14th Year of International Workshops
Offered only once this year!
STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION IN: PLANNING, NEEDS, ASSESMENT, MONITORING AND EVALUATION USING PRA METHODS.
A SUMMER EXPERIENCE IN PRA METHODS AND PARTICIPATORY, LEARNING AND ACTION
July 13-18, 2009
Ottawa, Canada
Organized by Mosaic.net International
A Six-Day Workshop that will show you how to:
- MASTER participatory tools in the workplace;
- APPLY participatory approaches to the project cycle;
- DESIGN solutions for your own situation;
- ANALYZE community needs and priorities from the community perspective;
- INTEGRATE participatory methods into project design, monitoring and evaluations.
Here's what past participants have said about the workshop:
The workshop "was packed with information and experiences and very well thought out. I found it quite easy to learn and internalize new tools".
"The PRA workshop achieves its goals by being fully participatory, experiential, highly informative and fun. I will be using the tools in my courses to raise student awareness of community education issues and in my international development work".
"I can now connect the theory with the practice."
"There were many participants from many different organizations which meant that there were many different perspectives represented. This led to a richness of discussion..."
"The workshop was more than tools. It was an experience."
Why You Should Attend
Experience has shown that participation improves the quality, effectiveness and sustainability of our actions (i.e. engagement, organizational change, leadership, building a common vision). By placing people at the centre, our actions have a much greater potential to empower and to lead to the ownership of initiatives. Giving the poor, local communities, and local government a central voice in development efforts that affect them is at the heart of participation.
What Results to Expect
The workshop is based on a hands-on approach to participatory development that can be applied in Canada and overseas, in both urban and rural community settings. You will be introduced to the concepts and tools behind participatory development, also referred to as "Participatory, Learning and Action" (PLA) and "Participatory Rural/Rapid Appraisal" (PRA).
Practice assignments in the community will enable you to master and improve the tools and approaches to participation, to help you and/or your organization interact more effectively with groups and/or the community.
You can expect to enhance your awareness, knowledge or skills in any of the following areas:
- Using participation in project design, management, monitoring and evaluation;
- Increasing participation of different interest groups or stakeholders;
- Learning and applying participation tools and community-based research methods such as semi-structured interviewing, community mapping, gender division of labour, institutional mapping, force-field analysis, seasonal calendars, historical timelines, and more;
- Organizational development and capacity-building for your organization;
- Community development methods.
Who Will be There?
This workshop is designed for:
- Professionals & managers who work with different stakeholder groups at government, intermediary or community levels;
- NGOs who are interested in learning the latest techniques in participatory development;
- participatory-action researchers and educators who use and teach qualitative methods;
- policy, program and project officers who make critical decisions on organizational policy, resource allocations, project design, monitoring and evaluation;
- First Nations facilitators and leaders who work directly with aboriginal groups; and,
- community activists who want to learn dynamic community methods and tools.
- consultants who want to broaden their repertoire of tools & methods.
All participants should have a basic knowledge of English and be able to express themselves in the English language.
Workshop Structure
This workshop is an intensive six day workshop set in the community to maximize learning, group interaction and networking. Sessions begin at 8:30 in the morning and run all day including some evenings, particularly Monday night. Please note that community work in communities is extensive and requires the full commitment of all workshop participants.
Day 1: Introduction to Stakeholder Participation
- Setting the Context: The Origins of Participatory Methods and Approaches
- Key Concepts Related to Stakeholder Participation
- Attitudes and Behaviors Conducive to Participation.
Day 2: Practicing the Tools
- Participatory Project Design and Planning
- Undertaking Participatory Evaluations
- Practicing PRA/PLA tools
Day 3: Learning the Tools
Community Mapping, Semi-Structured Interviewing, Institutional Mapping, Facilitating Groups, Dealing with Saboteurs, Seasonal Calendars, Timelines, Venn Diagrams, Applying a gender approach to the application of PRA tools, Appreciative Inquiry, and more......
