paperRIA_131029

7/27/2019 paperRIA_131029

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Within the R+D+I project _ “Participatory Evaluation of community actions as alearning methodology for personal and community empowerment”, funded by the

Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

From “target group” to “actors ofcollective action”.

The empowerment process throughout aParticipatory Evaluation project

Anna Ciraso, Pilar Pineda, Xavier Úcar

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ÍNDEX

1) The research

2) Participatory Evaluation & empowerment

3) Goals & method

4)Results

a. Emerged variables

b. Empowerment evolution

c. Learning

5) Conclusions

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3

2

1

Steering groupsMethodology design,

specific for each territoryPE processes

Instruments & techniques to analyze learning & empowerment

THE RESEARCH

Conceptualframework

Method &instruments design

Web and social mediadesign

3 ½ years

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PE & EMPOWERMENT

social and educative process that favours knowledge andexperience of the people from each community

ParticipatoryEvaluation

it generates shared learning that stimulates people andgroups, and that enables the structuring and transformation of the territory

people assess, individually andcollectively, the activities and

community projects in which theyparticipate and which affect them

=

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Time

Professionals’ & technicians’ action

Community action

PE & EMPOWERMENT

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?

GOALS & METHOD

To describe and understand the individual and collectiveempowerment process of a specific group

What is the key learning that allows people to make collective

decisions? How these elements evolve? Is there any pivotal momentin this process of empowerment?

Primary sources: semi-literal transcriptions of the PE meetings, aswell as the fieldnotes.

Categories: variables and indicators of individual andcommunitarian empowerment,

Content analysis

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METHOD: categories

DIMENSIONS VARIABLES INDICATORS

Individual-intrapersonal

Self-esteem

Responsibility

Efficacy

Critical capacity

FreedomLearning awareness

Individual-interpersonal

Acknowledgment

Assertiveness

Teamwork

Communitarian-to be

Community inclusion and intergration

Community identity

Self-image

Community knowledgment

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METHOD: categories

DIMENSIONS VARIABLES INDICATORS

Communitarian-to be at

Organizational structures

Community responsibility

Resources mobilization

Strengthening relationships

Communitarian-to do

Participation

Evaluation capacity

Developed from the theoretical review (Benford et al., 2008;Fetterman & Wandersman, 2007; Holte-Mc Kenzie, Fordes y Theobalo,2006; Laverack, 2001; Maton, 2008…); revised by the 3 communities(tecnicians, university and neighbours); and emerged from theanalysis itself

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Technicians/Local government

Citizens

NGOs, associations

• Town councils• Entity that

managescommunitydevelopment

• Elder

women• Young

• Members• Leaders

PARTICIPANTS

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18 people: steering group

13 sessions, in which we evaluated 4 main dimensions related tocommunity actions in town: a) context; b) evolution; c) development;and d) results.

multiplications

PARTICIPANTS

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RESULTS: emerged variables

Freedomindicators “to have one’s owncriteria”, “initiative”, “self -management”

“We ourselves could address them. Maybe, this way they could

engage themselves [into voluntary service]”

“Maybe it would be interesting to define this itinerary, a meeting

with the people from the community and without the members of

UAB “

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Critical capacity Self-reflection not justpersonal-related

“[He is very concerned about] the next steps, the work we did this

year inside the group was great but we have to find the way to go

out”

“Disagreement, inequality in a lot of things, conflicts…Where isthe improvement, where is the change, where is that resurging

solidarity that we mentioned as a strength? What move us, it’s the

same vanity as usual”

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Self-esteem Mostly with negative sign

Community identity

“I’m ashamed not to know it”

awareness of the historical route

social cohesion, flow andinterchange of information

among groups and people.

