Demystifying Facilitation in Participatory Development

Blueprint approaches to development have little ability to build capacities for sustainable natural resource management and food production. An emerging alternative response for democratic societies is collective action of multiple actors at multiple scales. Participatory methodologies have evolved to develop competence in joint decision-making, action and reflection. However, despite promising results, we are still not very good at incorporating multiple actor learning at multiple scales into participatory interventions. The importance of facilitation in this regard is increasingly acknowledged. However, little has been written to guide facilitators on the qualities needed and theories surrounding its actual practice.