A participatory organizational appraisal of ACORD

A two-day workshop was held at ACORD (Agency for Cooperation and research in Development) to introduce staff to PRA through an appraisal of their own work and organizational relationships. The aim of the workshop was to increase awareness about PRA among staff and to enable them to make informed decisions about how it could be used in ACORD programmes. It was also intended that the workshop would feed into the organization's strategic planning process. The article describes the core of the workshop where a PRA-type approach was followed and the successes and difficulties that were encountered. It was found that while certain methods worked very successfully others adapted less well to an organizational setting. There were also certain topics which needed to be explored but for which no PRA method was available.