FACTORS
AFFECTING THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF COMMUNITY INITIATIVES. Experiences from
Kosta Mathey
PAR, University of
Darmstad
Ronaldo Ramirez
DPU,
This document is a
brief report of the research carried out under the same name in 2002 and 2003
by Kosta Mathey, Ronaldo Ramirez, Reinhard Aehnelt, Octavio Tapia, Katja Buermann, Celeste Cuello, Daniel Fitzpatrick,
Daphne Frank, Petra Luedike and Celeste Vargas. The research had the
contribution of Rubén Bancrofft, Tania Gutierrez and Gina Rey, from the
Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría, and Rosa Oliveras from
GDIC. Institutional partners of the research project were the Technical
University Darmstadt, TRIALOG and the Instituto Suoerior Politécnico José
Antonio Echeverría, in
The research project
was sponsored and co-financed by the PRUD, Programme de Recherche Urbaine pour
le Développement and the Fonds de
Solidarité Prioritaire du Ministère des Affaires Étrangéres, coordinated by
GEMDEV and ISTED.
INTRODUCTION
This paper is based on a research project carried out by an
international group of academics in a few barrios
of
The
theoretical basis was provided by the qualitative and participative paradigm of
urban poverty. The categories of multidimensionality, heterogeneity,
participation and integration, although not explicitly mentioned, were the
conceptual guides used to understand numerous social projects carried out in
the barrios. The barrio constitutes the people’s habitat. It has multiple
dimensions: houses, environments, history, personal and institutional
relationships mutually inter-acting. The barrio’s
population is heterogeneous: people of different ages, genders, political and
religious principles, interests and powers. Barrio
residents, especially in
The Cuban barrio is an urban area identifiable
sometimes by its geographical limits but most frequently by peculiar physical attributes
and by its history and culture. It is not an administrative entity. The barrio constitutes, according to Rosa
Oliveras, from GDIC: “a system of interpersonal relationships that carried
traditions, history and identity…manifested in the sense of belonging and of
common interests that make the group that shared this space different from
others” (Oliveras, 1999). The
1981 Census identified 380 barrios in
The Group for the Integral Development of the Capital,
GDIC.[4]
The drive
towards decentralisation and the importance of the barrios were reinforced in 1987 by the creation of GDIC, one of
whose central objectives was to
promote “new forms of governance so as to increase the direct participation
of the population in the solution of the problems that they think are the most
urgent..” (Chappotin. 1998). The architect Gina Rey was the first
Director of GDIC, after years of being the Provincial Director of Physical
Planning in Havana. For her “the mission of GDIC was to define a strategic vision and a
commitment to improve the urban living conditions of the population…. and we
clearly understood that this improvement had to be done with the participation
of the people in the barrios, from the bottom-up… linking the planning of the
city to the initiatives that were coming from the barrios.”[5]
Talleres for the Integral Transformation of Barrios.[6]
The Talleres began to appear in
The first
terms of reference for the Talleres,
according to Gina Rey, were basically
working guidelines: that the
“integral vision” was a fundamental principle, that the work would be
multidisciplinary involving physical,
environmental and social dimensions, that the staff should preferably live in the barrio
and be part of the community, that the taller should be in the barrio and have
premises that will identify it as local, that those premises should be centres
of community activity, avoiding the image of a formal office with opening hours,
etc… it took five difficult years of education and training to incorporate all these principles
into the system.”[7]
Today there are
at least twenty Talleres in
The merits of
the Talleres are recognised by many
institutions in
THE RESEARCH PROJECT
The objective
of the research was to identify factors that influence the success or failure
of community projects in
Factors
and research question
The research
formulated a central question to guide the examination of the relative
influences of civil society and state interventions in the success or failure
of community projects, and proposed seven factors that seemed to embody those
interventions. The factors were: origin of the initiative; the nature of the
leaders; assistance from public institutions; links with mass organisations; coordination
through an intermediate organisation; community identity, culture and religion;
and source of funding. The central question was worded as: which factors
have contributed significantly to the success or the failure of community initiatives
aimed to improve the living conditions in the barrios?
