Detailed Project Preparation and Exchange

Step 1:

• Form at least two groups of people, ideally with participants from different stakeholder groups and/or departments relevant for the implementation of the measures and projects.
• Each team should now prepare and hold a presentation about their potential project based on the following questions:

• 1. What is the goal and expected output of the project?
  2. Which challenge(s) does it address?
  3. What are the milestones and overall timeline?
  4. How is it linked to global agendas, e.g. the 2030 Agenda and specific SDGs?
  5. Why do you prioritise the project, what can you say about its feasibility?
  6. What are the required enabling conditions, and what are the assumptions you have made?
  7. Which stakeholders need to be involved, and how will they be involved?
  8. What needs to be done to guarantee ownership of the project?
  9. What are the costs? How could resources for the project be acquired? How can the project generate revenue?
  10. What are the potential risks?
  11. Is there a suitable framework for monitoring and evaluating the project?
  12. ? What indicators should be used to measure the objectives and goals? Where can adequate data be acquired?

Step 2:

• After each presentation, there should be time for questions from the peers – e.g. try a little role-play and let participants from the other groups take the perspectives of different stakeholders (e.g. the mayor, an NGO, the financing institution, relevant national/subnational ministries, etc.).
• The feedback should help you to revise and refine project ideas in order to gain the best outcome of each idea.

Step 3 (if needed):

• If there is a set of project ideas to choose from, let the participants vote for the best idea(s) after the presentation.
• Distribute as many sticky dots (or markers or similar) to each participant as the number of projects that should finally be implemented in your city. For example, if your city wants three flagship projects, distribute three dots to everyone and let them choose the best ideas.
• Ask the participants to choose the project based on the following question: Which project convinces you the most for fostering sustainable development in the city?

Visualisation materials of all kinds (brown paper, flipchart, sticky notes, sticky dots, coloured cards, markers, etc).

• Give the participants enough time to prepare and visualise the main aspects of each project idea to be presented to and analysed by all participants.
• The exercise is suitable for small but also bigger groups.