Arnstein (1996)

1. Arnstein (1996) Community Participation and Participatory Learning Peter Taylor Institute of Development Studies UK

2. In this session we will: • examine how emerging concepts and practices of participation in community development processes are both shaping, and being shaped by, concerns over a need for more transformative and participatory learning processes. • draw on cases that demonstrate the potential of such a shift for individuals, organizations, and society more widely.

3. Learning outcomes By the end of this session, you should be able to: • Describe key concepts and principles underpinning participatory approaches in community development • Reflect, critically, on how shifts towards transformative and participatory learning processes are influencing power relations and enhancing development processes • Select participatory approaches and methods for learning and action in a development process in your own context

4. Guiding questions • How do theories and practices of participation contribute to the engagement of development actors in community development processes? • How does our own identity and personal approach to learning and action influence the way in which we engage in community development processes?

5. Guiding questions • What tools and methods can be used to increase the quality and extent of participation, and so enhance the transformative potential of development interventions at the community level? • How do lessons learned from participatory learning processes in different international contexts contribute to our understanding and practice of development and poverty reduction?

6. Which of these images makes you think of participation?

7. Or these?

8. Concepts of participation, power and community development.

9. Frustrations with existing development pathways and approaches • “Development” approaches perceived as contributing to improved wellbeing for some, but perpetuating injustice, poverty, marginalisation and lack of voice for millions of others • Perceived failure of economic growth models to bring benefits to the majority • Emergence of a “knowledge society” determined and supported by assymetrical power relations • Emerging vision of a world where rights of all people are assured - civil, political, social, and rights to action citizenship – engaged in participatory and deliberative democracy

10. What do we mean by participatory development?(1) No “one definition”, but in general: • Seen as a bottom-up, people-centred approach aimed at developing the full potentials of people at the grassroots level, especially the poor and marginal social groups, through their full participation in development efforts that directly affect their lives • Belief in the value of participatory approaches in action and research,

11. What do we mean by participatory development?(2) • Linking theory with practice and action with reflection, community members are recognised for their capabilities and skills in producing unique and diverse knowledge of local conditions and promising outcomes from their actions • Starts from the premise that people know and are capable of identifying and sharing issues, analysing and learning from that analysis, and developing strategies and action to address their situation • Participatory action research (PAR) - the process of collective data collection and analysis that leads to the identification, design, implementation and evaluation of projects or programs that address local problems - plays an important role in participatory development efforts.

12. Participatory development • Seen as a way of addressing shortcomings of development, as both means and end in itself • Very variable practice (“ladders of participation”) • Often reduced to “methods” rather than praxis (practice in theory, and theory in practice) • Shifts in understandings over time (“beneficiaries” to “choosers and users” to “makers and shapers” • May still serve interests of powerful groups (problem of agency versus structure) • May offload state responsibility onto citizens • Needs to take power relations seriously • From “tyranny” to “transformation”?

13. White, 2004 “Ladders” of participation Arnstein, 1996

14. FROM: ‘beneficiary’ Project Consultation needs appraisal micro TO: citizen policy decision-making program design, implementation and evaluation macro A shift in focus on participation over time

15. Does participation support community development? • Encapsulates aspirations and dilemmas of social democracy: • Commitment to deepening and extending democratic citizenship • Regulation of that process to politically acceptable limits • The “paradox of participation” (Meagher, 2006) – “a potential route for the distribution of power” or “a means of giving a false impression of the transfer of power”? • Need for regulatory systems and bureaucracy can stifle and alienate local forms of knowledge, aspirations and concerns • Democracy as an active social and political practice requires engaged and active citizens who are informed, motivated and confident to “talk back to the state”

16. “Community participation” is complex in concept and in practice “Community can be the warmly persuasive word to describe an existing set of relationships, or the warmly persuasive word to describe an alternative set of relationships”(Williams, 1976, p66) • Community - the individual as prior to all other forms of social life? Or • Community – “rootedness, a sense of locality, identity, of interests, fraternity and co-operation and a sense of identity communally mediated”? (Plant, 1974, p.29) Individual freedom or the common good? Or something in the middle?

