Early factors affecting sustainability

Some factors affecting sustainability may go back to when a group was first formed. Three in particular are:

1. Vision
   The group thinks through what it wants to achieve and draws up ideas of how to achieve it. Once this has been agreed it can be hard to change even if the original vision was flawed or duplicates other work
2. People
   The people that come together to form a group each bring their own strengths, ideas, skills, contacts and experiences. Unfortunately they also bring weaknesses, prejudices and attitudes or beliefs. The precise combination of strengths and weaknesses can either reinforce or reduce the viability of the organisation.
3. Structure
   Decisions on a legal structure are often made at a comparatively early stage. Unfortunately since these decisions have an effect on how the group operates they can also affect the organisation’s long-term viability. While it is possible to change a legal structure it can be a very difficult and time-consuming process.

Other Critical Factors

There are many more areas that affect sustainability in addition to those already mentioned. They include:

This is a summary of a report prepared by the CRIB Project entitled “Towards Sustainability”. This summary was first printed in the March edition of Grapevine. A full copy of the report can be downloaded from here.