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Sharing the load: aguide to improvingthe welfare ofworking animalsthrough collectiveaction lLisa van Dijk, JoyC. Pritchard, S.K.Pradhan andKimberly L. Wells.

Practical Action Publishing in associationwith The Brooke, 2011The Brooke’s experience of working withanimal-owning communities has beendocumented in this field manual forcommunity facilitators. The book helpsthe grassroot-level facilitator to developan understanding of animal welfarethrough observational exercises in thefield. It provides a broad explanation ofstrategies and approaches for improvingwelfare, looking at the specific context ofdifferent target populations in terms ofwelfare risks to working animals and the

vulnerability of their owners’ livelihoods.It provides guidance for collective actionthrough practical examples andillustrations of the participatory processand tools developed, as well as discussingthe use of mass media, radio and otheroutreach strategies.This manual is written for community

facilitators and anyone else who hasdirect contact with working (traction andtransport) animals and their owners,including vets, community-based animalhealth workers, government extensionworkers and development workers. It canbe used by animal welfare organisationswith projects in the developing world whowish to be more effective in findingsustainable solutions to welfare issues. It is also written for developmentorganisations that promote the use ofanimals to improve human livelihoodsand need specialist information tomanage the welfare implications of theirprogrammes. See also ‘Sustainable animal

welfare: community-led action for

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Tools for supportingsustainable naturalresource managementand livelihoods

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improving care and livelihoods’ in thisissue.nAvailable from Practical Action Publishing :developmentbookshop.com/sharing-the-load.html#.UhR8jH_4LWdAvailable online in Spanish and French:www.thebrooke.org/resources-approach/our-approach/expansion2. English, Hindi and Arabic available onlinesoon.

Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta newsletter,Kabar ItahYayasan Tambuhak Sinta (YTS) is adevelopment foundation based in theIndonesian provinces of Kalimantan.These provinces have a small population,but are rich in natural resources. Thefoundation YTS is working to createconditions that will enable developmentlocally to be balanced, sustainable andequitable. To this end YTS iscollaborating with local communities andgovernments to strengthen their capacityto jointly manage the process ofdevelopment.nDownload the Kabah Itahnewsletter,including back issues:tambuhaksinta.com/kabaritah/index.htmlTo subscribe to the Kabah Itahnewsletter,contact: Jl. Rajawali VII, Srikandi No.100, BukitTunggal, Palangka Raya 73112, KalimantanTengah, Indonesia, Tel: +62 536 3237184;Fax: +62 536 3229187; Email:tambuhaksinta@gmail.com; Website:www.tambuhaksinta.comDownload other recent YTS publications:www.borneomercury.comWatch a YTS and UNIDO collaboration thatsought to analyse the problem of mercurypollution from small-scale mining in CentralKalimantan, Borneo:

www.youtube.com/borneomercuryWatch a short video on the use of mercury inartisanal gold mining:www.unep.org/flvPlayer/videoplayer.asp?id=27529&l=en

Voices and flavours from the Earth:visualising food sovereignty in the Andes(Los sabores y las voces de la Tierra:visualizando la soberanía alimentaria enlos Andes)lMaruja Salas and the wise elders networkfrom the Altiplano of Peru, IIED, 2013This is a new multimedia publication thatuses video, audio, images and text todescribe how indigenous communitiesare drawing on their knowledge andcosmovisions to rethink the priorities andgovernance of food and agriculturalresearch in the Andean Altiplano ofBolivia and Peru. This book reflects the testimonies of

the wise elders from Quechua andAymara communities in the highlands ofPeru about the right to the culture offood, and a plea to ask scientists for theirresearch to respond to thesecommunities’ needs – and for the benefitsof their research to be for the public good.A detailed description of the dialogue

between farmers and scientists is part ofthis documentation. The work presentedhere is part of a larger international andmulti-regional initiative known as:Democratising the Governance of FoodSystems: Citizens Rethinking Food andAgricultural Research for the PublicGood. To find out more about the project,see: www.excludedvoices.orgnDownload the full publication or individualchapters in English or Spanish:www.iied.org/voices-flavours-earth-food-sovereignty-andesRead and watch a series of short videos online‘Learning to value mother earth’:www.iied.org/learning-value-mother-earthFor more information contact: Maruja Salas,Gomaringerstr. 6, D-72810 Gomaringen,Germany. Email: mas49@gmx.net

Re-searchingagriculture in SouthAsia: the law andpolicy context foragricultural researchand developmentand its impact onsmallholder farmerslShalini Bhutani,IIED, 2013