17. Shifting ground of “community development” • Concept has been around for a long time but highly contested • Often seen as radical, relating to transformation and empowerment • But also used to describe conservative, conformist practices and dominance over the “other” • Communities are not homogeneous entities • Cannot escape from the tensions between agency and structure • When do micro-politics (personal troubles) become macro-politics (public issues)?

18. Community development, power and politics “Central to the community development task at any given time is the relationship between agency and structure – the recognition that action is always mediated through relations of power; autonomy always constrained by the dialectics of control. This is a shifting and dynamic terrain, that generates both opportunities and constraints. The role of community development must surely be to enhance agency, but this necessitates an understanding of power and how it mediates and controls” (Shaw, 2005).

19. Key concepts emerging about power • Power: an ‘essentially contested’ concept (different approaches which don’t add up) • ‘Agency’ vs. ‘structure’ debates within social science shape views of power: • ‘agency’: people and other actors doing things to each other, holding and ‘wielding’ power; existence of free will to exert or resist power • ‘structure’: social structures, institutions, norms, determining societal power relations; limited free will to resist or change power

20. Why analyse power? What are the implications for community development? • Because power is dynamic, contextual and relational, we have to analyse power relations in order to change them. • How we understand power affects our response to power and the choices we make - analysis of power can help us choose appropriate strategies for action • But to work on and challenge all the aspects of power at once in a given strategy may be difficult and exhausting • How do we find the most effective entry points for change in a given situation? • How does one strategy for action affect other aspects of power?

21. Alternative framings of power • Alternative expressions of power (agency) power over, to, with, within • Public, Private and Intimate power • ‘Three faces of power’ visible, hidden, invisible • Power as socialised and internalised (Bourdieu and Foucault)

22. PLACES POWER Global National Invisible Local Hidden Visible Formal/ institutional Invited Claimed/ Created SPACES Gaventa, 2004)

23. Implications for strategy • Power is dynamic. Each of these dimensions of power are in constant change and inter-relationship with one another. Changes in one dimension can affect the other. • Power is contextual. Strategies for pro-poor power in one context may work for disempowerment in another. • Power is historical. Even if new institutional openings appear, historical actors learned behaviours and attitudes may still fill them • Power is relational. Those who are relatively powerless in one setting, may be more powerful in others. ‘Empowering’ actors to claim power in one space may strengthen their power over others in another space. (Gaventa, 2005)

24. Importance of identity and positionality • We need to be aware as individuals of our assumptions (about learning, about change…) and our worldviews • How can we explore the ways in which our identities, positionality and behaviour impact upon others and change the context through our own presence? • How can we access our own knowledge and communicate it in ways that go beyond the cognitive domain? • How can we juggle different roles and identities? Being an activist, researcher, worker, student, teacher, learner, as well as other identities to do with nationality, gender, race, ethnicity, age, parenthood or partnership – is complex!

25. Active communication becomes essential Jacobson, 2007

26. A need for reflexivity • In this case does not mean a “knee-jerk reaction” • Requires “learning tinged with criticality” (Brookfield, 2005) “ Reflexive learning involves us talking over with others the conflicting evidence available to us regarding whether or not things have been ordered the best way they could be in society, and whether or not corporations, bureaucracies and governments act with the best interests of the people at heart” (p. 250) • Also requires us to reflect on our own learning and action

27. Need for reflective practice • Reflective practice involves “returning to experience, attending to (or connecting with) feelings, and evaluating experience Boud, Keogh and Walker (1985) • Includes developing self-awareness of different identities and roles, and of how one’s position and perception may affect, or be affected by, cultural norms and power relations • How often do we explore our own personal values, sense of purpose and motivation, and the sources and inspirations for these in their lives? • To what extent do we, as professionals and practitioners, look self-critically at our actions? • Useful tools to help this include creative and exploratory writing, storytelling and drama, as well as analytical writing.

