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Locally Led Conservation
What makes locally led conservation projects successful? Locally led
conservation requires involving people and organizations in the communities
planning process and working to successfully execute a long range plan. The
following self-scoring evaluation form asks respondents about elements that are
part of the locally led planning process.
These elements include involving stakeholders, defining community issues,
developing social and economic community profiles, using consensus-building
techniques, managing conflict, understanding the nature of communities and
considering diversity. These same elements are addressed in a series of
training modules that can help people build these skills. After completing the
evaluation form, you will receive feedback on how well you are doing in
planning and implementing your locally led conservation plan. You will receive
a "grand" score that gives you an A, B, C, D, or F, just like the grades you
received in school. This score will also be further broken down into 9
different categories, based on the same grading system. In each category, if
your score indicates that the planning process may need considerable
improvements, then you will be able to click on a link that gives you more
specific information on the area in which enhancements may be needed.
How to Take the Evaluation
Typically, locally led planning takes place in a geographic location. A
Conservation District or a county may be a general area in which locally led
planning occurs. In this large an area, there may be a variety of communities
that combine to compose a district or county. These communities can be
geographically large or small, heavily or lightly populated, with or without
significant resource problems. Each community has its own set of leaders,
social networks, non-profit organizations, commercial leaders, social norms,
values, and economic emphasis.
For this evaluation, select one community or one county or one
district and respond to the questions with the characteristics of that entity
and your locally led planning effort in mind. In addition, you can respond to
the evaluation form based on past locally led community efforts, present
locally led community efforts, or even future efforts.
Fill in responses to the questions about which you have a reasonable knowledge.
If you feel you lack adequate knowledge of a topic, then fill in the "no
response" category . However, each question must
have some kind of response. Consequently, a "no response" counts as a response,
but it is not calculated into the grand score or the category score.
Potential Scores
A = excellent
B = good
C = average
D = needs improvement
F = needs considerable improvement | | |