“The visible persons in the NGOs don’t share information among

them”

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Community inclusions &integration


Indicator “relationships among personsor groups”

“I hear a lot of xenophobe commentaries”

“Little leadership capacity, to enroll more people from the projects”

Participation

attendance to community activities orprojects

“Sometimes, projects start with 20 people and

they end with 5 of them”

generation or existence of social capital

“I was referring to the little trust in people”

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RESULTS: empowerment evolution

Self-esteem“Their [elder people] fear is not being able to contribute anyway, because they

have had no education”. (first session)

“I didn’t imagine that I would have learned so many things, I didn’t know that

there were so many activities in Badia. Moreover, I realized that I’m able to do a

lot of things”. (second last session)

Pivotal moments…

1) 3rd session: the evaluators from the university presented the map of thecommunitarian projects. People from the community were supposed todecide what they want to evaluate.

self-evaluations emerge, about past actions and

the current situation of the projects

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RESULTS: empowerment evolution

Pivotal moments… 2) 5th session: the group selected and adapted the evaluation indicators totheir territory and communitarian projects. First quote that refers to self-management (with community dimension)

“We don’t have to wait for the public administration to build the

bridge among people”

3) 7th session: evaluation of development and results of communitarian projectsagainst crisis (SWOT diagram).

Indicators initiative, to have one’s own criteria, intuitionabout reality, self-management , self-esteem

“This is the greatest satisfaction that you can give to me. This is participation!”

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RESULTS: learning

Variable appeared during the last meetings, particulary in the 11th session:evaluation of the PE process itself.

Which kind of learning?

1) Services, resources, relationships and community projects in town

2) Importance of the other person in community work, and their own role“The person who’s in front of you can teach you something, whoever it is”

“You have the ideas and she [pointing a community worker] is the pencil. You

bring a value, your experience, that if you don’t bring it, nobody will”

3) That a social change is possible, because the needed resources are available“I saw that there are still people who believe in Badia, and they are willing to

pull ahead”

“We have tools and a common goal”

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RESULTS: learning

4) Participants talked about PE as a way to empower and transform reality.They learned some methods and tools; but, more important, they know andunderstand its main goal

“It’s about planning things that we can do. Here we imagine, here we

want to make proposals”

“We have to empower people so that they can feel the main characters in

their projects, and they participate more”

5) Especially the elder women who took part in the process were aware oftheir own learning, and of the possibilities that they have.

“When I was a housewife, I never imagined that I could work at these themes.

My school education is very basic. I’ve always wanted to learn. And here, I

learned so much!”

“What happened to us, the past generation, is that we don’t believe ourselves

to be capable, and we repress ourselves”

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RESULTS: learning

Why did they/we learn?

visualizing the community actionsrelated to change and the

transformation of the community

“the most relevant thing that emerged was

the neighbours’ fights to achieve things for

Badia”

PE process develops from themembers’ knowledge

“Our experience is the best base to

achieve our goals”

“A process when everybody could

express oneself”

creation of a special space, that people andgroups can use to think about their actions

and about the town

“Most of us, we did this exercise, to distance ourselves and see the

everyday of the town, and its whys”

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?What are the key learnings that allows people to empower?How these elements evolve?

CONCLUSIONS

• Community knowledge about the resources, services andrelationships among projects and associations• New concept of participation: a shift from a passive participation

towards a more active one• Individual & group autonomy (not waiting for the administration totake actions in the community)• Acknowledgment of the other as a source of learning• Self-image, and self-esteem, especially participants who had a lowinstructional level Is there any pivotal moment in this process of empowerment?

Some techniques used during the PE process helped to generateempowerment in people. Eg: Time-line, map of the communitarian actions,

SWOT

?

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?How the group change?

CONCLUSIONS

From the creation of a new group, to a steering group: stable, withcommon goals and strategies, with a sense of belonging.

Members recognized theircommon history in thecommunity, and their power tobuild things together.

Creation of bonds amongpeople and projects involved inPE

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http://evaluacionparticipativa.citilab.eu

THANK YOU

http://evaluacionparticipativa.citilab.eu/

http://evaluacionparticipativa.citilab.eu/

paperRIA_131029

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