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WWW PARTICIPATORY
APPROACH
(What, Why, Who)
Which of these images makes you
think of participation?
Or these?
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Frustrations with existing development
pathways and approaches
Development approaches perceived as contributing to improved
wellbeing for some, but perpetuating injustice, poverty,
marginalisation and lack of voice for millions of others
Perceived failure of economic growth models to bring benefits to the
majority
Emergence of a knowledge society determined and supported by
assymetrical power relations
Emerging vision of a world where rights of all people are assured -
civil, political, social, and rights to action citizenship engaged in
participatory and deliberative democracy
What do we mean by participatory
development?(1)
No one definition, but in general:
Seen as a bottom-up, people-centred approach
aimed at developing the full potentials of
people at the grassroots level, especially the
poor and marginal social groups, through their
full participation in development efforts that
directly affect their lives
Belief in the value of participatory approaches
in action and research,
Linking theory with practice and action with reflection,
community members are recognised for their capabilities and
skills in producing unique and diverse knowledge of local
conditions and promising outcomes from their actions
Starts from the premise that people know and are capable of
identifying and sharing issues, analysing and learning from
that analysis, and developing strategies and action to
address their situation
Participatory action research (PAR) - the process of collective
data collection and analysis that leads to the identification,
design, implementation and evaluation of projects or
programs that address local problems - plays an important
role in participatory development efforts.
What do we mean by participatory
development?(2)
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Participatory development
Seen as a way of addressing shortcomings of
development, as both means and end in itself
Very variable practice (ladders of participation)
Often reduced to methods rather than praxis
(practice in theory, and theory in practice)
Shifts in understandings over time (beneficiaries to
choosers and users to makers and shapers
May still serve interests of powerful groups (problem
of agency versus structure)
May offload state responsibility onto citizens
Needs to take power relations seriously
From tyranny to transformation?
So what is public
involvement/participation?
Both the definition and degree of participation are directly
attached to
the concept of democracy - representative/participative,
citizenship
the role of the State - centralized/decentralized
the role of the local authorities
linked to the notion of power
Public involvement can be treated from three different
perspectives:
Democracy
Local development
Management
A shift in focus on participation
over time
FROM:
beneficiary
Project
Consultation
needs appraisal
micro
TO:
citizen
policy
decision-making
program design, implementation
and evaluation
macro
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Does participation support
community development?
Encapsulates aspirations and dilemmas of social democracy:
Commitment to deepening and extending democratic citizenship
Regulation of that process to politically acceptable limits
The paradox of participation (Meagher, 2006) a potential route for the
distribution of power or a means of giving a false impression of the
transfer of power?
Need for regulatory systems and bureaucracy can stifle and alienate
local forms of knowledge, aspirations and concerns
Democracy as an active social and political practice requires
engaged and active citizens who are informed, motivated and
confident to talk back to the state
Community participation is
complex in concept and in practice
Community can be the warmly persuasive word to describe an
existing set of relationships, or the warmly persuasive word to
describe an alternative set of relationships (Williams, 1976, p66)
Community - the individual as prior to all other forms of social life?
Or
Community rootedness, a sense of locality, identity, of interests,
fraternity and co-operation and a sense of identity communally
mediated? (Plant, 1974, p.29)
Individual freedom or the common good? Or something in the
middle?
Shifting ground of community
development
Concept has been around for a long time but highly
contested
Often seen as radical, relating to transformation and
empowerment
But also used to describe conservative, conformist
practices and dominance over the other
Communities are not homogeneous entities
Cannot escape from the tensions between agency and
structure
When do micro-politics (personal troubles) become macro-
politics (public issues)?
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Public involvement and
democracy
Participation should empower people at the lower levels.
Participation, when seen as supervision and influence over authority,
as well as helping authority solve social issues, is thus brought into
the foreground.
Local development, by definition, is based on the initiative and active
participation of citizens inhabiting a specific territory. I
Inhabitants are included into the decision-making process in order to
better recognize the needs and the priorities of the community and to
increase the credibility of the institution in the citizens' eyes.
Finally, the role of participation is to increase the efficiency of the
undertaken activities and to build a stronger social base for the
authority.
