Resources

Using focus group discussions and key informant interviews this study examines the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and practitioners' understanding of participatory development and the way in which it is implemented. The researcch reveals that often the implementation of participation is limited to simply 'involving' local people at various stages in a project. Constraints limiting participation at the empowerment end of the continuum are identified and recommendations made.

Guide to participatory research that provides information regarding strategies, methods and resources used by practicing participatory researchers to mobilise communities around gathering and producing popular knowledge. The report begins with a presentation of case studies from around the USA of various participatory research projects.
Following this are do's, don'ts and maybe's regarding amongst other issues, power relations, building community and group alliances and diversity, getting information out, starting and sustaining groups and dealing with conflict and funding.

A compilation of four reports from the Institute for Development Research: "Ideology and Political Economy in Inquiry: Action Research and Participatory Research" by LD Brown and R Tandon; "People-Centered Development and Participatory Research" by LD Brown; "Participatory Research and Community Planning" by LD Brown; "Building Capacity Through Action Learning" by M Leach.

This paper from the Rockefeller Foundation uses case studies from four states in the United States (Atlanta, New York, California, and Maryland) to discuss the challenges and benefits of community building initiatives. It seeks to demonstrate how community building in poor urban communities can help to strengthen the social fabric of the communities and address the issue of urban poverty. Furthermore, it offers various institutional approaches to community development and describes five pillars of community building: leadership, patience, realistic but high expectations, community-wide capacity building, and courage and candor about race.

This article discusses children and their citizenship, in order to re-frame the debate over youth citizenship. The re-structuring of citizenship for young people, a discrimination on grounds of age, is more easily possible because the rights of those even younger are ignored. 'Youth', as a bridge between 'child' and 'adult', is seen as a construction that disguises the reality of the power relations between the two states. The rights of children's participation in terms of citizenship is explored, as is the implications for youth and citizenship. The key element for both youth and children can be seen as participation and engagement with decision-making. Without such involvement, children and young people are excluded.

This document is the first part of a series of four parts. The objective of the series is to help readers understand the basic civic concepts around which society is organised. It and forms part pf the wider process of civic education organised by the church/NGO civic education network, the Community Publishing Process (CPP), which is an innovative democratic process involving thousands of Zimbabwe citizens. Through the process, the learners develop their confidence, creativity and skills by participating in the design of their own learning materials. The series is written in an easily accessible language using pictures and illustrations to explain concepts, and providing exercises and questions for discussion. It is based on participatory, problem-posing methods where readers are encouraged to analyse problems and search for their own solutions. This part of the series focuses on participation. After a brief introduction, the reader is introduced to the concept of civics (ôthe close examination of how a society is organised in terms of developmentö). The book goes on to examine the ideas of participation based on discussions with CPP participants, and ideas from African history and from international experiences. This is followed by an exercise on publicising the meaning of participation. Achievements and common problems in relation to participation, and strategies for strengthening participation are also discussed. The book also contains supplements with a village civic drama and trainerÆs guide for a civic workshop on participation