The values-based approach has been found to be particularly useful in designing projects, and in particular collaborative projects or partnership work.
When developing a partnership, potential partners will usually have different ideas about what is worthwhile, valuable and meaningful to them. In successful project designs, these are explicitly discussed, but this step can also be easily forgotten in the rush for ‘getting a project together’.
The approach developed through the Starting from Values project was found to be particularly useful in generating discussions about values at early stages, and understanding how these link to real decisions and actions.
If you are working in an already established group, the WeValue approach can also help with strategic planning.
By taking some time to explore values and understand how they relate to specific actions, the whole group can get to know what different members think and value about aspects of the group’s work, and use this detailed articulation of a shared vision to make decisions or plan projects.
For instance, these can be used to plan actions within a project that will respond to and reinforce the shared values identified by a group as well as the legacies they would like a project to achieve.
To find out more about the Empowering Design Practices project and the ‘box’, visit the project website.