Partecipation  Methods and Tools

 

Development practitioners use a wide variety of different methods, tailored to different tasks and situations, to support participatory development. This Appendix, set up as a reference guide, introduces the reader to ten methods that have been used in different development situations to achieve various objectives. These include: workshop-based and community-based methods for collaborative decisionmaking, methods for stakeholder consultation, and methods for incorporating participation and social analysis into project design.

The methods are first introduced in a matrix; then each is briefly described, including background, a stepbystep description, suggested further readings, and an example. Each method is compared and contrasted with the others and their advantages and disadvantages noted to help Task Managers choose those most useful to them. A glossary of available tools, many of which are components of the methods, follows the summaries. More details on both the methods and the tools can be found in the forthcoming Environment Department Paper Methods and Tools for Social Assessment and Participation.

Reading about participatory techniques will familiarize Bank staff and others with terminology and context, but learning from one's colleagues who have experience with these methods and tools is also helpful. Readers can call the Environment Department's Social Policy Division (ENVSP) to obtain an uptodate list of Bank staff and consultants who are well versed in these methods and tools.

 

Types of Methods

Workshop-Based Methods

Collaborative decisionmaking often takes place in the context of stakeholder workshops. Sometimes called "action-planning workshops," they are used to bring stakeholders together to design development projects. The purpose of such workshops is to begin and sustain stakeholder collaboration and foster a "learningbydoing" atmosphere. A trained facilitator guides stakeholders, who have diverse knowledge and interests, through a series of activities to build consensus. AppreciationInfluenceControl (AIC), Objectives-Oriented Project Planning (ZOPP), and TeamUp are three such methods.

Community-Based Methods

In many projects, Task Managers and project staff leave government centers and board rooms to undertake participatory work with local communities. Task Managers work with trained facilitators to draw on local knowledge and begin collaborative decisionmaking. In such settings, local people are the experts, whereas outsiders are facilitators of the techniques and are there to learn. The techniques energize people, tap local knowledge, and lead to clear priorities or action plans. Two such techniques (see Appendix I), participatory rural appraisal and SARAR (an acronym based on five attributes the approach seeks to build: selfesteem, associative strength, resourcefulness, action planning, and responsibility) use local materials and visual tools to bridge literacy, status, and cultural gaps.

Methods For Stakeholder Consultation

Beneficiary Assessment (BA) and Systematic action sponsor/beneficiary Consultation (SCC) are techniques that focus on listening and consultation among a range of stakeholder groups. BA has been used throughout World Bank regions, in both projects and participatory poverty assessments (PPAs). SCC, which is used primarily by the Bank's Africa Region, is a set of related techniques intended to obtain action sponsor/beneficiary feedback and to make development interventions more responsive to demand. Both methods intend to serve action sponsors/beneficiaries better by making donors and service providers aware of action sponsor/beneficiary priorities, preferences, and feedback.

Methods for Social Analysis

Social factors and social impacts, including gender issues, should be a central part of all development planning and action, rather than "addons" that fit awkwardly with the universe of data to be considered. Social Assessment (SA) and Gender Analysis (GA) are methods that inorganizational participation and social analysis into the project design process. These methods are also carried out in country economic and sector work to establish a broad framework for participation and identify priority areas for social analysis. Such methods evolved to meet the need to pay systematic attention to certain issues that traditionally had been overlooked by development planners. The SA methodology, which is described in this Appendix, has been designed specifically to assist Bank staff and reflects Bank procedures.

Using the Methods Well

It would be misleading to claim that any tools or methods are inherently participatory or that they spontaneously encourage ownership and innovation among stakeholders. The participants in development planning and action-the users of these methods and tools-must be the ones who encourage and enable participation. The tools themselves facilitate learning, preparation, and creative application of knowledge. They make it easier for Task Managers and borrowers who are committed to participation to collaborate with a broad range of stakeholders in the selection, design, and implementation of development projects. These same methods, however, can also be implemented in a "top-down" manner, which merely pays lip service to participation. The ultimate responsibility for using these methods well, therefore, rests with the users and facilitators.

Collaborative Decisionmaking: Workshop-Based Methods

Appreciation-Influence-Control (AIC)

AIC is a workshop-based technique that encourages stakeholders to consider the social, political, and cultural factors along with technical and economic aspects that influence a given project or policy. AIC helps workshop participants identify a common purpose, encourages to recognize the range of stakeholders relevant to that purpose, and creates an enabling forum for stakeholders to pursue that purpose collaboratively. Activities focus on building appreciation through listening, influence through dialogue, and control through action.

Objectives-Oriented Project Planning (ZOPP)

ZOPP is a project planning technique that brings stakeholders to workshops to set priorities and plan for implementation and monitoring. The main output of ZOPP workshops is a project planning matrix. The purpose of ZOPP is to undertake participatory, objectives-oriented planning that spans the life of project or policy work, while building stakeholder team commitment and capacity with a series of workshops.

