Action plans
Action plans are a useful planning tool. Delivered by participating cities at local level, they encapsulate the work done with the network, from capturing a clear problem definition to defining a vision for the future, planning for and delivering experiments with the local team and the Local Action Group. Their ambition should be proportional to the vision and capacity of the city, and aligned with their needs, irrespective of whether it is a long-term strategy for the city, or a very specific project relevant to a more niche area of work.
Our approach and methods
• Approach the design of the Action Plans in a step-by-step way, right from the start of the programme. Embed the key milestones of the process into the phasing of the programme. Make sure that the various learning areas respond to where the cities are in their action planning process (problem definition – stakeholder engagement – solution design – experimenting).
• Fundament your work on a through analysis of the local context. Drafting a preliminary research can set the basis for a sound problem definition as it allows to go deeper in the local context, analisyng the institutional partners and the previous attempts that were done locally to adress the challenge
• Coordination with the funding body:
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- Set up a reporting procedure that gives you enough time to observe the trends but doesn’t impose an unnecessary reporting burden on the cities.
- Organise frequent coordination sessions. Within ASToN (2019-2022), quarterly sessions worked best.
Lessons learnt from ASToN (2019-2022):
• Align reporting to the tasks to be delivered by the participating cities (e.g. with experimentation cycles).
• Listen, listen, listen – Where are the cities at, what’s happening on the ground? Make sure that whatever is done is relevant for them.
• Provide an Action Plan template that is modular and flexible, that cities can use how they find fits best.
• Use the key take-aways from the Experimentation to finalise the Action Plan – while cities drafted a V1 of the Action Plan before experimenting, it is through the results from the Experimentation that they were able to check their assumptions and hence build the V2 on solid results
