Planning for Action
What Are We Going to Do? How Are We Going to Do It?
Planning for action begins with identifying one or more actions that are expected to bring
a community closer to its outcome(s) and then assigning responsibility to groups or individuals to carry out the
planned action(s). Each action should have a time line, a way to access the necessary resources, and someone in
charge of making sure it gets done. Planning for continuous learning means planning to gather information to determine
the results of the actions. It means establishing a yardstick that allows the entire community to determine whether
or not this action helped achieve the community's goals, which are linked to outputs and outcomes.
There is an important difference between measuring the success of an action in and of itself, and determining whether
or not the action moved the community closer to its goals. For example, a community may decide to hold a series
of summer events for teenagers in order to reduce teenage crime. The community may succeed in holding a series
of summer events for teenagers, and those who attend may have a good time, but if the goal of involving teens in
community activities was to reduce the teenage crime rate, there's no guarantee that the summer events were effective
in moving the community toward its goal. Further, there is no way to know this without collecting the necessary
information about teenage crime before and after the summer events take place.
Guiding Questions
- What are the actions the community is considering to move toward its goals?
- Who will take responsibility for each action?
- Is there a realistic plan to accomplish each action with available resources and within
a reasonable time frame?
- How will the community know if the action was carried out properly?
- How will the community know if the action contributed to reaching its goal?
- Who will take responsibility for collecting the necessary information?
- How will this information help the community make better decisions in the future?
Resources
Take Charge: Economic Development in Small Communities, North
Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Iowa State University, 108 Curtiss Hall, Ames, IA 50011-1050; (515)
294-8321.
The Economic Renewal Guide: How to Develop a Sustainable Economy Through Community
Collaboration, by Michael Kinsley, Rocky Mountain Institute, 1739 Snowmass Creek
Road, Old Snowmass, CO 81654; (970) 927-3851.
Measuring Community Capacity Building: A Workbook in Progress for Rural Communities,
The Aspen Institute Rural Economic Policy Program, 1333 New Hampshire Ave. N.W.,
Suite 1070, Washington, D.C.; (202) 736-5804.
Guide to Sustainable Community Indicators, Maureen
Hart, QLF/Atlantic Center for the Environment, 55 Main St., Ipswich, MA; (508) 356-0038.
Where We Live: A Citizen's Guide to Conducting a Community Environmental Inventory, Donald F. Harker and Elizabeth Ungar Natter, Mountain Association for Community Economic Development,
Island Press; (606) 986-2373.
|