28. Moving to action….

29. 1970’s/80’s Rapid Rural Appraisal “Quick and Dirty” “Dev Tourism” 1980’s/90’s P-articipatory R-ural (urban) A-ppraisal 1990’s Participatory Learning and Action 2000 Beyond Participatory Development to citizens voice in policy processes; advocacy; human rights; governance; downward accountability; “Participatory Reflection and Action” Evolutions from RRA-PRA-PLA mirror emerging theory and practice of participation

30. Some important principles for participatory learning and action • A defined methodology and systemic learning process – co-creation of knowledge • Multiple perspectives are described and valued; reaching consensus is not always necessary • Group learning processes vary, but are based on dialogue, and can utilise different inputs • Context determines the approach – no blueprint • Facilitation is key to the process • Change is a natural product of the research process; capacities may need to be developed to undertake action as part of the learning process • Power relationships are critical, and consciousness of these is vital

31. PRA/PLA is… • …A growing family of approaches, methods, attitudes and behaviours to: • enable and empower people to share, analyse and enhance their knowledge of life and conditions affecting then and; • to plan, act, monitor, evaluate and reflect on their actions" • Robert Chambers 2002

32. Commonly Used Defining Principles of PLA/PRA • Seeks to catalyse reflection and analysis with and by local people through the use of visual methods, interactive processes and group learning; • An emphasis on enabling people to speak up and out • Focus on iterative learning, between and among local people and those from outside; • An explicit concern with quality of interaction: stress on personal values attitudes & behavior as a prerequisite for effective work

33. Commonly Used Defining Principles of PLA/PRA • The use of open ended, adaptable, visual methods within a flexible learning process rather than the use of a sequence of specific methods for pre-determined ends; • A commitment to generating knowledge for action (rather than simply for understanding) and to addressing tangible, do-able action plans for immediate or intermediate follow-up

34. Initial consultations Capacity building & organizing for the process Preliminary visits & building relationship among actors Planning & publicizing the process Doing the PLA exercise-data gathering, analysis & synthesis Drawing action plans & proposals Consolidating action plans in to work plans or strategic plans Resource mobilizing for supporting the plans Feed back & implementation scheduling Implementation Participatory Monitoring –continuous Participatory Evaluation –periodic Participatory Impact Assessment Some Steps For Initiating a Participatory Process

35. Spatial Mapping Transects Time Historical profile/timeline Trends & changes Seasonal calendars Activity Profiles Livelihood Analysis Mobility maps Well-being Ranking Access & control profile Proportional piling/Pie charts Institutions Analysis Venn diagram Semi Structured Interview (SSI) FGD Drama & role plays Planning Ranking and Matrix Scoring Problem Analysis Gender Analysis Matrix Community Action Plan budgeting Visioning & setting of indicators Project Proposals Implementation schedules Community Contracts Participatory video SOME PLA METHODS AND TOOLS

36. Case Story – Kyrgyzstan, 2001-present • Central Asia, bordering China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan • Following collapse of Soviet Union, formerly collectivised land offered for individual ownership by farmers • “Collective management” moves to “entrepreneurship” • “Farming” becomes a profession • Aspiring farmers need to learn how to manage farming systems • Education institutions need to help them learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need • How to approach this complex task?

37. What happened? • In January 2001, Helvetas-Kyrgyzstan started an experimental Agricultural Vocational Education Project (AVEP) on professional training of men and women farmers in two schools in Naryn oblast. An important first step in the project was to define the competence profile of a farmer. • A farmer needs a range of skills, abilities and special knowledge in order to carry out the practical activities of farming. These skills and knowledge were identified to prepare a competence profile - the starting point for developing a curriculum for vocational training for farmers, including teaching and learning materials. • Based on a process of “participatory curriculum development”

38. Why a competence profile? • To analyse the current situation of farms in Naryn oblast (structure,products, market, production calendar, main problems, potentials, resources). • To enumerate all skills and knowledge which are needed for farming in Naryn. • To clarify levels of education needed (farm labourer, farmer, master farmer) and skills and knowledge desirable for each level. Information came from:1. Local farmers (from small and big farms) in villages in the catchment area for the school.2. People from different generations (old and young).3. Male and female.

