WORKSHOP: MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF MURTER-KORNATI (1/3).
Participatory workshop “Possibilities of participatory management and planning of development of the Municipality of Murter – Kornati” within the project SAIL (subleede 1.6.4.) was held on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, starting at 10.00 am in the premises of the Jedro Community Center in Murter (on the second floor of the municipal building).
Workshop leaders, ex. Prof. Bozena Krce Miocic, Ph.D., and doc. Ph.D. Tomislav Klarin, from the University of Zadar, presented to participants through a three-hour lecture and workshop with group work the following topics: collaborative leadership, multi-stock approach of management, agreement of common interests and goals, planning the development of the local community, realization and monitoring of strategic goals of development of the Municipality of Murter-Kornati, monitoring indicators of the achievement of strategic goals from the Development Strategy OMK 2017 -2021, spatial resources of the community.
In light of the proposed topics, the workshop focused on participating in local community development planning and achieving and monitoring indicators of strategic development goals. Participants in the workshop were representatives of civil society organizations, the Municipality of Murter-Kornati and other public institutions.
Due to the time constraint, some of the proposed topics related to community spatial resources and the risk of excessive and inappropriate use of the premises will be worked out during the next workshop planned for November 2021.
After the introductory part, which presented theoretical principles of participatory management in the community, and presented examples of good practices at home and abroad, the exhibitors referred to a series in the practice of applied methods that aim to ensure a quality approach to the realization of the development of the local community. In addition to a number of global and legal factors that work for development, there are many other elements that to some extent slow down the quality participation of all levels of the community (local population and different age groups). Participatory planning is an elementary factor in the successful involvement of the community in the process of planning and development of the local community, whereby social and economic benefits must be planned to the satisfaction of different stakeholders, the working population or other members of the community (children and young people), whose interests are articulated by intermediaries.
After the introductory part, and the conclusion on the necessity of dialogue and expression of interest and success in planning processes, as well as decision-making, participants worked in groups to solve the problem of Improving cooperation and communication between stakeholders on the island of Murter. Participants in groups took turns to solve this problem through multiple repetitions and steps (identifying problems in the community, detecting the responsibility of the individual or group for the resulting problem, presenting the possibility of realization in terms of naming an individual or group that can solve the problem and/or how to solve it). In this group work, the World café method was used to make the most of participants’ knowledge and experiences to get the highest quality outcomes of the workshop in interaction with each other.
During the work in all groups, all the above questions were represented, after which the outcome of their participatory planning arose from their real everyday or desired roles in the planning and development of the local community.
Through the workshop, there were conclusions that some of the limitations were lack of time, reduced desire to volunteer and lack of understanding for communication in those responsible. One of the solutions recognises the possibility of introducing mediators into communication and working on the overall communication competences of all stakeholders, including local people whose involvement must be particularly encouraged. It has also become aware of among stakeholders that this is not a short-term process, but needs to be systematically worked on, working with the youngest population in order to create future active participatory stakeholders in the community.
In terms of the expectations expressed, the participants were realistic. Together with the exhibitors, participants injected that the local community lacks motivation to engage in various programs and educations, which is probably caused by fatigue and insufficient desire for participation. In conclusion, taking into account all these obstacles to quality participatory management, it should be directed to energy and resources to change the awareness of the younger population by raising for socially responsible behaviour and community management.
