I met Andi for the first time roughly a month ago. I had emailed her – as almost a complete stranger – to see if she was interested in setting up 'some sort of relocalisation group'. Together with Andi’s husband, Dean, we started brainstorming, if anything were possible, what would we want to achieve with a relocalisation group? We talked about what we believed and why; what sort of organization we would be proud to be associated with; what sort of organization we would want nothing to do with; what ‘projects’ did we want to achieve and why. It was quickly apparent we were on the same wave length and so we started scheming about how to make it happen.

Although we had plenty of drive and some skills, we didn’t have all the knowledge, skills, resources and public profile we needed to achieve our joint vision. Examples of some of our less-ambitious aims include establishing LETS type trading systems and Permaculture Community Cooperative gardens in every shire throughout the Burnett Inland. We’re both relatively recent arrivals in the Inland, neither of us has any prior experience in setting up or managing either a LETS or a garden co-op (though we do have experience managing other types of projects), we have no funding, are not established as a legal entitiy and (at that time) had exactly four members - Andi, her husband, my partner and me! Ironically, neither of us were especially phased by that.

When explaining the first of his twelve permaculture design principles (observe and interact) David Holmgren (2004) makes the comment that “…careful observation and thoughtful interaction provide the design inspiration, repertoire and patterns”, whilst his seventh principle advises to “design from patterns to details’. How true we found that to be! We put our heads together, thought about who we knew (either personally or by reputation) who had the skills, knowledge and resources Ruby needed to successfully undertake the relocalisation/community development projects that were her main purpose. Voila – a list of potential partners and patrons. If we had tried to plan from details out – we might very well still be sitting there trying to figure it out!

So there we were, two country women, with an ambitious vision, some skills and know how, but not a lot else. How were we going to get two international personalities and four professional, busy, organisations to take us seriously and get involved?!

Simple answer – A prospectus!

"A prospectus should contain the facts that an investor needs to make an informed decision" (Wordnet: 2006). This document would be our method of first contact with and (perhaps only) chance to convince our potential patrons and partners that we were serious players. It had to showcase both Ruby and our individual skills and knowledge as the initial coordinators who would be responsible for making it happen. Longer term, the prospectus will also inform Ruby’s ongoing development, planning and promotion, as well as providing support documentation when applying for funding. Hence, developing a prospectus was a vital first step in getting Ruby on her way.

For-profit businesses have one overriding motivation that drives their decision making - maximising profits. On the other hand, non-profit, community organisations, managers, workers and volunteers are primarily motivated by a drive to achieve specific goals and aims based on particular values and ideologies. For this reason, non-profit, community-based organisations need to be clear about their ideology and values base. Which projects to prioritise or refuse; how to recruit and support staff; how to prioritise workload and how to allocate resources. All are ideologically driven decisions. An organisational values statement informs policy frameworks which ensure that decision making is consistent at all levels across the organisation and throughout time. It also provides a tool, which individuals, organisations and funding bodies can use to gauge the extent to which they want to be involved (as potential partners, sponsors, investors, employees or volunteers) and by which the organization can be held accountable – both internally and externally (Quixley: 1995 &1999). Therefore, a core component of Ruby's prospectus was concerned with detailing the values and ethics that she will operate under.

Writing the prospectus was also a worthwhile exercise for a number of other reasons. (‘Each element performs many functions’ – Holmgren, 2004) It gave Andi and I an opportunity to develop the concept, think through and articulate in more detail exactly what our vision is. It also provided the opportunity for us to test our working relationship. We agreed early on that we wanted to be able to put ideas ‘out there’, knowing that ‘the other’ would question, critique and add to them in a process of mutual learning and creating, in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for Ruby. In my opinion this is our true strength. I expect co-writing a document of the import and content of the prospectus in less than two weeks is a pretty good test of a relationship. I am pleased to report that our enthusiasm for both Ruby and working together survived intact.

With almost every experience there is something to learn and hindsight is a great teacher. One thing Andi and I learnt was to include an introductory summary sheet at the beginning of the document. It was unfortunate that we didn’t think of that before we gave it to our potential partners and patrons (Doh!). The other feedback we received from two of our partners who received the prospectus was that we need to put language around the economic advantages of relocalisation if we want to sell it to government policy makers (local, state or federal). We do intend to work on local, state and federal policy makers - so we will work on that aspect and post something when we have.

Still, it couldn't have been too bad an effort overall. We've received some very complimentary feedback (some of it here - thanks all!), both our proposed patrons Richard Heinberg and David Holmgren signed on and negotiations currently underway with the other proposed partners look encouraging. As soon we have an official response, we will come bounding in here with an announcement!!

Reference List:

Holmgren D. (2004) The Essence of Permaculture, viewed on line at holmgren.com.au on the 25th August 2006

Quixley, S. (1999); Values, accountability and development in community organisations;

Quixley, S. (1995); Beyond the Corporate Planning Approach

Wordnet (2006) viewed on line at wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn on 26th August, 2006.