PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM
PROJECT VIABILITY GAUNTLET
Toward Sustainability: Environmental and Cultural Impact Assessments plus Resource Viability Assessment
The big question: Is this project sustainable?
Full of enthusiasm, creativity and care for people in need, RenegAID is a think-tank for innovative disaster relief ideas. In order to make the most of our ideas, resources and time, this questionnaire is intended to serve as a gauntlet to sort out the good ideas from the excellent ones by asking all the hard questions. In addition to protecting us from misuse of our own resources, its purpose is to protect those who we are serving by allowing us to anticipate possible social/cultural and environmental consequences on human populations and communities of our proposed projects.
GENERAL:
Name or title of project:
State the goal of this project:
Into which general category does this project fit? Health, Sanitation, Transportation, Housing, Psychological health, Communication, Education, long term community development.
What age categories are being targeted?
infants 1-6 7-12 13-19 20-40 40-60 >60 All ages
What are the short-term (within one year) goals and implications?
Medium-term (1-5 years)?
Long-term (5 years and longer)?
What is the best case scenario for the development, progression and outcome?
What are at least 4 potential problems, events, circumstances, oversights that could prevent us from reaching our stated goal for this project?
RESOURCES:
What are the project’s one-time costs to us?
To others?
What are the continuous costs to us?
To others?
How will these expenses be funded?
What quantity of donations are needed?
In kind:
Monitory:
What expertise is needed to make sure that the proposal / plan for this is a sound one?
What of this needed help is represented in the board?
What experience does the board have with the type of disaster associated with this project?
What are the prospects of having on-site RenegAID representation during implementation / distribution?
What are some prospects for receiving in-kind donations from a company instead of needing to buy materials or services?
Do materials need to be sent from the USA or can they be acquired in-country?
Does the project involve partnering with other organizations (American or foreign)?
Which ones?
CULTURE:
Will the local people be in control of the project?
Did the local people play a part in developing the direction of the project?
How long might it take for the local people to be running the project alone without further input from RenegAID?
What language is spoken by the project implementer?
What is spoken by the people being served?
How much is known about the foreign culture involved? 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
(1=next to nothing, 3=a moderate amount is known – learned from a couple trips to the area, 5=Plenty – much time has been spent learning the culture / customs)
Does the project directly reinforce cultural values of family connectivity and community? 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
(1 = may actually discourage community, etc., 3 = neither discourages nor encourages these values, 5 = yes, directly encourages family values and community)
Does the project in any way promote / encourage American-style individualism at the expense of community?
Does this project involve delicate religious / cultural matters / taboos? Describe them.
What resistance or opposition might this project come up against?
What are some negative side effects that this project may have?
OTHER:
List other similar projects from history or that are currently being pursued:
What remediation is included in this project to account for the inadequacies of previous similar projects that have been tried?
How do you rank the project’s innovation? 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
(1=not innovative / done before, 3=not entirely new but has many new elements, 5=brand new territory)
Is new technology used in this project?
In what ways is this project dependent on technology (cell phones, computers, satellite, etc) to implement and to sustain it?
What fuels (for transportation or other energy needs) are required to implement and sustain this project?
What are key findings of an EIA on the project? pathways of impact are:
soil contamination impacts:
air pollution impacts:
noise health effects:
ecology impacts including endangered species assessment:
geological hazards assessment:
water pollution impacts:
In what specific ways does the project directly or indirectly lead to long-term community development?
Does a stroke of luck or a rare opportunity play a role in its current viability as a RenegAID project? Explain. (Ex. the tents in Utah)
In what way are various board members very excited / enthusiastic about it?
/ this Project Viability Gauntlet was developed by Bjorn Stime, 2010, on behalf of RenegAID.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT TEMPLATE
To: RenegAID Board From:__________
_____Progress Report _____Project Proposal
Date:
Project Name:
What it is:
Brief description of project objectives/goals:
Scope and timeline:
Who are the project stakeholders besides us?
Targets. Measurable outcomes (exit strategy – how we know this project has accomplished the goals):
Project completion date:
What’s done (what we did):
What’s not done (what we are going to do):
What needs to be done next. What actions need to be taken to move project forward (and who will take each action):
What has been learned so far:
/ this Project Development Template was developed by Bjorn Stime, 2010, on behalf of RenegAID.