This past week the AZ8s had our Mid Service Conference (MSC), marking our halfway point in our Peace Corps Service. Overall it was quite good: worthwhile reflection, great info from our new Country Director, even some relevant health sessions. Unfortunately there were some weak spots in the conference, and they happened to be centered around the topic of sustainability.
At this point in our service, sustainability is one of the foremost items on our minds. Its a buzzword that's been tossed out a lot amongst staff and volunteers but it truly is a goal in our service, to start something considered useful enough that Azeris will want to continue it upon our departure. I'll be the first to admit, there's a bit of selfish motivation held within; we all want to feel we are leaving some sort of legacy to our time spent here, but that doesn't make the end result any less worthwhile. And as we enter into our second year and learn our close of service dates our thoughts shift more and more to ways our work might continue beyond our own brief service. So, as a group, we were all excited to hear ideas on sustainable project design.
But there were too many problems with the workshops on sustainability for them to be effective. In these sessions, the word 'sustainability' was ill-defined and often used interchangeably with the word 'success'. Recommendations for a 'sustainable' project usually just amounted to recommendations for a 'successful' project. And the scope of what was meant by 'sustainable' was constantly changing-one moment it focus on projects and the next moment it would be expanded to the extent that simply being friends with someone was considered 'sustainable'.
I was disappointed with this and left wanting for better information on sustainable project development. After these workshops I was thinking a lot about how it could have been improved and in what ways it could have been more beneficial. From this, I've identified three things to adhere to when planning a workshop on sustainable project design.
1) Provide a range of vocabulary and visual metaphors for the learner to utilize.
In a workshop on sustainable projects begin with a discussion on the differences (and similarities) between 'sustainable' and 'successful'. Spend time discussing different expectations to have when thinking about a project's sustainability, and be specific about what this workshop will be referring to when discussing sustainability and sustainable projects.
Additionally, provide a variety of metaphors for participants to think of sustainability in terms of. This will help showcase the different ways to interpret sustainability and allow participants to determine the metaphor that works best for them. Sustainability is not just 'teach a man to fish' but can also be thought of as a waterwheel or letting a field lie fallow. There are many ways to interpret sustainability and they should be introduced in a workshop on this topic. Doing these two things will provide tools to the participants for future discussion and critical thinking.
2) Make sure you stay focused on your topic.
Remember, the topic is 'sustainable project design'. This point may seem obvious, but with a slippery buzzword it's pretty easy to find one's self off topic. To ensure workshop participants are as focused as you are, continue to spell out how what is being discussed relates your topic. Challenge participants to make the connection between what they have said and in what specific way it relates to project sustainability.
Similar to this, check to make sure what you include in your agenda is truly focused on the topic. Rather than focusing on measurements of success, discuss features of a project that encourage sustainability. More than something to be measured, sustainability of projects is something to prepare for.
3) Focus on techniques and practices that encourage sustainable thought amongst counterparts.
Often we need to work with host country national counterparts to ensure project sustainability, these are the people we are priming to continue the project once we've left. When discussing project sustainability what are the techniques that can be employed to encourage it?
Discussing ideas and strategies for train the trainer programs, leader selection, and openness about the temporary nature of one's service here are all ways to prepare for a project's sustainability. Introducing, or even teaching, these methods are ways to help volunteers design sustainable projects.
Volunteers want to design sustainable projects and want to feel as if they are leaving some sort of legacy of their service behind. Similarly they want to attend workshops on sustainable project design, but, they want it to be relevant to their work. Otherwise, instead of feeling empowered, participants will feel frustrated and stilted.
I have two metaphors that emerged in my brain during the conference.
ReplyDelete1) I came to Azerbaijan hoping to pick fruit. Not literally, but I wanted to see a harvest emerge from my work, something tangible I could point to and say, "My time here was meaningful." The fact is, any fruit I see now is the result of several generations of Peace Corps volunteers (not to mention a plethora of other outside influences!) that have come before me.
Some till the soil, others plant, still others water, and some pick the fruit.
It's nice to come along at the end and enjoy the ripe, full fruit as a project becomes reality or advanced English speakers want to form a volunteer group. But the reality is that some PCVs might spend most of their service in the tilling and planting stages without seeing much that fits into categories on a VRF. But no one can diminish the importance of what they are doing. The condition of the soil has changed, new things have been added to it, little seeds are sprouting beneath the surface. Sometimes just their positive presence in a community is contributing to the bigger picture of sustainability. I'm challenged by this metaphor to not just enjoy the "easy fruit" from what's happened before I came along, but to try to build relationships in the "new soil" and plant seeds that I may never see the result of.
2) Sustainability can be about ideas and paradigm shift, not just projects. Like small droplets of water gathering in the sky, it takes many incidents of exposure to a new idea to start to meaningfully internalize it. As Peace Corps volunteers, our entire service may be about shaking more droplets into a sky that seems cloudless and dry. But eventually, the saturation point will occur. Ideas coalesce and take form. And it begins to rain. Maybe years later, maybe long after we're gone, but the rain will come.
Farming offers so many metaphors of sustainability, but I really like how you break it down into various stages. I'm coming to realize I will probably leave most proud of a project where I 'plant', as opposed to 'picking the fruit'. Thanks for your thoughts.
DeleteI should add that by being here, new ideas have coalesced in my mind, too. As I continue to make relationships in Azerbaijan, my paradigm has shifted. The forecast holds a good chance of showers. :)
ReplyDelete