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Participatory Action Research

Participatory Action Research. Challenges of Implementation. The Ideal Scenario. Communities and community members engaged in the research as active agents (design, implementation and communication of outcomes)

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Participatory Action Research

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  1. Participatory Action Research Challenges of Implementation

  2. The Ideal Scenario • Communities and community members engaged in the research as active agents (design, implementation and communication of outcomes) • Learning continues to inform community reflection and action (and that of other communities) • Learning continues to inform the research process

  3. The Challenges • Research project has no grassroots base or ownership • The communities investigated are in crisis. Action research would be a luxury • Partner time, resources and ability to commit (OAU restructuring)

  4. What We Did • Collaboration between academics and practitioners • Use of participatory research methodology drawn from PAR tools • Feedback and validation with participating communities

  5. The Way Forward • Focusing on using the learning from the research to inform the work of Oxfam and its affiliates • Opportunities to disseminate findings to Oxfam and extended NGO community (national and local) • Opportunities to feed into strategizing around the water governance programme and downward accountability to the affected communities • Through this, opportunities for follow up and support community action • Opportunities to feed into other Oxfam initiatives such as the Active Citizenship and Accountability hub

  6. Remaining Challenges • Complexity of research can make it difficult to pin point findings that can be used for learning and application • Partners in the research need to plan and budget for activities and, ensure they have the available time, money, human and material resources to implement initiatives. • Need to keep abreast of rapidly changing situation and ensure action research contributes to, rather than hampers, the need for immediate action.

  7. Lessons Learned • The ambition for Participatory Action Research has to be matched with the reality of the research context • Involvement of “research subjects” requires their ownership over the process from the beginning • Timing, resources, length of commitment are important considerations • Rapidly changing political and policy context may prove contrary to the slower cycle of learning and action • Research and development partners need to develop strong-two way information sharing • Some participation and applied learning are better than none!

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