NESTOR M. PESTELOS

UNDP-OPS Integrated Atoll Development Project

Suva, Fiji

Discussion Paper

FIRST SDN WORKING GROUP MEETING

9 – 10 November 1992

Participatory Island Profiling and Development Planning (PIPDP) and the Role of Sustainable Development Network

1.0 Main Features of the PIPDP Process

1.1 PIPDP brings the community and government together to:

- share information on the local situation and, on the basis of a common understanding of specific development problems,

- agree on courses of action that both will take to solve such problems.

The process is as follows:

- Government workers from various agencies, as well as island leaders and community representatives, gather and update the critical data per sector available for particular island i.e. agriculture, fisheries, forestry, health, education, status of the environment, etc. in addition to information on the island’s history, local government, indigenous social organization and available manpower skills and other resources;

- The workshop participants next proceed to assess the data. They relate problems arising from each sector and agree on priority goals. The result is that each participant will have the same basic picture of the island community, its development history, problems, and potential;

- With this island profile as basic reference, the planning process becomes a self-propelled exercise to identify effective courses of action for the community to take in solving what it regards as priority problems.

- Then both the government and community agree on the projects urgently needed to solve local problems, decide on allocation or resources and the critical activities to be undertaken to ensure sustained plan implementation and management.

1.2 PIPDP is an easy methodology to implement.

With the emphasis on local knowledge, the workshops can be conducted by trainers with a little more than a basic formal education, in addition to the usual social and interpersonal skills.

PIPDP and the Role of SDN –

2.0 Approaches Validated and Being Further Refined to Replicate the PIPDP Process

2.1 Intensive on-the-ground training for the National Core Team of Trainers (NCTT)

The need to develop national capability to implement and support PIPDP gives rise to the organization, training and eventual fielding of the team of trainers drawn from government agencies and development NGOs. As atoll countries are short of technical expertise and manpower, formation of the NCTT for outer island development becomes a logical response. The team’s participation in PIPDP:

- facilitates interdisciplinary sharing of technical knowledge in relation to specific projects and tasks defined by the island plan;

- encourages common assessment of field experiences which further refines training methods based on more intimate knowledge of the local situation, its level of receptivity to participatory development;

- makes sectoral worker more effective through linkages with other programmes;

- generates relevant policies and administrative procedures and thus further reinforcing the support mechanism for outer island development.

2.2 Reorientation of indigenous management systems for community mobilization to serve developmental ends.

Emphasis is placed on the need to arrive at a common vision and goals based on adherence to positive values and on common knowledge about local problems and aspirations.

2.3 Adoption of village-specific and family-focused targeting for service delivery, advocacy and training inputs.

Planning becomes a tool to characterize and identify “reference families,” i.e. at-risk families marginalized by the shift to the cash economy and who, due to their primordial reliance on subsistence and traditional practices, remain to be the custodian of local knowledge on the preservation and the use of local fishing grounds, pulaka pits and other resources.

2.4 Access to rural credit for both income generation and social development/family welfare projects.

These revolving funds are under local control.

PIPDP and the Role of SDN

3.0 Possible role of SDN

3.1 Provide user-format or tools to facilitate the appraisal of ecological resources jointly by the government and local communities;

3.2 Develop easy-to-follow procedures on integrating environmental concerns in the project preparation process;

3.3 Prepare technology packs for adoption by the communities and for demonstration use of trainers and other fieldworkers;

3.4 Document and disseminate relevant resource managements experience highlighting lessons learnt from local communities;

3.5 Assist national trainers develop pertinent modules to build on existing community awareness and expertise on the conservation, protection and enhancement of the fragile ecological resource;

3.6 Assist national governments formulate policies in support of local initiatives for sustainable development;

3.7 Assist national government monitor and assess the impact of environmental programmes and projects on the situation of specific families in island communities.

IADP

09 august 1992

Suva, Fiji