Drawing on evidence and new dataaccessed under the Indian Right toInformation Act, this report shows howan emerging web of powerful actors andprocesses is now redefining publicagricultural research in South Asia. Itanalyses the forces and factors that are re-shaping and privatising research,resulting in rapid change under theinfluence of global economic forces suchas the new rules of global finance, freetrade, intellectual property rights andnew laws, as well as consolidations andstrategic alliances in the agriculturalinput industry and the structural powerof multinational food corporations.The report is part of an international

initiative called Democratising Food andAgricultural Research, launched in 2007

by partners in South and West Asia, theAndean region of Latin America, WestAfrica and Europe (including IIED). Thismulti-regional initiative uses adecentralised and bottom-up process toenable small-scale farmers and othercitizens to (a) decide what type ofagricultural research needs to be done toensure peoples’ right to food; and (b)influence and transform agriculturalresearch policies and practices for foodsovereignty. For more information see:www.excludedvoices.org. The SouthAsian component of this internationalinitiative is known as the Alliance forDemocratising Agricultural Research inSouth Asia (ADARSA):www.raitateerpu.com/adarsa.htmlnDownload the report online:pubs.iied.org/G03628.html

Listen, think and act:radio broadcasting topromote farmers’participation in Mali’sland policylMamadou Goïtaand MohamedCoulibaly, IIED and IRPAD, 2012

The vast majority of agriculturalproduction in Mali is carried out bysmallholder farmers, who are oftenunaware of the laws and policies thatgovern access to the land and resourcesthey rely on to secure their livelihoods.This means they can lose out as access toresources is secured by large-scaleagribusinesses or investors. In response,the Institute for Research and Promotionof Alternatives in Development in Africa(IRPAD) launched a project to raise theawareness of farmers and theirorganisations of agricultural laws andpolicies. The aim was to enhance theircapacities to influence policy and toparticipate in decision-making inagriculture and natural resourcemanagement, particularly on land issues.

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IRPAD used an innovative tool tocommunicate information on the law andrelated policies to rural people andfarmers’ organisations: the approachcombined community-based training andpre-recorded radio broadcasts explainingthe provisions of Mali’s newly adoptedAgricultural Orientation Law. This paperpresents the tool, its outcomes andlessons learnt.nOnline: pubs.iied.org/G03419.htmlAlso available in French:pubs.iied.org/G03424.html

Introducing justsustainabilities: policy,planning and practice lJulian Agyeman, Zed Books, 2013This unique andinsightful text offers anexploration of theorigins and subsequentdevelopment of the

concept of just sustainability. Introducingjust sustainabilities discusses key topics,such as food justice, sovereignty andurban agriculture; community, space,place (making) and spatial justice; thedemocratisation of our streets and publicspaces; how to create culturally inclusivespaces; intercultural cities and socialinclusion; green-collar jobs and the justtransition; and alternative economicmodels, such as co-production. With aspecific focus on solutions-oriented policyand planning initiatives that specificallyaddress issues of equity and justice withinthe context of developing sustainablecommunities, this is the essentialintroduction to just sustainabilities.nAvailable from Zed Books:zedbooks.co.uk/node/11882

Who counts? The power of participatorystatisticslEdited by Jeremy Holland, PracticalAction Publishing, 2013Participatory statistics (PS) aim at both

ends – providinginformation as a solidand reliablefoundation for policy-making andprogramme planningand empoweringconcerned people byenhancing theirconsciousness andself-realisation and thus providing themwith the power to change for the better.This book gives an abundance of well-reflected examples of the combination ofthese two aspects through PS approaches.The introduction frames PS in the

context of social research anddevelopment efforts and provides anexciting perspective of a future range ofapplications for this approach. The mainbody of the book consists of three partson functioning approaches toparticipatory statistics for policyplanning, programme steering andimpact assessment.Part I contains key examples on

‘planning from below’. PS provides suchan approach for very differentadministrative fields (e.g. climate changeadaptation, health or fragile post-warsituations). This ‘bottom-up’ approachalso provides a solid and reliable databasefor regional and state policy planning thateffectively meets the needs of the peopleconcerned. At the same time, the appliedmethods generate self-help and self-governing potentials with the actors,generating information relevant to theirown perspectives. Mapping in a variety offorms constitutes the core instrument ofthis first part.Part II focuses on the creativity of

methodological approaches in makingcomplex concepts such as ‘empowerment’,‘well-being’, and/or ‘poverty’ both visibleand quantifiable. The examples showespecially how the advantages ofquantification (i.e. generalisation,overview and clear structure) can be

combined with the advantages of aqualitative approach in order tounderstand the context, motivation andperspectives of the people concerned.Part III focuses on the impact

assessment of relief and developmentefforts based on the people’s perspectives.From the generation of such indicators,participatory methods create powerfulinsights at the local level that allow forconclusions of the target groups. At thesame time, the application of the samemethods in a randomised number oflocations allows for the aggregation offindings and programme-level conclusions.Overall, the book provides a great

overview of methods and approaches thatsuccessfully overcome the dichotomy ofquantification and participation.Examples show that there are areasbetween extreme positions – such as:• People owned versus extractive • Understanding versus counting• Single spot case study versus the generalview.Such contrasts can be effectively allied.

