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Where Are We Now? - How To Get Started
| Where Are We Going? | Where Do We Want to Be? | How Do We Get There? | Let's Go!Step One
Community Assessment
- Introduction
- How To Get Started
- Tools
- Case Studies
- Publications
- Frequent Questions
Watershed Top Ten
"Hint" List
10. Think Small (watershed size).
9. Bring everyone to the table.
8. Great leaders plant seeds and nurture them.
7. Ask for free advice and in-kind services.
6. Encourage teaching.
5. Seek common interests, not positions.
4. Celebrate your successes.
3. Ask not "do you like it?" but ask "can you live with it?"
2. Conflict can be healthy-if managed positively.
1. Patience, Patience, Patience.
(from Conservation Technology Information Center)
There are many issues to consider when undertaking a community assessment. Consider the following topics to help you get started on developing a Community Profile.
Getting the Right People Involved
Consider organizing and getting the community involved. You may
wish to form a planning team, seek out local experts, tap the talents
of high school and college students. The team leading the Community
assessment process should be representative of the community at
large and include knowledgeable persons on a variety of topics.
Check out Building
Local Partnerships, from Know Your Watershed, Conservation Information
Technology Center. 
Planning Area Boundary
Have you considered the size and shape of your planning area? Is
it the municipal limits or is it a watershed boundary or is it framed
around a problem area? Developing a planning area boundary is important
for the later task of data gathering and analysis. If your planning
area is too small, you may not capture the extent of issues which
may affect the community. Often times, sources of economic or environmental
problems do not abide by political boundaries.
Choose your planning area carefully so that you can best understand
the issues which may affect your community and its environs.
Gathering Information
You will want to collect data and information from a wide variety
of sources in order to complete a community profile. The Tools
section lists recommended topics to include in your community assessment
and points you to sources of that information.