PARTICIPATORY TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES Many of the methods that are traditionally used to consult residents rely on written information and ideas, and on meetings and discussion. While these approaches are often essential, used on their own they have serious limitations: they favour verbal intelligence over other forms of intelligence, such

as the visual they work best for people who are highly literate and articulate they favour people who are comfortable putting forward their ideas in

groups they often favour people whose first language is English they discourage exploratory and creative thinking they encourage groups to take up fixed ‘positions’ rather than flexible

‘options’ they encourage ‘group-think’ – whereby people comply with a set of

assumed group norms, and avoid raising questions that challenge these.

The good news is that a wide range of consultation tools and techniques are now being developed and used that are less formal and more participative than the traditional methods. These methods often have the following features: they are visual they involve people moving around they allow people to record and register individual ideas, e.g. using

post-its and stickers they lead to informal, exploratory conversations they encourage creative thinking and group-work they can be used in a range of settings. Different methods are useful for different stages of a project; for example, to generate ideas at the start, to assess possible options, to reach group decisions, to plan the project and monitor its progress. Example of these tools and techniques are given on the following pages.

Problem Wall / Solution Tree When to use? At the start of a project, to identify what the problems are in an area and get ideas for solving them. How to use? Choose what theme you want people to focus on (e.g. the external

environment). Draw a brick wall on a flip-chart / large sheet of paper. Ask people to stick on the wall post-its or cards of the problems they

think there are in the area – one post-it or card per brick – until the wall is full. You can, if you wish, try to group the post-its with similar themes (e.g. planted areas, pavements, car-parking etc.).

Draw a tree on a flip-chart / large sheet of paper, with lots of

branches. Taking each of the sets of problems identified on the wall, ask the

group to identify solutions for them, sticking these solutions in the branches of the tree.

Encourage participants to link their solutions to the specific problems.

Sometimes the problems are shown as roots of the tree, and solutions to each problem are placed along one branch.

SWOT analysis SWOT analysis is used to take stock of conditions by exploring strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Though simple, it offers a wide perspective, examining both positive (SO) and negative (WT) factors in a situation, as well as the internal (SW) and external (OT) dimensions. SWOT analysis is often used as a basis for decisions about the future, and is effective in promoting group discussion. The following is an example of a SWOT analysis for a particular neighbourhood. Strengths Good transport links to city centre Many buildings for community use Diverse, multi-ethnic community Regeneration funding Well-established community forum Good Primary School

Weaknesses A lot of social housing, in need of improvement Unattractive, unsupervised communal spaces Few facilities for young people Rapid turn-over of population – high % of transitory residents

Opportunities Newly established Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership Local authority reorganisation Possibility of establishing neighbourhood management Recently established Careers & Job Placement service

Threats Main pot of regeneration funding coming to an end Possible closure of local hospital Economic downturn resulting in closure of local shops

Flow diagrams – analysing problems as a group Flow diagrams can be used in groups to help analyse the causes and effects of problems.

Using a flip-chart, write the problem ‘as experienced’ in the centre of the sheet. Working as a group, think of all the possible causes of the problem and put them in the bottom half of the sheet, with arrows leading from them to the problem. Then think of all the effects of the problem, and write these in the upper half of the sheet, with arrows leading from the problem to

them. If you think of factors which are neither causes nor effects, but are related, put them on the same level. For example:

Difficult to let

Estate appears neglected

Health hazards

Residents demoralised

Lots of dumped rubbish

Neglected gardens

Hidden areas Inadequate contracts

Costly home collections

Assessing different options An effective way of assessing options in groups is to use a chart to help groups explore particular questions. Each option is placed on a card, and the group is asked to discuss each in turn, deciding where to place it on the chart. The example below (known as an ‘implementation / impact matrix’) enables you to ask 2 questions: 1) How easy or difficult would it be to implement this project? 2) If implemented, how much impact is it likely to have on the problems? Easy (to implement) Medium Difficult High (impact)

Medium

Low

Other categories that are sometimes used in charts are: NOW / SOON / LATER – to decide

on the degree of urgency BY US / WITH US / FOR US – on

who can carry out the desired option: the community group on their own; with help from others; or entirely by others.