Resources

This concise list of practical hints for running a short workshop which does not include fieldwork is intended for numbers of up to 180 people. This kind of workshop might be a short introduction to PRA for people based in developed countries. The 21 tips cover every aspect, general (eg choosing a room, seating arrangements) as well as ideas for sessions on specific PRA techniques (though a basic knowledge of PRA terminology/concepts is assumed).

This article is a personal reflection by the author of his work bringing innovative participatory approaches used in the South, to countries in the North. After 10 years working for Southern organisations he became increasingly aware and uneasy of what appeared to be a "one-way PRA crusade" which assumed that the North was already participatory enough, with no room for improvement. Seven years ago he started a Northern training journey, designing and facilitating PA workshops and events in countries such as Canada, Albania, Austria, the UK, Italy, Japan, Lebanon and New Zealand. This article reflects on that journey tracing its development, difficulties and learnings through the 1990s to the present day, and concludes by looking at where it might go in the future.

Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) has a long history in development planning in less developed countries. In recent years, PLA approaches have also been promoted for participatory development planning in rural areas of industrialised countries with functioning democratic institutions. This paper draws on experiences of applying participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in a one-week planning workshop in M³hlen, Northern Germany and asks whether or nor PRA is an appropriate instrument for participatory community development in societies with functioning local democratic institutions. The authors conclude that PRA should be seen as a complementary instrument to the existing political and institutional arrangements. That while civil society actors can take over complementary responsibilities and initiatives, the local administrators and democratically elected bodies need to play a key role in order for PRA processes in community development to become successful in affluent societies.

RRAs were conducted in two local Landcare areas of Australia by the students and staff of Charles Sturt University-Riverina. The ethos of Landcare is based on "groups of people who work together to care for the land in their local area" and it was felt that a PRA/RRA approach might provide a solution to the problems faced by Landcare committees and extension workers. The paper describes the organisation and methods of the RRAs from data collection phase through to data analysis and feedback to participants. "Successful team building and goal setting" were seen as the key processes in doing an RRA. A discussion of the adaptation and applicability of the RRA methodology to the Australian context, including "institutional barriers to an RRA approach", concludes the paper.

In this introductory overview on participatory processes in the North, the authors begin by examining the transfer and spread of participatory processes, from the South to the North, where poverty still remains. It summarises the major issues arising from the articles in this special issue, as well as the threats and opportunities associated with participatory processes.

In 1996, the City of Ottowa Council was working on two land management project: the Green way System Management Plan and the Open Spaces Project. When realised, the Greenway System will link natural areas, ecological corridors, hydro corridors, parks and communities, while the Open Spaces Project plans for protected areas. The input of the community was needed for both projects and a series of community workshops were facilitated to gain insight into the various stakeholders' concern for the city's open spaces. The goal of the workshops was to better understand which green and open spaces people value, why they value them, and what their visions were for the future of these spaces. The workshops incorporated community mapping facilitated by staff from the city's Environmental Branch. Participants placed great emphasis on community/citizen action. They felt that the community should be better organised to have a voice in planning, management and operations. The results from the consultation were used to support decision-making on the direction of the projects and were used to determine the social criteria and value of Ottowa's existing natural and open spaces. The authors conclude that upon evaluation of the methods and the results of the consultation, the City should use participatory methods more often in the future.

RRA techniques are taught as part of the three month course on "Rural Research and Rural Policy" at the Institute of Development Studies, UK. This article describes two exercises that were introduced to provide practical "field" experience: an RRA of IDS and a visit to a local farm. Most of the course participants were from 'Southern' countries and the "individual exercises were conducted almost exactly as they would be in a Third World village". The differences between conducting the farm study in 'Northern' and 'Southern' countries are briefly mentioned - including the fee paid to the "Northern" farmer!