BTCV Handbooks Online

Book:	Environments for All
Chapter:	2.2 Working with local communities
Section:	Spotting the stakeholders
Metadata:	Details	Buy this book

If you're going to look at who is who in a community, it is also useful to think in terms

of stakeholders - people and organisations who have an interest (a stake) in the area. They may not live there but they may be very important. They might include:

People who run a business in the area (local shop-keepers);
People who provide local services (council employees, the police, health service workers etc);
Voluntary groups based in the area, who may have staff or volunteers who live there too; and
Voluntary groups not based in the area but who operate there.

Some stakeholders will be very keen to work with you: they'll be in touch as soon as you are seen to start work and may attempt to convince you that their assessment of what's wrong and what is needed is the best and only solution!

These may be very active local residents - be careful that you don't only listen to the people with the loudest voices. If someone who claims to represent the community contacts you, try and be sure that what they are telling you is not just their own opinion.

Other people and groups may take a lot more convincing. They may not trust you. They may have their own priorities, which you need to understand: if people are very worried about racist attacks in an area, they may not see an idea for a tree-planting project as very relevant or appropriate. Practical projects are a good way to bring a community together, but there's a lot of careful community work to be done first.

Who are your stakeholders?

A list of stakeholders and community groups is a good place to start any project. Set aside some time to work with your local contacts to develop such a list: this can be a very useful exercise that will help you understand more about what is going on in an area. List as many big and small organisations and groups as possible, and then think about how you might group them. Include the name and contact details of people you know in these organisations.

Some useful groupings might include:

a) Organisations that you are already working with;

b) Organisations that you need to work with which will probably be easy to involve;

c) Organisations that you need to work with which may be difficult to involve;

d) Organisations that you would like to work with if they are interested; and

e) Organisations that you probably do not need to work with at present but might in the future.

Organisations in b) and c) are the important ones, especially those in c) because those are the ones where you will need to focus your attention. Agree these lists with the people involved already and make plans as to how you will contact the ones you need.