LESSON 1

Partnership with Local Communities and Preparation of the

Community Action Plan
Introduction
This lesson focuses on the six simple steps in creating a community
action plan. These steps will guide students in facilitating the processes
involved in implementing the projects from planning to evaluation. This
lesson also includes reminders to ensure that actors in the community will
be heard and represented in every process. It is time for the community
to be heard, and you will be the one to make it all happen.

The Importance of Partnership with Local Communities

A true partnership moves beyond mere consultation; it involves a shared
vision, shared decision-making, and shared responsibility. This approach
ensures that action plans are effective, relevant, and accepted by those
they are meant to benefit.
Partnership is a collaborative experience among members working
towards certain objectives.
Key Components of Partnership
1. Leadership & Purpose: Build consensus and a common vision.
2. Culture & Values: Promote an atmosphere of acceptance and respect
for differences.
3. Communication & Accountability: Provide feedback and
demonstrate responsibility for actions.
Preparation of the Community Action Plan (CAP)
The Community Action Plan (CAP) is a strategic document created
collaboratively to define the goals, resources, and specific steps needed
to achieve a desired outcome within the community.

Six-step Community Action Plan

Step 1: Study the Community (PESTEL Model)
It is important to know or research about the community. This will help you learn if
there are issues that must be addressed. Always remember: Never limit yourself seeing things
at face value for there are critical links that need to be uncovered or rediscovered. Conduct
historical data analysis or participatory observation. Being involved will be essential in your
study, as this will give you a firsthand look on how things are done in the community.
 You can start your community study by considering secondhand data sources such as
books or the Internet. It is a grave error for first-time community scholars to ignore the norm
of the communities that they choose to immerse in. Respect the community and its traditions
and customs. This will be vital in creating a culture of trust between you and your subject.
Opting to be an outsider will not help you gain substantial information about the subject you
are studying. Do not fail to also see it as they do. Do not be scared in creating bridges with
organizations. In making the people the center of your research, you are also helping them
discover other things that they themselves may have overlooked.
Using the PESTEL model demands work significantly on the side of qualitative research.
Your main goal is to describe the current status quo and compartmentalize these in such
categories that are easier for researchers to understand or to either decouple or correlate.
This is the primary baseline of your study in which you will base your big picture perspectives.
Finally, it is important that you have all pertinent information from the original source. While
there is nothing wrong in gathering data from other sources, it is best to get information from
the community managers or members themselves.

Step 2. Map out the community (Community Needs Assessment)

Mapping out the community requires a keen eye to observe the relationships of the
members of the community. The dynamics that will be created in mapping will be
indispensable in your objectives. Knowing whom to tap, influence, or partner with will prevent
you or your group in going around in circles and not fulfilling any task. Start by familiarizing
yourself with the organizational and personnel charts of the organization you are researching.
Look not only for the ones with the highest rank but also for those who are most hands-on or
more involved. By mapping the community and its actors, you will see the power relations
that you need to tap and the linkages that you need to create for the initial network or
partnerships. Also keep in mind that a community already has established networks and
institutions. You may not need to create a new network; otherwise, you will be redundant or
irrelevant in the first place. Your community needs assessment tool will lay out your findings
thoroughly. Again, remember that your needs and wants differ from those of the subjects you
are studying.

Step 3. Engage the stakeholders (Key Informant Interview/Focus Group Discussion)

The only way to know the community is to engage with it firsthand using a Key
Informant Interview (KII) or a Focus Group Discussion (FGD). A KII is most preferable for
officers or leaders who prefer a secluded setting for privacy. An FGD is better for community
members, as the group dynamic creates a valuable consensus. Prior to the interview, prepare
politically sensitive questions and observe objectivity to avoid biases. It is best to record these
conversations and choose a conducive location for sound quality. The right engagement is
vital, and you must be sensitive to the needs of the community and hear what the members
must say.
Step 4. Plot the community needs (SWOT and Force Field Analyses)
SWOT identifies internal Strengths & Weaknesses and external Opportunities & Threats for
strategic planning

Force Field Analysis is a valuable strategic tool used to identify, evaluate, and visualize the
various social, political, economic, and individual forces that may influence a proposed
community change or initiative. It presents the forces for and against a change, allowing for a
comparison of their impact to find ways to shift the balance toward the desired outcome. This
is often represented visually in a diagram.
 Key Idea: Plotting community needs develops opinions and views gathered from
FGDs/KIIs into workable models that can be acted on with political will.
 Outcome: These tools help in actuating the community's needs and creating a specific
plan for community action initiatives.
 Combined Benefit: Using both SWOT and Force Field Analyses helps gather important
narratives for specific action plans.
 Outcome: Gets you a deeper and more holistic take on the issue, creating more viable
solutions.
 Call to Action: Community leaders should always hear both sides of every story and try
to keep abreast of latest developments. The needs of the community are often
neglected; people's voices must be heard.
Step 4. Plot the community needs (SWOT and Force Field Analyses)
Plotting the needs of the community develops the opinions and views into workable
models. Tools such as the SWOT and the force field analyses are valuable in actuating the
community's needs. The SWOT analysis will help in pinpointing specific gaps for intervention.
What is essential is to clarify the variables you are inputting; having a more specific or
targeted data will make your analysis more direct. To use it effectively, always back up your
claims with data. Force field analysis emphasizes the varying relational dynamics and the
current status quo to draw out the central forces that counter change or reinforce
development. Contrasting with SWOT, the force field analysis may have more abstract
observations. Using both the SWOT and force field analyses in tandem will get you a deeper
and more holistic take on the issue and thus create more viable solutions.

