The Community Life Competence Process (CLCP) and SALT

The Constellation is a not-for-profit organisation formed in 2005 to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Since 2005, the Constellation has facilitated local responses in more than 50 countries, through more than 100 partnerships with governments and national and international organisations. They have found our methodology to be an effective tool to advance their projects.

Though HIV/AIDS was our starting point, today we celebrate the actions of communities in response to a diverse set of life challenges. To highlight just a few, we would mention: child health, maternal health, aquatic agriculture, village life, nutrition, environment and ecology, diabetes, AIDS, malaria, water, sanitation and hygiene, school life and education, palliative care, and aging with dignity.
Our starting point… is that when people take ownership of their challenge, they will take action to deal with that challenge. In addition, when that sense of ownership becomes embedded within individuals and communities the action they take is not dependent on external stimulus: this sense of ownership is the foundation of sustainability.

What do we do not mean by ownership? We do not mean ‘consultation’: we do not mean ‘engagement: we do not mean ‘empowerment’. Ownership means that the community decides on the action that it wishes to take and it takes that action.
What we propose is a systematic step-by-step methodology that allows the community to take ownership of their challenge. We call this the Community Life Competence Process (CLCP). Facilitators accompany the community as it moves towards ownership of their challenges with an appreciative approach that we characterise by the acronym SALT (Support, Appreciate, Learn,Transfer).

Our way of working:
The Community Life Competence Process (CLCP)

CLCP is a form of learning cycle where a community takes action and learns from its experience. That learning becomes the basis for another round of action and learning. The cycle goes on indefinitely: there is no end point. The steps of the learning cycle allow a community to divide what can feel a frightening challenge into a set of specific and manageable steps.

As the community moves through the process, each step documents progress, but the real measure of ownership lies in the depth of discussion, the consistency of engagement, and the joy of achievement that accompanies each step.

The cycle concludes with a review of actions. One aspect of this review is the collection of material that allows the community to share its achievements with its peers. This produces stories that document what the community has learned from its experience.
Once the community is comfortable that it has learned from its own experience and from the experience of its peers, it is ready to start the learning cycle once again to move it closer to its dream.

​Our way of thinking: SALT

We call SALT our mode of interaction with communities: "Stimulate and Support", "Appreciate, Authenticity", "Listen, Learn, Link", and "Transfer, Team, Trust and Transform". We think of SALT as the "DNA" of the Constellation.

S

S is for stimulate, support

A

A is for appreciate

L

L is for listen, learn, link

T

T is for transfer, team, trust, transform

While we consider CLCP to be an effective learning cycle, our experience tells us that on its own it would not consistently open the door to change. In addition, we support communities as they apply CLCP with the SALT approach. The appreciative approach characterised by SALT supports the community through the hard work, and the setbacks that they will inevitably encounter as they apply the steps of the learning cycle. We have found the SALT approach to be effective to stimulate and to support the community as it works through the steps of CLCP. In SALT and CLCP we have a unique and powerful combination.

This path to ownership presents challenges and does not provide an instant answer. Nevertheless the disciplined methodology provided by CLCP supported by the appreciative and supportive approach that SALT provides opens the door to the possibility of steady and sustainable progress by the community towards their shared dream.

​Botswana, 2015. Photograph by Ricardo Walters.

Together CLCP and SALT bring about a changed outlook,
summarized in the diagram below:

"Is it possible to imagine [...] a world where individuals and communities recognise and respect their common humanity, and live out their full potential to contribute to society as a whole?"
Extract from the Constellation’s Membership Statement.

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