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Presentation Outline
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 Participatory Approach to Planning

- Concept
- Ideal situation
PARTICIPATORY PLANNING AND - General situation
IMPLEMENTATION - Levels of participation
 Purpose, advantages and challenges of participatory
planning and implementation
Madhusudan Subedi
 Methods of participatory planning and implementations
PAHS-SoPH
 Participatory planning and participatory action
2022-10-21 research

Participatory Approach to Planning Participatory Approach to Planning

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 An approach in which everyone who has a stake in  Ideal Situation: Everyone's participation should be
the intervention and has a voice, either in person or welcomed and respected, and the process shouldn't
by representation. be dominated by any individual or group, or by a
e.g. single point of view.
- Members of the target population,
- Community / local officials,
- People from involved agencies,

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Participatory Approach to Planning Participatory Approach to Planning

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General Reality:  Participatory approach to planning implies not just

- Some people might not want to be involved - they may
ask for someone's opinion but rather that each
feel it takes too much time, or they don't have the skills
needed participant becomes an important contributor to the
- Some may feel left out and disrespected if they're not planning process
invited to participate
- Some people's opinions may be listened to more
carefully than those of others

In some of these situations, a participatory process can

cause as many problems as never involving people at
all

Participatory Approach to Planning Discussion: Participation at the Village Level

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 A true participatory approach is one in which  Contribution approach of participation (e.g.

everyone's perspective is considered, everyone's donation per person or per household to construct
thoughts are respected, and it isn't necessarily Health Facility, public toilet, waste management)
assumed that the professionals or the well -
educated automatically know what's best. Everyone
actually gets to participate in the planning process,
and has some role in decision-making

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Discussion: Participation at the Village Level
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 Tokenistic approach of participation (e.g.
numerical representation in Water Management
Committee, Village Reform Committee,
Representations in formal political body – Palika,
State Constituency, Federal Constituency)
Discussion: Participation at the Village Level
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 Empowerment approach of participation (e.g.
decision making rights and responsibilities)
e.g. REFLECT [Regenerated Freirean Literacy through
Empowering Community Technique]
- Radical transformation
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Discussion: Participation at the Village Level
 Community development approach of
participation (e.g. focus on special community
activities for development activities)
REFLECT Approach
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 The REFLECT approach is perceived as an
innovative and responsive approach that:
Places the learner in the center of his/her learning
process and enables him/her to develop his/her
potential skills. Unlike the formal education system,
the teaching/learning is done in the local language
to facilitate access for the majority of learners
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REFLECT Approach REFLECT Approach

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 The REFLECT approach is perceived as an  The REFLECT approach is perceived as an

innovative and responsive approach that: innovative and responsive approach that:
Discusses community concerns using the Accelerated
Method for Participatory Research (MARP) tools such Creates and develops mutual solidarity among
as the discussion tree, the preferred method of members of a community to preserve their interests
classification, diagrams, planning and implementation and assert their rights
of solutions and experiences at individual, family and
community levels. Learners are organized into small
groups to monitor the achievements at all levels

Participatory Planning and Implementation

Processes Participatory Approach to Planning
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https://www.sswm.info/node/7633 16

 In many cases, low-income or minority individuals

and groups feel that they have no voice in the
society, that they are not listened to even when they
are asked for their opinions.

 True participation means that everyone has a voice

which must be acknowledged

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Purpose of Participatory Planning and

Methods of Participatory Planning
Implementation
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 Identification of the felt needs of the people
 The empowerment of local disadvantaged / marginalized
groups
 Integration of local knowledge systems into project
planning and implementation (i.e. project design)
 Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
 Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
 Participatory Action Research (PAR)

 Political commitment and support

[Note: Covered in Community Assessment Module]
 Two‐way learning process between the project activities
and local people

Advantages of Participatory Planning Approach Advantages of Participatory Planning Approach

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 Participation carries with it feelings of  It involves important players from the outset
ownership.
 Providing an opportunity for groups to be heard
 It ensures credibility and trustworthiness of the
intervention.  It teaches skills which last far beyond the planning
process
 Bringing a broader range of people to the
planning process.  Bringing together community members
 Avoiding pitfalls caused by ignorance of the
realities.

