Par.html
Participatory Action Research (PAR)
PAR
is an approach that aims for the process and results of research to
have direct impact on social and ecological issues. It seeks the
fair and equitable participation of all relevant stakeholders in a
particular setting or process. Bacon, et al. (2005) defined PAR
as follows:
"A cyclical approach that involves a diversity of
stakeholders as active participants in an integrated process of
research and action (action can represent a social change process,
community development, conservation projects, etc.)". See the
figure below, from the same source:
As
part of my desire to bring my research into action, and with the
support of a group of Salvadoran researchers, we formed Advising and
Interdisciplinary Research for Local Development and Conservation
(ASINDEC). ASINDEC is a local, non-profit foundation with the aims to
conduct participatory action research (PAR), as a strategy to support
conservation and livelihood improvement efforts of coffee farmers in El
Salvador and Central America. ASINDEC is sister
organization of the Community Agroecology Network (CAN) , a U.S. based,
non-profit organization, which has a PAR focus, as well as
action-education and trade innovations programs. CAN is based at
the University of California, Santa Cruz.
My work in PAR is done in close collaboration with Dr. Christopher M. Bacon, now a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
A
recent highlight in my PAR-related work is the formation of the
Community Participatory Action Research Network (CPAR-Net) at the
University of Vermont. This collective brings together
individuals interested in applying and advancing PAR related approaches
within and outside the university.
Selected Publications on PAR
Bacon,
C., V. E. Mendez & M. Brown (2005) Participatory action-research
and support for community development and conservation: examples from
shade coffee landscapes of El Salvador and Nicaragua. Research Brief #
6. Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS),
University of California: Santa Cruz, CA, U.S.A. Available on-line: http://repositories.cdlib.org/casfs/rb/brief_no6/
Castellanet,
C. & C. F. Jordan (2002) Participatory action research in natural
resource management: a critique of the method based on five year's
experience in the Transamazonica region of Brazil. Taylor and Francis:
New York & Sussex.
Fals-Borda, O. & M. A. Rahman (eds.)
(1991) Action and knowledge: breaking the monopoly with participatory
action-research. The Apex Press: New York, NY.
Rocheleau, D. E.
(1999) Confronting complexity, dealing with difference: social context,
content and practice in agroforestry. pp. 191-236. In L. E. Buck, J. P.
Lassoie & E. C. M. Fernandes (eds.) Agroforestry in sustainable
agricultural systems. Lewis Press: Boca Raton, FL, USA.
Selener, D. (1997) Participatory action research and social change. Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY, USA.
Last modified October 24 2007 09:43 AM
