Workshop on Community-led Micro-planning for Gups, and Gewog Administrative Officers of Tsirang District in Bhutan

Background and rationale

The ICIMOD Himalica team in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF), Bhutan, facilitated the first micro-planning workshop for all five chiwogs (electoral precincts) of Barshong Gewog (an administrative unit consisting a group of villages) in 2015 to develop community micro-plans. They are now aware of the bottom-up planning process, and the importance of their plans in terms of building resilient communities and livelihoods.

In Tsirang district, all 12 gewogs now have newly elected Gups (headmen) and Mangmis (deputies) who are responsible for executing a bottom-up participatory planning process, and developing gewog-level annual plans based on the real needs and priorities of the community.

As the Royal Government of Bhutan readies for the preparation of its 12th Five Year Plan (FYP), 2018-2022, this workshop will provide hands-on training related to the identification of developmental activities based on the priorities of the people and available resources. Similarly, the workshop will help mainstream community micro-plans into the government’s bottom-up planning process.

Objectives of the event

The workshop aims to reveal lessons from past Himalica pilot interventions in Bhutan and to share those experiences with the administrative officers of Tsirang district. It is hoped the Himalica-piloted approaches and best practices will inform the drafting of the upcoming 12th FYP for improved community participation in local planning. The objectives of the workshop are as follows:

• To explain the concept and approach of community microplans in the context of the bottom-up planning process in Bhutan.
• To share the processes, tools, and responsibilities of community-led micro-planning in the context of a changing climate.
• To share field experiences from Barshong Gewog to Gups and administrative officers of 12 gewogs, and the administration of Tsirang district.
• To build the capacities of implementing partners in developing community-led micro-plans so that they are able to replicate and upscale similar plans in their respective gewogs.

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