Participatory Programme Planning & Management

Unit I: Participation & Development Concept, meaning, Importance, Types of participation in development Advantages & disadvantages of participation to different stakeholders. Role of Government & Non-Profit Organisations in promoting participation Concept, Meaning, Types of development projects.

Unit II: Steps in Participatory Project / programme Planning: Identification of needs Determining Priorities Assessing feasibility Specifying goals & objectives Identifying preferred solution Preparing Action Plan Using Appropriate PRA / PLA tools in each step

Unit III: Administration of the Project: Concept, Professional Management techniques to promote participation Stakeholder Analysis Force field Analysis SWOT Analysis PERT & CPM Logical Framework Analysis

Unit IV: Financial management of the Project: Preparation of Budget Financial management tools to improve transparency & efficient utilization of resources Statutory rules & regulations related to Auditing IT regulations & FCRA procedures.

Unit V: Monitoring & Evaluation: Concept, Meaning, & Importance of Monitoring & Evaluation Components of M. & E. Physical, financial, Staff performance & Technical aspects Output, Outcome & Impact trends in Peoples participation in M. & E. Contribution of Right to Information Act.

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Participatory Programme Planning & Management

Unit I: Participation & Development Concept, meaning, Importance, Types of participation in development Advantages & disadvantages of participation to different stakeholders. Role of Government & Non-Profit Organisations in promoting participation Concept, Meaning, Types of development projects.

What Is Participation?
Participation is a much used word these days; it means different things in different contexts. In training, the trainees benefit by participating in the activity being trained, they "learn from doing." In community work, participation means that the whole community, including those that do not usually speak up, participate in decisions that affect the future of the community. In games (eg poker), participation means that people are allowed to play (engage in the gambling). Participatory management means that staff, not only the designated managers, have input and influence over the decisions that affect the organization. It is not the same as communal or co-operative management, where every staff member has the same weight in the decision making process. A voted majority, or a consensus, is not the final arbitrator for a contentious decision. In participatory management, the designated managers (or manager) still have (or has) the final responsibility for making decisions and answering for them, but members of the staff who are affected by those decisions are actively sought to provide observations, analysis, suggestions and recommendations in the executive decision making process.

Benefits of Participation:
Participatory approaches usually mean that decision making is more transparent. That, in turn, increases the trust of the staff, and the leadership of the manager is increased. And transparency itself is an added benefit to this approach. When decisions are made in active consultation with the staff, there is less suspicion of illegal and immoral decisions being made in sneaky circumstances. As with community participation, the end result is that participatory management yields many benefits. There are a few costs, however, to obtaining participatory input. One is that it takes time to obtain it, and decisions are therefore slower than when they are made unilaterally. When staff argue for a particular decision, but the regulations, the budget, the board, or the head office do not allow that decision, then staff will be disappointed; some may even
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ask why they participated. It needs the manager to show that even though they all wanted a particular path to be taken, circumstances beyond management even beyond participatory management hindered them from taking that path. When staff are hotly divided on a particular issue, this will be revealed when it appears as a management decision. Disagreements may affect the work. The manager must put in extra time and effort to reach a decision with staff participation that will reduce that schism. Participatory management can improve the effectiveness and capacity of an organization. It lies among the sixteen elements of organizational capacity. It contributes to good leadership by management. It contributes to increased transparency in organizational decision making. DEFINITION OF PARTICIPATION: Participation implies empowering people to mobilize their own capacities, be social actors, rather than passive subjects, manage the resources, make decisions. And control the activities that affect their lives Cernia, 1985 Participation is the process through which stakeholders influence and share control over priority setting, policy-making, resource allocations and access to public goods and services. The World Bank

Typologies of Participation
Self-mobilization Interactive participation Functional participation Participation for material incentives Participation by consultation Participation in information-giving Passive participation

Principles of Participation

Key principles of participation have been named (Egger and Majeres, 1998) as: Inclusion ; of all people, groups, representative, affected by a project Equal partnership ; everyone brings capacity, equal right, skills to the process Transparency; climate of open communication and building dialogue Sharing power; avoid the domination of one group over the other, Sharing responsibility; all have equal responsibility for outcomes and decision

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Empowerment; encouragement of people with skills to apply them , mutual reinforcement and promotion of what exists in people to be used for the project Cooperation; operating together, sharing everyones strength reduces everybodys weakness

Stakeholder may refer to:

Stakeholder (corporate) - a person, group, organization, or system who affects or can be affected by an organization's actions o Project stakeholder - a stakeholder with an interest in a project o Stakeholder theory - identifies and models the groups which are stakeholders of a corporation or project o Stakeholder analysis - the process of identifying those affected by a project or event Stakeholder (law) - a third party who temporarily holds money or property while its owner is still being determined

About Projects and Peoples participation:

Traditional development projects are mostly external , top down and needs based interventions : (1) NGO, State agency, see a need, a problem, look for solutions, and identify the process which will be come a project to respond to that need. (2) State, donor (or both), defined a broad based strategy (program approach) and solicits or contracts out, the identification of where this strategy will unfold and projects to be defined within the strategy, to implementing agencies (NGOs, private sector, etc) They are often pre-determined based on identified needs, policies, interests of governments, NGOs and international donors, with at time input from communities themselves (they are as a result generally seen as institutional endeavours) Most participation of communities is at the stage of needs assessment , or project identification phase, and within specific activities where sub-sections of the community will take part.

