Practice of Participation: Skills, Values and Approaches in Facilitating Participatory Change

Excerpts from the evaluation follow:

The Center for Participatory Change (CPC) creates positive change in low-wealth communities across Western North Carolina by organizing and supporting grassroots groups...

CPC's efforts are based on the belief that marginalized people best understand the problems they face and how to fix them...

This Evaluation Brief focuses on process evaluation - on what CPC does and how we do it...

This Evaluation Brief explores two major themes related to CPC's work that emerged from conversations with our grassroots partners:

1. The ways that CPC staff ensure that decisions and direction come from the members of the grassroots groups that we support--specifically, how we provide support and guidance for groups without crossing the line and directing or controlling their work.
2. The ways that CPC staff encourage inclusive and participatory interactions between members of grassroots groups, helping groups develop an organizational culture of participation and inclusiveness (largely through learning that occurs at groups' regular meetings).

CPC works explicitly from a set of values related to participation, democracy, inclusiveness, grassroots control, and capacity building...

Section 1. Ensuring Grassroots Control

...What can practitioners do to make sure that grassroots efforts are truly blossoming from within the community? How does one walk the line between sharing an idea and imposing it on the group?...

1. CPC staff avoid telling grassroots partners what to do;
2. CPC staff try to avoid influencing the pace of grassroots efforts...
3. When CPC staff give their input, it is fine with everyone (both grassroots groups and CPC staff) if grassroots groups decide not to accept it;
4. CPC staff allow grassroots groups to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes;
5. CPC staff constantly (but gently) push grassroots groups to become more independent and self-sustaining...

Section 2. Building a Culture of Inclusiveness and Participation

CPC's facilitation does not mandate a participatory process - but it does encourage one, allowing the group to recognize the power, ideas, skills andresources that are available in collaboration...This process is undergirded by five values, attitudes, or behaviors...:

1. The work is controlled and directed by the group (not CPC)...;
2. The work is built from group members' collective experiences, wisdom, and skills - and it is CPC's job to get that wisdom and experience out on the table so it can be used well by the group;
3. Group decisions should be inclusive and participatory;
4. CPC staff are constantly checking in (even when we aren't facilitating) to make sure that group decisions are inclusive and participatory;
5. CPC staff are continually helping group members build the capacities to run their own meetings and their own organizations as independently aspossible

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Source:

Evaluation Brief No. 3 - Fall 2002.