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New thinking on managing participation
Over the past few years a number of reviewers have pointed to the need for us to get more accurate about our use of the word participation. Similarly we need to look not only at how well citizens and other stakeholders engage, but on the capacity that government and other agencies have to support the engagement of citizens and other stakeholder groups.
- Understanding participatory research in the context of natural resource management - paradigms, approaches and typologies.
This paper has been written by Kirsten Probst and Jürgen Hagmann, with contributions from Maria Fernandez and Jacqueline Ashby. It points out that in the field of natural resource management (NRM), which emerged as a new integration domain in the agricultural sciences, participatory research is conceptually and operationally still in its infancy and a range of activities are
labeled ‘participatory research’. The paper aims at shedding some light on this confusion. Based on a review of literature and internet sites, it provides an overview of the CGIAR’s current NRM research practice, analysing the impact orientation, research foci, the pathway/strategy to impact and the role of participatory research. The paper also offers a framework which helps to differentiate approaches to innovation development and to ‘unpack’ the blurred concept of ‘participatory research’. - Engage For Change: The Role of Public Engagement In Climate Change Policy This report from 'involve' - provides the results of research undertaken for the Sustainable Development Commission. In recent years the British Government has stated explicitly its determination that citizens should contribute to the policy making process within all levels of government. The Sustainable Development Commission, the Government's independent sustainability watchdog, invited Involve to look at what the ramifications of this evolving relationship could be on the capacity of the Government to tackle climate change.
- Working on both sides of the equation: Local governments and civil society working together A number of studies have highlighted that citizens both in the South and in the North have increasingly lost faith in their governments as they realise that their needs are not adequately represented in their policies and feel increasingly alienated. In order to tackle this crisis of governance and for citizens to participate fully in local governance processes, it is essential that new relationships are built between governments and ordinary people. And it is not enough to raise citizens' voice or to increase local government responsiveness. It is essential to also work on both sides of the equation, that is in the interaction between the two forces, where meaningful participatory governance takes place.
- Climate change policy: the 'joined-up community' approach The paper by by Janette Hartz-Karp points out the real problems of involving citizens in policy development. She shows the need for deliberative democracy that combines three basic tenets: ‘Representation' and ‘Inclusion', ‘Deliberation'and ‘Influence'. Finally she talks about examples where these are happening in Western Australia.
- Participation, relationships and dynamic change: New thinking on evaluating the work of international networks The report is pitched at practitioners,those in the doing business of co-ordinating and participating in networks, and at those who fund such activity, the donors, who then ask for ‘accounts’. By ‘accounts’ we mean not simply financial, but the stories of success and difficulties encountered in the doing of the work.
- People & Participation People & Participation is Involve's first publication, launched in 2005. Its starting point is that deepening and strengthening democracy depends on success in learning lessons about why some kinds of participation lead to better and more legitimate decisions, while others do not. The book shows that greater public involvement can greatly help in addressing some of our most pressing problems, and countering the risks of distrust and alienation. But it also warns that too much participation today is superficial, an exercise in ticking boxes as opposed to good democratic governance, or using public consultation to justify decisions that have already been made. People and participation is also available as a website - http://www.peopleandparticipation.net.
