Participatory action research (PAR) is a collaborative approach to research and change that combines action and inquiry in real-world settings. It brings together elements of consultancy, change practice, and field research, with a focus on improving situations through iterative cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. A key aim of PAR is to build the self-help capabilities of participants, enabling them to respond to challenges and sustain improvements over time.
This page provides an overview of participatory action research, along with links to related resources, frameworks, and examples of how it is used in practice.
The principles of PAR underpin the development of practices across many fields. By emphasising experiential and reflexive learning, PAR helps individuals and groups adapt their understanding through real-world experience. In this way, it formalises learning by doing, supporting both collaboration and the ongoing development of practice.
PAR sits within a wider family of action research traditions, and over time a range of related terms have been used to describe this work, including participatory, collaborative, critical, community-based, and systemic action research. Each highlights different emphases, but they share a common commitment to iterative cycles of action and reflection and to learning with and from participants.
An accompanying LfS post, Participatory action research: tackling today’s complex challenges, provides an overview of PAR, exploring its relevance in addressing pressing issues like climate adaptation, biodiversity loss, and social equity. The following resources provide further perspectives, frameworks, and practical guidance for understanding and applying PAR in practice.
Overviews and frameworks
Participatory action research: tackling today’s complex challenges
This 2024 site post provides an overview of participatory action research (PAR) as a practical framework for addressing interconnected challenges like climate adaptation, biodiversity loss, and social equity. It explores PAR’s core principles—collaboration, empowerment, and learning by doing—highlighting its adaptability across diverse contexts. Drawing on over two decades of reflection, the post connects PAR’s reflective cycles with adaptive management and co-design to foster meaningful and inclusive change.
Participatory Action Research – IDS Participatory Methods site
This page from the Institute of Development Studies introduces PAR as both a worldview and methodological approach. It outlines its roots in Latin American social movements and the work of Paulo Freire, Orlando Fals Borda, and Kurt Lewin, and explains how PAR shifts power to participants through cycles of reflection and action. The site offers principles, benefits, and design considerations for facilitators and researchers.
Ten essentials for action-oriented and second order energy transitions, transformations and climate change research
This 2018 paper by Ioan Fazey and colleagues highlights the need for action-oriented research and introduces ten essentials for guiding transformation. These include focusing on solution processes, practical knowledge, second-order experimentation, and reflexivity. While first-order modes of research remain important, the paper emphasises the greater need for second-order approaches. These include mode 2, transdisciplinarity, post-normal, participatory, sustainability science, and action research, which can accelerate learning and actions toward a low-carbon, resilient, and sustainable world.
Practice guides
Participatory Action Research, Planning, and Evaluation
This site founded by Jacques Chevalier, Daniel Buckles and Michelle Bourassa is dedicated to advancing authentic dialogue and sound inquiry among people committed to making a difference. It weaves together insights and lessons from critical, clinical and pragmatic perspectives on PAR, building on the common idea that research must be done “with” people and not “on” or “for” people. The approach they advance is not just another toolbox or packaged methodology, but is developed around the idea that every process must be designed from scratch, tailored to a specific purpose, timeframe and set of actors. This is a craft involving five skillful means – engaging, grounding, navigating, sensemaking and scaling. Their handbook is particularly useful and available for download.
Participatory action research: Guide for facilitators
This 2014 guide has been written by Robert Nurick and Marina Apgar as a resource document for the training and capacity building of facilitators who conduct participatory action research (PAR) in the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS). This guide provides a road map for facilitators to support them in delivering a rigorous PAR process, providing them with guidance for effective facilitation that allows for critical reflection throughout the engagement process. The material in the guide is also relevant to other groups wishing to take a PAR approach to research and community development.
Action Research Resources
This site by Bob Dick provides comprehensive links and material to key action research, action learning and related resources. This site also acts as home to Areol, action research and evaluation on line, which is a set of on-line learning sessions provided (as a 15-week public on-line course offered each semester) as a public service by Southern Cross University and the Institute of Workplace Research Learning and Development. I did this course when it started some years ago … and can really recommend it.
Reflections and theory
Both critical and applied? Action research and transformative change
This 2018 paper by Emma L Westling and Liz Sharp outlines how doing action research in technical areas provides an opportunity for social science to present its perspectives outside of ‘normal’ social science contexts, supporting greater attention to ethical, justice and environmental concerns. Importantly, taking a critical action research to water management enables informed dialogue with technical decision makers and other key stakeholders – raising and pushing forward socially and environmentally progressive futures.
Seeking conceptual clarity in the action modalities
This 2009 article by Joe Raelin explores how action modalities, including action learning, action research, and action science, have evolved separately rather than uniting around their shared practice-based epistemology. It highlights how these approaches can stand together to advocate for practice as the fundamental unit of analysis. After outlining their histories and distinctions, the article identifies ten unifying elements that foster collective reflection, expand knowledge, and improve practice.
Decolonising action research
This 2011 special edition of the ALARA (Action learning and action research journal) aims to capture some of the dilemmas, solutions and actions researchers experience in the decolonising space. This collection of papers demonstrates that researchers are not only undertaking research with and within indigenous and non-indigenous contexts, but that they are doing so in exciting and dynamic ways across a diversity of situations.
The Application of Participatory Action Research to Climate Change Adaptation in Africa. A reference guide
The primary aim of this 2012 Reference Guide is to provide a set of concepts and practical tools for use by those working to support stakeholders (communities, government agencies, policy makers) in their efforts to adapt – or to help others adapt – to climate change. The Guide nevertheless presents a generic set of concepts and tools that is likely to be of use to others working to address other development challenges requiring a multi-stakeholder learning-by-doing approach.
Chapter 3: The role of action research in environmental management
In this methodology chapter (from my thesis, written some years ago – but still conceptually relevant) I outline the underlying concepts of action research in more detail. Some differences between action research and mainstream science are then explained, particularly to justify its use as an appropriate methodology to address social and institutional issues related to improving environmental management. Some more practical details of practicing action research are then discussed. Finally the process of critical reflection in action research is highlighted, and an illustration of how its use in practice can help in getting people to think more deeply about the use of environmental practices is outlined.
Several other pages on this site explore related approaches that support participatory and learning-based initiatives. These include resources on applied research and managing participation and engagement.