Category:1 What is a participatory process

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What is participation?

Participation in general is a structured methodology involving a community/group of people in a specific collective practice or decision-making. Participation can make a process inclusive and democratic It can make different voices and needs to be heard The participatory projects vary regarding objectives, methods, tools, scale, subjects, goals, and expected results. Community participation, in general, and participatory design, specifically, are terms that, although broadly used, are not to this day fully defined. The ways participation can be implemented are many, and the projects of participatory design vary a lot as far as their objectives, methods, tools, and results are concerned.

The last years, many have tried to give the participation term a more comprehensive definition. One example is that of Giaoutzi and Stratigea (1), who consider participatory planning as a "democratic process of lifelong learning, in which participants gain knowledge about themselves but also the values and views of other participants" (Giaoutzi and Stratigea, 2011).

According to Stratigea the participatory approaches in planning answers mainly to the needs of:

1. Conflict management between the evolution of technology / science and society that has been developed since the midst 20th century.

2. Management of environmental problems, especially from the 1960s and onwards.

The meaning of participation

A participatory activity/workshop/design is a methodology in which:

1. The process is structured according to the basic objectives and activities of participation.

2. The facilitators and participants collaborate in order to make a decision or develop a collective result on a problem/subject.

A combination of specific techniques and tools is implemented.

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