Understand the current situation: to understand how things are going and to determine any changes it is important to understand what the situation is before the engagement takes place. It is important to consider the following:

• Social, cultural and political context of the community; and
• Relevant organisations and stakeholders that interact with the community.

With your community or a community you are working with it helps to discuss and complete the following questions that you can also find as a template on the main course page:

Challenge - What challenges are the community facing in relation to the issue you have identified?

Starting out - Vision - what do you want to achieve from the implementation of the community owned solution?

Resources - What is needed to achieve your vision?

Action - How will you go about achieving the vision?

Evaluation - What is the current situation? What difference will your actions make to your community? How are you going to know whether your vision has been achieved?

Extra Qs - Are there any other projects/initiatives in community working on the challenge? Could there be any negative consequences of this project? How would you maintain the positive outcomes of the project after it finishes?

To understand the initial situation the information can be gathered through interviews or focus groups with local community members. A baseline survey can also be used to help gather this information.

For example, the challenge might be loss of cultural identity and the table could be filled in as follows:

Challenge - Loss of cultural identity

Starting out - Vision - to retain cultural identity particularly within the youth

Resources - Time for organising and holding cultural events. Funds for venue hire, food and drink

Action - Holding cultural events showcasing dance, music and art

Evaluation - Currently only a few youth members are aware of traditional culture. If the activities are successful, then more awareness about cultural aspects will be understood by the youth. To evaluate this we will record before and after events whether youth are aware of traditional dances, music and art

Extra Qs - There are no other projects like this occurring. A negative consequence of the project might be that a focus on new and innovative art, music and dance may be lost. The positive outcomes of the project would be maintained by repeating the events annually