Report of the African Regional Workshop on Participatory Research

Abstract

The African Regional Workshop on Participatory Research marks a significant step in the development of the African Participatory Research Project (PRP) which was initiated at the beginning of 1978 under the auspices of the African Adult Education Association. The African PRP is a regional project under the network of International Council for Adult Education. The PRP is also being carried out in Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. The African Regional Workshop materialised after establishing a network of interested individuals and institutions in Africa, a task which was carried out ever a period of about 18 months. The main objectives of the Workshop were to analyse, refine and systematise the emerging concept and methodology of Participatory Research. The Workshop was not designed to reach a consensus or to make any recommendations. Rather, its main aim was to generate discussion and analysis in order to clarify and conceptualise more concretely the major ideas and theories underlying a number of research endeavours in the social sciences which had attempted to use a participatory approach as a point of departure from the conventional research methodologies.