Step 5. Mobilize the project (SPOA)

Specific Plan of Action (SPOA) is a detailed tool used to operationalize abstract plans or
improvement ideas into concrete, manageable tasks. It serves as a practical roadmap for
implementing community-led projects by clearly defining what needs to be done, who is
responsible, and how it will be achieved.
“As a community builder, it is not bad to dream up grand schemes to fight world
hunger or stop war but always consider that everything starts out small. All dreams
start off as a grain of ideas that was cast and has slowly taken root. Your Initiative
for the community may also be as small at first, but with focus and determination,
you too can make your grand dreams for your community come to life”

 Coordination of the plans with the time frame and allocated budget challenges the
practitioner to balance the necessary and the dispensable.
 Unrealistic solutions may look great on paper but will not do much good in application.
 Guidance: Always consider that everything starts out small. Focus and determination
can make grand dreams for the community come to life.
The Specific Plan of Action (SPOA) is used to concretize the plans into working models or
improvement tasks.
Function:
 Tracking: A tool to track and validate current projects.
 Validation: Reveals inconsistencies in the plan or priority areas that are left in the
planning process.
 Assessment: Helps the researcher uncover current roadblocks and assess how to solve
them.
The Model Demands: Discipline to deal with numerous factors and simplify complex
variables to arrive at an implementable working plan.
Through the SPOA, you are expected to break down your chosen project into details, such as:
 Budget
 Step-by-step activities
 Network
 Time frame
Key Traits:
 Imagination and Foresight: Needed from leaders to create solutions that hold value
through time.
 Courage: Act with courage and be prepared for any adversity when pursuing a dream.
 Purpose: Remember that you should do things not for your own gain but for the
betterment of your fellow men.
Step 5. Mobilize the project (SPOA)
A specific plan of action (SPOA) should be used to concretize the plans into working
models. More than being a guide, the SPOA is a tool that can be used to track and validate
current projects. Through the SPOA, you are expected to break down your chosen project into
details, such as the budget, step-by-step activities, network, and time frame. Using this model
demands discipline to deal with all the numerous factors and simplify complex variables to
arrive at a working plan that is implementable. Coordination of the plans with the time frame
and allocated budget challenges the practitioner to balance the necessary and the
dispensable. Ideal plans normally are the ones that do not pass the acid test of the SPOA;
unrealistic solutions may look great on paper but will not do much good in application. All
dreams start off as a grain of ideas that was cast and has slowly taken root. You should do
things not for your own gain but for the betterment of your fellow men. Some problems can
be solved by simple processes, but it takes imagination and foresight from leaders to create
solutions that hold value through time.

Step 6. Evaluate and document the process (Project Impact Evaluation)

 Headline: Seeing What is Missing
 Core Value: Evaluation's importance in the process is immense.
 Function: It is in evaluation that we can look in front of the mirror and see what is
missing.
 Outcome: By considering who we are and what we have done, then we can truly plan
our next move and see what we can do about our next endeavor or our future.
 Tool: The project impact evaluation template leads you to the inner workings of
communities, institutions, and agencies, and how projects should be scrutinized and
improved through this tool for self-evaluation.
 Requirement: To have definitive proof of your work, measure your results by recording,
tallying, and documenting everything during the implementation.
 Clarity: Make your variables and intentions clear to make your conceptual models,
arguments, and analysis more precise.
 Implementation: All data should be duly recorded and analyzed as benchmark and for
future troubleshooting and calibration.
 Documentation: Through proper documentation, we can fully encapsulate the story
behind every initiative that has impact on the community.
 As the last step, the process of evaluation and documentation ensures the continuity
and relevance of the project.
 Future Scope: Even if a project is successful, there will always be another way to
improve and scale the project to help more people and gain more insights.

Step 6. Evaluate and document the process (Project Impact Evaluation)

Evaluation's importance in the process is immense. It is in evaluation that we can look in
front of the mirror and see what is missing. By considering who we are and what we have
done, then we can truly plan our next move. The project impact evaluation template will lead
you to how projects should be scrutinized and improved through this tool for self-evaluation.
To have definitive proof of your work, measure your results by recording, tallying, and
documenting everything during the implementation. All data should be duly recorded and
analyzed as benchmark and for future troubleshooting and calibration. Through proper
documentation, we can fully encapsulate the story behind every initiative. As the last step,
the process of evaluation and documentation ensures the continuity and relevance of the
project. Even if a project is successful, there will always be another way to improve and scale
the project to help more people and gain more insights.