Participatory projects – a benefit to all? : A minor field study in rural India

Abstract: Participation has become a crucial aspect for development and development aid thus it ensures empowerment and appropriate gain for the stakeholders. Participation is important especially for managing natural resources like water but the participatory approach is not always satisfying. This Minor field study has looked at two different projects participation from the stakeholders view and tried to answer what the stakeholders gain is for from participatory projects. This is done by interviewing the initiators of the projects and the villagers involved in it. The interviews showed a difference between the projects where the local development project had a more constant participation from start to finish while the research project stationed in Sweden had participation at times and in a different way. The study showed that more efforts need to be done to define participation thus it is now used in many different ways. There is also a need for improved documentation on the participatory process to assure participation and improve the procedures.