Community Action Guide Synopsis

Emphasizing Community-based Research and Expertise

• Communities must harness their local wisdom to pinpoint and understand the problems, and to devise solutions.
• Empowerment is key; the feeling of powerlessness should be replaced with control over community development priorities.
• A respect for human life and environmental preservation is fundamental.
• Community-led research, a process where the community is empowered to conduct research on self-chosen topics, encourages every participant to share, exchange, and reuse the knowledge generated.
• The community should leverage its local knowledge, customs, and traditions, and maintain ownership of the knowledge generated.

The Role of External Agents

Audiences and Allies

• Allies aid in facilitating the process, offering advice, and assisting in analyzing results, but the community leads the research and decision-making.
• Allies should respect the community’s right to withdraw and withhold statements.

Influencers

• Influencers could be project developers, financiers, media organizations, local officials, or other government members.

Supporting Communities

• It’s essential to seek advice and support from other communities.

Risks Involved

• Be prepared with a risk and mitigation process for participants and researchers.
• If the risks are high and participation may lead to danger, alternative methods should be explored.
• It’s important to continuously assess the security situation throughout the research process.

Choice of Research Topic

• It is up to the community to decide the research subject, the method to approach it, and how to use the findings.

The Importance of Inclusion

• Aim to represent the community’s diversity, maintaining a balance between genders.
• Arrange for separate meetings for women or youth if necessary.
• The research should facilitate information exchange; all team members should be aware of community-led development plans and any development projects under study.
• Train the team on conducting research.

Key Activities

1. Bird’s Eye View
   • Problem identification, including the effects, causes, root cause, and resources needed.
   • Strength and Place Survey focusing on history, culture, socio-legal aspects, and potential opportunities.
2. Externals
   • Identify who is affected, who is already working on the issue, who can influence the situation, who are potential research allies, and who the community can collaborate with.
3. Focus Group Discussions, Interviews, Community Mapping, and Community Priorities

Case Studies

• MEla
• Sukhgrela
• Elias

Data Collection

• It is essential to ensure participant anonymity and confidentiality, and to obtain “informed consent” from them.

Community Engagement

• Establish a system to communicate the activities to the community and schedule gatherings for review and input.
• At the start, share the research team’s plans and goals with the wider community.
• Once the research process is ready, share information about the research methodology.
• Review initial findings with the wider community before finalizing or sharing the results publicly.
• Request the community to verify and analyze the findings, and to prioritize the research that aligns with their objectives or campaign.