39. How did they make the profile? • Interviewing (school working groups were trained in basic interviewing skills). • Participatory rural appraisal methodology with family groups on their farms, with all outputs discussed collectively. Method used include: • introductions • transect walk (around the farm, taking photos, including a photo of the family) • farm profile/mapping (a big sketch on paper by the family) • seasonal skills profile (making a chart of who does what, when, who needs to learn more) • product ranking (listed and ranked on importance to cash, and overall) • problem ranking (informants listed and ranked five most important problems) • vision (the family draws its future farm and says what will be the main products, problems solved, what is done by whom, what skills they will have)

40. What next? • Competence profile used as the basis for a completely new curriculum • Profile and curriculum validated by those engaged in sharing their views and subsequently revised • Teachers received methodological training to help them develop their own skills for facilitation of learning and teaching • “Experimental” classes offered in a few schools, and gradually increased to a wider geographical coverage

41. Lessons learned? • High level of appreciation from students, teachers, and members of local farming communities – empowerment through ownership of learning process – shifts in micro-politics of learning and change • Challenges from institutionalising approach within Government vocational education and training system; funding and resource difficulties – harder to shift macro-politics of learning and change • Sufficiently long project durations and intensive training and coaching of the community members are needed to help them develop their own participatory behaviour

43. Some conclusions from the Kyrgyz story • Finding the “optimal” level for participation is very difficult – determined by context, expectations, levels of trust and relationship building, and acceptance of both rights and responsibilities that come with participation • Guidance, coaching, mentoring are all critical as part of a wider learning process. These take time, and effort • Need to find a balance between achieving quick results and moving on at the learning speed of the community members • “Handing over” a process is a crucial stage – too early, and people may not be confident enough; too late, and dependency on an external project may have been established • Participation needs to take place at all levels, in a sustained way, if power relations and hierarchies are to be challenged • Participation is not neutral; champions and saboteurs can both make a difference! • With participation comes need for accountability – from all sides

44. Method example - Venn Diagram-Institutions Analysis • A Venn Diagram is a tool used to identify and analyse institutions, relationships, using symbols or circles (objects) of varying sizes to represent individuals,groups or organizations and their perceived importance by a community or a given group of people. • The size of the symbols/objects or circles indicates their perceived importance • The positioning – overlapping, touching or separate – indicates their degree of interactions. • The diagram can thus illustrate the relationships between several different institutions and the community – and provide entry point for discussing ways of improving relationships between such institutions. • Example from a PLA exercise in a Nigerian village to identify ways in which community members could engage more actively with the State

45. Women doing Venn Diagramming inBohar Village –Nigeria April 2001

47. Outcomes from the Nigerian village case • The institutions analysis diagramming and presentation revealed that the church, traditional leaders and the school were perceived as the most important institutions • “..the church is where we meet to pray to our God to help us…we sing, play and fellowship together…even when the government forgets you God cannot”, one of the youths remarked.

48. Broken Promises • All the groups considered the politicians and political parties as the least important. • “They do not fulfil their promises and they also sell off our contracts once approved by the government. They are corrupt”. • Discussion on the outcomes revealed that the politicians only come to the village during elections (seeking for our votes).

49. Learning & Action • The villagers agreed to mobilise themselves to forward their complaints to the government about the practices by the politicians. • The church and the Youth Association were given the task to mobilise and sensitise the people on their rights and to call on the government for change. • Through the discussions the community members saw the importance of being organised in order to speak with one voice and realise their development needs.

50. More Lessons & Challenges • The exercise also revealed that; • women and the youth were better organised in functional groups that helped them in addressing their basic needs. • YMCA (the convenor of the PLA exercise) was missing in all the Venn diagrams. • Attempts by a YMCA representative to have the youth to put YMCA in the Venn diagram were rejected. • “We have never heard of YMCA so putting it in our diagram would be wrong” . • YMCA was advised to organise for a public meetings with the community to introduce themselves and their mission.