The research
examined the influence of the seven mentioned factors on about fifty community
projects in
The research was
carried out in 2002 and 2003. The most substantive periods were two one-month
stays of the research group in
The methodology adopted to test the relative influences of the
different factors in the success or failure of the projects consisted first in
the reconstruction of the narrative of each project based upon the private and
public testimonies of their protagonists – authors, managers, activists,
supporters, beneficiaries and others. This was followed by analyses focused on
the role of individual factors searching for evidence linking this information
to the results of the initiatives as previously defined.
ANALYSES
AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
Origin
of an initiative
The
first factor that was considered critical for the success or failure of a
project was the process that originates the initiative and the nature and motivation
of the social actors involved. This part of the analysis was supported by a
number of definitions:
By origin of initiatives it was understood
the actions executed by social actors to start processes that would
affect specific social conditions. To originate a project involves actions to
bring it about, just to formulate its need is not enough to originate it. The definition of the social
actors was influenced by the alleged dichotomy between the state and civil
society. On this basis, the
complexity resulting from the numerous social actors that exist in real life was
simplified by reducing them to only two: one generic actor, individual or
collective, that constitutes the civil
society – individual local leaders, the community of residents, their
organisations independent from the state institutions - and another generic
actor, individual or collective,
constituted by the public institution
– national or local state agencies, individual representatives or members of the
state or designated by the state to carry out specific tasks. Projects
initiated by public servants – for example by doctors, teachers or elected
delegates to state institutions - that responded in principle to the objectives
of their institutions but were in fact very distant from their routines, were
considered as initiated by civil society. The Talleres were defined as public institutions. Initiatives were
considered as successful when they had
achieved their initially defined objectives or were in their way to achieve
them. Also when their continuity was secured, they were recognised as important
by the communities and were considered to be replicable or have been replicated
already. Negative answers to all or most
of these conditions indicated that an initiative had failed.
The
analysis of the influence of the “origin
of the initiative” factor was guided by a working hypothesis that tested
the relative importance of civil society and public institutions by affirming
that community initiatives originated in civil society were more frequently
successful that those originated in public institutions. Twenty nine community initiatives were discussed in the
Participative Workshops in the barrios Balcón
Arimao-Novoa, El Canal and Pogolotti. The analysis showed that twenty three of
these projects had been successful and that six had failed. The crude
information was that a large proportion of projects had originated in civil
society, twenty one out of twenty nine. However a more detailed examination
showed that public institutions, particular the local Talleres, had participated in the origin of more than half of them,
eleven out of twenty one, and that this proportion was higher, nine out of
fifteen, amongst the successful initiatives of civil society origin. For
example, of the four successful projects originated in civil society in
Pogolotti only two had a clear independent origin: the Alafia Dance Group and the Food
Conservation projects. The
first, a very successful art group supported by the local community, was
initiated by two young residents professionally linked to cultural activities.
The second, an initiative that had become of national relevance, was initiated
by a local married couple. The other two – Mayanabo
Children Musical Group and Street-Lighting
projects - though civil society originated showed considerable intervention of
the Taller in their first stages. If
all the twenty nine community initiatives in the three barrios were included, it was possible to see that only ten had
originated exclusively in civil society and eight in public institutions, while
in eleven cases the origin showed a combined intervention of both. If
exclusively the successful initiatives were considered, only six appeared
originated clearly in civil society, eight in public institutions and nine from
a combination of sources. As far as the working hypothesis was concerned, the
crude information showed that it was validated by fifteen successful initiatives
of civil society origin –ignoring the segregation noted above – but also
invalidated by nearly the same number, fourteen. The latter included eight
successful projects originated in public institutions and six failed projects
originated in civil society.
