In this video IDS Fellow Danny Burns addresses the question ‘what is participatory action research?’

Participatory action research (PAR) is a way of engaging and working with people who are living in poverty or other forms of marginalisation, as agents of change. Interest in PAR has surged recently in the international development sector, as it challenges the power dynamic inherent in traditional research approaches. This is why it is key that professionals and practitioners in the sector adopt the latest thinking and address any skills gap within their organisations.

It is of particular importance to development practitioners and researchers today, as it can ensure their interventions are relevant, appropriate and inclusive. It is increasingly relevant for NGOs working in the Global South or North, as they shift towards a more people-centred way of developing, delivering and assessing their projects and programmes of work.
Through a range of programmes and over many years, IDS has been developing processes and methods to enable this to happen at scale both in organisations and across communities.

To find out more about the IDS specialist short course ‘Using Participatory Action Research to Improve Development Practice’ please click on the link below. https://www.ids.ac.uk/specialist-short-courses/using-participatory-action-research-to-improve-development-practice-jun23/