A Catalyst for Community Partnering

A catalyst is something or someone that acts as a stimulus for change. In the Community Partnering Process the catalyst is someone who initiates the shift in focus from needs to assets and supports the unfolding process of community research and experimentation.

The catalyst role can be taken by many different actors:

• an NGO worker
• a local government official
• a motivated community member
• a university researcher doing community based action research

The catalyst must be able to:

• communicate the guiding ideas of  Community Partnering
• help select and support community researchers
• identify institutional partners and create partnership
• help facilitate self-learning using the Community Partnering tools 
• step back from the process so that others can learn to take charge
• provide problem-solving support
• help participants to reflect on, evaluate, and modify what they are doing

The catalyst does not direct change but helps to create a context in which change can happen.