People's Participation in Community Development Page 1 of 8

Published in TDRI Quarterly Review

People's Participation in Community Development*

Orapin Sopchokchai**

INTRODUCTION

Community development is a learning process from which all actors—villagers, development officials (both
government and non-government), business representatives, and experts—will learn and gain experience
together as development progresses. True and sustainable development cannot take place through force or
order, but it will naturally happen when all actors equally and democratically participate and share their
ideas, visions, and responsibilities to steer and implement their community or village development. One
approach to create sustainable rural development is through giving the main actors, which means villagers
who are living in the community, an equal opportunity to think and plan their own future.

People's participation in community affairs has been considered an important rural development policy,
initiated since the establishment of the National Rural Development Program (NRDP) in the fifth National
Economic and Social Development Plan in 1982. It was commonly understood that the rural administration
system was created toward the transition from top-down to bottom-up planning system. The system also
established a bottom-up planning structure where rural development plans would initially be formulated by
people at the village level. During the past years, efforts to strengthen people's participation in village
planning and community development has often been far from desirable. Many rural administration
obstructions, such as highly centralized controls of the line agencies, lack of a practical approach to
strengthen people's participation, and no commitment to integrate people into community development,
were encountered. In 1994, the new Tambol Council Law was passed, which marked a major effort to
decentralize decision-making power to people. A challenging question, now, is not only how to set up and
strengthen this local self-governing body, but also how to ensure that people will democratically participate
in decision-making processes and can effectively control the Tambol Council.

Villagers are usually willing to cooperate with one another to satisfy their mutual interests and needs. They
may be inhibited from doing so owing to obstructions in communications or for other reasons, such as lack
of opportunity or favorable circumstances. But it can be assumed that the people's will to participate in the
betterment of the community is ever present and that it will find expression spontaneously or through
outside stimulation. Therefore, it is important to find a practical approach to help enhance and provide
opportunity for people to participate effectively and democratically. The A-I-C approach, which is a
participatory planning technique, is experimented at the village level to understand and find way to achieve
this goal to stimulate people's participation in community development.

Village participants, however, must include both men and women who represent all interest groups in the
village, such as village leaders, various women groups, business groups, farmers, and disadvantaged
groups. While including representatives from various groups is important, female participants in village
development planning enriches the processes. The previous TDRI project on "Women's Organizing Abilities"
found that women's voices and concerns in the community are equally important to community
development and welfare as most women reflected needs to initiate social, education, health, and
environmental projects, while most men pay more attention to economic, agricultural, and infrastructural
development. Combining both sides' needs and concerns creates a more balanced community development
plan.

This report summarizes findings and recommendations drawn from the several TDRI's projects, the most

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important one entitled "Strengthening Women's Ability to Participate in Village Development Planning and
Decision-making Processes: An Action Research," funded by WELD/CIDA. The detailed case studies of 40
villages in eight provinces are in the main report (in Thai). In addition, to facilitate and disseminate ideas of
people's participation in village development planning and decision-making processes, the project produced
a moderator's manual, explained village workshop processes, the A-I-C and moderator's techniques. This
manual is primarily developed for development officials (Pattanakorn) from the Community Development
Department (CDD), the Ministry of Interior, and other field development workers working with non-
governmental organizations. In addition to the manual, the project, in cooperation with the CDD, co-
produced a 30-minute video presentation detailing the A-I-C techniques and processes to conduct a village
workshop.

THE ACTION RESEARCH AND ITS OBJECTIVES

The project is an action research project: a combination of research and actual implementation of village
development planning and decision-making processes at the village level. This 18-month project was
funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through the Women's Economic and
Leadership Development Program (WELD) with following objectives:

(1) To examine and identify mechanisms to enhance women's participation in village development planning
and decision-making processes;

(2) To study and design an appropriate A-I-C method to be used by development officials (both from
governmental and non-governmental organizations) in the village development planning system; and

(3) To find ways to increase the number of and to promote opportunities for women to participate as
committee members in the Village Development Committee (or Kor Mor).

