Some insights into training for rapid and participatory appraisal in a Northern setting

A training programme for GTZ staff ("to let them have a taste for real life application of PRA techniques") focused on an area of the Austrian Alps undergoing rapid change due to tourism and infrastructure development. The "learning insights" from doing this exercise in the North are summarized as twelve points suggesting how PRA can help in 'Northern' countries and how PRA training in the North for aid personnel can be more effective than if held in 'Northern' countries. Advantages cited include : "the transfer of a number of critical insights from the First to the Third World and vice versa" and greater involvement and awareness of the ethical issues around research when using one's own language and cultural context.