Glossary of terms for Development Management

R

Note: Within each definition, terms for which there are definitions elsewhere are highlighted.

Rating or positioning on a scale, a method used as part of the Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) tool box, to investigate decision-making preferences and why people make choices. Ranking processes in PRA include preference ranking (ranks items through paired comparisons), direct matrix ranking (ranks decision criteria), and wealth ranking (investigates perceptions of wealth, a rapid way of assessing the population's social strata).

Region

Coherent spatial unit above local and below national level (e.g. district, province). The characteristics of a region are homogeneity (ecologically, culturally), functional interrelations and administrative boundaries (these constitute criteria for categorisation). The size of a planning region should be small enough to allow participation and have a high degree of homogeneity; and big enough to reach many with given planning capacity and for interlinkages.

Regional planning

Regional planning aims at idebtifying interrelated measures relative to the problems within one region. The concept of integrated rural development stresses the necessity of a region as adequate intermediate unit to interlink bottom-up and top-down planning and to reach more situation-specific approaches than national sectorial planning. In comparison to community-level planning this concept allows the use of more synergetic effects and linkages.

Replicability

The likelihood of a development intervention being repeated; for example, projects should be designed to be replicated on a scale that is defined by the general problem situation.

Resource-Demand-Matrix

A tool for organising and comparing data in potentials / potentiality analysis, the resource-demand matrix interlinks resources and demanded goods in order to identify income-generation support. Resources include natural resources and labour potentials (already being utilised and un-/under-utilised). Demanded goods include those in short supply and those imported from elsewhere, but likely to be replaced by local production. The expansion potential for processing, and potentials for trade are included. Figures (quantity, quality, location, timing) used in the matrix to specify potentials do not need to be exact, but are the basis for sound professional guess-timates. The purpose of the resource demand matrix is to provide reasonable ideas for problem-solving, not to provide the basis for exact production planning. Potential sectors suggested need to be further analysed for economic and ecological viability, and social relevance/appropriateness.

Resource management

Resource Management is an approach that strives to reach sustainable natural resource utilisation through a combination of resource utilisation and resource conservation. Resource management is an integral part of a multi-sectoral and regional development approach. It is first of all a technical task, involving resource utilisation techniques which can help to make most effective and efficient use of scarce resources (e.g. soil and water conservation technology, mining technologies). The technical task is to make maximum use of the existing regenerative potentials of an eco-system instead of just extracting the outputs of eco-systems. But resource management is much more than only a technical task. It requires comprehensive, multi-sectoral, regional, participatory, target group and gender-specific approaches.

Resources

Sources for economic wealth or support. In logical frameworks planning this is a technical term used to specify the goods, items, equipment, funds, personnel and skills necessary to perform activities in a development project or -programme. In the project planning matrix (PPM) these can be listed in the two columns next to activities but appear in more detail in the Plan of Operations (PlanOps). Also loosely referred to as inputs or costs. Management has the task to allocate resources, according to budgets and plans.

Results

see Outputs/Results

Risks

See Assumptions

Role players

see Participants