Planning from Below. Marta Harnecker
population understands and agrees with the importance of their active and direct participation in planning to improving their lives both materially and spiritually, and that they adopt an attitude of greater commitment to the process. It is important to use a variety of ways to explain to the population why their active participation would be very beneficial for their family and their community.
219. To achieve this it is crucial to touch peoples’ hearts. How do we do this given the current situation of generalized skepticism, where the dominant ideology leads people to believe in individual solutions, and where it appears as though there is no time to participate? We cannot go to the people and talk to them about a process they know nothing about and invite them to a meeting to “plan” in the abstract. We have to connect with them through their needs and most deeply felt desires, starting from the basis that every community, or sector within it, has its own characteristics and its own problems. A poor community could have problems with running water or electricity while a middle class community could have problems with crime and transit. As such, the desires of the residents in the first community are different to those of the second community. In the first, residents see obtaining access to water and electricity as the priority, while the problem of crime is not an issue. In the second, the fundamental desire is to see a police post installed and patrols undertaken in the community. The way we invite people to participate will therefore be different depending on the place. In each case, we should hold a meeting to examine how the community could obtain its dreams. When people see the value of the meeting, because they can relate to the issues that will be covered, they will attend.
a) Awareness raising days
220. Awareness raising days should be held, involving talks, forums and assemblies, to inform residents of the process. It would be very useful to hold meetings for women, as they tend to be the best activists.
221. Advertisements and informational updates should be run in newspapers, on radio and television. Alternative media outlets could play an important role here. It may also be useful to distribute leaflets, hold expositions, convene meetings with parties and mass organizations at the local level, organize events at schools, stage cultural activities (concerts, street theatre). Announcements should be put up in places that residents frequent: shops, bakeries, pharmacies, schools, sports centers, cultural spaces, train stations and bus stops, etc.
b) Door-to-door visits
223. We need to make sure that invitations to attend the assemblies are widely delivered and that an effort is made to ensure that those present truly represent the interests of all residents. Door-to-door visits can be important for this, together with a small brochure that pedagogically explains the main issues and upcoming activities.
223. When residents of a community are not willing to open their doors, due to existing crime levels or opposition to door-to-door salespersons, it is important to look for other means to reach them and win their confidence. Only after this will it be possible to carry out door-to-door work. Sometimes organizing meetings where women are invited for a particular activity can be a good way to make initial contact.
224. We should not forget the importance of inviting and involving all political parties active in the community, so that community planning can be as integral and inclusive as possible.
c) Raising awareness among key participants
225. Together with raising awareness more generally, special emphasis should be placed on raising awareness among key participants in the process, that is, those people who will be in charge of certain tasks throughout the process.
226. They should understand and agree with the importance of citizens’ participation for coming up with community plans, not only because this ensures that they reflect the most deeply felt aspirations of a community, but because it is through participation that people grow and develop.
227. Special care should be taken when transferring staff, especially from higher to lower planning units to ensure that it is not done in a mechanistic manner. Efforts need to be made to raise awareness among the public servants of the value of their new responsibilities for the development of their respective areas.
228. These participants should completely understand all the various steps involved in the planning process and their involvement in every activity.
229. It would be useful if the Team of Animators created a directory listing all those who make up the different social collectives that exist in the territory, the functionaries operating in all of the state entities at the various levels, and the institutions and people who may be able to lend their support to PP. Activist groups in the community should also do the same.
d) The Internet and its limitations
230. Although the Internet can be an important tool for convoking assemblies, we should never rely exclusively on this means. Often messages sent to groups or networks are not read precisely by those people that we are the most interested in inviting such as those who, because of their standout activism, tend to me bombarded with messages, or who because of their age or education level are not fully acquainted with the internet.
e) Meeting spaces
231. It is also important to choose a readily accessible meeting space to hold meetings that, where possible, is equidistant from the homes of all potential attendees.
232. The meeting space should accord with the plurality of views we want to be working with. It is not appropriate to; pick a particular religious hall knowing that there are people of different religions in the community; or the offices of a political party when people within the community are active in or support other parties; or a very luxurious place where people from a poorer background may feel out of place; or a place that is hard to access.
f) Meeting times
233. Furthermore, it is important to hold meetings and assemblies at an appropriate time. They should be held at a time that can facilitate maximum attendance. We should avoid work hours, those hours where women find it difficult to attend, or those that clash with television soap operas or sports telecasts that tend to be watched by many in the community.
6) TRAINING PARTICIPANTS
234. To ensure genuine participation in the planning process, it is not enough to simply have good attendance levels at the meetings. We need to be able to actively involve people in the process, thereby stimulating their interest at the same time as providing them with the basic theoretical and technical knowledge of planning that can allow them to participate effectively in the process.
235. It is not enough to simply transfer human resources and hope that citizens will participate to the maximum extent possible. It is also crucial to train technical personnel, elected representatives and the population itself, providing them with skills and experience that can help them to play meaningful roles in participatory planning.
236. We agree with Rafael Enciso, an economist who advised the Federal Council of the Venezuelan Government during 2013, who said that “transferring responsibilities without creating the minimum necessary capacities can mean that the medicine ends up being worse than the illness.”
237. To achieve this we should organize training days for the technical experts, the members of the promotion team and the people who sign up to participate in the different working groups set up during the process.
238. The less technical courses can be open to the general public.
239. Training programs should be held at the different levels and, ideally, there should be manuals that summarize the principle ideas.
240. These courses should be given by people with academic training or with a large amount of practical experience. They can be recruited from outside the community: from universities or technical colleges, as well as state institutions and organizations of retired professional and technical experts.
241. These people should function as “trainers.” In municipalities that are carrying out a process of participatory