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Since time immemorial humans have been increasingly competing for natural resources. Their occurrence and access have been used to exert power and authority, influence and enact policies and decisions concerning public life, and economic and social development. From as early as 2200 BC, humans have tried to document and legalise rights to resources with the use of maps, a geographic representation of the earth that has since been considered as an authoritative reference, and accorded due (and sometimes undue) respect and credibility.

This article reports on the Operations Lifeline Sudan (OLS) Southern Sector Livestock Programme which aims to improve food security for war-affected communities in southern Sudan through improving animal health. A change in project strategy recognised as being was required, from mass vaccination to surveillance to see whether diseases re-appeared. This presented a challenge to programme staff to explain the new strategies to the communities and gain their support.

This topic pack is a resource for practitioners, students and theorists of participatory planning, and provides an introduction to the literature and contemporary thinking on this theme. It is divided into four sections: Section One discusses ideas about citizenship, participation, and governance. It traces the development of these concepts and finds that the links between citizen participation and good governance are growing stronger. Section Two looks at citizen participation in local governance planning.

This report summarises the findings of a 2-year pilot project to accompany municipal authorities and elected residents' representatives in handling the new (1998) decree for strengthened participatory local democracy in Vietnam. The project provided advice, training workshops and study tours. It was carried out in Halong, Quang Ninh Province, by national and local government bodies and with the support of the KAF. The analysis is based on a survey conducted at the end of the pilot phase. This survey and the questionnaire are attached as an annex.

This brochure was written to assist individuals and organisations in the planning and evaluation of interventions in a flexible, comprehensive and participatory manner. Comprehensive planning starts with an assessment of the problems at hand. The assessment of problems is organised around the construction of a causal model, in which individuals identify perceived problems through activities.

Recent policy initiatives focusing on local government modernisation and neighbourhood management seek to reinvigorate local democracy and ensure that government is more responsive to local needs. Such policies could mark profound changes in the way our communities are governed, but what are the practical implications? Drawing upon research findings of current practice and the authors' direct experience, this report presents an overview of the issues faced by public, private and voluntary organisations, community groups and residents engaged in neighbourhood renewal and management.

This study investigates the approach of VERC's WATSAN programme, which operates in different areas of Bangladesh. The project's aim is to achieve sanitised villages in every area it covers by the villagers themselves through a community empowerment approach. The study was therefore designed to look into questions related to water and sanitation using PRA tools.
The approach contained the following steps:
" Entry PRA to appraise the local situation of water and sanitation with the full participation of the villagers;

The overview to this special issue of PLA Notes describes a workshop in Washington, USA in November 2001 whose goal was to reclaim advocacy and citizen participation as deeper, longer-term processes of organising, consciousness raising, political empowerment and social transformation. Workshop participants shared case studies, strategies, methods and personal experiences and this issue of PLA Notes presents this shared learning.

This editorial introduces those who have contributed to this special theme of advocacy and citizen participation, and goes on to introduce some of the articles in the general section of this issue.

The objective of the study, which this report summarises, was to identify best practices in, and enhance capacity for, participatory planning, management and sustainable development at local government levels (districts, wards and villages) in Tanzania. Generalised shortcomings of the district planning process were to be highlighted along the way. A case study approach was taken, based on the experiences of the donor agencies at district level, complemented by a document review and discussions with stakeholders.