|
Projects | Southern India
MYRADA Appreciative Inquiry Project
Beyond problem analysis: Using appreciative inquiry to design and deliver environmental, gender equity and private sector development projects
Project Purpose
This project originally sought to build the capacity of a network of 12
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in southern India to use
Appreciative Inquiry.
A new community development tool, appreciative inquiry lets practitioners move
beyond traditional problem-centered methods - like participatory problem and needs
analysis - to identify and build on past achievements and existing strengths
within a community, establish consensus around a shared vision of the future,
and construct strategies and partnerships to achieve that vision. This project
was undertaken between July 1999 and December 2001.
Through fieldwork in two Southern Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka,
the project tested the effectiveness of appreciative inquiry as a method for
helping community groups design and carry out projects that contribute to
sustainable development and secure livelihoods. IISD's principal partner in
conducting this fieldwork and achieving the project goal was
MYRADA
an NGO headquartered in Bangalore that is engaged in micro-credit, watershed
development and poverty-alleviation activities in three states of Southern
India.
IISD
worked with MYRADA and a network of NGOs and community groups, using
appreciative inquiry to plan and carry out village-level projects that
emphasized the promotion of gender equity, the diversification of
income-generating opportunities, and the improvement of local environmental
conditions. By working with community groups from three regions, each facing
distinct challenges, the project was able to identify and document the most
effective methods of applying appreciative inquiry in different circumstances.
Project Rationale
Most
development projects are currently designed and delivered using a combination of
participatory techniques (including participatory rural appraisal, participatory
learning and action, ZOPP workshops, and so on) to determine local problems,
resource constraints, deficiencies and unmet basic needs. Although these
approaches encourage participation, emphasize the importance of local knowledge
and address real problems, they often fail to sustain community participation
after the implementing organization withdraws.
Generally, development agencies use these approaches to search for, identify
and, therefore, emphasize community problems. They generate volumes of data that
provide great detail on the origins and consequences of local needs and resource
constraints. Interventions to address the problems are then developed, usually
with the help of the local community. At the conclusion of such an approach,
local people, not surprisingly, often view their community as a place full of
problems and needs, most of which require the help of outsiders to overcome.
Creating and reinforcing this perception through ongoing exercises during the
project cycle has a disempowering effect that contributes to a relationship in
which the development workers are viewed as the agents of change in the
community, rather than the community members themselves. This viewpoint
establishes and entrenches a sense of dependency in the community that the
agency must then work to overcome.
These
unintended consequences illustrate the need for a shift away from the
problem-oriented approaches toward processes that build on community
achievements, existing strengths and local skills. Development organizations
need better methods for engaging local people, so that they can help communities
create a shared vision of an equitable and sustainable future and then move
toward it through locally initiated and managed project activities. Such methods
need to be complemented with capacity-building initiatives at the village level
so that community members are able to measure progress toward their vision and
to modify their strategies as local circumstances change.
This
project addressed these needs by providing extensive training and support in
using appreciative inquiry to help communities in Southern India identify
accomplishments, build a shared vision of a desired future based on those
accomplishments, and mobilize local capacity to achieve the vision.
Specific Project Outcomes
During the project, over 804 people from 70 different organizations, including
some from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Burma, received training in appreciative
inquiry. An estimated 500 community based organizations (CBOs), representing
about 10,000 people, participated in appreciative inquiry workshops. These CBOs
included self-help affinity groups, self help group federations, teachers
associations, watershed development associations, watershed implementation
committees, village forest committees, village health committees, children's
clubs, local farmers associations, community health groups, and others.
Participants also include numerous individuals and families.
These
results were considerably in excess of the project's original target of 12
participating organizations. This achievement resulted from a particularly deep
interest by MYRADA in appreciative inquiry and its potential applications. About
320 of MYRADA's staff took part in 3-5 day workshops as part of the project.
This represented about 80 per cent of their workforce and included all levels
and categories of employee.
Specifically, the following activities were completed as part of this project:
-
Establishment of a core appreciative inquiry training team composed of 20 MYRADA
staff.
-
Completion of 28 training sessions for 804 people from 70 organizations.
-
Application of appreciative inquiry with a number of community groups. Field
work with community groups occurred in two stages: (1) training sessions and (2)
integration of appreciative inquiry into the various ongoing interactions that
staff had with the community groups.
-
Production of a 35-minute training video called "Appreciative
Inquiry: A Beginning",
which explains the theory of appreciative inquiry, details the steps that must
be taken to use it successfully, and provides examples of its application with
community groups, families and students.
-
Development of the field guide "The
Positive Path: Using Appreciative Inquiry in Rural Indian Communities".
The document synthesizes the knowledge gained through the project and provides
step-by-step instructions on how to use appreciative inquiry in the context of
community development.
Funding for this project was provided by the United Kingdom's Department for
International Development.
-----------------------------------------
For more information on this project please contact:
Jo-Ellen Parry
Project Manager
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
E-mail: jparry@iisd.ca
Return to Top
|
