What is a participatory planning approach?
___You know that a participatory planning approach means that all stakeholders' voices are heard and respected, and that everyone has some role in decision-making.
What are the advantages of a participatory planning approach?
___Participation carries with it feelings of ownership, and builds a strong base for the intervention in the community
___It ensures that the intervention will have more credibility in all segments of the community because it was planned by a group representing all segments of the community
___It brings a broader range of people to the planning process provides access to a broader range of perspectives and ideas
___Avoids pitfalls caused by ignorance of the realities of the community or the target population
___It involves important players from the outset
___It can provide an opportunity for often-disenfranchised groups to be heard
___It teaches skills which last far beyond the planning process,and can help to improve the community over the long term
___It can bring together and establish ties among community members who might normally have no contact
___It builds trust, both between your organization and the community and among the individuals involved
___It generally reflects the mission and goals of grass roots and community-based organizations
___It implies respect for everyone in the community
___It is generally effective
___It does things the way they should be done
What are the disadvantages of a participatory planning approach?
___A participatory process takes longer
___Members of the target population or the community may not agree with the "experts " about what is needed
___Lots of education may be needed, both for community members and the organization
___One determined individual can wreck the whole process if he's not handled well
___It may be difficult to assure that all the right people get to the table
___A participatory planning process takes patience and commitment on everyone's part
What are the levels of participatory planning?
___Information
___Consultation
___Deciding together
___Acting together
___Supporting local initiatives
When is participatory planning appropriate?
___Information-only may be appropriate when:
- The course of action has already been decided - by a funder, for instance
- You're simply reporting on something that's already in progress
- You're keeping people informed so that they'll have the information to be part of a participatory effort later
___Consultation-only may be appropriate when:
- You want to evaluate or improve existing services
- There are limited options, and you're trying to choose among them
- There are technical reasons - again, perhaps because of a funder - why only certain people or groups can be officially involved in the planning process
___Acting together may be appropriate when:
- The intervention will be more effective than if it were run by a single entity
- There is a funder's requirement for community oversight
- There is commitment to the development of a real partnership
- Everyone benefits from acting together
- One goal of the intervention is the eventual assumption of leadership or the learning of leadership skills by the target population and/or others in the community
___Supporting local initiatives may be appropriate when:
- There is a commitment to community empowerment.
- The community has the desire and at least some of the tools to start and run a successful intervention.
- There is a commitment to provide training and support where needed.
- Your organization can only provide support, or can only run an intervention for a short time.
When isn't participatory planning appropriate?
___When there's simply no time
___When a community is so brutally divided, it's impossible to get all - or even any - of the rival factions to the same table
___When there's no way to provide proper support - facilitation, structure, etc. - for the process
___When the target population is simply not interested in participating, and just wants the organization to take care of it
___When the intervention rests on technical knowledge of a kind that the target population and community members simply don't have
___When involving all or most stakeholders simply isn't logistically possible, because of distance, time, or other issues
___When funding constraints or funders' regulations don't allow it
___When there is no trust between your organization and the community
Who should be involved in a participatory planning process?
___Targets of change
- Members of the target community
- People whom the target community sees as significant opinion makers
___Agents of change
- Policy makers
- Influential people in the community
___Interested members of the community at large
___Members of the organization itself
What do you have to do to get a participatory planning process up and running?
___You've identified all the individuals and groups who need to be involved
___You've gotten the message about the planning process out to everyone who needs to be informed
___You've chosen someone to convene the process
___You've held an initial meeting, for which:
- You've personally invited as many people as possible
- You've planned meeting times around the convenience of those attending, rather than the convenience of the organization
- You've held the meeting in a place that's convenient and comfortable for everyone involved
- You've provided some food and drink
- You've considered carefully who'll run the meeting
- If the community is multilingual, you've made sure to have translators present, or to present everything in multiple languages, so that everyone feels included
- You've planned activities so that everyone at the meeting has a chance to be heard, either in the larger group or in a smaller one
- By the end of the meeting, there was a clear next step, and everyone knew what it was
___You've chosen someone to guide the planning process
___You've decided who will approve a final plan
___You've decided how long the planning process will go on