Participatory Planning - Brief Description

Participatory planning tools and techniques enable participants to influence and share control over development initiatives and decisions affecting them. In development planning, participation is a process of equitable and active involvement of all stakeholders in the formulation of development policies and strategies and in the analysis, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development activities. Disadvantaged stakeholders need to be empowered to increase their level of knowledge, influence and control over their own livelihoods, including development initiatives affecting them in order to allow for a more equitable development process.

Participation is also an organized effort within institutions and organizations to increase stakeholder access and control over resources and related decision making that contributes to sustainable livelihoods. Participation is furthermore viewed as an iterative process involving the continuous re-adjustment of relationships between different stakeholders in a society in order to increase stakeholder control and influence over development initiatives that affect their lives.

Photo 1:  Organising a participatory planning exercise

Photo 2: Evaluating results of a participatory planning exercise