Strategy
Donegal CDB launched An Straitéis 2002 2012 in April 2002. The Strategy is the product of the intensive consultation exercise held over the last two years This section provides details of the background to the strategy preparation and the development process employed.
Preparing a County Strategy Approach and Requirements?
Guidelines on the County Development Board (CDB) strategies for Economic, Social and Cultural Development were prepared by Government and are contained in the Shared Vision or what is commonly referred to as the "Green Book". These guidelines provide information in the following areas:
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Approach and requirements background, concepts and scope of the Strategy.
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Preparation of the CDB strategy processes involved and relevant outputs.
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The CDB strategy documents what the strategy should look like, what it should contain, pitfalls to be avoided.
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Implementation how the strategy should be implemented in practice.
The process of preparing the County Strategy for Donegal was guided by a series of preparatory steps as outlined in the shared vision.
The nature of the planning exercise being undertaken in County Donegal was based on the following:
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Consultative and participative on a very wide and thorough basis.
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The County Strategy was prepared within the context of existing plans of development agencies and CDB partners.
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The process is Iterative (i.e. achieved through a stepwise process of reference and feedback).
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The County Strategy is drawing on the best information available within the county.
Strategy Preparation Process
From the outset it was agreed that the strategy should be for Donegal and by Donegal. Thus the County Strategy needed to be firmly rooted in local knowledge and, in order to ensure consensus among all the partners involved in the Board and other stakeholders, it needed to be developed in an iterative manner building the plan through a series of steps involving detailed research, consultation and feed-back. The outputs of each step were discussed, modified and agreed by consensus among the Board members. External consultants were employed only in a facilitative, mentoring and editorial role. The Convenors of the various Sectoral Working Groups and Fora played a pivotal role in the process. The process was facilitated by the staff of the Community, Culture and Enterprise Unit of Donegal County Council.
Sectoral Working Groups
At its first meeting in March 2000, the CDB decided that it would work towards the strategy through a range of Sectoral Working Groups [SWGs]. These SWGs would be grouped under the three pillars of the NDP, ie. Productive Sector, Human Resources and Social Inclusion, and Social and Economic Infrastructure.
Sixteen such groups were set up and worked on the preparation of the strategy. A number of specific interest Focus Groups were also set up to examine and report back on subjects and issues of interest to the CDB and of importance to the strategy being prepared.
Social Inclusion
The central role of Social Inclusion was recognised in this strategy from the beginning and was emphasised in the guidelines.
The CDB held a Social Inclusion Conference attended by over 200 delegates from all parts of the County in March 2000.
A Social Inclusion Measures [SIM] Co-ordination Group was established in November 2000. This SIM group undertook a Social Inclusion Audit of the County. This was launched by the Minster for Rural Development, Eamon O Cuiv, T.D., in November 2001.
The report made recommendation as to the co-ordination of Social Inclusion resources and effectiveness in the County.
Community Fora
The Community and Voluntary Sectors were seen as being of central importance to this new process. The sector was involved in the CDB itself as part of the Social Partners Pillar.
There are five Community Fora representing local interests at sub-county level. An overall County Forum is also in place to act as an overall representative body for community interests in the County. The Fora were involved in the preparation of the strategy producing their own position paper, and being consulted on all others. The fora were represented on the various SWGs as well as being committed as groups in themselves. See Community Fora
A series of seminars and workshops were held as a part of the strategy preparation covering subject areas such as infrastructure, culture, tourism, agriculture, an ghaeilge. A major conference on Social Inclusion in the context of the County Strategy was held in March 2000.
In the course of the strategy preparation a number of documents were produced - Audit of Services, County Profile (Economic, Social, Cultural), Audit of Social Inclusion Measures, and Donegal County Atlas. A CDB Newsletter was also produced. See Publications
The Strategic Planning Process in County Donegal: Facts & Figures
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Thirty - five CDB Members
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Six Strategic Planning Workshops [involved CDB members, convenors, community forum, and other interests e.g. cross-border bodies]
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Sixteen Sectoral Working Groups [ranging from 8 30 participants]
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Over 200 participants directly involved in the process
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A number of focus groups [five of which are still operational]
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Five Area Community Fora [approximately 150 members]
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One Donegal County Community Forum [25 members; five from each area]; this has met regularly over the past two years
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One Convenors group [met every 6 weeks to share ideas, and had a number of sessions]
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Two Gender Mainstreaming workshops [one involved 6 counties, other just for Donegal]
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Six Large-scale Consultative Sessions [physical infrastructure, agriculture, social inclusion conference, National spatial strategy, youth strategy day, Business through Irish]
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Several Area-based consultative sessions [Culture 6, Tourism 8]
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Presentations to all six Electoral Area committees
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One presentation to County Council GP meeting
Proofing is an important dimension of CDB Strategies. Proofing means ensuring that the CDB strategy sits comfortably within existing policies and complies with core principles of equality and sustainability. All public service bodies will be required to proof their operational plans against the CDB Strategy. Also, the CDB Strategy will in itself need to be proofed against wider National policies, and regional and national Strategies. Mechanisms for ongoing proofing of the CDB Strategy will be built into the implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases.
A crucial aspect of the County Strategy will be the effectiveness of its implementation. The strategy will be subject to ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the achievement of its over-riding vision, goals and associated objectives. It will also be essential to ensure that the added-value achieved as a result of the County Development Board framework and process is recorded and tracked on an ongoing basis.
The County Strategy has been prepared within an ever-changing context. Within this context, it is vital to ensure that the strategy remains appropriate, targeted and relevant to the needs and challenges facing County Donegal.
Donegal County Development Board, facilitated by the Community, Culture and Enterprise Unit have put in place monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess the impact of the Strategy, as we now move into the implementation phases. The detailed implementation plans that accompany the main strategy document contain outputs and associated expected outcomes. The focus of the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms has been targeted around these areas.
The County Profile of Donegal has provided a baseline indication of many of the core Social, Cultural and Economic indicators within the County, and it will be important that the profile is continually updated.
Key stakeholders will play an important role in helping to identify indicators, which are currently being collected and monitored by agencies, while also negotiating with the CDB how other aspects may be built into current evaluation systems. Consultation will form a key element of the overall framework, combining qualitative and quantitative methods to ensure that the CDB Strategy is making a real and significant impact at ground level.
The CDB will publish at regular intervals information about process and performance related indicators, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Strategy over the next number of years.
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