In his afterword, Robert Chambers sharesthis insight. He formulates the vision thatwith this breakthrough of bottom-upmethods and approaches the visibility,influence and power of marginalisedpeople will grow. His hope is that, with theapproaches of PS, academic and officialperceptions will be more timely, accurateand realistic, helping for jointdevelopment efforts fuelled by adequatepolitical decisions in addition to theinspiration and creativity of the people.lReviewed by Jochen Currie, a consultantspecialising in rural development andagricultural innovation systems at FAKT(www.fakt-consult.de).nFor more information including a table ofcontents visit: www.ids.ac.uk/publication/who-counts-the-power-of-participatory-statistics. To order a copy: www.ntd.co.uk/idsbookshop/details.asp?id=1325Alternatively, please call the IDS Bookshop:+44 1273 915 637.

The role ofcommunity-basednatural resourcemanagement inclimate changeadaptation inEthiopia: assessingparticipatoryinitiatives withpastoral communities

lHannah Reid, Lucy Faulkner and AxelWeiser, IIED, 2013This Climate Change Group workingpaper describes the methodologydeveloped to assess the role of selectedcommunity-based/participatoryinitiatives undertaken by Save theChildren with pastoral communities inthe lowlands of Borana and Guji zones inEthiopia in contributing to climatechange adaptation. The authors outline the results and

recommendations generated fromapplying this bespoke methodology at thestudy sites. Similar sites that also sufferedfrom drought and had the same history ofdevelopment and humanitarianinterventions, but had no Save theChildren interventions, were also visitedfor comparative purposes. nOnline only: pubs.iied.org/10048IIED.html

Tried and tested:learning fromfarmers onadaptation toclimate changelHannah Reid,Muyeye Chambwera,Laurel Murray.Gatekeeper 153, IIED,2013

There exists a wealth of largelyoverlooked experience that has beenaccrued over generations by small-scalefarmers and pastoralists in poor countriesas they cope with climatic extremes andincreasing uncertainty – climate-changerelated or otherwise. This Gatekeeper

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paper draws lessons from this wealth ofknowledge in order to inform adaptationplanning efforts at all levels. The paperunderscores how measures to increaseclimate change resilience must view food,energy, water and waste managementsystems as interconnected and mutuallydependent. This holistic approach mustalso be applied to economic analysis foradaptation planning. Similarly, it is vitalto use traditional knowledge andmanagement skills, which can furthersupport adaptation planning. The aim ofthis paper is to avoid energy and effortbeing expended on re-inventing thewheel; it urges those involved insupporting climate change adaptation todraw much more from the existingstrategies and knowledge of the millionsof farmers and pastoralists worldwide. Ofcourse, no amount of knowledge based onpast experience will help deal with largeor extreme changes. But in many casesthe existing knowledge and experience ofhow to cope with current and pastclimate variability provide a solidgrounding for how best to adapt tocurrent and future climate change.nAvailable online:pubs.iied.org/14622IIED.html

Environment andUrbanization:Gender and urbanchangelCecilia Tacoli,David Satterthwaite,Sylvia Chant, CelineD'Cruz, PatienceMudimu, Caren Levy,Cathy McIlwaine,

Sarah Bradshaw, Nicola Banks, JulianWalker, Alexandre Apsan Frediani, Jean-François Trani, Kaveri Haritas, IIED, 2013. Urbanization is often associated withgreater independence and opportunitiesfor women – but also with high risks ofviolence and constraints on employment,mobility and leadership that reflect deep

gender-based inequalities. These issuesare explored in the April 2013 issue ofEnvironment and Urbanization, ongender and urban change. It includespapers on: where and when urbanwomen enjoy advantages over their ruralcounterparts; community savingsschemes that build women’s leadershipand support upgrading; how transportplanning still fails to respond to women’stravel needs; how urban contexts canreduce gender-based violence, althoughoften they can increase it; how incomeand ideology influence women’s decision-making in rural and urban areas inNicaragua; the changes in women’sparticipation in labour markets in Dhakaand the tensions this can generate withinhouseholds; what was learnt from aproject working with girls and boys withdisabilities in Mumbai; and theparticular roles of women in seeking toget better services for their low-income/informal neighbourhoods inBengalaru. The editorial summarisingthe key issues covered is open-access.This issue also has two papers onclimate change, which are a detailedbenefit-cost analysis applied to Durban;and the different responses of low-income tenants and squatters toadaptation in Khulna. Other papersinclude: the limitations in the Indiangovernment’s Basic Services for theUrban Poor Programme; the politics ofnon-payment for water in Manila’s low-income communities; community-managed reconstruction in Old Fadama(Accra) after a fire; developing a solidwaste collection service in informalsettlements in Managua; how well-connected individuals control landallocations and water supply in aninformal settlement in Dhaka; and anassessment of provision for water,sanitation and waste collection in twoinformal settlements in Kumasi.nDownload a sample PDF or subscribe atpubs.iied.org/10628IIED.html