The overall picture coming from this information was that initiatives
originated in civil society prevailed, that in many cases their origins
appeared significantly influenced by the local Talleres, that while the vast majority of them were successful
there was still a good number that failed and that all the initiatives originated
by public institution had been successful. It was therefore not possible to
sustain that successful community initiatives in the three barrios were more
frequently found amongst those originated in civil society, as postulated by
the hypothesis, but that in Cuba both the state and civil society shared the
position of being positive influences in the origin of successful community
initiatives.
Existence of a promoter or natural leader
Community
initiatives normally incorporate neighbours who are motivated by the overall
objectives of the project and whose involvement are varied in terms of time and
commitments. In many cases some of these neighbours become natural leaders, men
and women that grasp the significance of the project, who encourage the participation
of other residents, who are able to take initiatives, to provide guidance and
to represent the group publicly. On the basis of these observations the
research proposed a working hypothesis that identified the presence of a
natural leader as a central factor for the success of a community initiative.
The
examination of thirty seven initiatives in the three core barrios plus the ones incorporated in Old and Centre Havana, showed
thirteen cases amongst the twenty most successful projects in which the
strongest factor for their growth and development had been the capacity of its
leader. The need to test to what extent the presence of a strong leader created
conditions of dependence that might jeopardise the success of a project once he
or she withdrew led to give special attention to cases when a successful leader
had ceased to act. However, the information provided by these cases indicated
that the risk of a project stagnating because of this cause was not
significant: ten projects had had to close amongst the examined initiatives but
only in one case, the Recreation Centre
Miguelito Cuni in the barrio
Balcón Arimao, the departure of the leader was reported to have been the main
problem. In the other closed projects, leader leaving was at most one out of
several causes for the termination.
A
number of interesting observations were provided by the information related to this
factor. One concerned the apparent lack of significance of the origin of the
leader - either in the civil society or in a public institution – for the
successful execution of his or her functions. Many leaders of flourishing
projects had arisen from the community, but others were officials in or had
been appointed by public institutions. For example the leader of the Pogolotti’s
Recycling Project, a resident in the barrio
designated to that position by the local Taller
and the Popular Council, was a woman of recognised charisma and a major
factor in the success of the initiative. On a different level, it was also
interesting to observe that the role of the leader was particularly important
in projects of a cultural or economic nature but not so in projects of social
assistance. The overall conclusion suggested by the analysis of all the cases
was that the presence of one or various natural leaders constituted a very
important factor for the success of a community initiative in the barrios.
Assistance from public institutions
As repeatedly mentioned, the relationships
between civil society and public institutions in the present circumstances of
the Cuban society constituted a background theme of the research project.
Discussions of this relationship are familiar in the international literature
dealing with urban processes but the same issues in a country characterised by
a highly centralised, top-down model of socialism having to confront the
restrictions of the Special Period raise different questions. A full in-depth
examination of these issues was well beyond the scope of the research, however
the analyses of the different factors gave importance to this theme. In the
case of this particular factor the research tried to identify whether there
were cases of co-operation between civil society and state agencies such as,
for example, the Secretary of Culture or offices controlling the use of foreign
contributions and how this affected the outcome of the community projects. The Talleres
were not included here amongst the public institutions, given that its role was
examined as a particular factor.
An analysis of the thirty seven projects examined
above showed twenty one cases in which the relationships between public
institutions and the local communities had been significant. In five cases the
support of the state had been a main factor for the flourishing of the civil
initiatives, particularly when these coincided or were parts of an overall
state programme. But in thirteen cases the intervention of public institutions was
identified as a factor holding back the initiatives. In three cases the state
intervention had neither supported nor slowed down the initiatives. However,
even amongst the initiatives that reported difficulties with public
institutions, a significant number had managed to develop successfully and only
very few had eventually failed.
Links
with mass organization
In
The examination of the thirty seven community
projects showed that in more that half of them mass organisations had provided assistance in one way or the other.
However, if only the successful initiatives were considered this factor did not
appear as a significant contributor to that result. Moreover, there were a few
cases in which the initiatives had clashed with the mass organisations existent in their particular barrio. One such a case was the
discotheque CIMA 73, in the barrio Novoa: in the worse period
of the crisis, when public transport was unavailable, a widely respected CDR
leader used the local market premises to organise a disco in the evenings, thus
providing some entertainment to the local youth and creating some jobs.
