Joel Hamilton
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 08 Mar 95 15:57:02 EST
From: David Wilcox <100116.240@compuserve.com>
To: All <sustainable-development@civic.net>
Subject: Community participation
BACKGROUND from David Wilcox
I spent a year 1992-93, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, developing a
guide for front line workers in government and NGOs charged with organising
community consultation, participation, or support. The brief was to focus on
techniques - short term interventions.
The Guide I produced has a theoretical section which uses a revised version of
Arnstein's 1969 ladder of participation, an A-Z of key topics and techniques,
principles, do's and don'ts and references.
The 64 page A4 Guide is copyright free, and is available from the address at the
end of this message. I have not posted the full text on-line anywhere, but if it
interests the group I could look at making something more available.
I am a freelance writer and consultant specialising in community participation
and joint public private/community partnerships. These are usually
non-profit-distributing companies carrying out areas-wide conservation or
regeneration.
What follows is the summary of a presentation I made at a seminar at Nottingham
University last year. I hope it gives the flavour.
MAKING PARTICIPATION EFFECTIVE
INEFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION
The symptoms include:
* Some people are angry about being excluded - others are apathetic.
* Public meetings are a shambles.
* People want to talk about other issues.
* It all takes too long against funding deadlines.
* Front line workers aren't backed up by their departments.
* Agencies disagree.
* Councillors won't share decision-making.
* Partnership committees become talking shops.
* Community groups don't deliver.
The participation box may get ticked - but it is all a sham.
BEHIND THE PROBLEMS
No common language or framework
* What's the difference between consultation, participation, partnership?
* How do they relate to ideas of capacity-building and empowerment?
* Does community participation threaten representative democracy?
Few appropriate methods
* Surveys are passive and easily misrepresented.
* Public meetings are usually disastrous.
* Committees and fora involve only a few people.
* 'Involving' techniques like Planning for Real can raise unreal expectations.
EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION
Some indicators of effective participation are:
* People feel they have had their say.
* There is a shared vision of what is to be done.
* People are happy with the part they will play.
* There is new commitment of resources in cash and kind.
* There are clear procedures for making decisions.
A THEORETICAL MODEL
The Guide to Effective Participation** proposes a three-part model to help
understand the difference between effective and ineffective participation.
1 Stance - the level of involvement
Before starting a participation process, consider the level of involvement you
and your organisation are offering:
* Information... Here's what we are going to do.
* Consultation...Here's ouroptions - what do you think?
* Deciding together ...We want to develop options and decide actions together.
* Acting together ...We want to carry out joint decisions together.
* Supporting community initiatives. ...We can help you achieve what you want
within these guidelines.
2 Stakeholders
There isn't just one 'community - so consider:
* Who are the key interests?
* What level of involvement do they want?
* How will you negotiate the appropriate level of participation if you
disagree?
3 Phases
Participation takes time. It helps to think of four phases:
* Initiation ...Something triggers the start of participation.
* Preparation ...Informal networking, agencies (should) get their acts
together.
* Participation ...Interaction with different interests.
* Continuation ...Feedback, analysis, action.
(there's a diagram here which I can't do in ASCII)
USING TECHNIQUES IN PRACTICE
This model may 'unpack' the complexity of participation, but the question facing
anyone in the front line is: 'What do I do?'
The temptation is to reach for a method or technique: for example, hold a public
meeting, carry out a survey, produce a leaflet. The centre pages of this leaflet
provide some warnings about when particular methods are appropriate. (too long
for this message)
DICED CARROTS
My friend Drew Mackie offers the following analysis of participation:
Distrust - often the starting point.
Information - people begin to get interested.
Commitment - developed if people's ideas are taken seriously.
Expectations - created as people believe something may happen.
Delivery - what the agencies must do if they are to maintain commitment.
Carrots? That is making sure there is something in the process for everyone.
Two main issues always emerge:
* People become committed if they have some ownership of ideas. That comes from
running workshops rather than simply producing leaflets or doing surveys. Public
meetings should be the last thing you do in a process - when people are tuned
into the issues.
* The major problem usually come from agencies being unable to deliver their
side of the bargain. There must be a parallel process of workshops within
authorities run in advance of community participation.
GUIDELINES
Here are 10 guidelines for planning a participation process.
1 Ask yourself what you want to achieve, and what you want to help other
achieve. What is the purpose of it?
2 Identify the different interests in the community, and put yourself in their
shoes. Who are the stakeholders?
3 Clarify your own role and whether you are wearing too many hats - e.g.
communicator of information, facilitator, controller of resources.
4 Consider what balance to strike between keeping control and gaining other
people's commitment.
5 Invest as much time in preparation as in participation with community
interests.
6 Run internal participation processes to make sure your own organisation can
deliver.
7 Be open and honest about what you are offering or seeking, and use language
people can understand.
8 Make contact informally with key interests before running formal meetings.
9 Build on existing organisations and networks but don't use them as the only
channel of communication and involvement.
10 Consider the time and resources you will need. It's always more than you
think!
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** The Guide to Effective Participation. 9.95 inc. p & p from 13 Pelham Square,
Brighton BN1 4ET, UK. telephone 44 273 677377. Fax 44 273 677379.
dwilcox@pavilion.co.uk
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Hope this is relevant
Regards, David