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TOOL: Understanding Relationships between Key Actors
Purpose: This tool can be adapted and used to enhance understanding of how key actors relate to and
interact with each other. In addition to exploring existing relationships, it also highlights potential
partnerships that could contribute to the community’s visions and plans.
Resource: Adapted from Stakeholder Power Analysis (IIED, 2005)
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Facilitate a discussion to identify key actors (institutions, groups, or individuals) that affect the
community’s ways of life and development aspirations. If this tool is being used by community
members, you could begin with identification of actors within the community and then move to
external actors. Include discussion of actors that have potential but not yet realized influence or
that community members would like to establish a relationship with.
Begin a large diagram with a circle in the middle representing the community. Additional circles
and lines will be added.
Ask the participants to cut out or draw and label a circle to represent each identified actor and
connect it to the community circle with a line. Clearly indicate which ones are ‘potential’
relationships (for example, with a dotted rather than solid line). The strength or influence of the
relationship could be represented either by the size of the circle or the thickness of the line. For
example, if the Forest Department is one of the most influential actors, the circle representing it
could be one of the largest or the line connecting its circle to the community’s circle could be one
of the thickest.
Indicate whether the relationship is positive or negative with an appropriate symbol. Indicate if
the influence is exerted by the community on the actor, by the actor on the community, or both
with a symbol such as arrows pointing in the relevant direction. See Figure 9 for an example.
After the diagram is complete, discuss the key interests and dynamics between the actors. Which
relationships are most and least important? Which are most effective and why? Which could be
further developed? How could negative relationships be improved?
Figure 9: Relationships between actors related to the Karnataka (India) Forest Department
(Source: IIED, 2005)