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 Participation is more and more seen now as a MUST in view of sustainable development: if people DONT participate in a project that concerns them, they will NOT own the process, results, and assets or outcomes, whatever these may be. The project will not have long term success, and will not likely be sustainable, when external agencies (State extension services, NGOs, etc) leave at the end of the project.

2 types of Approaches to participatory projects: 1) Target oriented 2) Experiential Approach BLUEPRINT (target oriented) Characteristics To deliver a pre-set package of outputs (goods and services) to specific target groups To create positive CHANGE in a community, by way of promoting peoples capacity to take charge and lead their own development process Identified at the Not identified at the onset of the project, onset, it emerges from it lands on the the community community / target group Can be listed as set Unpredictable, bound to and predictable peoples choices, knowoutcomes, fit in a how, assets and action RBM framework Externally driven, Endogenous (the people people as themselves), with beneficiaries brought facilitation support into the agenda/plan at some stages of the process EXPERIENTIAL (process oriented)

Goal

Deliverables

Results expected

Agency (actors)

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Community involvement

Decision making

Buy-in sought after: Varies, from passive recipients to consultative, to engaging: willingness of people to take part in activities Generally resides externally, at project managers level Direction operational, managerial and

Leadership and initiative: the people take charge, and engage with other actors through negotiating their plans, support needed, etc Resides within the community, based on consensus or interests of collective groups Facilitation , negotiation, and bridging what emerges from the community to the outside world Participatory planning, Appreciative inquiry, ABCD, PRA, RRA, etc. Interactive

Role of NGO

Methodology

Project Life Cycle; RBM, Project management (scope, time, cost, HR,risk, etc). Managerial

People's participation:
Development projects are by definition external interventions. Why, when and how they are identified, formulated and approved depends on the policies and negotiation skills of the different parties involved, usually governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or international institutions. Direct involvement of the intended target groups or their representatives in this process of project preparation and negotiation is not a common practice. At most, with the help of some local people, a general assessment of constraints and opportunities to be addressed through project interventions is made during project identification and formulation. As a consequence, when development projects become operational, their appearance is generally a surprise for the intended target groups. An effort is under way to change this state of affairs, however, using methods that come under the name of "participatory development" or "people's participation". 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

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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. According to the typology of participation developed by Pretty1, two forms of participation derive from these two approaches. The first, found in blueprint approaches, can be called "passive participation", whereby people participate by being told what is going to happen. The second, found in process-oriented approaches, can be called "interactive participation" whereby people participate in joint analysis, which leads to locally formulated action plans. Other types of participation exist in between and outside these two.

Under various forms of passive participation, people can participate by providing information to outsiders, by providing resources (usually labour) in return for incentives and by forming groups to undertake planned activities. A common characteristic of these types of participation is that planning and decision-making are in the hands of outsiders and relate to externally predetermined objectives. 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 planning:
Participatory planning can be defined as joint actions of local people and project staff with the objective of formulating development plans and selecting the best available alternatives for their implementation. It should be a two-way learning process of dialogue, negotiation and decision-making between insiders and outsiders,

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concerning activities to be undertaken by the insiders and supported by the outsiders. It is thus conceptualized in terms of what can be called a "negotiating dialogue" between local people and project staff, aimed at conforming project support to local needs, constraints and opportunities. Simply stated, participatory planning is an effort of the parties involved to elaborate a common agenda for future development actions. This agenda is not completely open: both parties already have their own agendas, mandates and responsibilities. The challenge is to identify and agree upon those actions that fit in with both. Special methods and tools have been developed that facilitate the identification and elaboration of common agendas.

Critical assumptions underlying the participatory approach:

Local empowerment (in particular of disadvantaged groups) constitutes a basic condition for achieving sustainability. 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

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enhance political commitment and institutional support for local planning by building a common understanding between institutions and local groups.

