Community The Power to Change

07 Joint activity by those fundamentally different in terms of their characteristics and behavior may present many challenges: Different Tempos – The active residents are motivated by their desire for change. They bring passion and enormous motivation to the process. In contrast, the officials at the various authorities work within an institutional framework. Alongside its extensive capabilities, this framework is characterized by a slower pace and due to its complexity, ideas for development are often rejected. The success of the project depends on a shared understanding of this difference between the parties. Participation - Collaboration - Partnership Most of the authorities operate in a hierarchical structure; and as such, they expect this to be the case with regard to community activity as well. Participation of the residents is more easily acquired than their collaboration, and certainly more than their full partnership in the project. At times, the authority prefers to completely remove its responsibility from the project and let the residents do as they wish, instead of becoming challenges

a full partner in the project. It is important to coordinate expectations as much as possible from the beginning, in order to prevent misunderstandings or disappointment later on. Coordination – One of the indicators of a project’s success is the involvement of the relevant stakeholders. Before getting started, it is recommended to map both the strategic and the potential stakeholders and to ensure that none of them have been overlooked, in order to involve them from the very first stage. In this way, they will feel greater connection to the initiative. On one hand, the larger the number of partners, the more challenging it will be to come to agreement. On the other hand, if we overlook a potential stakeholder (especially a strategic one), we will ensure that we will have opponents throughout the process. According to an ancient African proverb: If you want to do something fast, do it alone – If you want to do it well, – do it together.

Budget – Not every community project receives budgetary support, but it turns out that even when such support is granted, there are still many challenges involved in the management of the project. Staff members must reach agreement regarding the allocations of the budget and the project must meet the requirements of the body that manages the budget (the local authority, community centre or association). At times, these parties must receive a number of price quotes and must adhere to procedures that create a burden for the residents involved in the project, all of whom work on a voluntary basis. Perspective – The residents view their project from a very local point of view (mainly on a neighborhood level) while the local authority views the project as part of the broader activity of the entire locality. The gaps are even more pronounced when this involves a regional council or an external body that works in several authorities in the area.