Nurick, Robert

This paper presents a range of initiatives the authors are involved in within the field of children's rights and participation. It begins by defining the rights based approach and needs based approach to development and goes on to give details of three projects. The first project is PLAN International Indonesia's training and capacity strengthening for its field staff aimed at promoting a shift towards addressing child rights in its programmes and projects.

This short article, in the tips for trainers section of the special 50th edition of PLA notes, describes a ranking line activity. This is an activity that can be used for determining local indicators of poverty and wealth, health, local environment etc. The activity involves people lining up (or placing markers on a line) in between extremes on a continuum, such as rich and poor. Ranking lines can be useful in starting off local needs assessments and health action plans, or to explore specific issues within a community.

This article looks at an accredited training programme called Regeneration through Community Assessment and Action (CAA) designed by Development Focus UK. It involves training teams of local residents and local professional workers in participatory research methods. This article particularly focuses on the development and use of coding systems in the CAA. Coding systems allow the research team to record selected characteristics of each person consulted during the CAA process in order to reveal agreement, differences, resolve conflict and ensure that all interests are represented.

The purpose of this report is to share the way in which visuals have been used in a range of development and education projects, and to try and understand some of the benefits and difficulties of using a range of visual techniques. The report concentrates on visuals created by children within the projects visited during the 20 day study. It focuses on the use of visuals for analysing and learning as well as in terms of educational and research projects which enable children to influence adult decision makers.

This paper presents the findings of a research project that examines the use of visual methods of participatory appraisal and how they are used with children in the fields of education and development. The work assesses the role and potential of visual methods for children's education and empowerment. It challenges the ideology that has elevated writing as the central most important form of visual literacy, thereby undermining and marginalising children's communication, expression of ideas and learning.

Findings from research carried out in residential communities adjacent to chemical industries in Durban. The purpose of the research was to begin the process of developing community-based quality of life indicators for monitoring and evaluating the performance of the industries. This was done using a range of participatory methods with men and women in community groups, and was part of a wider set of Local Agenda 21 activities within the city.