COLIBERATE

CURRICULUM FOR COMMUNITY-DRIVEN NEEDS ASSESSMENT & PLANNING

for Climate Resilience and more

An underlying assumption in the fields of social research, design and planning is that the more extensive, exclusive and expensive an education one has, the greater their expertise in assessing what a community needs. We operate with the understanding that first-hand lived expertise is critical for designing assessments that lead to creating long-lasting, relevant, transformative solutions. Our process, Coliberate, seeks to support community members in designing and conducting their own assessments, research, design and planning projects with broad support from allied organizations, coalitions and academic institutions.

The Coliberate curriculum was crafted by educators, activists, artists, planners and researchers to support people engaged in the critical work of community-driven planning and research. It draws on methods and practices of Popular Education including traditional Participatory Action Research and Theatre of the Oppressed to make community-driven planning work a culturally relevant, creative and collective process. 

Partnering with us

We are excited to make this work accessible to projects we believe in. We have found that each group we partner with comes with a unique set of pre-existing skills and areas where they need support. We tailor our approach for each organization. Some of the ways we often support groups include:

• Copies of the Coliberate curriculum with a licensing fee for for-profit groups or organizations with a significant budget. This fee is waived for grassroots groups or organizations who would otherwise be unable to engage in this work.

• An online orientation and training.

• Focused coaching for setting up a project.

• Regular check-ins while the project is underway.

• Support in-person facilitation of key pieces if needed.

Generally we set up projects with the following roles:

• Partners for Collaborative Change supports project set-up and process design, and provides curriculum and coaching for the facilitators.

• Research team members who have first-hand experience of issues being researched, but often no research experience. They lead on all research steps and decisions and often support facilitation. They receive a stipend or some form of monetary compensation for their work as researchers.

• Anchor organization oversees and takes fiscal responsibility for the project. Ideally the project supports pre-existing organizational goals so that there is capacity, interest and budget for follow-through at the outset of the project.

• Facilitator(s) set up the project, recruit research team members and facilitate them through regular meetings. 

• Allied collaborators support as requested by the research team. These people are often from academic institutions or intermediary organizations who can provide feedback, technical assistance, data, outreach support and elevation of the research results.

To explore what a partnership could look like for your context, or receive your own copy of the curriculum contact Levana Saxon & schedule a conversation

Resources

Here are a few examples of the core frameworks and activities from the Coliberate Curriculum in English and where available, in Spanish:

Flower of Praxis Description / La Flor de la Praxis

Facilitation for Coliberation / Facilitación para la Coliberación

Coliberate Process Description / Descripción General del Proceso de Coliberar 

Inquiry Game

Poetry In Common

Snowball Fight for Question Development

Data Funalysis/ Analyses Grupal

Coliberate Goals

• Support the leadership and existing expertise of community members whose lives are most directly impacted by the issues in question.

• Create the avenues by which community leaders assert their own analysis, strategies and knowledge to “sit at the planning table” or build their own “table” and participate in subsequent phases as leaders, not as token community representatives.

• Identify the priorities, visions, goals and strategies of their community
  

Curriculum Contents

• Alameda Department of Public Health

• Berkeley High School Green Academy

• Black LGBTQ Migrant Project

• Building Healthy Communities 

• CAPECA (Community-Academic Partnerships to Advance Equity Focused Climate Action)

• California Youth Connection

• Center for Political Education

• Code for America

• Communities for a New California

• Community Wealth Partners

• Communities United Against Violence

• Ella Baker Center for Human Rights