Incluimos documento en inglés

Cooperative Planning as an Advocacy Tool

Partners for Democratic Change, Draft document on cooperative planning as an advocacy tool, 8.7.02 1

Collaborative Planning is a change management methodology that brings together stakeholders with diverse interests in a facilitated process to build consensus around a particular issue.

Cooperative planning is often used to advance the agenda of a group of stakeholders. In this way, it is a useful advocacy tool. A traditional advocacy approach might lead the parents’ association to petition the school district for the new school, write letters, lobby the school board, etc. Cooperative planning is an alternative advocacy tool that seeks to build consensus on issues rather than approaching advocacy exclusively in an adversarial manner.

In the case of the new school, the cooperative planning approach would seek to first find out the position of key stakeholders in regards to the topic the creation of a new school or library at the neighborhood , the pass of a new, law, etc.) Partners for Democratic Change has found that stakeholders that some might assume to be adverse to the proposed change, are actually not adverse to the idea in itself but have serious sub-concerns such as, in this case of school: funding, where the school would be located, what, parking, school gangs, etc. or in the case of a new law, concerns might be based in the contents, who will be affected, etc)

The cooperative planning approach seeks to first identify key stakeholders, interview them regarding their position on the issue, and then convene all stakeholders in the first of a series of meetings where positions are outlined and task forces are created to work out the various sub-issues such as those described above. A good facilitator with some mediation and negotiation skills is key to a successful process.

Partners’ international Centers also apply facilitation, negotiation, and mediation processes as critical advocacy skills. We would encourage the inclusion of these skills not only for the value they bring to advocates of social change, but for the efficiency these methodologies afford parties holding divergent perspectives and interests.

Finally, under a William and Flora Hewlett Foundation grant, Partners through several of its alliance members in Argentina -Fundación Cambio Democrático-, Poland and Rumania, has been working for nearly two years on a breakthrough innovation in cooperative planning that enables advocacy organizations to work as the convener of a multi-stakeholder process.

With over ten years of experience applying the cooperative planning process as an advocacy tool, Partners has seen the extraordinary benefits. Topics may be as diverse as infrastructure repair, housing, environmental preservation, economic development, and public safety. The process supports cooperation between the NGO, government and business sectors, and enhances citizen participation and empowerment towards concrete outcomes.

Although a more traditional advocacy approach on the part of citizen groups may very well have also brought about an outcome, the collaborative planning approach to advocacy was able to achieve the same results and critical relationship-building between key stakeholders and the belief in the value of working collaboratively.