O. Boggus Francis O. Boggus & Associates Community Development & Planning DeMoines, Iowa Larry Dickerson University of Missouri Extension Columbia, Missouri

Building Partnerships Working together called by many names Consensus, cooperation, collaboration, team building, coalitions At community level how can people “ partner together” – Focus on common interests – Achieve common goals – Create and manage a desired future Partnering is how you choose to work “with” one another as opposed to working for or doing to one another Partnership formation is an essential community skill

Partnership Definition People come together for joint problem solving Operate on common ground of collective goals Agree to share resources Identify and carry out tasks Can be formal or informal, temporary or permanent Members give up some of their autonomy Should establish a common identity and do productive work Network among one another Take advantage of opportunities

Partnership Formation A simple process Why do we want to do this and work together? Who needs to be a part of this? What do we want to do / what needs to be done? How do we go about doing it?

Why A Partnership? Impelling reason to work together Have a valid purpose Focus on a valid issue or opportunity Create a sense of community around why they are doing this Identify the common identity that brings them together

Who Needs to be Involved? 4 basic who’s Stakeholders Interested parties Those most impacted by what will happen Catalyst/ facilitator that can bring all the who’s together

What is to be Done? Capacity Approach Where do we want to go ?– dreams/ desired end conditions Where are we now in relation to our dream? How do we get from here to there? What resources do we have to do this? What do we want not changed along the way?

How do we go About Doing This? Action planning process to identify key priorities and tasks Developmental approach that focuses on: – Achieving the mission, the why and what, focus on the purpose – Organization serves the community and not vice versa – Group relationships – Facilitative leadership – Consensus decision making – Capacity /asset approach Focus on doing, not organizational structure –> form follows function

Getting Started Community / issue governance – definition – Problem solving – Decision making – Acquisition and allocation of resources Identify “web of governance ” – Who are the formal organizations and decision makers? – Who are the informal people/organizations/leaders? – What are the connections between them? Determine – Stakeholders – Interested parties – Who will be affected How do they all fit together? Who must be at the table to make this work?

Getting Everyone Together Design process What do we want to do? –clearly define it Why do we want to do this? Will this impel people to work with us? If not what “why” will? What are our expectations? What specific outcomes do we want? Who else needs to be involved? What special considerations do we need to take into account? How do we use the above to create a process that will move us forward? These are the basic process ingredients

Getting Everyone Together 2 Use the above to create your recipe Determine steps to move forward Action planning to initiate the process Task identification and assignment What next? Review and agreement to move forward

Identifying Resources What resources/ assets /capacities do we need to move forward? What resources / assets / capacities do we already have? Is there a resource gap? If, so how do we fill it?

Sharing Resources / Avoiding Turf Issues Consensus Domain Exercise: Each partner comes prepared to: – Talk about what they do that is different from anyone else – What they consider to be the shared dreams/goals/objectives they will work on in the partnership – What resources they will contribute Draw concentric circles on newsprint to show what each organization does and has individually as they speak and what they will share and use the middle to show the resources and common goals that all have This will visually show who does what, what they consider to be their unique “domains”, the shared domain and committed resources Proactively avoid misunderstandings and turf issues Creates consensus, agreement and a visual look at the partnership

Moving Forward Build on the commonalities that all agree on Use existing capacities and build the others you need locally Build in small successes Give everyone a job who wants one Focus on tasks, not organization Allow leadership to grow

Underlying Principles Based on human nature -change the setting, not people Empowering process- partners own it Energizing process – builds on synergy Builds on commonalities Focus on doing –process leads to product People do, not just meet Focus on the purpose, not the organization People are “partnered” not organized – all have a say in what happens Action leads to data and not vice versa – do not study something to death “Inch by inch and row by row” Builds on people and their capacities Faster than written surveys –use meetings effectively

Organizing for Heritage Tourism Timing is right Initial community support Inclusive approach Credibility and openness of the process Commitment of partners Support/sanction of governance Trust and reliability Good leadership and followership

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Thanks!... And questions? Francis O. Boggus Francis O. Boggus & Associates Community Development & Planning DeMoines, Iowa Larry Dickerson University of Missouri Extension Columbia, Missouri