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Advantages of Participatory Planning Approach Advantages of Participatory Planning Approach

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 A participatory planning process builds trust
 It generally reflects the mission and goals of
organizations
 Logically, a participatory planning approach should
be effective
 Finally, it does things the way they should be done

 It implies respect for everyone in the community

Challenges of Participatory Planning Approach Challenges of Participatory Planning Approach

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 A participatory process takes longer time  Difficult to assure that all the right people get to the
table.
 Members may not agree with the "experts "

 Lots of education may be needed, both for  A participatory planning process takes patience
community members and the organization and commitment.

 One determined individual can wreck the whole

process

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Levels of Participatory Planning Levels of Participatory Planning

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Information – tell people what is planned


 Consultation - offer a number of options and listen to the feedback
you get
 Deciding together - encourage others to provide some additional
ideas and options, and join in deciding the best way forward
 Acting together - form a partnership to carry it out
 Supporting independent community initiatives - advice and
support provided by the resource holder
 Information – tell people what is planned
Information-only:
- The course of action has already been decided -
- Simply reporting on something that's already in
progress
- Keeping people informed so that they'll have the
information to be part of a participatory effort
later

Levels of Participatory Planning Levels of Participatory Planning

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 Deciding together - encourage others to provide some

additional ideas and options, and join in deciding the
 Consultation - offer a number of options and listen best way forward
to the feedback you get Deciding together:
Consultation-only: - Everyone feel ownership of the plan
- Evaluate or improve existing services - Fresh ideas are shared from as many sources as
- Choose among the limited options possible
- People can be pulled whom the intervention will
- Only certain people (due to some specific reasons) directly affect
or groups can be officially involved in the planning - Commitment to provide support through the process
process for those who need it

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Levels of Participatory Planning Levels of Participatory Planning

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 Acting together - form a partnership to carry it out
- Interventions will be more effective than if it were
run by a single entity
- Commitment to the development of a real
partnership
- Everyone benefits from acting together
- Leadership skills develop by the target
population and/or others in the community
 Supporting independent community initiatives -
advice and support provided by the resource
holder
- Commitment to community empowerment
- Successful intervention by the community
- Commitment to provide training and support
where needed

Who Should be Involved in a Participatory

Discussion
Planning Process?
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Participatory planning and implementation is one of  The "targets of change“

the approaches of devolution of power.
a. Discuss the key objectives of such planning. (5)  Members of the target community
b. Discuss, with 3 examples, the advantages of such
 People whom the target community sees as
planning (2x3=6). significant opinion makers
c. Discuss, with 2 examples, the challenges of such
planning (2x2=4).  The "agents of change”
d. List 5 different levels of such planning. (1x5=5).

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Who Should be Involved in a Participatory What do you need to get a participatory

Planning Process? process up and running?
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 Policy makers  Recruit stakeholders,

 Influential people in the community

 Convene the planning process,
 Interested members of the community at large
 Maintain the planning process,

 Members of the organization itself

Participatory Strategic Planning

Participatory Planning and Power Dynamics
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 Participatory planning is part of the transfer of

power and authority from the central (federal)
/state to the local level government.

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Participatory Planning and Appropriateness

Participatory Planning Meeting
Issues
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Participatory Planning Process would be Challenging /  Before the meeting, try to personally invite as many
Difficult When:
people as possible. People are much more likely to come
 A grant may have to be written immediately,
if they know someone cares about their being there.
 Community is so brutally divided,

 Population is simply not interested in participating,
 Intervention rests on technical knowledge of a kind that the
target population and community members simply don't
have.
 Involving all or most stakeholders simply isn't logistically
possible, because of distance, time, or other issues,
 Funders' regulations don't allow,
 No trust between your organization and the community
 Plan meeting times around the convenience of those
attending, rather than the convenience of the
organization.
 Hold the meeting in a place that's convenient and
comfortable for everyone involved. If the community is
divided into factions, choose a neutral place that
everyone considers "safe.

