[PDF] Community Development Toolkit - CommDev

9Development Opportunity RankingcontinuedPLANNING TOOLSPurposeFor community members to articulate thedevelopment situation in their community,to discuss it as a community and then tocollectively decide upon developmentpriorities to be tackled. It is not intendedto elicit a “laundry list” of problems andrequests, but rather to encourage peopleto consider how they would like to improvetheir lives and how they might go aboutmaking the desired changes, with thesupport of other parties, such as yourproject, the government and NGOs. This canbe coupled with the asset-based communitydevelopment approach (ABCD), 32 which askscommunity members to identify all theirassets (be they physical, mental, spiritual,financial, etc.) that can be used to supportthe achievement of development outcomesin their own community.Once the options are agreed, this tool willhelp community members and otherdevelopment partners decide which projectsto start implementing first. A scoring systemis used for ranking the opportunities againstagreed sustainability criteria, such as costand the need for external expertise andfinance. While a score may be compellingwith your colleagues, you need to rememberthat community feelings about opportunitiesare more important than any so-calledobjective score.When to use this toolAs part of a series of exercises that maylead up to community development planningworkshops to develop a Community ActionPlan (see tool 16). This should be donewhen community development programs arebeing considered, so that active communityengagement in the planning process canbe encouraged.How to use this toolThis exercise is usually done in a communityworkshop (which may be a series ofmeetings, and may be run in several smallergroupings of community members, as theyprefer) and led by experienced facilitators,who may come from the community, fromNGOs, from local government agenciesor be consultants hired by your company.Facilitators should not lead the discussionin any particular direction, other than toexplain the process and to prompt thoughtsand discussion. This approach provides thesetting in which all participants cancontribute. No topic is rejected. All issuesare considered. Community members arethe only contributors, although they maycall for suggestions and ideas from thefacilitators or other observers, includingyou. The final ranking of developmentopportunities is to be decided upon andowned by the community participants.32 Coady International Institute, From Clients to Citizens: Asset-Based Community Development as a Strategy forCommunity-Driven Development, 2002. Available at: www.abcdinstitute.org/publications/related102 Community Development Toolkit