Other topics
3.2 Mapping your community for governance
- Back to basics: the five big questions about your governance
- Who are we?
- What have we got?
- Where did we come from?
- What do we want?
- How do we get it?
- Mapping community assets for governance
Back to basics: the five big questions about your governance
Answering the following five questions should help you understand who you are as a group and what kind of governance you want.
- Who are we?
- What have we got?
- Where did we come from?
- What do we want?
- How do we get it?
1. Who are we—who is the ‘self’ in our governance?
When you're trying to work out what your governance strengths and challenges are, one of the best places to start is with the people in and around your organisation. That means starting with questions such as:
- Who are we?
- What are our important relationships?
- Who are our strong leaders?
- Who are we accountable to?
- Who participates in our governance?
These questions are all about identifying who is the nation, tribe, community, region or group you are part of, and who you are representing through your governance.
2. What have we got—what is our current governance like?
Start by looking at your overall governance.
- What's working? For example “ We have regular and well attended meetings.”
- What's not and why? For example “We’re not developing young leaders to take the place of older people because we’re not engaging with young people in the community.”
- What strengths, talent and experience do we have to help us build our governance? For example “our elders help guide our decision making and give it legitimacy in the community.”
Identifying strengths and weaknesses in your current governance will give people a clearer idea about how they can make a difference.
Understanding what you have also enables you to identify what else you need. (The Quick Governance Health Check-up will help with this.)
3. Where did we come from—what’s the history of our governance?
Look at the history of your governance and think about the following questions:
- What are the cultural foundations of your governance?
- What good and bad things have happened to change it?
- What does our community think about governance and how does it affect us?
- What do you want to keep or change from your past ways of governing?
- How does the past affect your governance today?
Past events, such as the removal of ancestors from traditional lands, migration and changing government funding frameworks and legislation have an impact on governance arrangements.
See: Resource 3.5 Tool—Mapping your governance history
4. What do we want—what will our future governance look like?
This is about the goals you are trying to accomplish for the future.
- What kind of governance do you want for your group members, children and future generations?
- What do you hope will be different or better about your governance arrangements?
- What you want to stay the same?
Answers to these questions will give you a strategic vision for your governance. This might sound like a wish list, but it will help you make choices.
5. How do we get it—what is our governance development plan?
You need to identify specific concerns and what needs to be addressed first. This will require negotiation.
Once this is done you can plan the following:
- What action should be taken?
- Who will be responsible for doing it and by when?
- How are you going to tell if you are making progress and getting the outcomes you want?
You'll also need to consider:
- What might adversely affect your outcomes?
- What are the risks involved and how can you deal with them?
Knowing your governance concerns, gaps and priorities allows you to figure out what you need to meet your longer-term governance goals.
It doesn't matter if you start with small steps, as long as you have a good idea of where those steps fit into your overall governance plan and goals.
Mapping community assets for governance
Every Indigenous community, group and organisation can identify things it does not have (needs) and things it does have (assets). A strong community or organisation identifies and uses its assets to match its needs.
Start by looking at what you do have in your governance arrangements, not with what is missing or problematic.
A community governance asset map identifies and brings together information about the governance resources, skills, history, traditions, leaders and decision makers, and capacities in a community.
See: Resource 3.6 Tips—Mapping governance assets—the process
See: Resource 3.7 What can we do?—Evaluating your governance
Read next: 4. Your governing body and leadership
Read previous: 3.1 Assessing your governance