Fact sheet: What makes a good vision?

This fact sheet provides an outline of what makes a good vision (and what doesn’t)

Key elements of a good vision

• Inspirational – it should give people real hope for the future and inspire them to be part of making it a reality

• Ambitious – it’s good to be ambitious as there is real energy within communities that shows that people can make significant changes for the better

• Realistic – but we need to be realistic as well and know what is within our scope for influence

• Creative – there’s nothing like communities for being creative about achieving our ambitions – community-led action plans don’t need to be bound by bureaucracy and can test out fresh and interesting projects and initiatives

• Descriptive – a vision should be broad but at the same time detailed enough that everyone who reads it knows what we’re trying to achieve

• Clear – it should be clear in its language and should be jargon-free

• Ideal period of time – it should identify what the timescales are for achieving real progress

What it’s not

• A mission statement – mission statements are much more detailed descriptions of how you’re going to reach your vision

• A work plan – this is what your detailed action plan is for

• A dream – it’s much more practical than that, and should be rooted in reality as well as ambition