Thus, leaders should represent, to the extent possible, the varied interests in the community. In some cases, co-management initiatives start with leaders from a specific sector or group in the community but this should always be expanded as the process moves along to ensure broader participation. In community organizing, first- and second-line leaders are also developed among community leaders with the former mentoring the latter.
Effective leaders:
● Challenge the process (pioneers, search for opportunities, experiment, take risks);
● Inspire a shared vision (visionaries, envision the future, enlist others);
● Model the way (practise what they preach, set an example, plan small wins);
● Enable others to act (team players, foster collaboration, strengthen others);
● Encourage the heart (coaches and cheerleaders, recognize contributions, celebrate accomplishments);
● Welcome criticism.
appreciate others’ views and concerns. Social communication activities can be used to help ensure support for the organization and its mission.
Every stakeholder will have different information, concerns and interests which need to be considered and developed. Making sure that all stakeholders are able to develop their own position and form of representation may initially result in challenges to community organizing. It must be remembered that building an organization is a slow process. People need to feel that being part of an organized group is necessary to protect their interests.
Once there is agreement on the organization, a meeting(s) is held to specifically define the organization’s goals and objectives, organizational structure, leadership, membership, dues and finances and action plan.
Organization structure is the framework around which the group is organized.
Structure describes how members are accepted, how leadership is chosen, and how decisions are made. Structure give members clear guidelines for how to proceed and it binds members together. There are three elements to organizational structure:
1. Some kind of governance to make decisions;
2. Rules by which the organization operates; and 3. A distribution of work.
Each organization may develop roles for individuals to play in the organization. There may be a variety of committees within an organization, such as the executive committee, action committee and finance committee, which carry out specific roles and responsibilities. Organizational structure is best decided upon internally, through a process of critical thinking and discussion. Organizational structure will be guided by such factors as the purpose of the organization, size, volunteer or paid staff, and whether it is advocacy- or service-oriented (Boxes 9.6 and 9.7).
Successful organizational structure usually includes:
● An elected leadership;
● Regular meetings;
● A newsletter;
● A means of delegating tasks and responsibilities;
● Training for new members;
● Social time together;
● A planning process;
● Working relationships with power players and resource organizations.
A goal is set and objectives are devised that will lead to the goal. To be effective the organization should, at least initially, pursue only one objective at a time. The organization should generate ideas to achieve the objective, then carry them forward into an action. Once the organization’s members agree on an action, create an action plan. The action plan should identify strategies to achieve each objective. Work should be broken down into manageable tasks. The action plan should include a timeline to identify when things should be done and by whom, an ordered list of tasks to complete, persons responsible for each task, facilities and funds.
Members and leaders make all organizational decisions, from by-laws to slogans. Members raise and select organizational issues based on the self- interest of the group, and broad agreement among members is necessary before the organization will pursue an issue.
Each organization should discuss, agree on, and post guidelines for decision-making. Some decision-making approaches include straw polling (a show of hands to see how the group feels about an issue), voting and consensus (bringing the group to mutual agreement by addressing all concerns).
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Box 9.6. Beach Village Committees in Malawi.
The Participatory Fisheries Management Programme (PFMP) on Lake Malombe and the Upper Shire River in Malawi was implemented to reverse the decline in the fisheries. The strategy employed to implement the PFMP involved creation of a Community Liaison Unit (CLU) composed of fisheries extension staff and Beach Village Committees (BVCs) representing the fishing communities. The BVCs were intended to serve as the basis for a two-way channel of communication between fishers and the Fisheries Department. It was also hoped that they would progressively assume responsibility for the management of the fishery. The BVCs were selected by village communities. The BVC was composed of gear owners, fishing crew members, and any active member of the village group. The village head was supposed to serve as an advisor to the BVC. The BVC had the role of controlling the beach and the group that fished from the beach, limit access to the beach and fishery, organize meetings of its members, establish fishing rules and represent its members at higher levels.
A number of problems occurred in the establishment and operation of the BVCs.
Some local leaders appointed certain individuals for their personal gain. Most BVCs had very few fishers as members and even fewer had crew members.
The creation of BVCs resulted in contests for power and authority with the village headmen. In many cases, the village headman became the de factoleader of the BVC, even though he was not the chairman. The village headmen became prone to ignoring the authority of the BVCs, since by historical tradition and custom, they hold ultimate authority. Where the BVCs have resisted being taken over by village headmen and have established some semblance of independent authority, fishers have often been confronted with dual authority of both the BVC and the village headman. In some cases, gear owners saw this as a chance to cut out the practice of giving payment to the village headman and to challenge them on this matter. The strong village headmen had no option but to curb the powers of the BVCs. In some cases, the elected BVCs were forced to disband and were replaced by BVCs with members appointed by the headman. In these cases, fishers saw the BVCs representing the village headman’s interests more than their own.
In contrast to Lake Malombe and the Upper Shire River, the village headmen were largely kept out of the BVCs on Lake Chuita in Malawi. Since the fishers elected BVCs on their own with the facilitation of the Fisheries Department, they were able to ignore the Lake Malombe model which incorporated village headmen as ex-officio members. The exclusion of headmen from the BVCs and the growing reluctance of fishers to make payments to the headmen have increased tension between the BVCs and the headmen.
Source: Njaya (2002).
The organization, if they want to take part in the co-management negotiation process, will need to identify and appoint one or more individuals to represent them. In cohesive organizations this may be easier than in non- cohesive organizations. Criteria such as honesty, knowledge of the area and issues, negotiation skills, maturity and status in the community and others may be used to select a representative.