The research design of the project was entirely participatory and was developed through numerous discussion sessions with the larger PSWM group and smaller PV groups. As an additional strategy to shift power dynamics during the focus groups, the catadore/as guided the questions; the role of the researcher in this case was more of a facilitator.
The focus group and interview discussions were videotaped, transcribed and translated from Portuguese into English over the course of 8months in 2011, in collaboration with members of the PSWM project. The focus group sessions were then analysed across groups for recurrent themes and issues. Group interactions enabled the discussion and identifi- cation of issues that probably would not have come out in individual interviews or participant observation.
This video project provided a space to discuss the mounting challenges and barriers, despite the successes, that all the cooperatives were facing. The space was also an opportunity for inserting the diverse and often absent community-based knowledge into the policy discussions. Although difficult to measure the long-term policy impacts of this project, it was clear that the process of PV and using video as a represen- tational tool for this community for enhancing dialogue was successful. The following sections describe the outcomes of the focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with the catadore/as, focusing on how the PV process enabled suppor- tive representation and power dynamics. Some of the current challenges for these cooperatives are briefly discussed, providing some context for the nature of the policy discussions in the focus groups.