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Facilitating culturaltransition andchange: a practicalapproachlChristine Hogan,4 Square Books, 2013, 300pp.People are crossinginternational

boundaries for work, study and/or inpursuit of a better life in larger numbersthan ever before. Facilitating culturaltransitions and change provides a practicalapproach for facilitators needing to enhancetheir skills when working with participantsin transition from a diverse range ofmulticultural backgrounds. Based onresearch and feedback from participants,the book includes a variety of materials tosuit different learning goals and contexts.This book is important reading for

facilitators working with students, workersand sojourners in transition, beforedeparture and on arrival in new lands; andimportantly, in returning to theirhomelands. Using a step-by-step approach,it gives the facilitator ideas, myths, stories,processes and models to assist thepreparation and facilitation of workshops.Christine is also the author of

Facilitating multicultural groups; Practicalfacilitation; Understanding facilitation;Facilitating empowerment (all published byKogan Page, London) as well as Facilitatinglearning (published by Eruditions,Melbourne).This book is available from Amazon.com

and Amazon.co.uk or from the author. nEmail: Christine@hogans.id.auGuide price: US$45; £29.95; €34.95 (pluspostage).

The SAGE encyclopedia of actionresearch lEdited by David Coghlan, Mary Brydon-Miller. Forthcoming, 2014Action research is a term used to describea family of related approaches thatintegrate theory and action with a goal of

addressing important organisational,community and social issues togetherwith those who experience them. Itfocuses on the creation of areas forcollaborative learning and the design,enactment and evaluation of liberatingactions through combining action andresearch, reflection and action in an on-going cycle of co-generative knowledge.While the roots of these methodologies goback to the 1940s, there has been adramatic increase in research output andadoption in university curricula over thepast decade. This is now an area of highpopularity among academics andresearchers from various fields —especially business and organisationstudies, education, healthcare andnursing, development studies, and socialand community work. This encyclopediabrings together the many strands ofaction research and addresses theinterplay between these disciplines bypresenting a state-of-the-art overview andcomprehensive breakdown of the keytenets and methods of action research aswell as detailing the work of key theoristsand contributors to action research.nAvailable from: www.sagepub.com

Quality before prooflPolicy paper onimpact monitoring,VENRO, 2010A note by ClaudiaVillagra, KolpingInternationalVENRO is anumbrella association,

which combines the strengths of Germandevelopment NGOs. Together insolidarity, they stand up to combatpoverty, promote human rights andconserve our natural resources. Thecentral goal of VENRO is to promote fairand just globalisation, or moreimportantly to combat world-widepoverty. VENRO strengthens the role ofnon-governmental organisations (NGOs)

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and civil society in internationaldevelopment so that they can make theircontribution to global justice. VENRO members are very

heterogeneous in their areas of work aswell as their size. However, targeting civilsociety as partners and the empowermentof the target groups are their mainsimilarities. Partnership and participationwith their partners and with the targetgroups are fundamental values of theirwork. Among the VENRO membersimpact is a very important topic. In 2004, VENRO member

organisations initiated the forum NGO-IDEAs to empower organisations inimpact monitoring by empowering thetarget groups to set their own goals andmonitor their achievements. Externalfunding for NGO-IDEAs ended early2012, but NGO-IDEAs continues as aninformal process. Since 2008, there isalso a working group on impactobservation. This group promotes theexchange of experiences among memberorganisations, encourages them to workout concepts and political positions andpromotes dialogue with political andacademic stakeholders.In 2010, the working group wrote a

position paper, Quality before proof,

which was adopted and published byVENRO. This paper presents thequintessence of impact monitoring fromthe perspective of VENRO members, topromote understanding and to start adialogue. Quality in this paper is definedthrough four goals of impact assessment:learning from experience, steering,empowerment and accountability.This paper sparked a discussion in

Germany about impact, monitoring,participation and science-based methods.These critiques found the scientificperspective missing in VENRO’sunderstanding of monitoring. VENROresponded by pointing out somemisunderstandings about concepts suchas impact observation versus impactevaluation, empowerment versus capacitybuilding, or data validity based ondifferent perspectives versus scientificvalidity. This debate in academic journalswas followed by a conference DialogueDay: Impact in November 2011.