Participatory Planning Meeting (Conti…) Critical Questions

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 Manage some food and drink (tea, coffee, soft drinks).  Who defines community – community members or
The presence of food reduces formality and makes outsiders?
things more comfortable.
 Consider carefully who'll run the meeting. This choice may  Is participation a means or an end?
dictate how many people are willing to get involved in  Whether the community participation is product or
the process.
process?
 If the community is multilingual, make sure to have
translators present, or to present everything in multiple  Who decides on priorities and action?
languages, so that everyone feels included.
 Plan 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 should be a clear next
step, and everyone should know what it is.

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Discussion: Public Health Reasoning
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Health 2020 had two strategic objectives:
1. Improve health for all and reduce health
inequalities.
2. Improve leadership and participatory governance
for health.
Public Health Reasoning
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2. Health 2020 also promotes collaborative
leadership by means of innovative approaches to
address behavioral determinants, the environment
and health care issues. It recognizes the important
role that advocacy and networking play in bringing
many partners together, including empowerment of
citizens by means of partnerships to know their
rights and obtain what they need.
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Public Health Reasoning
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1. Health 2020 encourages governments to take
actions to reduce health inequalities. This means
acting on social determinants of health by means of
interventions that address the most affected,
address the social gradient in health directly, and
are proportionate to the level of health and social
need. It also calls for a rethinking of mechanisms,
processes, relationships and institutional
arrangements across all sectors. This includes
encouraging public participation in policy-making
and approaches that build up community resilience.
Public Health Reasoning
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As health improvements cannot rely solely on the
health sector, Health 2020 also calls for a whole-of-
government and a whole-of-society approach that
involves a range of stakeholders at all levels. It also
has an equity focus suggesting new ways to identify
important health gaps and focus individual and
collective efforts on ways to reduce them.
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Participatory Planning and Implementation of
Action Research
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Participatory:
 Maximize the active participation of those whose life
or work is the subject of the research in all stages of
the research process.
 Provide the opportunity for all participants to be
equitably involved to the maximum degree possible
throughout the research.
Participatory Planning and Implementation of
Action Research
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Participatory (Conti…):
 Maximizing participation requires an active and intensive
commitment on the part of those initiating the research.
 The process is viewed as a partnership between
stakeholders.
 The co-creative process requires facilitation, and the
building and maintenance of trust.
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Discussion
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 In an action research you provided the
opportunity for all participants to be equitably
involved to the maximum degree possible
throughout the research.
What is this process called?
Participatory Planning and Implementation of
Action Research
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Locally Situated
 The issue being researched must be located in the
social system, which is likely to adopt the changes
that result from the research process.
 Emphasize local level of knowledge and experience
without requiring a local scope; statements can
be made about issues at regional, national or
international level.
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Participatory Planning and Implementation of Participatory Planning and Implementation of

Action Research Action Research
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Collective Research Process Collectively Owned

 Ownership of the research lies in the hands of the

 The process is conducted by a group representing group conducting the study.

the various stakeholders including engaged citizens,
NGOs, health professionals, academic researchers
and policy-makers.

Participatory Planning and Implementation of Participatory Planning and Implementation of

Action Research Action Research
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Aims for Transformation and Social Change Aims for Transformation and Social Change
 Aim to create positive social change as a result of (conti…)
the research process for those whose life or work is  Promote empowerment through enabling people to

the focus of the research. take an active, deciding role in all aspects of the
research process.
 Enable participants to recognize their current  Contribute to sustainable change beyond the span

situation and how to be involved in finding solutions. of the research project, for example, by involving a
broad coalition of stakeholders and setting up
structures for sustained learning and action

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Participatory Planning and Implementation of Participatory Planning and Implementation of

Action Research Action Research
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Promotes Critical Reflexivity Produces knowledge that is local, collective, co-

 Consider how power and powerlessness affect the created, dialogical and diverse
daily lives and practice of those whose life or work is
the focus of the research.
 Provide the opportunity for people to articulate
 Require professionals to question their roles and
their local knowledge about the subject at hand
knowledge based on power differentials between based on their direct experience.
them and service users.
 Act together with others to address the social and

political factors that impinge on the group as a whole.  Knowledge is produced in an ongoing dialogue
among participants on all aspects of the research
process.

