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Social Planning
Social Planning is one of those expressions that mean different things to different people. As an agency and a council of citizens interested in the wellbeing of country and state we in Shodhana sum up Social Planning under a very simple and powerful sentence: “Social justice is in everyone’s interest.”. In one word Social Planning is: ACTION. The Social Planning Council is an organization that promotes growth and change. It is a catalyst of a movement for social change in search of the common good: the wellbeing of everyone in Peterborough County and City.
Understanding the needs, the culture, the experiences and the socio-economic contexts of communities is critical to the influence a development, policy or infrastructure project has on enhancing social well being. Assessment and mitigation of the social issues associated with major development projects is becoming an increasingly important component of both the planning and implementation phases. Some of the key benefits of early social planning inputs include minimising risk to project failure, minimising political risk, cost savings and decreasing risk of cost overruns and increasing likelihood of innovation.
What is CBNRM?
Community-based natural resources management is a process whereby local people and communities organize themselves and play a central role in identifying their resources and their development priorities, and in implementing natural resources management activities. It evolved from the participatory development paradigm which sees people as both the means and end of the development process. As such, CBNRM is often contraposed to the government-centred or top-down approach wherein government officials and agencies take on the lead role in formulating policies, choosing appropriate management technologies and implementing natural resources management programs. The community-based approach rests on the premise that people who actually use a given resource, and who gain first-hand knowledge of such resource from their daily interaction with the natural environment, are in the best position to protect and manage it. CBNRM thus asserts the principle of local community control and initiative while recognizing the importance of institutional and policy contexts in influencing its performance in harnessing local resources and using them productively, equitably and sustainably to meet community needs.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business and corporate social opportunity) is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.
The practice of CSR is subject to much debate and criticism. Proponents argue that there is a strong business case for CSR, in that corporations benefit in multiple ways by operating with a perspective broader and longer than their own immediate, short-term profits. Critics argue that CSR distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses; others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window-dressing; still others argue that it is an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful multinational corporations.
Sustainable Livelihoods
A livelihood comprises people, their capabilities and their means of living, including food, income and assets. Tangible assets are resources and stores, and intangible assets are claims and access.
A livelihood is environmentally sustainable when it maintains or enhances the local and global assets in which livelihoods depend, and has net beneficial effects on other livelihoods. A livelihood is socially sustainable which can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, and provide for future generations.'
Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches (SLAs) are centered on people and their livelihoods. They prioritise people's assets (tangible and intangible); their ability to withstand shocks (the vulnerability context); and policies and institutions that reflect poor people's priorities, rather than those of the elite. Many multi-lateral, bi-lateral, and non-government agencies believe that using a sustainable livelihoods approach is a sensible and practical way of thinking about, planning and implementing development.
Education
One of the issues in any planning process is to clearly specify the unit for initiating planning process and effect planning decision. India has debated this issue and now it is accepted that district is the most viable unit for initiating decentralised planning. Therefore, decentralisation of educational planning in India in the present context implies district level planning in education. Serious efforts for decentralised planning have started in India about a decades back. In 1969 the Planning Commission issued guidelines for preparation of district plans. Realizing that planning machinery and competency are not yet developed at the district level efforts was redirected in the later years to strengthen state level planning process. In the early eighties a Working Group under the Chairmanship of professor C.H. Hanumantha Rao was constituted to develop guidelines for district plans. Based on the recommendations of this committee, the seventh five year plan adopted decentralised planning at the district level as one of the major strategies to achieve plan targets. With the recent constitutional amendment (73rd and 74111 amendments) the Panchayati Raj Institutions or their equivalent in urban areas are going to play an important role in shaping local level educational plans.
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