Most Councils engage their communities in some form of consultation. This may be to identify gaps in services, review current systems or provide feedback on new proposals. However, more and more Councils now recognise planning for the future is vital, and that community members must be able to participate in this process.
Planning for a better future demands change and taking risks. For change to be successful, community ownership is an essential ingredient.
Accepting all the above, two years ago Launceston City Council, set off down a path to ensure its strategic plan did in fact ‘come from a community mandate’.
Armed with a strong belief that Councils are neither the font of all knowledge or alone in leading the community, Launceston used a community planning tool known as ‘future search’.
A future search is a carefully structured process in which a community shares its ideal future. It brings a group of local people together to complete the following tasks.
- Review the past
- Explore the present
- Create ideal future scenarios
- Identify common ground
- Make action plans.
After successfully undertaking this process, and with the strong endorsement of community members involved, Council’s General Manager, Bob Campbell and Marketing Manager, Lynda Jones, joined forces with consultant, Tony Richardson, to document their experiences.
The result is ‘Search: A handbook on change for community leaders’. The booklet is an easy to read, step by step guide for others interested in ‘democratising’ their planning processes.Aiming to help other community leaders bring about change, it covers the characteristics of a future search, the various factors for success and pitfalls to avoid.
Published by Don’t Press, this booklet is available for $27.50, telephone (03) 6297 1199 or email don’t.press@tassie.net.au.
