One of the most important thing about social entrepreneurship is that it has impact on local
communities and help people (very often those from disadvantaged backgrounds) to change
their lives for better. This change, however, cannot happen if social entrepreneurs are not aware
of what the people living in targeted communities really need and want.
While planning to open up a social enterprise, many of us face the challenge of how to
understand what kind of social change is needed in our communities. We have ideas that seem
really great to ourselves, but how to determine if they are actually needed and fit the local
realities? In order to make sure we are not imposing ready solutions but rather listen and
respond to the community, it is highly recommended to make a community need assessment.
During the Kick-Off training in Poland we spent a lot of time understanding how to do this kind of
research, what are the methods available and how to choose those that fit the specific needs of
our communities. After learning about the possible options we got to test three of the methods in
the local community of Poronin where the project took place.
We invite you to read the summary of the community need assessment methods and the small
local research we conducted in Poland. We hope this will be a starting point for your own
successful explorations of the needs of your communities.
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