Participatory methods

Organic agriculture tries consciously to combine a multidisciplinary way of development with a participatory method of extension (see Box 6 for a definition of organic agriculture). 

Rich, R., Maestro-Scherer, J. B. (2001). Self-informing organizational change A participatory method of data collection, analysis and action planning. Revue Internationale de Psychosociologie, 16/17, 1-16. 

Not many engineers involved in development practices would argue with that. Yet, although a detailed review of the critique of participatory methods is outside the scope of this chapter, it is worth noting that participatory methods have not necessarily resulted in benefits for the intended beneficiaries communities. Engineers committed to sustainable community development should be aware of these potential problems ... 

The tyranny of the method. Participatory methods like those listed above might silence or exclude others that have advantages participatory methods cannot provide. For example, participatory methods introduced in BaU, Indonesia, ignored a traditional governance system located in Buddhist temples with dire consequences for water distribution and sustainable farming (Ramaswami et al. 2007)... 

For comprehensive analyses and critiques of participatory methods, see Cooke and Kothari... 

Eyber, C., and Ager, A. (2004) Researching Young People s Experiences of War Participatory Methods and the Trauma Discourse in Angola. In J. Boyden and J. de Berry (eds.). Children and Youth on the Front Line Ethnography, Armed Conflict and Displacement. Oxford Berghahn Books. 

Development approaches should change from a disciplinary subject through a top-down extension method into a integrated topic through a participatory development process (see The organic approach sustainability as a subject of extension and participation as an extension method and Participatory extension methods. 

So when the subject of extension has been determined, namely sustainable development, the method of extension has to be found. Top-down extension methods have failed. But how to get a bottom up or a right mix between top-down and bottom-up approaches In Northern Ghana the participatory technology development approach, as a mixture of bottom-up and top-down approaches, has shown fascinating results in pilot projects and shows great potential to boost sustainable development in rural areas. 

Participatory extension methods are cyclic and ongoing processes. They should be owned by the target groups but can be initialised and guided by outsiders. 

Step 2 Identify the key problem in agriculture or any other topic to which the extension method is focusing. The Participatory Research Action method may be helpful to find the key problem. 

Bellon, M.R. 2001. Participatory, Research Methods for Technology Evaluation A Manual for... 

Murphy, K. Lammer, D. Lyon, S. Carter B. and S.S. Jones (2005) Breeding for organic and low-input farming systems an evolutionary-participatory breeding method for inbred cereal grains.- Renewable agriculture and Food Systems 20(1), 48-55. 

Clarke S. M. Hinchsliffe, K. Jones, H. Wolfe, M.S. Thomas, J. Gibbon, D. Harris, F. and F. Lyon (2006) A participatory approach to variety and mixture trials Methods, results and farmer opinions.- In Cstergard H and L. Fontaine (eds) (2006) Proceedings of the COST SUSVAR workshop on cereal crop diversity Implications for production and products.- ITAB Press, Paris, France. Pp 12-16. 

FAO. 1990. The community s toolbox the idea, methods and tools for participatory assessment, monitoring and evaluation in community forestry. Community forestry field manual 2. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. 

Our research aims at the creation of an organizational simulation model, which is adequate for the participatory design of complex workflows and project structures (see Sect. 3.4) in the process industries. The research approach is based on the C3 notation. The notation s plain graphical basic elements and the consideration of an advanced methodical approach, e.g., for communication analysis, is an adequate foundation for simulation studies by means of high level Petri nets. 

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