Part 3: Developing An Engagement Plan

Successful communities call on civic stewards to organize and recruit coalitions for change by pulling together support from various groups in the community in new ways. They must create a positive “buzz” around the changes that are taking place, thus encouraging more and more community members to get in on the action. This portion of the course teaches participants how to engage their communities in this manner.

This information gives participants the tools to create their own community engagement plan. In this phase, the gardener seeks to control the environment in which seeds grow. This is accomplished by offering positive reasons for change to the community, identifying “must-know” members and groups, encouraging big ideas and achievable first steps, and facilitating disciplined collaboration with measurable outcomes and accountability. This section of the course also offers advice on addressing the many issues that may come up during this process.

Getting The Garden Ready

The Community Readiness work session of Steward Development is designed to prepare community leaders to better recruit assistance, communicate ideas and initiate positive change. Once leaders are comfortable with these cornerstones of stewardship, they are prepared to move on to the next phase of the course, an exercise in profiling and mapping the strengths and potential of the community itself.

Indeed, these leaders are now ready to begin planting their garden. The fertile soil of successful community stewardship lies before them, open to the possibilities of the positive changes that are to come.