Full checklist of questions to consider

Step 1. Analyse the issue or problem

What is the problem or issue of concern?
To what extent is this an issue of concern within our community?
Does our community realise there's a problem?
What are the reasons for or causes of the problem?
How can we promote community discussion and debate about this issue?
What do we know about the issue? What research do we have? What's been done already? Who's been involved?
Is 'education' the way to deal with the issue? What about other approaches such as regulation and enforcement, economics, engineering and science?
What do we want to achieve? What can we achieve? What's our goal?
What outcome do we want from education? Are we trying to encourage debate? influence attitudes? give or gather information? develop skills? change behaviour?
Are the alternatives we wish to promote practical?
Can we formulate our needs in terms of short, medium and long-term goals?

Who has a stake (positive or negative) in the problem or issue?
Who is most affected by the problem or issue? Who is concerned? Who may have different views? (Prioritise.)
In relation to the problem, who are the opinion leaders in the community?
Who are the key people to assist in solving the problem?
Is there a person who could 'champion' the project for us?
What do the stakeholders know, feel, want, believe and value in relation to the problem or issue?
What are the threats, risks, costs and benefits for the stakeholders?
How will we involve the stakeholders?

Who are we trying to reach/influence through this project?
Is there more than one target group? (Define each group precisely.)
What incentives are there for the target group to be involved with the project?
What does the target group know, feel, want, believe and value about the problem or issue?
What are the threats, risks, costs and benefits for the target group?
What is the best way of reaching the target group?
If they are not already involved with the issue, what will motivate our target group to be involved?
What support do we need to give the target group to help achieve the project's outcomes?

What are we aiming to achieve as a result of this education project?
What are the specific educational objectives of the project in terms of knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and practices? Are these objectives measurable?
Do we need to look at short-term and long-term goals for this issue?
What are the key messages we wish to communicate?
What outcomes do we want from our project?
Will any products result from our project? What will we do with these products when the project is finished?
How will achieving our objectives help solve the issue or problem?
What barriers may hinder the achievement of our objectives?

What is the best method of achieving the project's objectives and outcomes, given the time and money available?
What is the best method of achieving the project's objectives and outcomes in view of what we know about the target group?
Do these methods reflect the educational needs of our target group?
Would it be useful to use more than one technique to achieve the objectives?
What methods will have the most impact on the target group?
Are there solutions to the problem and how do we reach these solutions?

What is the estimated cost of our project?
What funds do we have available?
What funds do we need?
What 'in-kind' support do we have or could we get?
Who may be interested in financially supporting our project?
Do we need to consider sponsorship for our project? What are the benefits for potential sponsors?
Are there potential sponsors who are not appropriate?
If we can't attract full funding for our project, what options do we have?

What specific actions are needed to achieve the project's objectives? What are the key tasks?
What's the timeframe for the project? What are the milestones?
What resources, other than dollars, are required (e.g. people and time)?
Who's responsible for doing each task?
Have we identified monitoring and evaluation steps in our action plan?
How will we market the project to the broader community? Is there value in launching the project?
How will we keep the broader community informed?

How will we know if we've achieved our goal and objectives?
How will we measure the effectiveness of the project?
Is the project reaching the target community?
What have been the strengths and weaknesses of our project?
How will we gather the information we need to determine the success of the project?
Who will be interested in the evaluation of our project?
What will we do with the information we collect as a result of monitoring and evaluating our project?
How could the project be improved? What worked, what didn't, and why?

Page last updated: 22 February 2008