The Cobra Collective has developed their own approach – community owned solutions.
Engaging with communities can be difficult, yet with the right approach, significant results can be obtained. Community owned solutions helps create an environment of mutual respect that can make your engagement more effective. It empowers the community to take control of how they wish their community to develop and face up to current and emerging challenges.
This approach identifies and shares solutions to sustainability challenges such as climate change adaptation, biodiversity loss, natural resources depletion, lack of governance, health emergencies and cultural loss.
The approach is fundamentally transdisciplinary and holistic, providing insights for practitioners working in the fields of development, nature conservation, health, natural resource management, social welfare and education.
We also offer a range of training courses to help practitioners deliver effective community engagement including:
- Community participation and facilitation
- Stakeholder engagement techniques
- Participatory video and photography
- Project impact evaluation and assessment
- Community drone surveys and analysis
Foundation
1 day
Aims of this course
- To introduce the key principles and concepts of the community owned solutions approach
- To familiarise with participatory visual techniques, particularly participatory video
- To explore evaluation and impact assessment
- The concept of community owned solutions
- Community survival strategies through the System Viability framework
- Role of participatory visual methods in community engagement
- Methods for evaluation and impact assessment
- Promote community owned solutions within organisations and projects
- Identify community survival strategies through System Viability
- Familiar with use of video for recording community owned solutions
This course will enable participants to make a strong case for integrating community owned solutions within institutional practices and policies.
People come on this course from a wide range of UK, European and international organisations including NGOs and community-based organisations, consultancies, international development and conservation agencies, academics and government agencies.
All participants will be given a printed copy of the COBRA Handbook, “How to find and share community owned solutions”, available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
The practical participatory visual sessions will be carried out with Sony Xperia 8’ tablets and associated accessories. We will make available printed copies of all related scientific publications, briefings and reports.
Advanced
2 days
Aims of this course
- To develop an understanding of the theoretical and ethical principles underpinning the community owned solutions approach
- To advance skills in participatory visual techniques, including storyboarding and participatory video
- To apply techniques for process evaluation and impact assessment
- The concept of community owned solutions
- Community survival strategies through the System Viability framework
- Ethics and consent in participatory approaches
- Indicators and thresholds for measuring the status of community owned solutions
- Future scenarios to assess whether current practices are fit for the future
- Role of participatory visual methods in community engagement
- Methods for evaluation and impact assessment
- Apply community owned solutions within organisations and projects
- Identify community survival strategies through System Viability
- Proficient in the use of video for recording community owned solutions
- Able to use indicators, thresholds and future scenarios for assessing the effectiveness of community owned solutions
This course will enable participants to develop a practical initiative for identifying community owned solutions in a community context of established working relations.
People come on this course from a wide range of UK, European and international organisations including NGOs and community-based organisations, consultancies, international development and conservation agencies, academics and government agencies.
All participants will be given a printed copy of the COBRA Handbook, “How to find and share community owned solutions”, available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
The practical participatory visual sessions will be carried out with Sony Xperia 8’ tablets and associated accessories. We will make available printed copies of all related scientific publications, briefings and reports.
Practitioner
5 days
Aims of this course
- To critically engage with the theoretical and ethical principles underpinning the community owned solutions approach
- To develop confidence in participatory visual techniques, storyboarding, participatory photography and participatory video
- To actively practice techniques for evaluating process and impacts
- The concept of community owned solutions within wider theories of community empowerment
- Understanding of community engagement processes and participation
- Community survival strategies through the System Viability framework
- Ethics and consent in participatory approaches
- Indicators and thresholds for measuring the status of community owned solutions
- Future scenarios to assess whether current practices are fit for the future
- Role of participatory visual methods in community engagement
- Community peer-to-peer knowledge exchange
- Methods for evaluation and impact assessment
- Adapt the community owned solutions approach within a wide variety of contexts
- Facilitate community processes for identifying community survival strategies through System Viability
- Support community participants in the use of video and photography for recording community owned solutions
- Facilitate community processes in using indicators, thresholds and future scenarios for assessing the effectiveness of community owned solutions
- Design and operationalise a community peer-to-peer knowledge exchange
- Apply techniques for evaluating process and impacts
This course will enable participants to establish and spearhead a practical initiative for identifying and sharing community owned solutions in a range of diverse contexts. The course provides comprehensive training which will enable participants to establish working relations in communities, enable community members to apply the community owned solutions approach and share solutions with other communities, while assessing the effectiveness of the process and resulting impact.
People come on this course from a wide range of UK, European and international organisations including NGOs and community-based organisations, consultancies, international development and conservation agencies, academics and government agencies.
All participants will be given a printed copy of the COBRA Handbook, “How to find and share community owned solutions”, available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
The practical participatory visual sessions will be carried out with Sony Xperia 8’ tablets and associated accessories. We will make available printed copies of all related scientific publications, briefings and reports.
