Participatory Research and Development
Very briefly, we wish to outline what we mean when we talk about participatory research and development.
We worked in Africa from the late 1980s at the very beginning of Participatory Research and Development (or Participatory Rural Appraisal, Participatory Technology Development, etc.) and were involved in its application and development as a methodology.
It has been transferred from Third World to First World and much has been lost in translation. In many situations, participatory techniques and methods are being used in name only and the spirit and meaning of them are absent. Without entering into a critique of current usage, many incidences of participatory approaches are ill understood and poorly applied.
Participatory approaches intend to create a process of critical appraisal and reflection amongst those involved. They are used predominantly, but not exclusively, with marginalised or disadvantaged communities, as it is these groups who have often been voiceless and less familiar with vocalising their needs and concerns to decision makers.
The method or technique is less important than the realisation that what is trying to be brought to the surface is meaning. Whether it is a semi-structured interview, a focus group, a community walk-about or map making, the objective is to engage in a critical discussion about the 'whys' and 'hows' of participants' behaviour; to look for explanation rather than description.
Participatory development takes this one step further, where participants lead the project process, with input from external agencies, not vice versa. This culminates in participatory evaluation and the re-start of the project cycle (design, implementation, evaluation).
We have carried out extensive work around the issues of participatory research, development and evaluation. Most recently we have carried out a participatory evaluation of a public arts regeneration programme and designed an applied masters module on participatory appraisal and resource management.
We have outlined our thoughts in detail on participatory appraisal in the following set of notes.