A gradual accumulation of good practice in
participation has been documented in various
‘systems’ with different, names, aims and
characteristics. Some of these are explored
in more depth in Part II: Methods. A list of
common acronyms is included in Appendix I.
For the sake of clarity, we will use Robert
Chambers’ (1997) suggested term ‘Participatory
Approaches’ and the abbreviation ‘PA’ in
this guide as an umbrella term for any
participatory system or method.
Systems using PA have been successfully
used to investigate livelihoods and
natural resource management; health
and disability issues; education and
learning; gender and development;
building organisational capacity; community
mobilisation; involvement in governance