1. Strategic planning toolkit
Ministry of
Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations
and Rural Development
Strategic planning toolkit
For local
economic development

2. WhO WE ARE
Marc von der Gonna
Kathy Lachman

3. What is Strategic Planning?
A process in which a community looks at its current situation and compares that situation to where it would like to be within a certain period of time.
- International Economic Development Council

4. Why undertake strategic planning?
75% of communities who have a plan agree it is effective
Allows communities to be responsive to funding opportunities
Coordinates efforts and creates connections and partnerships
Markets your community and attracts investment
Gets past the talking
Helps keep track of what you are doing and if it is making a difference

5. DOES this describe your community?
Plan with no action
Action with no plan

6. What Does the Toolkit provide?
Empowerment of local leaders
Achievable process regardless of your stage in economic development
Break-down of strategic planning process into manageable pieces
Self-guided and customizable step-by-step approach
Initial self-assessment tailors process to your community’s needs
Delivers a manageable 8 to 12 page plan
Web-based and downloadable
Local government’s role and responsibilities

7. Three approaches to the toolkit
Community leads own process with existing staff (e.g. EDO or CAO)
REO Regional Managers assists in facilitating the planning process
Community hires a consultant to facilitate the process (potentially by accessing Rural Dividend Funds - $10K)

8. ToolKIT Structure 1 Step 1
Start with the self-assessment which is the key to the process.
Building project team
Develop high-level workplan that will guide the planning stages. 
Step2
Assessing available resources, constraints and opportunities
Identify and engage stakeholders and partners
Step 3
Setting clear shared vision
Developing achievable goals
Step 4
Developing and implementing action plan
Step 5
Keeping track of your activities and progress through monitoring, measurement and evaluation 1

9. What the webpage looks like
Linear layout of the tools in the toolkit
>>> Launch the Strategic Planning Toolkit

10. Getting started Self-assessment Setting the Stage Keys to Success
Building the Project Team
Laying a solid foundation ensures that your consultation, planning and implementation occur with minimal hiccups. Go through the following stages to make sure you have a strong foundation in place. 
Workplan 1

11. Where are we now? Info and asset inventory
Stakeholder and partner identification
Where are we now?
Stakeholder Pull-out
Strategic Assessment 2

12. Where do we want to go? Visioning Identifying Strategic Areas
This is where the planning begins in earnest, based on your early consultations and brainstorming.
Strategic Area Goals 3

13. How are we going to get there?
Action Development
Prioritizing Activities
How are we going to get there?
Strategic Plan
Implementation Plan
After defining your vision and goals, choose specific activities to reach those goals and develop your implementation plan. 
Activating Your Plan Pull-out 4

14. Are we getting there? Monitoring and Measurement Evaluation 5
Keeping track of your activities and progress through monitoring, measurement and evaluation is a very important aspect of your plan. Done well, tracking progress and staying flexible ensures that your efforts are targeted, streamlined and high-impact. 5

15. THANK YOU!
Questions?