Quality before proof started a dialoguethat it is still ongoing; the outcomes ofthis debate and exchanges are now thebasis for the dialogue between VENROand the new German evaluation institute.nDownload online:www.venro.org/628.html

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EVENTS

TheWorkshop2013Praxis will be hosting its 17th annualcommune on participatory developmentfrom 21st–28th October 2013 in Thrissur,in the southern Indian state of Kerala.This year’s format offers participants theopportunity to learn about participatorymethods and attend modules to see howthese approaches work in differentcontexts. The thematic applicationmodules on offer this year include:project cycle management; publicaccountability; participatorycommunication; participatorymonitoring and evaluation (with focus onsustainability); campaign, advocacy andnetworking; and community

mobilisation. See also an update fromPraxis in the RCPLA pages of this issue.nFor more information please visit:www.theworkshop.in or email us at:info@theworkshop.in

The Big Push Forward conferenceA report by Bernwand CausemannIn April 2013, the Big Push Forward’sconference on the Politics of Evidencetook place at the Institute ofDevelopment Studies in Brighton, UK todiscuss the effects of the results agendaon the development sector. Given that‘the politics of evidence’ had not beenscrutinised systematically in muchdepth, the conference sought to providethat platform. Central to all discussionswere the implications for

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transformational development. Centringon participants’ experiences of the prosand cons of dealing with the politics ofevidence and the results agenda, theconference was structured around fourquestions:• What do we mean by ‘the politics ofevidence’ – factors, actors, artefacts? Andwhy is it important?• What are the effects on transformativeintentions and impacts of potentiallyuseful approaches on evidence of and forchange, such as ‘theory of change’ or‘value for money’?• Under what conditions do thesepractices retain their utility rather thanundermine transformationaldevelopment efforts? What factors andrelationships drive the less usefulpractices and protocols?• How are people engaging withproblematic practices and protocols?What are they accepting and doing, whatare they resisting and how? Whatalternatives have they found to createspaces for approaches more aligned withtransformational development?A survey by Brendan Whitty

(‘Experiences of the results agenda’)amongst practitioners in the run-up tothe conference showed that experienceswith the results agenda were ambivalent.Concepts like ‘logical frameworks’,‘theories of change’ and ‘value for money’had both positive and negative effects.Externals (researchers and academics)and advisers inside the organisationswere much more critical than monitoringand evaluation (M&E) specialists andsenior managers. Implementers sat in themiddle.• Many organisations with resources butsluggish bureaucracies saw positiveeffects. They reported improvedmonitoring and evaluation. • Organisations with sophisticatedsystems often found the resultsframework limiting, too burdening anddamaging to learning.

• Smaller local organisations with limitedadministrative capacity were struggling tomeet the requirements without benefitingfrom them; the results framework forcesthem to put more resources intoaccountability often without benefit totheir own learning or practice. They risklosing funding although they might bedoing reasonable work on the ground.During the conference, individual

cases were discussed and lessons drawn.A major factor for the disempoweringconsequences of the results agenda seemsto be that public and parliament in somecountries are very critical of developmentaid. It has been drawn into partisanpolitics at least in the UK, theNetherlands, Australia and Sweden.Where aid is contested, results are used todefend or to constrain developmentspending. But as that does not really helpto convince opponents, it became clearthat many in the developmentbureaucracy believe in the results agendaand use the ‘accountability to the taxpayer’ argument to justify the resultsfocus that rather benefits the bureaucracyand puts implementers under pressure.The case studies were also used to

discuss strategies. Very few questionedthe results framework as a whole,although there was a question whether allthis actually needed to be done. Moststrategies dealt with creating space fortransformative, empoweringdevelopment work. All the resultsconcepts, if used flexibly, can help topromote learning and improve practice. If that was not possible, constructivecomplicity was suggested: do what needsto be done in face-saving ways and get onwith what your work really is about. Itoften helps to offer positive alternativesbecause initially, all these tools weredesigned to promote critical thinking.In the end, it seemed to boil down to

senior managers. Do they make theirorganisations comply with the reportingand ‘evidence’ requirements ‘to the letter’?

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Do they increase demands even further?Or do they stick to vision and values oftheir organisations and create as muchspace as possible to mitigate thedisempowering effects of the resultsframework?Reflecting on the discussions with a

small group of participants from Germancivil society organisations, the conclusionwas obvious: there is broad consensusabout development funding and GermanNGOs still have much more space thanmany organisations funded in the Anglo-Saxon world. If German NGOsbureaucratise their reporting oneffectiveness, then it is done out of choice,

not because of requirements by theGerman Ministry for Development. Butas practice in Germany’s bilateralcooperation can be much morerestrictive, it will be important for civilsociety to retain this space.Many wanted to continue the

conversation. At the end of the conferenceit was not yet clear how that couldhappen as the five convenors announcedthat they would stand down later in theyear. However, some of these discussionshave continued online and there alsovarious resources related to theconference available to download.nVisit: www.bigpushforward.net

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Access Agriculturewww.accessagriculture.org

Access Agriculture is an internationalNGO which showcases agriculturaltraining videos in local languages. Hereyou can see examples of videos, downloadthem or order a DVD copy. The audiotracks can also be downloaded by radiostations. This is a platform foragricultural research and developmentstaff, service providers, extension agents,communication professionals andrepresentatives of farmer organisations tosee what training videos are available andrequest new language versions. Thevideos are all designed to supportsustainable agriculture in developingcountries.