Why people should be involved
The main purpose of public participation is to improve
decision-making, by ensuring that decisions are
soundly based on evidence
influenced by the views and experience of those affected
by them
innovative and creative options are considered
new arrangements are workable and acceptable to the
public
everybody joining: be selective with actors, they should
reflect the right interest;
Why people should be involved
What public participation is NOT about
everybody joining: be selective with actors, they should
reflect the right interest;
everybody deciding: make clear what the responsibilities
are for whom;
losing control: do organize it well, clear and strategically
achieving consensus at all expenses: be prepared that the
outcome of public participation will be a compromise
between the wishes of several actors and that the extent of
the process is often limited by time or budget
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Key potential benefits that can result
from public participation
which are not mutually exclusive, are as follows:
increased public awareness of environmental issues as well as the
environmental situation in the related areas
increased trust between parties involved in the process of remediation
use of knowledge, experience and initiatives of the different
stakeholders and thus improved quality of plans and management
of issues related to sustainable development
public acceptance, commitment and support with regard to decision
taking processes
more transparent and more creative decision making
less litigation, misunderstandings, fewer delays and more effective
implementation
social learning and experience
Some important principles for
participatory learning and action
A defined methodology and systemic learning process co-creation of
knowledge
Multiple perspectives are described and valued; reaching consensus is
not always necessary
Group learning processes vary, but are based on dialogue, and can
utilise different inputs
Context determines the approach no blueprint
Facilitation is key to the process
Change is a natural product of the research process; capacities may
need to be developed to undertake action as part of the learning
process
Power relationships are critical, and consciousness of these is vital
Who should be involved
Typical stakeholders types/classes include:
Professionals public and private sector organizations,
professional voluntary groups
professional NGOs, social, economic, environmental
local authorities and government departments
statutory agencies
conservation groups
business, industry
insurance groups
academia
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The specific issue of non-organized
individual citizens
It is not a problem (usually) to involve organized citizens, e.g.
from political parties, associations, NGOs etc.
It is much more difficult to address and to mobilize the
unorganized ordinary' citizens.
It can be also observed a category of professional citizens who
participate in several processes at the same time and at
different scales, regional and local.
Paradoxically, the effort to integrate citizens into the decision-
making process and increase its legitimacy can miss its target.
In an open process every citizen is invited to take part. It may
happen that unorganized persons participate that do not
represent group interests, but are very welcome in general.
Grundtvig Workshop Public Engagement in Management of Environmental Project
Rmnicu Vlcea 31 May 7 June 2011
Grundtvig Workshop Public Engagement in Management of Environmental Project
Rmnicu Vlcea 31 May 7 June 2011
Who should be involved
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Instruments of public participation - I
Local referendum
Joint planning
An advisory group is a collection of individuals who bring unique
knowledge and skills which complement the knowledge and skills of the
authorities in order to more effectively govern the planning process.
Negotiation is most effective before polarization. It is specially useful in
informal situations to resolve differences among parties, avoid engaging a
broader group with local disputes, or address several aspects of a dispute
simultaneously.
Mediation has a special and distinctive use: it is generally employed when
a process has reached an impasse or major breakdown.
Arbitration is especially used for controversial or complex projects. Then a
third party, professional arbitrator is asked to hear the case from both
sides, make inquiries, and render a decision that may favor one side or the
other or some compromise
Instruments of public participation - II
Consultation Meetings, or the gathering
Specific types of meetings:
public hearing
workshop
retreat
open house is an informal setting in which people get information about a plan or
project
Citizens feedback
Information delivering information to citizens on future or ongoing
projects
It is difficult to produce a guide in which techniques are matched to
type of process.
The final choice will depend on a number of factors, including:
the purpose of engagement legal requirements for engagement who is to be
engaged
the social environment in which engagement is being carried out (political, social,
cultural factors)
available resources such as money, time and skills
Some Steps For Initiating a
Participatory Process
Initial consultations
Capacity building &
organizing for the process
Preliminary visits &
building relationship
among actors
Planning & publicizing the
process
Doing the PLA exercise-
data gathering, analysis &
synthesis
Drawing action plans &
proposals
Consolidating action plans
in to work plans or strategic
plans Resource mobilizing
for supporting the plans
Feed back &
implementation scheduling
Implementation
Participatory Monitoring
continuous
Participatory Evaluation
periodic
Participatory Impact
Assessment
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Principles of effective engagement
INCLUSIVENESS
TRANSPARENCY, OPENNESS AND CLARITY
INDEPENDENCE
COMMITMENT
ACCESSIBILITY
ACCOUNTABILITY
RESOURCING
PRODUCTIVITY
Challenges as you work in local
communities
What are optimal levels of participation for what purpose?
What form of participation in what context?
How to understand and take into account power relations?
How to link to, or combine with, other methodological
approaches?
How to avoid fake participation and to avoid co-option,
especially when scaling-up?
How to support people to participate in ways that will lead to
positive change?