Resources

This, the key-note address at a national symposium in India, argues that planners, administrators and scientists working on watershed development are too far removed from the realities of farmers to suggest effective plans and solutions to problems. For effective (and therefore scientific) approaches, people must be central to watershed development. The paper suggests elements of a new government organization structure for watershed development, in which states must play a key role. These are specific to India and administrative structures found there.

In 1990 SPEECH carried out a PRA training workshop in Paraikulam, India. The outcome was a workplan to develop 60 acres of barren land. This four-day PRA workshop was intended to evaluate progress made, make future plans and act as a training workshop for other NGOs. Observations and recommendations on soil and water conservation were presented as past, present and future watershed plans. These plans are not in the report, some of the recommendations are.

This clear manual covers a large number of research techniques and methods commonly used in PRA. They are grouped under three categories of information gathered: spatial, temporal and social/institutional information. For each tool/technique, the following steps are explained in detail: what information can be gathered with the technique, steps in carrying out the technique and the importance of the technique. Illustrations are given of examples for each tool and an analysis is made of the sample. Once the data are gathered, the manual covers aspects of verifying them, identifying problems and opportunities and using the data for planning. The examples given come from the application of the tools in the village of Igdagmay on Antique. While the manual does not focus on soil and water conservation, it is written for rural development work in general. This is a good reference book for those wishing to use any of the techniques covered.

Article focuses on the lowest-income groups of Khartoum and their struggle to find shelter in the city. After giving an overview of housing conditions and the ways in which poorer groups find accommodation, the author describes the legal and illegal housing submarkets. He argues that understanding these is essential in order to change housing and living conditions. Discussion then turns to government attitudes toward housing problems, and the description of the development of two low-income housing areas in Khartoum. Very little emphasis is placed on participation and nowhere is PRA or RRA methodology mentioned. In the conclusions, the author states that community participation is a realistic alternative to current policies, and that low-income groups have used it successfully for a long time. The author argues that limited public resources could be best put toward supporting community-based organisations who work to improve infrastructure and basic services.

The Habitat and Health Project was implemented in 1992 by IIED-Latin America in Barrio San Jorge, a poor squatter settlement in Buenos Aires. The article describes how three preliminary focus groups were piloted to test participatory methodologies on a small scale. The aim of the focus groups was to get to know local people's perspectives on the main health and habitat problems of the barrio, and to identify local facilitators with whom the project could work. Joint progress could then be made in the design and implementation of initiatives. The results of the pilot suggested that problems of low levels of community organisation and participation were not fully overcome. An evaluation of the experience has been used to revise the strategy for the second phase of the project.

This study suggests a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the problems of environmental sanitation in urban Indonesia. The objectives were: to propose strategies for environmental sanitation which involve and capitalize on local participation; to initiate a process of consultation with local communities aimed at envisaging suitable work approaches acceptable for both beneficiaries and local government institutions. The strategies suggested by the study will be based on: 1) investigation of the behavior and perceptions of urban populations 2) improved understanding of the factors influencing individual and collective choice of water and sanitation options 3) better comprehension of how urban dwellers view the usefulness of the municipal institutions in providing water, sanitation and solid waste services as compared to services provided by the informal sector or by the households themselves 4) an understanding of how the degree of envrionmental awareness varies among groups with different socio-economic characteristics. The study is divided into two parts; first is the Rapid Urban Appraisal (RUA) in the fifteen selected kampungs, second is a detailed interview survey of 800 respondents in the 15 kampungs. This report presents the preliminary findings of the RUA only, including details of group discussions and card games used to rank people's perceptions of environmental problems confronting them.

The article describes the experience of participatory research in a squatter settlement in the Dominican Republic. The research was undertaken as part of a larger study which aimed to explore the links between urban women's changing and multiple productive roles and their health. The article summarises the qualitative participatory research, concentrating on the implications of PUA, in terms of method (what worked, and what did not), and where appropriate, substance (the urban debates uncovered in the process).