One of the initiating activities of this program in Chennai was a multi-stakeholder workshop hosted by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority in 2002. This workshop was similar in participant composition and implementation to the first Cooum River workshop. It was oriented toward problem definition and system conceptualization. However, a main difference was that this workshop was also intended to be a vehicle for stakeholders to direct the future orientation of the action-research program. Notably, the workshop participants re-affirmed the concern with slum areas and slum dwellers. They directed a focus on, and collaboration with, slum dwellers. Workshop participants also identified a three-pronged mixed methods model with which to operate the ecosystem approach framework that guided this work. These methods were: Participatory Action Research (PAR), GIS, and the use of socio-economic and health surveys (methods and results of the workshop are described in detail in Bunch et al. (2006)). Parkes and Panelli (2001) note that “PAR involves forms of inquiry where researchers and the researched population form collaborative relations in order to identify and address mutually conceived issues or problems through cycles of action and research.”