Participatory Planning and Implementation of Participatory Planning and Implementation of

Action Research Action Research
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Produces knowledge that is local, collective, co- Strives for a Broad Impact
created, dialogical and diverse (conti…)
 Aim to bring about social change.
 Uncover and examine different points of view and
potentially present differences in perspectives.
 A continual cycle of look, reflect and act.
 Recognize that knowledge is always in a process of
becoming and is never fixed.  Recognizing and articulating impact over time is
difficult.
 This approach requires facilitation so that trust can
be built and maintained.

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Participatory Planning and Implementation of
Action Research
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Produces local evidence based on a broad
understanding of generalizability
 Develop interventions for a specific time and place,
and give primacy to the local context in order to produce
local evidence.
 Obtain a deep understanding of the essence of a
situation that can be communicated to others who
can then judge the relevance of the findings for their
own situation
Participatory Planning and Implementation of
Action Research
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Dialectical Process Characterized by Messiness
 This is characterized by dialogues of different
perspectives often resulting in several different
views on the issue at hand.
 The dialogical process intends to promote
transformational learning making possible new,
transformative insights offering fresh approaches.
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Participatory Planning and Implementation of
Action Research
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Follows Specific Validity Criteria
 Incorporate both qualitative and quantitative
research methods.
 Importance is placed on the adherence to validity
criteria such as participatory, inter-subjective and
ethical validity.
Participatory Planning and Implementation of
Action Research
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Dialectical Process Characterized by Messiness
(Conti…)
 The process defies a simple linear description of
planning and implementing a research project. Rather,
a spiral pattern unfolds, where participants reflect,
plan, act and observe in several repeating cycles.
 Conflict is created for many participants as their
assumptions are questioned. A so-called messiness
arises in the process creating a communicative space to
deconstruct current beliefs and construct new ideas.
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Discussion
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Organizing participatory meeting and decision

making activities

[Personal Reflection – Photographs]

Partnership approaches to reduce

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A Community-Based Participatory Planning Process
and Multilevel Intervention Design: Toward
Eliminating Cardiovascular Health Inequities
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CVD disparities
With increasing attention to health inequities,
traditional research and intervention approaches
have been critiqued for failing to take a multilevel,
social ecological approach to change and to
engage effectively such community assets as
community history, values, leadership and social
network

Amy J. Schulz, Barbara A. Israel, Chris M. Coombe, Causandra Gaines,

Angela G. Reyes, Zachary Rowe, Sharon Sand1, Larkin L. Strong, and
Sheryl Weir. Health Promot Pract. 2011 November ; 12(6): 900–911.
doi:10.1177/1524839909359156.

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Partnership approaches to reduce
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CVD disparities
A central tenet of community-based participatory
research (CBPR) is the equitable engagement of, for
example, community residents, CBOs, governmental
and service-providing agencies across multiple
sectors, and academic institutions in designing,
implementing and evaluating interventions toward
elimination of health inequities
Community-Approaches to Cardiovascular
Health (CATCH)
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Phase 1: Community Assessment
- multiple data collection methods to gain insight
- community planning process and role of community
members in interpreting and prioritizing findings
from the community assessment
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Partnership approaches to reduce
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CVD disparities
CBPR partnerships strive to address health from
positive and ecological perspectives, build on
strengths and resources of the involved communities,
promote co-learning, equalize power among
participants, and integrate knowledge acquisition
and interventions for the mutual benefit of all
partners
Community-Approaches to Cardiovascular
Health (CATCH)
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Phase 2: Community Action Planning Process
- interpretation of community assessment results,
- generating of action strategies
- intervention planning team
- recommend priority strategies for action
- design multi-level intervention
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Community-Approaches to Prevent and

References
Control Dengue in Kathmandu Valley
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What is participatory health research? Version: May 2013. Berlin: International

Discussion: Collaboration for Participatory Health Research; 2013 (Position paper 1;
 Planning processes
http://www.icphr.org/uploads/2/0/3/9/20399575/ichpr_position_paper_1_defi
ntion_-_version_may_2013.pdf).
 Possible approaches WHO. 2015. Taking a participatory approach to development and better health:
Examples from Regions for Health Network. Copenhagen: WHO
 Stakeholders

 Implementation strategies https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/analyze/where-to-start/participatory-

approaches/main

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Thank You

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