Sixth Triangle: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating

Local economic may have a beginning, but it never ends. It may start with central government delegating economic development responsibilities to local authorities, or with local stakeholders deciding to take things in their own hands because problems of unemployment and poverty become unbearable. But once you have started with LED, you will find out that you are dealing with a moving target: as soon as you have solved the easy problems, such as particularly clumsy licensing processes, you are identifying more tricky problems which take longer to sort out. And it goes on like that.

The best way of conceptualising LED is as a permanent cycle, which in terms of learning involves three cornerstones:

• participatory diagnostic,

• participatory planning,

• participatory monitoring, evaluation and benchmarking.

These learning- and knowledge-oriented points lead to three more practical activities:

• motivation and mobilization,

• implementation,

• reflection and adjustment.

An example of a broad-based planning approach that is participatory, strategic, objective- and implementation-oriented, is provided through the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) Approach in South Africa. It gives detailed information on how to organise public participation for strategy development in governance settings."

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