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B2. Supporting the Community Catalysts
In addition to your own role as the primary facilitator, you will require the support of other community
members who demonstrate certain qualities such as leadership, sense of commitment for the greater
good, reliability, self-initiative, ability to well independently and in teams, open-mindedness, flexibility,
and willingness to learn. These individuals could be considered ‘community catalysts’ or people who have
the potential to inspire and create significant change. Although they may not necessarily serve as official
representatives of the community, there are countless different roles that they could play, including
facilitating workshops, presenting at local schools, contacting the media, and organizing a delegation to
visit the local government
official. They should be
Who is or has the potential to be a community catalyst?
comfortable
with
taking
What skills, resources, and assets do they already have?
responsibility for a certain
What skills, resources, and assets would they like to learn or gain?
part of the process and
What role would they most like to play in the protocol process?
reporting back to others
How could the broader community support them?
involved, including yourself
What types of external input could assist?
and the community leaders.
Box 14: Key questions for discussion to help identify community catalysts
Many community catalysts
will become obvious through discussions and meetings, although they won’t always be the most
outspoken or vocal people. Community leaders can also help identify them, including through one-on-one
discussions with you (see Box 14). If possible, they should be identified from diverse groups such as
women, youth, and elders and not only from the families of local leaders or elites. Some may need
guidance or encouragement to realize their potential. Regardless of when they join, openly discuss the
process to ensure clarity of roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
B3. Managing Expectations
One of the most important parts of facilitating a
What is the purpose of the protocol?
protocol process is to manage the expectations
of those involved. This includes individuals and What is our role? What does the process involve?
groups both within the community and What are the costs and risks?
amongst external actors. Establishing a sense of What are the benefits?
realistic expectations at the beginning and How would it be useful to our community or group?
throughout the process can help prevent How can we plan for and respond appropriately to
unexpected opportunities or consequences?
disappointment and cynicism. It can also
provide a mechanism for reflection and
Box 15: Key questions for discussion with those involved in the
evaluation at different stages of the process.
protocol process
Guiding questions that could be explored
separately with different groups are outlined in Box 15. Key considerations and caveats that you may wish
to explicitly highlight are reiterated in Box 16.
Further guidance about introducing protocols to the community is outlined in Part II: Section I
A protocol is not a panacea. There is no guarantee that all of the issues contained in a protocol will
be sufficiently addressed or resolved.
The likelihood of a realizing a community protocol is influenced by a wide range of factors.
However, it is often most significantly affected by internal factors such community cohesion,
strong leadership and governance structures, and agency and initiative.
Unexpected opportunities or consequences may arise that may be directly, indirectly, or not at all
caused by the protocol process.
Box 16: Key considerations and caveats to help manage expectations