344 Ecological Restoration and Design
competence is called upon to complete each step in the process. Clearly, these steps
can also contribute to the self-help approach, depending on who decides what
organization or person carries out each step.
1 Gather information and data.
2 Identify the problem.
3 Analyse the problem.
4 Develop goals and objectives.
5 Identify alternative solutions.
6 Select a solution.
7 Implement the solution.
8 Enforce the plan.
9 Monitor the effort and give feedback.
10 Readjust the solution (from Lapping et al, 1989).
Conflict approach
Because of the control exercised by the existing power structure, an outside organ-
izer going into the community generally catalyses the conflict approach. The fol-
lowing steps are generally followed to build a permanent, multi-issue community
organization to achieve its local members’ interests and link with other like-minded
groups across the state and nation:
1 Community entry by outside organizer, usually at the request of local group
wanting change
1 Appraise the local leadership, looking at both formal and informal institu-
tions in the community.
2 Analyse the community power structure. Who has power and what are
their vulnerabilities and strengths?
3 Analyse the situation and the territory. In particular, what seem to the
major objective problems, what conflicts would attempts at solution lead
to and which conflicts are winnable?
2 Building a people’s organization
1 Stimulate those outside the power structure to voice their grievances. The
creation of an organizing committee of community leaders and canvassing
residents in their homes are both effective.
2 Synthesize the grievances into a statement of the problem. An effective
strategy for this has been neighbourhood house meetings. For the conflict
approach to be effective, it must concentrate on a single issue at a time,
although the organization cannot be a single-issue organization. Crucial in
this process is that the issue picked for the organization to focus on be win-
nable.
3 Link the problem to organizations – working with existing organizations
of the disenfranchised, creating new ones and forming alliances with