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Participatory Appraisal of CompetitiveAdvantage (PACA) differs from
traditional Local Economic Development (LED) processes in that it
emphasises local action and local actor mobilisation rather than the
usual detailed economic study and planning process. Thus a PACA is a
rapid survey of local economic opportunities and challenges combined
with implementation and action learning. Local stakeholders learn to
work together, build trust in each other and in their own communal
activities. Therefore the PACA initially tries to mobilise the local
people towards small, easily implemented LED activities.
While these small opportunities are identified and implemted,
some larger opportunities or bottlenecks that will take formal project
management are also identified and should not be ignored.
The facilitator should feed these activities that require more
formal project management to the municipality or other identified
stakeholders like a business association. Although the main body of
PACA activities only lasts five to ten days it is an ongoing process of
local activity that runs over at least a year. During this year certain
workshop formats and other LED instruments can be applied to give the
local activities more momentum, and to target new interventions.
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