Days 4 & 5: Practice Assignments in the Community
Mosaic will organize three-day community assignments based on the needs and priorities of community-based organizations in the Ottawa area. Project teams will work together intensively, practising tools learned in the workshop and adapting them to real life situations. Past participants of workshops have worked on the following topics:
- Survey of community health needs and services
- Exploring community needs in Rupert and how to increase volunteerism
- Assessing youth priorities
- Ways to improve a local Business Association
- AIDS awareness in Chinatown
- What are the barriers preventing women from using bicycles, either as transportation to work or for recreational purposes
- Resident needs and concerns for a new recreational facility
- Strengths and weaknesses of Canada's largest outdoor farmers' market
- Community input to a Wellness Program
Day 6: Group Reports, Building Your Action Plan and Evaluation
- Presentation of Team Reports
- Preparing an Action Plan
- Evaluation and Wrap-Up for 1:30 pm.
How Will This be Achieved?
This is a practical, iterative and hands-on workshop. The format will vary between small group work and discussion, plenary, and practical community assignments to encourage the sharing of knowledge and application of participatory concepts and tools to real life situations. Participants will go out into the community on a daily basis to apply tools and to learn by doing.
The community practice assignments will be in one of five different communities in and around Ottawa. Teams of participants will carry out a simulated participatory development exercise, using the tools learned in the workshop. Where appropriate, links will be made to existing community groups and their issues. Evening meetings and on-going team-building exercises will be part of this process.
The Workshop Site and Accommodations
The workshop venue has been changed to take place at the Sandy Hill Community Centre at 250 Somerset Street EAST, Ottawa, Conference Room. This is in the neighborhood of Sandy Hill in downtown Ottawa, minutes away from the beautiful market. Tel: (613)564-1062. The Sandy Hill Community Centre is a five minute walk from the University and in walking distance to all the hotels and Bread and Breakfast’s noted on our briefing page. Free Parking is available in the back of the building
Participants are responsible for arranging their own accommodations and meals. Accommodations range in price from CAD $ 20 - $ 120 per night depending on your budget and taste. Accommodations listed on our enclosed information sheet and the web site Briefing page are all within walking distance of the workshop. Reservations should be made early to avoid disappointment.
All participants including local participants from the Ottawa and the Outaouais area are expected to reside with the team in their placement community Wednesday to Friday nights of the training workshop. Shared group accommodations during the three-day community practice will be arranged in advance by the workshop organizers and will average about CAD $ 22 - 55 per person per night. The participants are responsible for paying three nights accommodation.
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Françoise Coupal is Director of Mosaic.net International, a private consulting firm dedicated to providing innovative solutions to development. Françoise is an experienced facilitator and trainer in participatory methods having designed and delivered successful workshops for the World Bank, the UNDP, CIDA, UNIFEM, the World Food Programme and a variety of International Non-Governmental Organizations. Françoise has worked closely with organizations to mainstream participatory methods and approaches into their management practices. She has designed a PM&E system for a Maternal and Early Childhood Development Project in China and is currently working on a CIDA supported project in Niger and Mexico to design PM&E systems. Françoise holds graduate degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Carleton University in International Affairs and Development Studies in particular. She undertook her Bachelor of Arts at UCLA.
Helen Patterson is a partner at Mosaic. She is an organizational development consultant and with over 15 year experience in international development. She has worked with various organizations, including the World Bank, UNDP, CIDA, GTZ , OXFAM, World Vision as well as many local NGOs in Canada. She has lived and worked in Malawi, Madagascar, Costa Rica and Egypt. Helen has used her skills in Open Space, Appreciative Inquiry and Results Based Management in a variety of themes and sectors (ie. HIV/AIDS, poverty reduction, water, soil and waste management, community health, homelessness, leadership and capacity building etc.). She has carried out training in participatory methods for project planning, implementation, monitoring & evaluation with a wide variety of organizations and community groups. Helen holds a B.A. in Economics from McGill University & a M.S.c. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wales and an M.A.in organizational development from Concordia University.