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See 'Thinking about Evaluating the Project' later in this chapter | |
Planning for sustainability means thinking of ways to keep the project (or important parts of it) going after its official end. It then becomes an ongoing part of community activity.
Many factors can threaten the sustainability of the project. Project teams need to be on the lookout for these factors and have a plan for dealing with them. Sustainability needs to be considered from the initial planning stages of a project.
Questions to consider when planning for sustainability
People will be more likely to keep the project going if
Read the following case study and identify which factors listed above have helped to sustain the Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture Project.
| Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture A Case Study in Project Sustainability The Strong Women Program began in early 1993 because many Aboriginal women, nutritionists and doctors were concerned about babies being born too small, not growing well and being anaemic. Strong Women workers … work with the health workers, pregnant mothers and community people to make sure that young pregnant girls are going for their pregnancy check-ups early and eating well. Strong Women workers… are selected by the Aboriginal community to work on this program. These women have specialised cultural knowledge related to their local community. Strong women workers work hand in hand with nutritionists, community based health workers, local schools and other women in the community. We also have Strong Women committee members at each camp so that if pregnant women need certain bush medicine or bush tucker, the Strong Women workers, committee members and the old women go out and collect bush medicine or bush tucker for them. This program utilised the knowledge and skills of both Aboriginal people and the medical and nutritional professionals. The outcome was an effective program implemented by Aboriginal people themselves. The initial 18 month trial of the program has proved to be very successful and effective. Funds have now been provided by the Northern Territory Government for the program to operate for the next three years with proposed expansion into other regions and communities. Extracts from Fejo 1994, |
There is a whole section on evaluation, what it is and how to do it.
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See 'Thinking about Evaluating the Project' later in this chapter | |