TeamUp

TeamUp builds on ZOPP but emphasizes team building. TeamUP uses a computer software package (PC/TeamUP) that guides stakeholders through team-oriented research, project design, planning, implementation, and evaluation. It enables teams to undertake participatory, objectives-oriented planning and action, while fostering a "learning-by-doing" atmosphere.

Strengths

• Encourages "social learning"
• Promotes ownership
• Produces a visual matrix of project plan
• Stakeholders establish rules of the game
• Stakeholders establish working relationships

Avoiding Potential Pitfalls

• Completed matrices should not be considered unchangeable.
• Workshops should be part of a plan that involves all stakeholders.
• Not all stakeholders are comfortable in workshop settings.
• Measures should be taken to give voice to less experienced public speakers.
• Choice of workshop location should be accessible to local stakeholders.
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Collaborative Decisionmaking: Community-Based Methods

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

PRA is a label given to a growing family of participatory approaches and methods that emphasize local knowledge and enable local people to do their own appraisal, analysis, and planning. PRA uses group animation and exercises to facilitate information sharing, analysis, and action among stakeholders. Although originally developed for use in rural areas, PRA has been employed successfully in a variety of settings. The use of PRA enables development practitioners, government officials, and local people to work together on context-appropriate programs.

SARAR

This participatory approach, geared specifically to the training of local trainers/facilitators, builds on local knowledge and strengthens local capacity to assess, prioritize, plan, create, organize, and evaluate. The five attributes promoted by SARAR are: self-esteem, associative strengths, resourcefulness, action planning, and responsibility. SARAR's purpose is to (a) provide a multisectoral, multilevel approach to team building through training, (b) encourage participants to learn from local experience rather than from external experts, and (c) empower people at the community and agency levels to initiate action.

Strengths

• Based on interactive, often visual tools that enable participation regardless of literacy level
• Demystifies research and planning processes by drawing on everyday experience
• Participants feel empowered by their participation and the sense that their contributions are valued.

Avoiding Potential Pitfalls

• PRA or training alone does not provide local communities with decisionmaking authority or input into project management. These features must be built into the project.
• These techniques generate positive energy, which will quickly subside if it is not channeled into actual tasks and programs.
• Trained facilitators are necessary to guide and synthesize these exercises.

   

Methods for Stakeholder Consultation

Beneficiary Assessment (BA)

BA is a systematic investigation of the perceptions of beneficiaries and other stakeholders to ensure that their concerns are heard and inorganizationald into project and policy formulation. BA's general purposes are to (a) undertake systematic listening to "give voice" to poor and other hard-to-reach beneficiaries, thereby highlighting constraints to beneficiary participation and (b) obtain feedback on development interventions.

Systematic action sponsor/beneficiary Consultation (SCC)

SCC refers to a group of methods used to improve communication among Bank staff, direct and indirect beneficiaries and stakeholders of Bank-financed projects, government agencies, and service providers so projects and policies are more demand-driven. SCC intends to (a) undertake systematic listening to action sponsors/beneficiaries' attitudes and preferences, (b) devise a process for continuous communication, and (c) act on the findings by incorporating action sponsor/beneficiary feedback into project design and procedures.

Strengths

• Systematic listening and consultation requires lengthier, repeated, and more meaningful interactions among stakeholders.
• BA and SCC are field-based, requiring project or program managers or their representatives to travel to communities and to become more aware of the realities of the field.

Avoiding Potential Pitfalls

• Listening and consultation alone do not lead to increased capacity or facilitation of action sponsor/beneficiary participation in decisionmaking or action.
• The effectiveness of these techniques often rests with the ability of the managers and their representatives to "translate" action sponsor/beneficiary needs and demands into operationally meaningful terms and activities.

Methods for Social Analysis

Social Assessment (SA)

SA is the systematic investigation of the social processes and factors that affect development impacts and results. Objectives of SA are to (a) identify key stakeholders and establish the appropriate framework for their participation, (b) ensure that project objectives and incentives for change are appropriate and acceptable to beneficiaries, (c) assess social impacts and risks, and (d) minimize or mitigate adverse impacts.

Gender Analysis (GA)

GA focuses on understanding and documenting the differences in gender roles, activities, needs, and opportunities in a given context. GA involves the disaggregation of quantitative data by gender. It highlights the different roles and learned behavior of men and women based on gender attributes, which vary across culture, class, ethnicity, income, education, and time; thus, GA does not treat women as a homogenous group nor gender attributes as immutable.

Strengths

• These methods provide a process for building information into plans and plans into action.
• Systematic social analysis identifies what communities think they need and sets up ways to communicate this back to implementing agencies.
• Flexible framework of GA and SA allows design to be consistent with project or policy components and goals.

Avoiding Potential Pitfalls

• Data collection and analysis must be focused on priority issues, rather than being general data collection exercises that are not necessarily tied to project or policy concerns.
• Involving experienced local consultants from a variety of disciplines builds in-country capacity for actionable social analysis.
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