This section looks at:

• Why organise a local project?
• How do we know it will work?
• How do we get started?

The essence of EfA is pretty simple. It is that everyone can get involved in practical action to improve his or her environment and local quality of life.

But getting involved isn’t as simple as it sounds. People can only get involved when:

• There is some form of local action or a project to get involved in;
• They are aware that this work is going on;
• They can see that the work is interesting and is going to help make things better;
• They can see that there is something that they can personally achieve.

Therefore, setting up a new project isn’t just about identifying something that needs doing. It’s about careful planning, and it’s about working out how to work with and involve people. This is a skill that can be learned just in the same way as driving a car or using a computer.

Specialist professionals may need to be brought in for certain project tasks. They should be fully integrated into the group, as a well-planned local project or programme can help to build the skills of local people, so that by the end they’re doing things they had never thought they could do at the start.

The commonest reason for organising a local project is because something is crying out to be done! It may be that green spaces on an estate have become a focus for fly-tipping, that an underpass linking two neighbourhoods is unsafe and unfriendly, or that newly-arrived young refugees need opportunities for community integration. Indeed, it can be just about anything that inspires people to take action!

If you’re part of a community group you may want to tackle an issue yourselves; on the other hand you may decide you need support from a local conservation or environmental group, or from your local council.

If you’re a professional working with such a group it may be that a new project comes up from the grass roots in this way. It may also be that a new project comes to you from another agency such as a local council or as a development of work that you or colleagues have recently completed.

It doesn’t always matter too much exactly where the idea for a project comes from. The aim is after all to improve the places people care about. But it is important if you are working with local people that you make sure that what is planned has local support, if not from everyone, then certainly from the people it will affect.