Towards Community Renewal: Coherence in Coordination
Development practitioners were encouraged to bring coherence logic to the processes that are involved in effective coordination. The logic approach will inform how all entities will work to achieve maximum impact. This was a key point that was raised during the panel discussion at the seventh staging of the Best Practices Symposium for Social and Community Development that was held in Kingston on November 2 under the theme “Towards Community Renewal: Coherence in Coordination”. From left: panel moderator Charmaine Brimm, Technical Specialist in Socio-Economic Development, Community Renewal Programme of the PIOJ (PIOJ CRP); Charles Clayton, Programme Director, PIOJ CRP; Donavon Johnson Jr, Data Scientist, Citizen Security Secretariat, Ministry of National Security; Alexander Kroll, Performance Management Researcher, Florida International University; Aubrey Stewart, Strategic Management Consultant. The partners in the Best Practice movement are: PIOJ through its Community Renewal Programme (CRP) the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Ministry of National Security (MNS), and the Social Development Commission (SDC).

Kingston, November 4, 2022

Dr Wayne Henry, Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, has urged development practitioners to approach community renewal through coherence in coordination. He was setting the context for the seventh renewal of the Symposium of Best Practices in Social and Community Development in Kingston, on November 2.

He noted that work in the social sector should be aligned to a coherent and effectively coordinated framework that would deliver social interventions and investments to renew communities.

Dr Henry said, “It will require us coming together, having frank but respectful discussions through which we identify challenges and impediments, and ensure action that will enable us to overcome these obstacles. We will each have to respond to the call for action around these collectively defined solutions and be mindful of the existing coordinating mechanisms around which we should coalesce.”

The coordinating mechanisms currently being utilised by the government are the Citizen Security Plan (CSP) of the Ministry of National Security, the Community Renewal Programme (CRP) of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), which is coordinating interventions among the Zones of Special Operation (ZOSO) communities.

Following Dr Henry’s presentation, the other panellists and spokespersons continued on the theme of coherence and coordination. Aubrey Stewart, Management Consultant, provided analysis using visualisations that showed where coordination and coherence exists in the social sector. He noted that the data show that stakeholder process is not linear, and that coordination entities that have the strongest authority in a sector, maintain control.

Dr Alexander Kroll, performance management researcher and consultant at the Florida International University (FIU) said that public projects are no longer carried out by one independent agency, making collaborations important. He noted that participatory decision making and shared authority could assist in effectiveness. The decisions will address agreed project design, conflict resolution mechanisms, accountability and legitimacy.

Data scientist at the Citizen Security Programme of the Ministry of National Security, Donavon Johnson Jr, noted that Jamaica needed to advance acceptance of data in decision making. Johnson stated consensus and cooperation is not enough for cohesion, there needs to be better organisational design to meet the modern needs and that will solve complex modern problems.

The Symposium was hosted by the PIOJ through its Community Renewal Programme (CRP) in partnership with the Inter–American Development Bank (IDB), Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Ministry of National Security (MNS), and the Social Development Commission (SDC). The theme that guided the discourse was “Towards Community Renewal: Coherence in Coordination”.

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