Participatory Methodswww.participatorymethods.org

This new website from the Participation,Power and Social Change Team at theInstitute of Development Studies, UK,provides resources on a range of methodsfor inclusive social development. The site

gives an overview of participatorymethods, where and how they have beenused, their problems and potentials andthe debates about them. The focus is onparticipatory approaches to strategicanalysis and programme design,monitoring and evaluation. It alsoincludes resources on participatorylearning, research and communication inorganisations, networks andcommunities.

Participating in Knutswww.go-knuts.com

The recent spring of mass political actionaround the world has led to a flourishingof websites that attempt to create onlineenvironments that facilitatecommunication and engagement of large

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groups of people. But the ideal set out bythe deliberative democracy movement isnot easily implemented online. Multipleforums and long linear threads leavemembers overwhelmed and disengaged.A central question is how to moderate theflow of information. Some usemoderators, a useful way to ensureproductive discussions, but this comes atthe price of decentralised deliberation. Onother websites with no moderators it ishard to make sense of the cacophony ofstatement exchanges. When largenumbers of people engage in a discussionthey produce a very rich data set ofopinions and reactions. Is there a usefulway to sift through this data usingstatistical analysis, the way we analysesurvey data?Knuts – a new online interactive

forum by D-Governance – tries to take asmall step in addressing the aboveobstacles. Named after the famous kingwho thought he could stop the tide withhis words, Knuts invites participants totry and change the tide of opinion. InKnuts, large groups of people can discussand vote on a particular issue. Thediscussion is completely decentralised,using the wisdom of the crowd to gleanthe important aspects and mainarguments. Unlike social media, it centreson the arguments themselves, rather thanon who made those arguments. Knutsalso ensures that every participant getsuseful feedback on how s/he influencesothers’ opinions.The brainchild of a London School of

Economics professor and a web designer,Knuts has two faces. Behind the scenes, asophisticated distribution system basedon dynamic auctions ensures adecentralised, smooth and meaningfulflow of discussion. Innovative statisticalinference techniques allow the platformto use the wisdom of the crowd to analysethe public discussion. The other face ofKnuts is the one that those whoparticipate encounter. Especially designed

to increase engagement, the platformfocuses on how the individual interactswith the group. Participants get constantand useful feedback on theirparticipation, how different opinions theyexpressed or supported are perceived byothers, and how they relate to the groupas a whole.Knuts has a wide range of applications

in education, political organisations andin consultations and evaluations in largeorganisations. Knuts is currently in itsBeta phase and D-Governance arelooking for organisations that couldbenefit from its use. The aim is to set up aplatform that would allow anyorganisation or individual set up theirown Knuts interactive forums in an easyand economical fashion. For furtherdetails and contact information visitKnuts: www.go-knuts.com

The Pelican Initiative: Platform forEvidence-based Learning andCommunication for Social Changedgroups.org/groups/pelican

The Pelican Initiative is an onlineplatform hosted by dgroups which focuseson the central question: How can welearn more from what we do while at thesame time having the biggest possibleimpact on the social change processes inwhich we engage?We usually try to learn from what we

do through monitoring and evaluation(M&E), participatory inquiry, research orcombinations of these. We have made alot of progress in developing betterapproaches and methods to allowrelevant stakeholders to participate insuch processes. However, to allow forbroadened social interaction aroundevidence and widespread learning fordevelopment, insights need to becommunicated effectively.This platform seeks to bring together

development practitioners from differentdisciplines, specialists and policy makersto explore this question, share

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experiences, and to push the agendafurther on three themes:• evidence and learning for policy change;• learning in organisations and amongpartners; and• society-wide learning among amultitude of stakeholders.It aims to enhance practical

understanding of joint learning processesin development and to identify strategiesto strengthen them. The space can beused to: • interact with other participants onissues of concern to you through theinteractive email discussion forum;• make your own views and experiencesavailable to a wider community ofpractice by sharing case studies; • link to or upload your tools, methodsand other relevant documents asresources; and• keep up to date, and make others awareof upcoming events in this field of work. Contributors are invited to participate

in a series of publications based onmaterials and interactions that take placeon this platform. For more backgroundinformation on the Initiative, please refer tothe document Learning for development:we can do better! Introduction andguidelines to the Pelican Initiative:tinyurl.com/pelican-we-can-do-betterThe initiative is open to all

development practitioners, specialists andpolicy makers interested in the issue oflearning for development. Initiators of the Pelican Initiative are

the International Development ResearchCentre (IDRC), the European Centre forDevelopment Policy Management(ECDPM), Exchange, Bellanet and UnicefEast Africa Regional Office. For moreinformation, please contact Niels Keijzer:nk@ecdpm.org

