The challenge of inclusion in Albania 2000. Participation in Albania: current practice, best practice and challenges for the future

This document is the result of a series of three national workshops on participation attended by over 120 people which took place in Albania between May and July 2000. Participants came from national and international NGOs, community based organisations, the Government of Albania and international donor organisations. They produced this document, not as a training manual but as an accessible reference for as wide an audience as possible. It aims to enable readers to gain a better understanding of why participation is essential to development in Albania and how it can be used within the project cycle, as well as learning about participatory approaches and methods. It also seeks to explore ways in which participatory development approaches have been applied in Albania and what the issues are in increasing their use in development. Finally it hopes to encourage organisations to find improved ways of engaging with the people they serve, and donors, government, NGOs and communities to network together to improve participation in Albania. It does this by looking at a series of challenges: of empowerment, of making reversals, of quality and good PRA, or attitude and behaviour change, of putting theory into practice, of a participatory project cycle, of inclusion in Albania, and finally, the challenge to change