Step 1 of 7
Existing
The best place to start is right where you’re at.
The best resources you have right now are what and who you have right now. In this step, your community discovers its assets and learns who is operating in its territory. Everything that follows is built on this foundation.
Who should be involved
A planning group that reflects your whole community: leadership, staff, Elders, members and youth. This is also a great project for students or interns.
What you’ll need
A large printed map of your territory, coloured dots or sticky notes, a shared wall space, and the Step 1 worksheets.
You’ll finish with
A community asset inventory and map, and a territory audit showing who is on your land and who to approach first.
01 · LEARN
What is a community asset?
A community asset is anything that can be used to improve the quality of community life. You may hear, “But we don’t have anything or anyone right now.” That isn’t exactly true. Who makes businesses? Who does the work? People. You have people, and every one of them has gifts.
People
Gifts, skills and knowledge: Elders and knowledge keepers, language speakers, harvesters, tradespeople, artists, parents, youth, entrepreneurs, and members living off reserve.
Places
Land, water and natural resources, and the buildings and infrastructure on them: reserve land, territory, the community centre, housing, unused buildings, trails, fishing and camping spots.
Services and groups
The school, health centre, programs, cultural organizations, youth groups, sports teams and informal circles that make life better.
Businesses
Band-owned, member-owned and home-based businesses that provide jobs and keep money circulating in the community.
Culture and stories
Language, ceremony, traditional skills, the traditional economy of harvesting and sharing, and the stories of times your community came together for change.
Financial assets
Own-source revenue, trust or settlement funds, investments, access to capital, and the grants and funding your community already receives.
Rights and agreements
Treaty and title rights, impact benefit agreements, contracts, your land code, and the laws and policies your community has passed.
Relationships
Your tribal council, other Nations, governments, industry partners, universities and non-profit organizations.
Plans and records
Past community plans, studies, maps, archives and data. They can save your community a lot of time.
Record them in Worksheet 1B · Community asset inventory and Worksheet 1C · Existing businesses
Why start with what you have?
- Outside funding may not come, or may come with conditions. The resources for change start within.
- Finding and using your own assets puts your community in control of its future.
- Change lasts longer when community members give their own time and talents to it.
- It is easier to rally people around “we have what we need to begin” than around how big a problem is.
Why audit your territory?
Your recognized territory is the land where incoming businesses are expected to consult with you before they begin work. Most communities have never mapped who is operating there. Doing so is an important step toward sovereignty, and part of your responsibility to protect the land for future generations.
Before you begin: five starting questions
Answer these as a group first. Your answers shape how big your search will be and which methods you choose.
- How large is the community we’re working with? Larger communities need more people and different methods.
- Who is available to do the work? One person, a small group, or a whole department? Recruit others early.
- How much time do we have? The more time you allow, the more assets you will uncover.
- What resources can we count on? Printing, supplies, and paid time for helpers all make a difference.
- What will we do with the results? A community directory, a plan, a presentation to leadership?
02 · GATHER
Four community activities
Work through these in order. Activities A and B can run at the same time with different teams.
ACTIVITY A
List your groups and organizations
- Start with what you know. Write down every group, organization and institution that comes to mind.
- Add to it from the band office, the EDC’s business list, community bulletin boards, websites and social media pages.
- Ask friends and colleagues what’s missing. They will know groups that are on nobody’s list.
- Sort the list by type or location, and keep refining it.
Worksheet 1D · Groups and organizations inventory
ACTIVITY B
Discover people’s gifts and talents
- Decide who you will ask: every household, a set number, or as many as you can reach.
- Choose what you’re asking about: skills people have, or things they would like to learn.
- Pick your method: kitchen-table visits, gatherings, phone calls or a short survey. Personal approaches work best.
- Try your questions with a few people first, adjust, then collect.
Asking people about their gifts often encourages them to share those gifts with others.
Worksheet 1E · Gifts and talents conversation guide
ACTIVITY C
Map your assets
Seeing your assets laid out often reveals patterns you would otherwise miss. Choose one approach, or both:
- Place map: mark each asset on a printed map with coloured dots by type. Areas with few assets may be good targets for development later.
- Circle map: draw rings outward from places, to institutions, to organizations, to services, to informal groups, to individuals. Draw lines to show how they connect.
Worksheet 1F · Community asset map
ACTIVITY D
Audit your territory
Print a large map of your territory and post it somewhere visible in your band office or workspace. Then ask:
- What businesses are operating in our territory?
- What are they doing?
- How long have they been here?
- Did they engage in proper consultation?
- If not, do we want to contact them to begin a relationship?
Worksheet 1G · Territory audit register
03 · DECIDE
Questions to answer together
- Which assets surprised us? Which did we not know we had?
- Which assets are underused and could be put to work right now?
- Which groups or people could work together who haven’t yet?
- Which businesses in our territory should we approach first, and why?
- Who will keep our asset list up to date, and how often will we review it?
Prioritizing businesses to approach
Depending on your capacity, rank businesses by those:
- You already have a relationship with (recommended first)
- Closest to your community
- In your territory the longest
- Whose work could benefit members through jobs or training
Be ready before you reach out
- Do we know what we want?
- What does our community need?
- Do we have a process for engagement and consultation?
The more prepared you are, the stronger your position, and the more businesses will want to work with you.
04 · RECORD
Your Step 1 workbook
Capture your decisions in the Step 1 workbook. It becomes the first chapter of your community’s plan and the starting point for Step 2.
- 1AStarting questions
- 1BCommunity asset inventory
- 1CExisting businesses
- 1DGroups and organizations inventory
- 1EGifts and talents conversation guide
- 1FCommunity asset map
- 1GTerritory audit register
Would it be helpful to work with someone?
ICDPRO’s team can facilitate your asset mapping and territory audit with your community.