You should now have reached the stage where you have identified the needs, ambitions and assets of the community. Now you need to bring these to the attention of the wider community to develop a broad vision of the way forward and the key priorities for change. 

In order to do this we suggest organising a community visioning event where you can do a number of things:

• feedback to people the outcomes of your research

• give an opportunity for all local groups to put on stalls/information about what they do and provide

• allow people to have discussions and contribute their ‘vision’ for your community going forward – what will your community be like in 10 years time?

• give people a chance to identify key priorities for change

At the end of this event you should have an overall vision for your community as well as the key priorities for change. This will form the basis of your action plan

Not everyone will be able to attend community events so it’s important that you’re able to give people an opportunity to contribute their ideas/views at every stage of the community-led action planning process. Online methods such as a Community-led action plan Facebook page or offering alternative online meetings are a good way of ensuring that as many people as possible can contribute. However, not everyone has digital access or is comfortable with this medium so hard copy information and/or face-to-face contact with those who are unable to attend community events should also be considered.

No plan will succeed fully without the help and co-operation of others. There are a variety of other groups and organisations (potential stakeholders) who you will want to be talking to at this stage who may be keen to help out with both creating the action plan and putting it into practice. 

But, how do you identify who are the appropriate groups, organisations and people to be talking to? This is where some key link people come in who have a good understanding of your broad vision and priorities. For the public sector your local Community Planning Partnership (CPP) team will be invaluable as they will be able to identify the appropriate public bodies (and key people) who should be involved. Similarly, for the community and voluntary sector your local Third Sector Interface (TSI), Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), or your local community development worker should be able to point you in the direction of the key local community and voluntary organisations.

The next stage is to identify the ways in which these stakeholders can help you. A useful way to tackle this is through a stakeholder analysis session where you bring together a number of ‘stakeholders’ (potential partners) to look at their (and your) motivation, capacity and opportunity (see the sample stakeholder table template) to help your community achieve its vision and purpose.

From this you should be able to identify the key people who can help you to progress your plan and potentially join your core planning group.
 

Templates, fact sheets & more