Participatory practitioners for change: second meeting at Charney Manor, 26-27 October 2004

This is the report from the second meeting of a group of participatory practitioners in the UK looking at the history of participatory approaches in the UK. At the first meeting, the focus was on participatory appraisal. The group agreed a list of shared principles of participatory approaches, listing key issues such as empowerment, learning, inclusivity, critical reflection and ethics. The group also identified key issues that concerned the group, including guidelines for commissioners, action learning sets, regional networks and pulling together lessons learnt around good practice. The purpose of the second meeting was to take forward the discussions from the first meeting and re-evaluate the action plan that had been devised. The key issues of discussion where what is the function of the group? What makes the group æmovers and shakersÆ? And what are the obstacles facing the group? The meeting concluded with a revised action plan, and a concern for where long term funding for the group would come from.