Reality check approachreality-check-approach.com

This is a resource for anyone interested inreality check approaches (RCAs). RCA is

a qualitative approach to feedback andevaluation which involves outsiders livingwith people living in poverty in their ownhomes and joining in their everyday livesover several days and nights. The relaxedenvironment this provides enables easyinformal conversations with all membersof the family and their neighbours. Itenables the outsider to experience andobserve for themselves and provides ameaningful basis for joint reflection onchange with the family. It helps to shedlight on the disconnects betweenknowledge, attitudes and practice whichconventional evaluation is often unableto do. The interest in commissioning RCAs

has increased recently as they haveearned credibility as potentially powerfultools for improving the connectionbetween policy makers andimplementors of development policiesand programmes with the people servedby them. To date they have beencommissioned by Sida, DfID, AusAid andthe European Commission. Findingshave frequently challenged receivedwisdom and revealed important insightsinto how development assistance isexperienced. RCAs have now beencarried out in a number of differentcontexts. The Bangladesh RCA(2007–2012) provided insights into thelarge-scale sector-wide approaches inprimary health and primary education.Among many findings which policymakers have responded to was the issueof rising drop-out of boys from school(noted long before the official statisticsconfirmed this), the changes in the dietsof people living in poverty (which haveserious consequences for health such asthe increased intake of salt and spices)and the extent of misuse of freeGovernment medicines by the non-ill.The Nepal RCA (2012) undertaken aspart of a larger review of the impact offorty years of development assistance inthe Koshi Hills for DfID and the

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Government of Nepal revealed a majorlag in development assistance response ofsome seven to ten years to people’saspirations, local context changes andlocal innovation. A small scale RCA inMozambique (2010–11) noted thatproject assumptions that increaseddisease resistance of poultry would leadto better household-level nutritionoutcomes was flawed. Although familiesindicated in PRA sessions that they atechicken, the RCA found that this was notthe case. This highlights the differencebetween public and private spacedisclosure and RCA’s special advantage.The Indonesia RCA (2010) focusing onbasic education highlighted the real costsof so-called free education, including thedemands made by children to have dailypocket money to purchase snacks atschool and the high levels of children’sown agency in making decisions to skipor leave school. The latest RCA inNorthern Ghana (2013) which willcontinue periodically until 2020 hasnoted among other things the unrealisticexpectations of programmes whichdemand cash payments, albeit small, incommunities which are still largely cash-less. The voices of people living in povertygathered through different RCAs havebeen heavily cited in various documentsproduced to try to influence the post2015 agenda.

Food We Wantwww.foodwewant.org/eng

Food We Want is an internationalcampaign to raise information, awarenessand lobbying to promote small-scalefamily farming and sustainable agri-foodsystems as a key solution to tacklinghunger, as well as addressing poverty andclimate change issues. The initiative is

funded by the European Union, andinvolves eight countries (Italy, Poland,Portugal, Spain, UK, Kenya, Mozambiqueand Tanzania) with the objective ofsharing ideas, promoting commonsolutions and stimulating a public debateon the future of food.

Our Foodwww.ourfood.org.uk

Our Foodworks to giveexcluded voicesmore say in the future of food andfarming. Building on internationalexperience, this initiative has organised aseries of community events in the UK tobring people together to share food anddiscuss the issues around food research.The project aims to create spaces for freeand wide-ranging discussion of many ofthe key issues linked to agricultural andfood research, and to build a moreinclusive way of working based on a re-imagining of the role of research in ourfood system based on dialogue. Thedialogue process has led to theatreperformances, developed by actors andcommunity drama groups who met withcommunity groups and researchers withexperience in food and farming.

Age of Wewww.ageofwe.org

The Age of We is a non-commercialnetwork set up to provide support tocreative clusters – groups involved increative activities with an ethos ofinclusion and participation aimed atbringing about positive change incommunities.

LINKEDIN GROUPSVideo4Dev and Web2forDev are bothopen discussion groups on LinkedIn. Joinin the discussions, view and contact othermembers of the group, or find out aboutforthcoming events, training and joboffers.

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Video4Dev: Participatory Video forDevelopmentwww.linkedin.com/groups/participatory-video- development-2123359?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

Web2forDev – Participatory Web 2.0 forDevelopmentwww.linkedin.com/groups/web2fordev-participatory- web-20-development-135666?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

The environmental lenswww.environmentallens.org

The Environmental Lens is a creativemethod that aims to help you analyse aprogramme, project or organisation froman environmental perspective. The methodconsists of a tool in the shape of a plus sign.It provides an in-depth analysis of how

address the impacts and causes ofenvironmental problems. It aims to helpyou to create more sustainable and well-thought-out projects and programmes,using simple brainstorming exercises.Successful implementation comes aboutwhen participants take an active part in thecontext analysis, problem description, andin formulating and prioritising solutions.

