Participatory approaches in government bureaucracies: facilitating the process of institutional change

This paper examines why a growing number of government bureaucracies are attempting to develop and integrate participatory research and development approaches into their programme activities. Using a conceptual model of the institutional learning and training cycle, it analyses the experiences of three large public agencies in Sri Lanka, Kenya and the Philippines which have made significant progress towards building internal capacity to employ participatory approaches effectively and facilitate the process of institutional change. The training of agency personnel has played an important role in these transformations. It suggests that to have lasting impact training must be viewed as part of a broader process of institutional learning. The paper concludes with ten key elements necessary for institutionalising participatory approaches within public agencies.