Rapid assessment methodologies: a conference summary

This article presents comments which came out of a conference on rapid assessment procedures (RAP). Discussion was dominated by issues of whether RAP is a set of well-defined techniques, or an approach which is eclectic but above all participatory. Methodological pluralism - RAP is not a panacea but just one of many options - is important. A third premise is action orientation. RAP is not just a method but a catalyst for intervention or consensus building. The article also discusses methodological (issue of rapidity, balance of qualitative and quantitative techniques etc.) and institutional (training, top-down bureaucratic methods etc.)constraints and problems. There are gaps in the use of RAP: in the linking of techniques to results, between method and theory, and between the accumulated knowledge and its application. Issues concerning institutionalising RAP is the subject of the final section of the article. The journal issue also carries information on the work of IIED and RRA.