Participatory Appraisal in Communities

Over the past three years the Neighbourhood Development Team in Copeland have used Participatory Appraisal (PA) as a method of consulting local communities in two large scale projects and numerous small scale, single issue meetings. We received training in using and understanding PA techniques through the Open College Network with funding from the Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities Fund. The training was also made available to community volunteers, councillors and other community development workers in the area.

What is PA?

Participatory, taking part in something, appraisal, considering something, is a way of finding out about local issues from the people who live and work in a particular area. The consultation process uses a variety of techniques aimed at engaging people both in the initial stages but also in the follow up community planning and actions.

The method originated in Asia and Africa but is now becoming widely used as a tool for community involvement in the UK.

PA’s starting point is that local people are the experts in their own lives and circumstances and that changes taking place will have the best chance of success if they stem from this local knowledge.

PA is committed to involving those generally excluded from the consultation and decision making processes. It’s user friendly, non-leading and non-threatening. Oh yes, and it’s also a lot of fun!

PA in South Whitehaven.

In partnership with a variety of organisations, the initial idea of the project, called Play a Part in Your Future, was to find out what issues were important to the various communities in the area and then develop actions to deal with those issues that in turn could become projects funded by the South Whitehaven Partnership through the Single Regeneration Budget.

Whilst some of the issues, like highlighting of traffic calming features to make them more visible to motorists, were dealt with and actions delivered in a relatively short period of time, others, like the setting up of clubs and activities for young people and the development of a programme of summer activities for local children, took a little longer. Other issues have still not been acted upon.

However, there is an opportunity to deal with many of the issues raised, as recent consultation work carried out by the local housing provider has confirmed they are still relevant. The whole of the South Whitehaven area will be covered by a three year Neighbourhood Management programme from April 2006 and this will provide partners with the opportunity to employ Neighbourhood Assistants, additional community development workers and added support and training for local people. This programme should really have a positive impact on the ‘feel’ of the various communities in the area.

In addition, the Housing Market Renewal programme, which also covers South Whitehaven, will aim to improve the physical infrastructure of the estates. 

The Neighbourhood Development team, with partners, have recognised the opportunity that these programmes offer to do something different with Neighbourhood Forums in the area. Some initial ideas include local community activists as Forum Chairs, developing a more reactive, street-level series of meetings, etc.

PA in the Cleator Moor area.

The 04/05 project in the Cleator Moor area, A Piece of the Action, covered a much larger geographic area and the information gathered was used to inform three Parish Plans.

Issues raised became part of the individual parishes Action Plan, as well as being built into the community and regeneration strategy for the local regeneration group and the West Cumbria Local Strategic Partnership.

One of the really positive things about the project was that individual parishes got a taste of working together and this has continued into the regeneration group that covers the area. An additional two parishes have joined the group and all five parishes have now committed financial resources to the employment of a Regeneration Manager, who will have the responsibility to see that the issues raised through the PA process are dealt with. Evidence suggests that this is the first time in the country that a group of parishes have come together to provide financial support in this way.

Some things to think about

PA is not an easy option. It is expensive and time-consuming. But it does engage the parts of the community that we, as development workers, quite often struggle to reach. It also encourages partnership working between public and voluntary sector organisations as well as with individual members of the community, partnerships which continue to this day and which have played an important role in the development of Neighbourhood forums in the area. It has allowed us to build capacity within communities as the two projects enabled eighteen people to gain nationally recognised qualifications. As a result, a number of individuals have gone on to find work in the community development sector.

More importantly though, PA has given communities the chance to talk about the issues that are important to them and come up with solutions that will work. They are, after all, the experts and we need to listen to them.