Participatory videowww.insightshare.org

In 2014, InsightShare will celebrate its15th anniversary. It has become a leadingcentre of Participatory Video (PV)knowledge, learning, training and sharingof methods and best practice. Alongsidestandard capacity-building in PV and PV

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for monitoring and evaluation (M&E),InsightShare supports organisations toimplement their own participatory videoprogrammes. Combining face-to-face andvirtual mentoring, it offers organisationsand individuals support in PV programmedesign and implementation,troubleshooting, tailored training courses,and monitoring, evaluation and learning(MEL) of their PV projects. To celebrateInsightShare’s upcoming anniversary, wethought we would share an update onsome of its recent activities.• Over the past year, members of the

team have provided face-to-face anddistance support to two freelance PVfacilitators who work in the Netherlands.They were looking for advice on how tostrengthen their PV practice, as well asguidance on how to set up a PV charitythat supports asylum seeker youth duringtheir integration period. • InsightShare also undertook a

participatory monitoring and evaluationprocess of a participatory video programmebeing delivered by War Child Holland andits partners in Yei County, South Sudan. Ittrained project beneficiaries to use thecollection, selection and analysis of video-recorded testimonies and dramas togenerate a clear and accessible picture ofthe way the initiative has led to

transformation at the organisational leveland how those initiatives are changing livesin communities. They also maderecommendations for future scaling up ofthis work.• Recently, InsightShare has delivered a

series of capacity-building projects inparticipatory video facilitationprogrammes for partners of IUCNNetherlands in India and Bolivia. Thethree-stage training model enabled stafffrom four national conservation agenciesto be trained in all aspects of participatoryvideo, which led to a variety of rich andpowerful participatory video processeswith communities living with andimpacted by conservation projects. TYI(Atong for ‘water’) is a video made by thelocal people of Aretika, a small villagelocated along the Simsang river in theSouth Garo Hills (Meghalaya). It showshow, amongst other challenges affectingtraditional livelihoods and lifestyles,recently established coal mines haveheavily polluted the river which lies at theheart of their community. Villagers whoonce depended on fishing as their mainlivelihood are now resorting to using theirnets to fishing coal out of the river to sell inthe local markets. This is an example of aparticipatory video project undertaken bytrainee facilitators working with the

The participatory video team with their storyboard in Aretika, NE India.

Photo: Megmedia/InsightShare

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Wildlife Trust of India as part of their posttraining assignment (stage two of a three-stage training) see: tinyurl.com/o4jqw7x• Two InSightShare trainers – Sole and

Sara – carried out a participatory videoevaluation for Mercy Corps in Kenya, aspart of their Financial Literacy ResearchProgramme. Over 14 days they trainedlocal facilitators to support 74 youngpeople to share their stories of change.They then facilitated workshops with over130 people representing a spectrum of keystakeholders. The videos of change werescreened, stimulating lively exchanges anddebates as the targeted audiences selectedwhich story they felt was most significantand discussed why. A story that wasselected over and over was one about aman called Matthew, who after receivingtraining in financial literacy felt the needto do something with his life. He started abusiness with one packet of flour andalmost no investment, and today he hasdiversified into three businesses and hasgone back to college to study agriculture.This story gives a lot of detail about the‘enablers of change’ (training and familysupport), as well as the blockers he hashad to overcome (stereotypes, peerpressure, lack of knowledge). This storyand the other video stories of change will

soon be available atwww.youtube.com/insightshare. Moreinformation about the PV MostSignificant Change (MSC) approach canbe seen here: bit.ly/pvmscdiag

TEDxwww.ted.com/tedx

TED started out in 1984 as a conferencebringing together people from threeworlds: technology, entertainment anddesign. TEDx was created in the spirit ofTED’s mission: ‘ideas worth spreading’. Itis an international community thatorganises TED-style events, celebratinglocally-driven ideas and elevating them toa global stage. TEDx events are producedindependently of TED conferences, eachevent curates speakers on their own, butbased on TED’s format and rules. Theprogramme gives communities,organisations and individuals theopportunity to stimulate debate andaction at the local level. Recent TEDxtalks include: This is not a video camera:Chris Lunch on participatory video atTEDxIHECShttp://youtu.be/5nVsI2nzzEsHow to ensure that aid empowers urbanpoor groups: David Satterthwaite atTEDxHamburg youtu.be/95Lq2T9OoFo

The participatory video evaluation team in Eldoret, Kenya finishes an in depth 14-day process, and celebrates!

Photo: InsightShare