However, because of a small entrance fee charged to cover expenses some members
argued that the CDR should not engage in ‘commercial’ activities and managed to
shut down the venture. Another similar case but with a different outcome was the Callejón de Hamel, a cultural initiative
in a street in Centre Havana, that although opposed by the president of the
local CDR had managed to continue developing successfully.
Coordination
through intermediate organisations
The
intermediate organisation considered for this analysis was the Taller for the Integral Transformation of
Barrios. As previously said, a regular and central contribution of the Talleres to the organisation of local
initiatives has been the Participative Diagnoses and Strategic Community Plans with
their identification of local needs and priorities. Apart from these, the
research received many testimonies
that illustrated the assistance offered by the Talleres to the smooth functioning of community initiatives. This
support mostly appeared in the forms of organising, promoting, coordinating and
providing technical assistance to community projects. The Talleres frequently organised some of the activities of a project
when the community group lacked the experience or the necessary equipment to
carry them out. For example, in support of various initiatives around the
The
evidence obtained by the research project showed that the Talleres had made great contributions towards the advancement of
community initiatives within their barrios.
In many cases these contributions appeared obscured by the informal involvement
of the Talleres in the origin and
development of many initiatives. Amongst thirty seven initiatives examined by
the research project the majority of the successful ones identified the Taller as one of the most important
factors of their success. In nine cases they singled out the Taller as THE most important factor in that
result.. There was only one initiative that had failed in spite of having strong
links with, and support from the local Taller:
this was the rather old project to build twenty five houses in “Dust-Island”, a precarious settlement part
of Pogolotti. On the other hand there were cases when the Taller had constrained or being indifferent to the development of a
project. Amongst the firsts was one of the oldest and very successful
initiatives, the Alafia Afro-Cuban
cultural group in Pogolotti, which experienced the loss of support by the Taller following a change of Taller co-ordinator and suffered
considerably from this fact. Amongst the seconds was the outstanding case of
the Callejón de Hamel, which had become
a tourist site and local cultural centre in Centre Havana, flourishing without
any clear link to the Taller whose
premises are only a few blocks away. It
can be concluded that although the Talleres
cannot guarantee the success of an initiative, it is certain that many initiatives
– especially the weaker ones - would not exist today if they did not have
benefited from the support of a Taller.
Community
identity, culture and religious context
More
than one third of the examined initiatives showed strong links with cultural or
specific religious themes. The culture factor had been included in the research
project right from the beginning on the assumption that in neighbourhoods with
many physical and social problems strengthening local identities could be a
means to stimulate interest in the improvement of urban conditions, However, the
information obtained by the research showed that religious and cultural aspects
had their own dynamics, not always linked to urban improvements. The
information permitted to identify initiatives focussed on cultural or on
religious themes on their own right, and others in which both appeared jointly
reinforcing each other. In several cases the religion seemed to have the effect
of binding the participants together though the focus of the initiative might
had been of a cultural or ecological nature.
The
number of initiatives with interest in both culture and religion was
surprisingly high. Amongst them there were the Afro-Cuban dance groups
mentioned before, such as Alafia and other such as Haralaya, Fantasy and Odan
Ocara, the activities around the Ceiba, a sacred tree in the barrio Balcón
Arimao, the weekly street parties celebrated in Callejón de Hamel and the Group
of Religious Studies, where religion provided the central common link that
gave continuity to what has also been a study of local history. The links
between specific initiatives of this character and the whole barrio’s population appeared to be highly effective: the project of the sacred
Attempts to explain this situation were mostly speculative.
One was that in the field of culture many activities could be carried out with
relatively little money, especially in comparison with projects like the
construction or improvement of housing. Other explanations pointed to the
contribution of cultural values to strengthening the self-esteem of communities
in situations of economic crisis. With respect just to religion, the interest
developed by part of the civil society seemed a logical move where the state is
absent from the religious field. In any case the evident influence of religion
and culture in defining community initiatives constituted one of the surprising
finding of the research project.
