LAUNCHING: How to get started? Diagnosis!

4.1. Social Permaculture

In social permaculture, the diagnostic phases focus on assessing and understanding the social dynamics, relationships, and patterns within a community or network. While there is no standardized framework for diagnostic phases in social permaculture, we can get a general outline of the diagnostic process in social permaculture from its principles and main ideas:

1. Defining the Purpose. What actually calls you to step forward and change the reality around you? This phase involves clarifying the purpose and objectives of the diagnostic assessment. It includes identifying the specific issues, challenges, or goals that the assessment aims to address. It is important to involve key members in this phase to ensure their perspectives and needs are considered.
2. Gathering Information. After obtaining "the compass" in the first place, in this phase, data collection methods are employed to gather information about the social aspects of the community or network. This can include conducting qualitative interviews, surveys, observations, and reviewing existing documents. The goal is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the social systems, relationships, cultural context, and community dynamics. There are known questionnaires of the permaculture design process - social permaculture may use them too (adapted to the human aspect !
3. Analysis and Sensemaking. Once the information is collected, the fascinating analysis phase begins. It involves reviewing and synthesizing the collected data to identify patterns, trends, and interconnections within the social system. This can include examining power dynamics, communication flows, decision-making processes, and social norms. Sensemaking involves interpreting the data and identifying the underlying causes and drivers of social dynamics. What is enormously helpful is to visually display the collected data, to be able to see patterns and a more general picture.
4. Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses. Here you will focus on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the social system. This includes recognizing the positive aspects, assets, and capacities of the community or organization, as well as areas that require improvement. It can involve SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) or other similar tools to identify key areas of focus.
5. Community Engagement. Engaging with the wider community or your working team is crucial in social permaculture diagnostics. This involves seeking input, feedback, and perspectives from various stakeholders, including community members, leaders, and relevant organizations. It can be done through workshops, focus groups, or participatory activities to ensure a diverse range of voices are heard.
6. Designing Interventions: Based on the analysis and community engagement, this phase focuses on designing interventions or strategies to address the identified challenges and leverage the strengths of the social system. The goal is to develop solutions that align with the principles of permaculture and promote social resilience, collaboration, and equity.
7. Implementation and Evaluation, Once the interventions are designed, they are implemented within the community, team or network. This phase involves monitoring the implementation process, collecting (as much as possible!) feedback, and evaluating the effectiveness of the interventions. It is important to continually adapt and refine the interventions based on the feedback received and the evolving needs of the social system.

It is worth noting that social permaculture diagnostics are often iterative and ongoing processes. As the community or organization evolves and new challenges arise, further diagnostic assessments may be necessary to inform future interventions and promote continuous improvement.

These phases provide a general framework for conducting diagnostic assessments in social permaculture. However, the specific steps and approaches may vary depending on the context, scale, and goals of the assessment.