Problem Tree Technique for Social Projects
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ScribdTranslationsProblem Tree Technique for Social Projects
Translated by
ScribdTranslationsDevelopment of Social Projects for Third Sector Organizations - Support Material
Description of the technique
1 Name
• The problem tree
2 Objective
• Help develop creative ideas to identify a problem, its causes and
effects on the construction of a project.
3 Number of participants
• 10 to 30.
4Execution time
• About 30 minutes.
5 Physical disposition
• Participants seated in a circle.
6 Material necessário
• Paper and pen.
7 Development
7.1 Preparation:
• Invite the group to experience a participatory technique.
• Pensar um esquema em forma de árvore.
• The tree has a trunk, roots, and crown: the trunk corresponds to the problem, the
roots correspond to the causes and the crown to the effects.
Senac São Paulo
Development of Social Projects for Third Sector Organizations - Support Material
7.2. Execution:
• Determine a central problem that is the introduction to the problem tree.
that allows analyzing all relevant aspects of the situation. This problem
is placed in the center of the sheet of paper and corresponds to the trunk of the tree.
• Identify the effects that the problem produces and place them above this, on the sheet of
paper, which corresponds to the crown of the tree.
• Establish the existing relationships between these effects. If the effects are imposing
many, the main problem will also be important.
• Identify the causes of the problem and write them down below on the sheet of paper.
that corresponds to the root of the tree.
• Establish the relationships between the identified causes.
• Review the logic of the tree and reformulate it if necessary.
7.3 Processing:
• Whenever one thinks about building a project, it is necessary to identify the pro-
problem that the organization intends to tackle or that the community suffers.
• The project should focus on the causes (roots), as it is believed that acting...
By addressing the causes, the negative effects they cause are resolved or minimized.
produce.
• The general objectives are formulated taking into account the focal problems.
and its overcoming, and the specific objectives are those related to the
causes of the problem situation, grouped at the bottom of the dividing line of
tree.
7.4 Generalization:
• The technique is quite participatory and allows for the development of creative ideas.
for the identification of a problem.
8 Application
• Itisaninterestingtechniquethatcanbeappliedinanexpositorymanner,
with or without the participants' registration of the information.