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Practising Participation

  • What factors encourage (or discourage) people's involvement with public decision-making?
  • What helps them feel that they are able to make a difference?
  • What is the role of individuals and civil society organisations in shaping spaces for participation?
  • What similarities and differences are there between participatory governance and democratic initiatives in different cities and regions of the world?

The language of participation is increasingly present in decision-making spaces and public processes. However, it is only through the detail of what goes on within these participatory spaces that we can understand the nature and significance of modes of public participation. The ICPS engages closely with specific participatory processes in order to ground and inform theory-building about participatory democracy and governance.

Work in this area

Revitalising Local Democracy: the case of participatory budgeting in the UK

This ongoing doctoral research focuses on the role of participatory budgeting (PB) in the UK in relation to wider local democratic practice. It includes research on PB in Bradford and Newcastle.

Participation and Community on Bradford and Keighley's traditionally 'White' Estates(This is a link to the following paragraph:)

Between August 2007 and February 2008, the ICPS undertook a community research project in Scholemoor and Braithwaite / Guardhouse, two of Bradford District's impoverished, traditionally 'White' estates. Working with community members as part of the research team, we facilitated a process of local reflection using visual methodologies including community map-making, photo-voice and participatory video. This research was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Municipal Innovations in Non-Governmental Public Participation

This international research project formed part of the ESRC programme on Non-Governmental Public Action, running from January 2007 until January 2009. It explored the new opportunities for people to participate in political life and decision making at the municipal (city) level that are opening up in different countries and social/political and economic contexts. It involved research in six city locations: Porto Alegre in Brazil, Medellin in Colombia, Caracas in Venezuela, and Bradford, Manchester and Salford in the UK.

In connection with this project, three Practitioner Fellows were funded to carry out related research and development work.

Minorities within Minorities: Beneath the Surface of South Asian Participation.

Working with community researchers from Bradford's South Asian communities over 9 months between 2006 and 2007, this research explored the impact of identity on participation, and the ability of minority identity groups within Bradford's South Asian communities to participate in local decision-making. It includes a review of existing opportunities for engagement with statutory services in Bradford. This research was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and was a collaborative project with the School of Health.

Participation: Why bother?

In 2005-2006 the ICPS worked with Sharing Voices, a Bradford based organisation supporting Black and Minority Ethnic mental health service users, to facilitate a dialogue between service providers and service users on developing appropriate structures for participation. This work was funded internally by the ICPS.

Usual Suspects or Community Leaders - what's the difference?

In 2004, the ICPS facilitated an on-line practitioner discussion and workshop around the question of the so-called 'usual suspects' in participatory decision-making processes. This was a collaborative project with the Regional Forum's Active Partners Unit.

Impact

As far as possible, we work collaboratively with other organisations in order to maximise the impact of our work. ICPS research in this area has fed into Newcastle City Council's development of its Participatory Budgeting Programme, the development of Bradford Community Empowerment Network's capacity building programme, and influenced the selection of Scholemoor as a pilot area for the national Take Part programme. The ICPS is an active member of the National Participatory Budgeting Reference Group, hosted by the Department of Communities and Local Government, and the Yorkshire and the Humber Empowerment Partnership. We have worked with the partnership in particular, on their Champions of Participaton Programme in the North West. We also work closely with the Community Empowerment Network for Yorkshire and the Humberside.

Staff working in this area

  • Jenny Pearce
  • Heather Blakey
  • Davina Miller

Publications

Journal articles

  • H Blakey (2008) 'Radical innovation or technical fix? Participatory budgeting in the UK: how Latin American participatory traditions are reinterpreted in the British context', Popular Sovereignty, year 1, no. 1, December: on-line journal published by CIDADE, Porto Alegre: http://www.ongcidade.org/site/php/Revista/revista.php
  • H Blakey (2008) 'Participatory Budgeting in the UK: a challenge to the system', Participatory Learning and Action, 58, June 2008: 61-65

Book chapters

  • ESRC chapters

Conference presentations

  • H Blakey, EJ Milne, C Payne, L Kilburn: Through their eyes: visual (self) representation(s) of participation and community in Bradford and Keighley, UK. Paper to the International Sociological Association Forum, Barcelona, September 2008

Research reports and briefings

  • "Here, the People Decide"? New Forms of Participation in the City – research briefings in 3 languages
  • H Blakey (2009) "People taking control": U-Decide in Newcastle, report produced for Newcastle City Council.
  • K Lavan (2007) Participatory Budgeting in the UK: an evaluation from a practitioner perspective. Manchester: Church Action on Poverty.
  • H Blakey, J Pearce and G Chesters (2006) Minorities within Minorities: beneath the surface of South Asian Participation. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
  • J.Pearce and E.J. Milne (2010) Participation and Community in Bradford's 'Traditionally' White Estates. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
  • H Blakey and EJ Milne (2009) C-Net Capacity-building Programme evaluation report
  • H Blakey (2005) Participation – Why bother? International Centre for Participation Studies Working Paper 2. Bradford: ICPS
  • J Pearce and H Blakey (2005) Background of Distances: participation and community cohesion in the North, making the connections. International Centre for Participation Studies Working Paper 1. Bradford: ICPS
  • H Blakey (2005) Usual Suspects or Community Leaders - what's the difference? Bradford: ICPS.