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This journal article presents a case study of the Social Forestry Support Programme in Vietnam, in which Participatory Curriculum Development (PCD) plays a fundamental part. Beginning with stakeholder identification and analysis, PCD provides an overall framework for educational development. Recognising constraints associated with the process, the paper describes strategies aimed at capacity building, management of stakeholder involvement and planning and evaluation. As different stakeholders learn to learn together through discourse and interaction, the chances of sustainable outcomes from the PCD process should be improved. The dynamic and flexible nature of PCD suggests that there is considerable potential for its adaptation and application in a range of different contexts.

This note describes the use of force-field analysis, a technique originally used to analyze the forces which keep an institution in its present state. It was used in a modified form in two projects - a non-formal education project in Bangladesh and an urban environmental project in India - to provide a way of drawing staff and stakeholders into the planning process, defining possible objectives and how to attain them. It was found to be a useful way of involving different people in the analysis of objectives and how they can be achieved.

This book is the outcome of a workshop on participation organised by Duryog Nivaran, a South-Asian network of individuals and organisations concerned with large scale disruptions in society due either to natural disasters or conflicts. This introductory chapter gives a glimpse of papers included in the above book. The papers come from a group who have not only encountered the notion of participation in different capacities but have also understood it in different ways. Four of the seven papers included in the book look at participation primarily in the context of development and development projects; two of the papers look at the link between participation and political process at the macro level and raise questions about the relationship between development projects and political processes in wider society. Finally, one paper attempts to straddle these two worlds. The book contends that it is important to promote healthy critical debates on the concept and the experience of participation in various contexts. However, the emergence of participation as a new development orthodoxy needs to be questioned.

This paper examines the relationship between RRA and the theory and practice of development, and asks how it contributes to a new paradigm. It begins with an overview of the history of western thought as it relates to the origins of the conventional (evolutionary, unilineal, positivistic) development paradigm. It then sketches alternative paradigms which question notions of progress and change. They suggest alternative understandings of 'systems' and action, leading to recognition of the potential roles of local people in applying their own knowledge in determining their own development, and the need for learning processes in development activities. These processes are increasingly seen as determined by their context. RRA is suited to responding to the needs and opportunities inherent in this new paradigm in many ways. Although realising this potential depends on the acceptability of information generated by RRA to decision-makers, questions of data validity are not always relevant: openness and multiplicity of feedback circuits compensate for small sample sizes and rapidity. RRA can also facilitate dialogue and has the potential to change practitioners as well as 'objects' of development. Thus in the right situation, RRA can be a valuable supplement to conventional research methods - if done well - but should not replace them.

This report presents the results of a PRA focusing on natural resources management in Kenya. It contains descriptions of historical background on the locality, natural resources, water and soil conservation, agricultural practices, discussions of key social issues and infrastructure (health and education) and analysis of institutions and local leadership. Problems and opportunities are identified, and a village resource management plan was devised. Action by the community and other actors as a result of the PRA is discussed, and some problems in implementation are noted. The report ends with reflections on PRA and the participatory planning process. Positive reflections include enabling the community to undertake their own analysis, promoting an integrated view of development, and development of the village plan. Problems included insufficient participation by marginal groups and by women, and the feeling that PRA is inappropriate to statistical analysis.

This paper is about the use of various methodologies such as PRA, basic communication skills, mediated learning experience and log frame in developing a community and group action plans. The use of these tools in the context of child support programmes, which aim at enhancing the development, survival, protection participation of children, are discussed. Redd Barna Uganda's experience in using a mix and match method and the process involved in it are explained. The complementarity between log frame and PRA methods, especially in the development of a community action plan after the local situational analysis is done, is emphasised for widening the scope of PRA. Questions are raised on some of the key issues, such as how to sustain community participation in the long run.