Annexes to Review of Participatory Learning and Action Mary Myers

Annexes to Review of Participatory Learning and Action Mary Myers and Mary Hobley FINAL REPORT to the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) 2nd December 2013 Contents Annex 1 - Synthesis of Interviews ......................................................................................... 2 Annex 2 - Peer Survey Synthesis ......................................................................................... 22 Annex 3 - Full Reader Survey June 2013 ............................................................................. 29 Annex 4 - Analysis of content and country coverage of RRA/PLA issues from 1988-2012 30 Annex 5 - Terms of Reference ............................................................................................. 75 Annex 6 - Power-Point Presentation to IIED ST meeting 25 November 2013 .................... 80 ANNEXES: Review of Participatory Learning and Action – Final Report 2nd December 2013 Annex 1 - Synthesis of Interviews Type of Last used PLA Why Current Tensions What next For whom Positioning inside interviewee Relevance of IIED PLA IIED mid 1990s Career Practitioners – Not academic Forum/network systematically Focus: local progression opportunity to enough not looking at effectiveness of practitioners publish practitioner-based participatory approaches Directly working enough compared to more ‘mainstream with communities approaches’ Insufficient rigour of peer-review process One full time editor IIED Not at all Highlighted the PLA became a very PLA 2 clear rights-based journal Head of Cross-group, with loss of the RCPLA narrow COP, one of with focus on business and rights – corporations, accountability to to the southern IIED’s top roles is to how to bring together green NGOs, finance NR and Markets organisations bring different COPs growth and rights to ensure ministers group, Comms to meant that IIED together inclusive and accountable, and run it. lost sight of PLA transparency of market- too government mechanisms Focus on events bringing COPs PLA should focus on ways to get together to share people and mechanisms to shape ideas economy that society wants, rights focused and ecological limits 2 ANNEXES: Review of Participatory Learning and Action – Final Report 2nd December 2013 focused Basic toolkit for green economy – nobody else is looking at the participation aspects of the green economy IIED Called flagship but Clarify audience Who could do this not an institution- inside IIED? wide flagship If focus on participatory methodologies – blog Unclear audience – neither academic Tools for practitioner audience – nor practitioner blog would not be sufficient If it is for people at beginning of their career then needs are different to those who are already exposed to participatory approaches IIED Not at all Not mentioned on His work focuses on Focus on practical approaches for Practitioners Cross-sectoral, Masters course at influencing policy- empowerment and agency. It is sharing innovative cross-thematic, LSE , not on makers in about what works, how and why ways of doing sharing with reading list, development and getting people with things practitioners on despite studying agencies, NGOs and experience to share, it has its empowerment about RRA and not practitioners. limitations for research but is very PLA Emphasis on policy valuable to practitioners. research and Really unaware of influence on policy There is nothing else out there like PLA and what it rather than 3 ANNEXES: Review of Participatory Learning and Action – Final Report 2nd December 2013 did until last 18 practitioners this months when sharing their there has been a lessons. Strapline is not participation now, lot of internal it is about empowerment, agency, discussion about control, to be more political, overt it about power and politics to make it thematically relevant to IIED IIED A lot at the Used the outputs PLA sits in mushy Specifically focused on issues of Practitioner F beginning from RRA/PLA middle between power – with a strong theoretical focused particularly the high quality peer- base, not just tools and guidance, trainers’ guide reviewed research but thinking and ideas and the mess of blogs and instant Focus on the consumption end of messaging. Tends to the debate and the effects of the get lost in this emerging middle classes, looking messy middle at new models of consumption, focused on a set of commodities, incentives for change on demand- side Occupying space and audience not reached by journals IIED Guest editor Training PLA will need to be part of a wider Practitioners – IIED to work in 2002 institutes, project focused on these those who work at partnership with universities – practitioners, building their interface between southern need to understanding and capacity – converting policy organisations. institutionalise linked to southern training into practice Drawing on work information into organisations. (district-level local from IIED groups 4 ANNEXES: Review of Participatory Learning and Action – Final Report 2nd December 2013 training PLA is a channel for bringing-up government, Not so important curricula information as well as sending extension workers, where its down to district-level MPs) positioned in IIED but who leads it is Needs a relaunch with a new name critical Change in format – too dense, stuffy and difficult to read. Needs to be less of it, must never be so big it stops the reader reading it immediately, as soon as it is on a pile to read later it is never read IIED 2002 Last read it in Weak website because of limited 2002 the local search capability govt edition. Monitoring Needs to be rebranded to edition and urban resonate with contemporary ones useful for discourse – Doing Local him Development – Format needs to be more accessible and easy to use online IIED PLA stuck doing Name must change Tools and methods Young researchers For same thing – does – PLA is old- and practitioners institutionalising not fit with fashioned, Climate change focus bringing (tools and tools and practices today’s view of participation as a experiences and ways of working methods) into universities – development, not word has old- to new audiences that are making IDS may be better sharp enough, fashioned important but relatively positioned to do can’t provide connotations - uninformed decisions. The 5 ANNEXES: Review of Participatory Learning and Action – Final Report 2nd December 2013 evidence of why needs to be purpose would be to balance the this these approaches reinterpreted. The current top-down approach to are right, assumes originators of PLA decision-making with approaches Inside IIED it its right rather have all moved on, that bring other voices into the needs to be led by than providing but PLA has not arena someone with arguments credibility and Does not fit with legitimacy to branding convene inside IIED Housed in climate change group with the necessary intellectual authority and leadership to produce strong credible outputs IIED PLA used Absorption into Use underlying principles of PLA Targeting new Remain in NRG during PhD NRG and incorporate into IIED practice audiences that but must be research across the whole institute – have not been part owned. ensuring local voices get to the of the participation Sustainable Used a lot by international levels to make them debate – so in markets can’t take colleagues at more effective in their influence. danger of it on. Cambridge Each group should invest in reinventing the building capacity of local partners wheel to get skills necessary to be effective in different arenas. 6 ANNEXES: Review of Participatory Learning and Action – Final Report 2nd December 2013 Review design with private sector and business schools – these should be targeted as it is people in these areas who have the most opportunity to make change work in the right way IIED Last used it 5 Job has changed Unclear where the years ago and no longer intellectual heart doing practitioner lies for PLA in IIED. based work overseas The process for deciding about PLA is all wrong – IIED should have started by consulting with its partners to see what they require IIED Does not read When started it Difficulty with PLA is Importance of ensuring southern it was clear what it that it is writing in voices are heard – but there are was about and areas that are other media for this that do it the Trainers guide covered by other more effectively that could be added to this publications, and looked at to see if useful for new clarity. Now it is then not covering PLA publication e.g. Bill Sutherland confusing what it areas that are at Cambridge is about – is it just needed such as about Change title – thing of the 1990s 7 ANNEXES: Review of Participatory Learning and Action – Final Report 2nd December 2013 community-based methodologies. or early 2000s everything Needs to be more Focus on documenting evidence to dynamic and fill gaps in understanding – e.g. responsive or linkages between biodiversity and predictive of what poverty. IIED should be performing next this type of bridging role. PLA has revelled in its niche without being clear what it is any more IIED Contributed to Forest team used Regret it was not Should be produced as an IIED For IIED partners Based in Comms it 53 and 59 it for a special promoted across distinctive publication can be used and staff as a Dept to avoid edition on power the institute by outsiders but really serving the vehicle for the co- problem of PLA as tools. Zenith of needs of the institute production of ‘how a standalone Duncan’s interest Not

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