For over four decades, PRIA has advocated for Participation. The organisation has a longstanding commitment to promoting participation as a tool for transforming power and amplifying the voices of marginalized groups- be it strengthening the voices of forest dwellers and rural women, holding school of participation, including voices of women and Dalits in Panchayati Raj institutions, or advocating for rights of migrant workers, Participation has been at the heart of our work.
With changing times, the meaning of participation has also changed and with that has PRIA’s work but what has remained constant is PRIA’S mission, at the core of which lies strengthening and recovering people’s knowledge in order to strengthen people’s voices and power in decisions affecting their lives.[1]
This week’s session with our Y4G fellows was on Participation conducted by Ms. Nikita Rakhyani and Ms. Shruti Priya (PRIA) and aimed to explore the concept of participation, its evolving meaning, and how it is applied within groups and communities.
To decode the concept of Participation, fellows were first asked to reflect and respond to the question of how they are seeing participation within the group?
Their responses indicated that while in some groups every team member was participating, a few other groups were struggling with everyone’s involvement. There were members who were doing the bare minimum whereas some were going above and beyond, some who were taking the major load of the task, while some were taking leadership roles. The facilitator acknowledged that participation within a group can vary significantly. Some members actively engage, while others may not participate as enthusiastically. Leadership dynamics might emerge, and certain individuals may take on a more significant workload.
However, to ensure everyone’s participation it is important to identifying challenges and working collectively to address them. For people who are not participating, the group should try to find out their reason for absence and identify what is the best way in which they can contribute to the group.
After establishing a clear understanding of what Participation mean, the discussion then flowed to ways to ensure community’s participation in Participatory Research process. Several strategies were proposed to facilitate this.
The first step of ensuring their participation is building strong rapport and relationship with the community which would eventually build trust as the community would grow comfortable to our presence. Next comes the data collection process which in Participatory research should not be extractive as knowledge is cocreated. People should be consulted with, and problems and solutions should be identified with them.
The importance of adhering to the principles of participatory research throughout the whole process was highlighted. It is the duty of the researcher to ensure every voice is heard and included in the research. If people are not comfortable taking in large groups separate interviews with them was suggested. Inclusivity was regarded as a cornerstone of effective participation.
Participation through transparency in the research process was emphasized. Community members should be well-informed about the research objectives, methods, and the potential impact on their lives. After the information has been collected, the research findings and analysis should be shared with the community so that the solutions generated can be used in their daily lives, allowing them to build awareness, apply the new discovered knowledge and so that we leave a better informed, well aware and empowered community,
The overarching goal of Participation is the active involvement of the community in identifying problems and devising solutions, eventually empowering them to make informed decisions about their and their communities’ welfare. The session which focused on ways to ensure