Participatory approach in community development PPP in NEPAL

Participatory approach in community development

· People's participation is now thought by many to be a prerequisite for sustainable development. There are, however, a variety of different interpretations of what "people's participation" and "participatory development" should and do mean in practice, ranging from "we want them to participate in what we do" to "we want to support them in the achievement of their goals".

· Broadly speaking, depending on project objectives and strategies, two approaches can be distinguished. The first type is the "blueprint" or "target-oriented" approach, in which projects are defined in terms of mechanisms for the delivery of pre-defined packages of goods and services to specific target groups. Participation in this context is understood in terms of the willingness of people to undertake the required activities.

· The second type can be called the "process-oriented" approach. In this approach, specific categories of activities are defined by the people themselves. This definition is made on the basis of local resources and needs, with support ("facilitation") from the project. The technical message is not a uniform, pre-defined recipe but a "menu" with various options. Participation in this context is understood to mean that the people themselves assume ownership and accountability for activities, which they have identified and developed with the support of the project.

· In the case of interactive participation, on the other hand, local groups or communities take control. Interactive participation is meant to lead to action plans at local level, as well as creating (or enhancing) an organizational setting for their sustained implementation. Local people and project staff jointly undertake the different steps in the planning process.

· Participatory development (PD) seeks to engage local populations in development projects.

· Participatory planning approaches aim at strengthening the local capacity for sustainable development in terms of knowledge, skills and organization.

· Shared learning, democratic processes, joint decision making, co-ownership, mutual respect and empowerment.

· helps development in local communities through capacity-building as an empowering process.

· An example of this is the active participation of the public in their local town planning, aspects such as the quality of their public transport system, parking, zones for loading and unloading, etc.

SEE ONLY HIGHLIGHTED PORTION !!!

· The first assumption, therefore, is that participatory approaches facilitate this process of local empowerment by creating opportunities for specific disadvantaged groups, such as women or the landless, to have access to external resources (training, credits) or to mobilize their own resources (organization, knowledge, skills). This enhances their capacity to take action to defend their own interests.

· Participatory planning approaches aim at strengthening the local capacity for sustainable development in terms of knowledge, skills and organization. One of the important ways to ensure that local capacity is improved is through the recognition of the appropriateness of local knowledge in designing project actions. The second assumption is that the use of participatory approaches will allow the integration of local knowledge systems into local project planning and implementation. The project then complements these knowledge systems with technical support for the development of appropriate technical menus. Therefore, in particular during the planning process, emphasis should put on the mutual assessment and mobilization of local knowledge and management systems.

· Participation does not just mean getting the basic information out of the community in order to "target" the project interventions effectively. This approach is oriented towards establishing horizontal relationships between external agents (the project) and the local community, as equal partners who are willing to learn from each other. The third assumption is that participatory planning facilitates a two-way learning process between the local community and the project. This two-way learning process should facilitate the timely adjustment of project support services to changing local realities. Similarly, it should strengthen local capacity to identify and mobilize local as well as external resources needed to undertake sustained actions.

· Development projects operate within an existing institutional framework, and participatory approaches should provide planners and decision-makers with the necessary information for providing more adequate enabling environments and institutional support. The extent to which local communities are given the conditions for, are capable of and are interested in developing more sustainable resource management systems will determine the level of local capacity for claiming higher quality external services. The institutional environment should respond to these bottom-up claims for more decentralized planning. The final assumption is that participatory planning will enhance political commitment and institutional support for local planning by building a common understanding between institutions and local groups.