The conceptual framework:

Participatory planning is defined above using the concept of a "negotiating dialogue" between the parties involved, which are the local community, groups or households (the insiders) and the project or institutions (the outsiders). This planning process should produce two sets of results. 1. In the short term, the tools of participatory planning should generate a two-way learning process, which will shape project interventions to local needs, opportunities and constraints. 2. In the long term, this learning process should lead to a) local empowerment and. b) effective support at the institutional level. These are considered preconditions for strengthening both institutional capacity for decentralized planning and local planning capacity. Lessons from community forestry indicate that local-level decision-making and planning are fundamental for sustainable development. It has become clear after decades of experience that environmental problems such as deforestation and ecological degradation cannot be solved simply by planting trees. Sustainable management of natural resources requires a more comprehensive approach, which includes strengthening the organizational and technical capacities of rural communities, as well as engendering at least passive support for sustainable resource use from the larger community group. Four critical and interrelated conditions in this context are: (1) the presence of strong local organizations and community support for sustainable management; (2) the ability to ensure access to and control over natural resources (appropriate tenure systems); (3) the conditions for undertaking participatory technology development (integration of local knowledge and management systems); and (4) the existence of local systems for distributing benefits equitably. This can be visualized as follows:2

Figure 1.1: Local conditions for participatory planning In designing a participatory project, particular attention needs to be paid during the planning process to local knowledge, skills, decision-making procedures and

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communication systems, as well as to existing organizational structures. It is important to understand the profiles and perceptions of the different power groups involved in local decision-making or excluded from it. Accurate knowledge of the critical factors of organizational development, technical capacity, rights to land, trees and water, and benefit distribution systems should guide the design process. This knowledge should form the basis for selecting the tools and incentives that will be used to respond to the specific needs of the local community and, in particular, to the needs of the most disadvantaged groups. From the project point of view, two questions must be addressed at the time of project planning:

To what extent are the project objectives and strategies explicitly oriented towards participatory planning (are they process-oriented or target-oriented)? Is the technical dimension of the project defined in terms of predetermined technical messages, or in the form of a range of possible technical menus, to be developed and verified during project implementation?

Project institutional capacity is also critical. It depends not only on the methodological and conceptual orientation of project personnel, but also on project procedures for planning, implementation, internal communication and feedback, and on linkages between these procedures and the local planning process. Thus, special attention needs to be paid to (1) project objectives and strategies, (2) project technical approach, methods and tools, (3) project organization and management and (4) the development of institutional linkages (networking). These aspects are interrelated and can be visualized as follows:

Figure 1.2: Critical institutional aspects for participatory approaches The overall project design needs to be clearly oriented towards participatory strategies in the field. In order to promote interactive participation at the local level, project objectives and strategies need to be process-oriented. These strategies must be reinforced and further developed through the verification of methods, tools and technical menus in the field, as well as through the mobilization of institutional networks. This reinforcement depends on an appropriate project management structure and style, as well as on the adequacy of institutional capacity in terms of human, resources, funding and infrastructure.
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The local community and the project, with their respective critical issues or conditions for participatory planning, can be thought of as "local enabling institutions" and "external enabling institutions". The critical areas identified in Figures 1.1 and 1.2 will be interlinked when the local and the external systems interact. For example, integration of local knowledge systems depends on the nature of the project technical proposals. Likewise, institutional linkages and networking can generate the political commitment needed to overcome local land tenure constraints.

Methods and tools:

The methods and tools most frequently used in process-oriented development projects are those taken from rapid rural appraisal techniques. Ideally, these methods and tools strengthen the capacity of local people to identify and analyse priority needs, opportunities and constraints, and consequently to plan activities, implement them and evaluate the results. At the same time, they permit project staff to get a better understanding of the local realities and to learn from the local people's experience. Rapid rural appraisal (RRA) and participatory rural appraisal (PRA), which make use of these instruments, have become-fashionable in projects that are process-oriented. While it is beyond the scope of this study to elaborate on the differences between PRA and RRA, according to Chambers3 they can be placed on a continuum with at one end RRA, which is an instrument for data collection and learning by outsiders, and at the other end PRA, which is meant to enable local people to conduct their own analysis. In principle, the same appraisal methods and tools can be used in both RRA and PRA exercises. The main differences relate to the behavioural roles played in each by outsiders and insiders; in other words, to how and by whom these methods are used in the field.

Institutionalization and sustainability:

Participatory planning is the initial step in the definition of a common agenda for development by a local community and an external entity or entities. Over a period of years, this initial step is expected to evolve for the parties concerned towards (1) a selfsustaining development planning process at the local level, and (2) the decentralization of national institutional planning. Through this process, these two planning levels should grow to be closely interrelated. The result will ideally be the continuing formulation of comprehensive and integrated plans for sustainable development of natural resources. As consolidated procedures and mechanisms for consultation and negotiation gradually evolve, the original participatory project approaches and methods will become institutionalized. This will lead to a sustained process of planning based on negotiation, in which all groups with a stake in the use and the conservation of natural resources will be involved on an equitable basis. #############################

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