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Tools for transformation

Participatory Methods

Article, Research
October 7, 2024

Citizens and community members often feel like they don’t have much control over the decisions that get made by governments and even more so in issues like climate.

However, research shows high levels of concern about the climate crisis and a willingness on the part of individuals to contribute to climate action. Involving community members in working together solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation through the use of participatory methods in all steps of the process is key. If such an approach is implemented from the very beginning and participants are invited to share their perspectives, opinions and values will also help them mature their views on a certain topic or area.

Taking part in these activities also helps builds capacity by generating knowledge and creating networks of relevant actors that can continue to work once the initial project or funding is over. There are many participatory methods that can apply to many different contexts and needs.

There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ in participation: these methods should be adapted to each context by experienced facilitators that can support participants achieve effective and better decisions. An experienced facilitator is also key to create a supportive space for discussions to happen, where participants feel safe and empowered to share ideas while at the same time being confident that it will result in concrete results. They will also adapt the chosen tools and methods to serve the needs of the group and reach constructive conclusions and manage unexpected events or outcomes.

However, what facilitators lack in experience can be, to a certain extent, compensated by preparation time and more involvement of stakeholder representatives in the preparation and design of the participatory process. Finally, in order to engage in fruitful, meaningful discussions, it’s crucial to create a shared understanding of the issue at hand, making sure we minimise ‘Ginger-the-Dog’ situations. If empowered participants and organisers are capable of sharing ownership of the results, the more likely it is that the outcomes are fully used and integrated in the action plans of the different institutions.

The Seven Insights as defined by UCL Climate Action Unit

Case Study - Asset-Based Community Development

Moving from an approach where communities are considered sources of needs and problems, Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) thinks of them as being full of gifts and assets. Each community possesses a set of skills and capacities that if managed correctly can be source of solutions to community problems. Asset Based Community Development’s premise is that communities can drive the development process themselves by identifying and mobilizing existing, but often unrecognised assets.

Depending on different sources, Asset Based Community Development is divided into 12 principles and five key assets.

ABCD principles:

Everyone has unique gifts, and the challenge is to discover and use these contributions (gifts) for the benefit of the community.
Relationships Build a Community: see them, make them, and utilize them. An intentional effort to build and nourish relationships is the core of ABCD and of all community building.
Citizens at the Centre: it is essential to engage the wider community as actors (citizens) not just as recipients of services (clients).
Leaders Involve Others as Active Members of the Community: Leaders from the wider community of voluntary associations, congregations, neighbourhoods, and local business, can engage others from their sector. This “following” is based on trust, influence, and relationship.
People Care About Something: agencies and neighbourhood groups often complain about apathy. Apathy is a sign of bad listening. People in communities are motivated to act. The challenge is to discover what their motivation is.
Motivation to Act must be identified. People act on certain themes they feel strongly about, such as concerns to address, dreams to realize, and personal talents to contribute. Every community is filled with invisible “motivation for action”. Listen for it.
Listening Conversation – one-on-one dialogue or small group conversations are ways of discovering motivation and invite participation. Forms, surveys and asset maps can be useful to guide intentional listening and relationship building.
Ask, Ask, Ask – asking and inviting are key community-building actions. “Join us. We need you.” This is the song of community.
Asking Questions Rather Than Giving Answers Invites Stronger Participation. People in communities are usually asked to follow outside expert’s answers for their community problems. A more powerful way to engage people is to invite communities to address ‘questions’ and finding their own answer– with agencies following up to help.
A Citizen-Centered “Inside-Out” Organisation is the Key to Community Engagement: A “citizen-centred” organisation is one where local people control the organisation and set the organisation’s agenda.
Institutions Have Reached Their Limits in Problem-Solving: all institutions such as government, non-profits, and businesses are stretched thin in their ability to solve community problems. They cannot be successful without engaging the rest of the community in solutions.
Institutions as Servants: people are better than programmes in engaging the wider community. Leaders in institutions have an essential role in communitybuilding as they lead by “stepping back,” creating opportunities for citizenship, care, and real democracy.

ABCD key assets:

Individuals: At the centre of ABCD are residents of the community that have gifts and
Skills. Everyone has assets and gifts. Individual gifts and assets need to be recognised and identified. In community development you cannot do anything with people’s needs, only their assets. Deficits or needs are only useful to institutions.
Associations: Small informal groups of people, such as clubs, working with a common interest as volunteers are called associations in ABCD and are critical to community mobilization. They don’t control anything; they are just coming together around a common interest by their individual choice.
Institutions: Paid groups of people who generally are professionals who are structurally organized are called institutions. They include government agencies and private business, as well as schools, etc. They can all be valuable resources. The assets of these institutions help the community capture valuable resources and establish a sense of civic responsibility.
Physical Assets: Physical assets such as land, buildings, space, and funds are other assets that can be used.
Connections: There must be an exchange between people sharing their assts by bartering, etc. These connections are made by people who are connectors. It takes time to find out about individuals; this is normally done through building relationships with individual by individual.

Read

The Elephant and Rider metaphor comes from psychologist Jonathan Haidt in his book The Righteous Mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion. The metaphor is similar to Daniel Kahneman’s System 1/System 2 description of intuitive thinking and deliberative reasoning in Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Case Study - Participatory methods in Climate action

Participatory methods in Climate action: Ten examples of the use of participatory methods in action with different case studies from around the world.

Ressource - Participatory Methods

Participatory Methods: A comprehensive database of tools and methods for participation developed by the project Health Cascade.
Action Catalogue: online decision support tool including 57 methods, and is publicly available to search the methods, read thorough the descriptions of what the methods do, their strengths and weaknesses and the societal challenges they can be used to address.
Co-creation Navigator The Co-Creation Navigator provides a guide to navigate the different stages of co-creation, from preparation to execution, and suggests tools and methods for each stage.
MOSAIC Cookbook: Although developed specifically for policy makers implementing cocreation processes in the field of the European Commission missions, this cookbook describes the MOSAIC Methodology implemented during the co-creation process run in the two cities, Gothenburg and Milan offering practical insights and methods that can be used in the context of climate action.
3-minute Summary about ABCD (video)
Experimental participatory methodology brings local pasts to contemporary climate action: Case study of a Danish case study area experiencing cultural and natural environmental changes exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change. It describes and evaluates an experimental methodology that was developed to create and support engagement between the local community and climate action in the case study area.

Reflective questions:

How might you set up your Learning Venture participatory process? What methodologies will work best with the communities you are engaging with?
Can you think of the Ginger-the-Dog triggering discussions in your local context/topic?
In relation to the climate justice topic under consideration in your local context, what might a healthy system look like?