Participatory Development Masterclass wrapup
05 October 2010
As an adjunct to the eighth World Congress of the Action
Learning Action Research Association (ALARA), AVI recently hosted a
Masterclass in Participatory Development for students of
international and community development.
Over 30 participants came together to discuss the role of
participatory practices in development, the types of organisations,
practices and personal skills needed to pursue such an approach,
and examples of good practice in doing so.
The Masterclass was facilitated by a number of the theorists and
practitioners who had come to Australia to attend the ALARA
Congress. They included three members of the Participation, Power
and Social Change team from the Institute of Development Studies in
Sussex, England; Patta Scott-Villiers, Peter Clarke and Jethro
Petit.
Namrata Jaitli from the Society for Participatory Research in
Asia and Winston Jacob from the Global University for Lifelong
Learning also participated. Each of the international visitors gave
the participants insights into their own work and discussed the
ways in which many mainstream approaches to development would
benefit from the incorporation of participatory approaches and
methodologies.
Despite it being a wet wintery Melbourne day, the enthusiasm and
interest generated by the facilitators and the participants kept
the sessions buzzing, and the day finished much later than
anticipated. Even then the conversations continued, as small
groups loitered and chewed over some of the finer detail of the
day.
Find out more about ALARA
Interested in finding out more about the
Masterclass?
Contact Russell Hocking at Australian Volunteers International on
(03) 9279 1849.