Dave and Brian get on with it: Participatory Appraisal at Blackburn

I've long been a big fan of participatory appraisal as a way of finding out the opinions of a neighbourhood . Its rich selection of tools allow people to explore the issues that are important for them rather than responding to the agenda of an outsider. It is creative (maps, drawings, photographs etc), flexible (street corners, pubs, people's houses, shop fronts) and fun.

Whilst supporting a group of residents from Blackburn who are preparing the neighbourhood for £1 million of Lottery money I was reminded of another (if not the) benefit of the approach. The residents had spent part of the week using opinion lines and mapping to try and find out what local people felt were the main issues that need to be addressed by the forthcoming lottery funding. At our evening meeting our volunteers were reflecting on their experience. Dave talked about a disabled woman's distress over parking on her street. In passing Dave mentioned he had taken it upon himself to see both the Police and the local council on the issue. Result: parking lines outside woman's house, no more problem. The same goes for Brian who had been using an opinion line to stimulate discussion at a Women's Group. They talked of their boredom. Result: Brian has offered to teach them photography.

By September, we should end up with a bit of a snapshot of life in the area which the Lottery awarding board can use to guide them in their decisions. Our challenge though is to make sure we map all the other positives that come out of this attempt to support a committed group of residents.

Friends of the Earth Discussion Kits

‘We need something that will give all local groups a chance to have their say in the mid term strategy review. It needs to be fun, stimulating and easy to do’ was roughly what the person from Friends of the Earth said to me. ‘…………and it needs to recognise the complexity of the issues under consideration’ (or something along those lines).

After I’d rambled on about the value of deliberative engagement we agreed the best idea might be a local group Discussion Kit. And so was born the Friends of the Earth mid term strategy review discussion kit (snappy title eh?). It seems to have worked.

The basic idea was that there are a number of contentious issues that the organisation (and many other campaigning organisations) are facing. The nature of such issues is extremely complex with a corresponding myriad of possible solutions for each issue. The ideal way forward is for each local group to host an evening workshop where all these issues are discussed. Invited to each workshop would be a long list of people with different opinions on how best to tackle each issue ( a kind of mini Citizens Jury), however this is obviously high infeasible. The Discussion Kit is a low cost alternative. Through a pack of cards each local group is able to self organise a discussion about the key issues. Different people’s opinions on the issues under consideration are represented on a series of cards which ‘players’ use, interrogate and talk through. They are encouraged to offer their own opinions, to challenge each other and talk through these different opinions. Ultimately they reach a conclusion which needn’t mean all are in agreement. This is recorded and the information returned to FoE HQ, so creating a rich picture of activist’s opinions through linked conversations. Here’s what some of the 41 local groups that took part thought of the hour long conversation.

‘I'd just like to say thank you for this kit! It's really given us a helpful, structured way to feed in, and also the chance to have more top-line/principles-based discussion which in the normal course of things we never make time for’.

‘Helpful in focusing our discussion; we had a lively meeting’

‘A novel technique for problem understanding. Potential for future use - it led to a good insight into our collective tasks’.

‘Excellent for facilitating discussions’

‘It helped to facilitate relevant and focussed discussion that rasied points that
we'll keep in mind for further discussion at a later date. Very useful tool’.

The Government's Duty to Involve

April 1st sees the Government’s Duty to Inform , Consult and Involve come into force. So, will it really allow citizens a stronger role in shaping the services designed for them? So far the guidance is vague. It states that local authorities need to engage on ‘routine functions’ and ‘significant one off decisions’. This invites the question what else is there? Less positively the guidance lists three reasons why involvement may not be appropriate. One of these is ‘high costs-low benefits’. It is suggested that authorities need to weigh the costs of involvement against the likely benefits. This sounds like a bit of a loophole and one which can be exploited by those authorities interested in business as usual. We shall wait to see what happens later in the year as local authorities respond. I for one am fascinated by the prospect of implementation which makes a difference. We have a lot to learn from the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act which has been in place since 2007 and is based upon similar mechanisms and approach.

I'll post something here as soon as I get the chance.