Want to Start Something in Your Community?
Use the Active Citizen Framework to DO IT!
Why is this Important?
Creating sustainable change in the community is exciting, scary, and difficult all at the same time. If only we had a working framework and tools to help others…that is the Active Citizen Framework
What is the Process to Change?
Sustainable impact is achieved through collective action of active citizens across local communities. Designed to address all types of community issues, JCI members are guided by the JCI Active Citizen Framework, which provides a methodology for conducting impactful projects. The process consists of assessing community needs, formulating sustainable solutions and evaluating results to ensure sustainability. Community partners, business owners and government officials are engaged throughout each step of the process. The collaborative ownership of challenges and solutions by all community stakeholders is what produces sustainable impact.
Definition: Active Citizenship
Invest in the future of our world
Are motivated to develop skills, knowledge and understanding for positive change
Collaborate with all sectors for shared goals
Connect the Community in united action
Are dedicated to achieving sustainable impact
Are JCI Members
Who is an Active Citizen?
As global citizens we all have rights and responsibilities, as well as shared goals. Through active citizenship we encourage young people to take responsibility for the local issues, and find targeted, sustainable solutions that benefit our communities and the world. Motivated by the passion to transform their lives and the world, JCI members have the courage to address the critical challenges of our +me.
Active citizens are individuals invested in the future of our world. They develop the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to make informed decisions and take ac+on. JCI members are active citizens from all sectors of society. Business Owners. Government Officials. Students. They are social workers, entrepreneurs and doctors committed to creating sustainable impact. They are JCI members, who embrace new ideas, collaboration and diversity.
Understanding that active citizenship is not just focused on charity or service in the community is very important. Active Citizenship and being a JCI members is about creating sustainable impact. Creating a better world for future generations. Therefore this concept and the importance of understanding your role as an active citizen is the preliminary phase of the JCI Active Citizen Framework.
Analyze Community Needs
We cannot hope to solve the challenges facing our community without first understanding them inside and out. Using tools like surveys, demographic data and interviews with key stakeholders, JCI members can deepen their understanding of the challenges our communities face and their real causes. This first phase of the framework ensures the project is relevant to the needs of the community while also connecting you with members of the community, supporters of your initiative and potential partners for your project.
Analyzing community needs is necessary to identify priority needs and determine their root cause. Identifying the root cause of the problem and craTing projects around that instead of the effects, will help ensure you formulate sustainable solutions.
Formulate Sustainable Solutions
After collecting and analyzing data on community needs, the next step is to begin formulating projects that address the core problems and their causes and provide long-term solutions that have maximum impact in the community. Just as the needs analysis helps ensure community ownership of the problems, involving all sectors of society in collaborating on a solution will help ensure sustainable impact.
The community can address the challenges it faces through three integrated stages of development that will drive a community toward prosperity and enhance development.
The first is health and wellness. Healthy people are fundamental to building a successful society. Projects related to this stage will address barriers that stand between citizens and healthy lives. Solutions may include disease prevention, sanitation enhancement, access to medical treatment, and malaria-treated bed net distributions.
The second stage of community development is Education and Economic Empowerment. Education and economic empowerment are the engines behind economies that lift citizens out of poverty, putting them on a path toward sustainable development. This step builds on the foundation of Health and Wellness.
Partnerships & Taking Action for Impact
Engaging the community during your community needs analysis, and collaborating with stakeholders from all sectors of society ensures more ideas are shared, resources committed, and solutions created. Once you have the relationships built, projects crafted and partnerships established, it’s time to take action!
Active citizens take action by mobilizing resources, rallying support and implementing the project plan. By combining resources, the community is enabled to achieve even greater sustainable impact.
Monitoring & Evaluating Results
Throughout the project we must monitor our results to determine if we are on track to achieving our goals and intended impact. Compare data collected during the needs analysis phase to data collected during and after the project to measure how much positive change was created. After completion, take the time to reflect on the ac+on taken and evaluate your performance in creating a long-lasting impact. The results of your project will prove JCI’s value to partners and help us earn recognition as the organization that unites all sectors of society to create sustainable impact.
Finally: Share the Impact!
If your project had the desired results achieved and ultimately solved the problem, then you can repeat the process. Return to the information collected during your needs analysis to identify another priority problem facing the community and determine its root causes to formulate solutions.
If your project was not really on the right track in addressing that community challenge, return to your project plan of action. Review it with partners and determine where you might have been missing ac+on steps, or maybe you need to redefine your project altogether.
Lastly maybe your project achieved the results you wanted but it was not enough to solve the problem completely. Therefore work with partners and the project team to determine how you can continue taking action to eliminate the problem.
Creating Positive Change is Who We Are
To become the leading global network of young active citizens, JCI must lead in thought, words, actions and results. JCI is uniquely situated to lead in progress towards global development. The JCI Active Citizen Framework will provide a context for JCI to become the organization that will unite all sectors of society to create sustainable impact.
“Never doubt that a small group of committed, thoughtful citizens can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
— Margaret Meade