Source
of funding
The
need of funds to support even the most modest initiatives is a common tension
that accompanies most community projects world-wide, and this is also the case
in
In
the absence of, and lack of access to international funds the second option
would be to go for national funding agencies, but those sources are extremely
limited in
The
community projects examined by the research did not support the hypothesis that
an initial injection of foreign funds contributed to the sustainability of community
initiatives. On the contrary, they confirmed that the most successful and
durable initiatives had survived from local and own resources, however scarce
they might had been. Many of the examined projects, like the Food Conservation
in Pogolotti, the Group of Religious Studies in Balcón Arimao, or the cultural
initiative Okan Oddara in San Isidro,
had existed for a very long time and had achieved their stability in spite of
the financial difficulties they had always faced. In most cases the
contributions in time, work, goods and small sums of money from the local
residents in the barrios had been
crucial for their developments.
Conclusions
The
large variety of community initiatives examined in the
If
only the successful initiatives are considered, the role of the leader turned out to be by far the most important
factor in the advance of the projects. Amongst the twenty cases considered
successful in the short term the role of the leader was considered as the most
important factor in sixteen. The same happened in six of the nine cases
classified as successful in the long run and also amongst the projects
considered replicable. Although the figures have no statistical significance,
the sheer presence of the leader as an important factor of success in so many
projects validates the conclusion noted above.
Following
the role of the leader the Talleres of
Integral Transformation of Barrios appeared as significant factors for the
success of community projects and for the multiplicity of local initiatives, even
though some of the strongest ones did not maintain any links with a Taller. The information showed the
presence of the Talleres as a helping
hand in a large number of cases, that the assistance provided by them had
helped many initiatives to proceed and progress and that many of the smaller
initiatives were only possible thanks to the assistance offered by the Taller.
Although
initially it had seemed that the contributions of mass organisations to the success of community initiatives had been
significant, this assertion was not supported by the latter’s examination. The
cases showing positive contributions of mass
organisations were as many as those exposing them as negative. The same can
be said about the assistance of public
institutions, which sometimes helped the development of community
initiatives - particularly when these coincided with central government
programmes - and sometimes proved to be obstacles.
As
far as the financial sources was concerned the examined cases showed that while
international aid played a positive role in facilitating the rapid execution of
community projects that required capital goods,
the short term and lack of continuity of those contributions limited
their overall impacts particularly on cases that required modest but long term
financial support. By contrast, in cases where the projects sought to survive
self-financed – mostly on modest amounts – it was possible to observe a greater
stability and durability in their work.
The
greatest surprise in these analyses of community initiatives in the
A
still tentative overall conclusion of these analyses seems to indicate that the
role of natural leaders, the daily work of the Talleres and the influence of religion and cultural identity
constitute the master keys to the success of local community initiatives in the
barrios of Havana. As far as the
relationship between civil society and public institutions is concerned, the
research seems to show that in
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Chappotin
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Oliveras Gómez, Rosa. 1999 Planeamiento Estratégico Comunitario.
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de Marianao”. La Habana. .1961
1961
Pogolotti,
Graciella. 1997 Imágenes
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Rey, Gina.
1988 La
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Estratégico Comunitario de Pogolotti. Mimeo. La Habana.1998
Pogolotti’s
Taller 2002 Planeamiento Estratégico Comunitario de
Pogolotti. Mimeo. La Habana. 2002
Pogolotti’s Taller
2003 Planeamiento
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Mimeo. La Habana. 2003
Photographs by the research
group
[1] The
Spanish term “barrio” is used in the whole paper instead of
“neighbourhood”, its English translation
[2] More contemporary studies identify some
600 barrios.
[3] Small-scale private businesses
[4] The acronym GDIC is used in the paper
instead of the full name.
[5] Gina Rey. Interview
[6] The Spanish terms Taller and Talleres are used in the paper instead of “workshop (s)”.
[7] Gina Rey. Interview