Resources

This book describes a grassroots approach to empowering people for democratic social change. It explains participatory research using exemplarly case studies on community organizing, femist theory and ecological movements from a range of locations in North America. It challenges the relevance and validity of academic social science research.

Typologies for participation: the economic rationale for government involvement and the definition and classification of stakeholders.

The article describes work in a Malian village in the context of the process of government decentralisation. Villagers used venn diagrams and other methods to analyse local institutions, sketch organisational solutions to find ways of getting their priorities incorporated into local government and community action.

Based on experiences from Egypt this paper examines the role of PRA in enabling and encouraging effective participation, particularly among the poor and disadvantaged.

Participatory action research approaches have been developed and applied in four main areas: 1) participatory research in community development, 2) action research in organizations, 3) action research in schools, and 4) farmer participatory research. This book gives details of how, where and for what purpose PAR approaches are being used and discusses the role of the researhcer and implications for social chance of each approach.

Draft report of a Consumer Consultative Survey carried out by Andhra Pradesh Energy Efficiency Project (APEEP). The study used PRA methods, amongst others, to assess the behavioural aspects of power use by rural consumers, their attitudes towards various aspects of rural power supply and to determine the impact of the project in reducing power losses and improving supply. The critical issues arising from the study and their policy implications are summarised.

Field observations have led many people to believe that beneficiary participation in decision making can contribute greatly to the success of development projects. When people influence or control the decisions that affect them, they have a greater stake in the outcome and will work harder to ensure success. But the evidence supporting this reasoning is qualitative so that many practictioners remain skeptical. Three questions need to be addressed: to what degree does participation contribute to project effectiveness? which beneficiary and agency characteristics foster the process? and, if participation does benefit project outcomes, how can it be encouraged through policy and project design? To answer these questions, researchers studied evaluations of 121 completed rural water supply projects in forty-nine developing countries around the world. The results show that beneficiary participation contributes significantly to project effectiveness, even after statistically controlling for the effects of 17 other factors. The basic conclusion of this study is that rural water projects must be fundamentally redesigned in order to reach the one billion rural poor who lack a sustainable water supply. Redesign must encompass a shift from supply-driven planning to demand-responsive, participatory approaches to ensure beneficiary participation, control, and ownership.