To achieve these objectives, TDRI, in cooperation with the Population and Community Development
Association (PDA) and the CDD, the Ministry of Interior, launched a pilot study in 40 villages in the
northern, northeastern, southern, and central regions (Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, Maha Sarakham, Buri Ram,
Surin, Pattani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Ang Thong). In each village, the project organized a village
development planning workshop using the A-I-C approach (sometimes known as the New Development
Paradigm); the workshop simulated a village planning forum which integrated men and women who
represented various interest groups into village decision-making processes.

As an action research, the nature of the project was slightly different from a regular research project that
generally aims to gather information, analyze, and propose policy recommendations. This action research
project focused on participation of all parties involved and learning experiences received from the project.
Although a main purpose was to formulate policy recommendations, this project—using village cases to
examine and conduct experiments on the A-I-C approach to facilitate village development planning—also
offered learning experiences for all parties or actors involved with the project. The primary result of the
action research project was the benefits that each actor gained from participating in the project. The
project's actors included villagers, development officials (from GOs and NGOs), researchers, and policy-
makers.

A total of 1,225 villagers (690 women and 535 men) in selected villages had a chance to participate in a
real village planning forum, using the A-I-C approach in organizing village workshops. In each village,
villagers were invited to review their development status and make suggestions about their future. Toward
the end of the process, they agreed upon a list of village development activities or projects, divided into
three main categories: activities to be carried out by villagers themselves; projects to be proposed to the
Tambol Council; and projects to be proposed to other development agencies. Since these development
activities were formulated by villagers themselves, a sense of belonging and ownership among villagers
was created; they sought funds for the projects, organized teams and managed village development
activities; above all, they wished to see the success of their development projects or activities. Many
development activities were successfully carried out after conclusion of the workshop, especially projects

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undertaken by villagers themselves, i.e., garbage management and village beautification projects.

Development officials participating in the project were trained to become familiar with village workshop
processes and applications of the A-I-C concept, and were then able to be A-I-C moderators. Through the
project, this new approach taught them to look at village development from a different perspective; they
became more democratic and people-oriented. The project examined two models: the village development
planning workshop conducted by "Pattanakorn" or government development officials, and the one
conducted by development agents from a non-governmental organization—the PDA. Therefore,
development officials participating in the project included those from both government and non-
governmental organizations. The project designed the A-I-C workshop processes to be consistent with the
rural development system and suitable for villages in Thailand, and then trained the selected development
officials to be workshop facilitators or moderators. The project also invited representatives from the
Training Division, the CDD, Ministry of Interior, to participate in this learning process. After understanding
and learning about the A-I-C approach, the Department requested assistance from the project to launch
and experiment with this process in the Department, starting by training 10 CDD trainers of the CDD
Training Division who later added the A-I-C approach to the Community Development curriculum (or CD
process), and trained the first new CDD officials at the Training Center in Banglamung in April, 1994. In
addition, the CDD has tested the technique in several of its development projects, such as the rural poverty
eradication project in 1995 and the natural resources and environmental project in 1994. These activities
helped expand the learning horizon of the A-I-C approach into the government sector, as the village case
studies implemented by the project were limited.

The case study method used in this project gave researchers1 an opportunity to examine and understand
the village development planning and decision-making processes that allowed villagers to participate.
Women's roles and abilities to participate in this process and their outcomes were also recorded and
analyzed. Researchers collected background materials on village socioeconomics, history, population,
development activities, and cultural life; this information helped researchers to understand the village
situation and to aid in communication with the villages. It was not intended for detailed analysis, and was
not part of the raw materials of the research. All the raw data for each case study came from observation
and interviews with the project's participants—villagers and workshop moderators. Through observation,
interviews, and participation in this action learning processes, all researchers learned more about village
development as well as people participation processes, and could gather the first-hand information to write
case studies, and formulate conclusions and policy recommendations. Reliability of the findings was
assured by redundancy which occurred from repetition of the process in many villages.

Policy-makers not directly involved with the project may directly benefit from it. For those involved in rural
development, the project offered first-hand experience and recommendations regarding people
participation in village development planning and decision-making processes, as well as a practical model—
a more effective and democratic rural development planning. For those involved with women issues, the
project clearly shows that women's participation in village development planning and decision-making
processes and their roles in community development are important and useful. Lesson learned from each
village workshop help to identify methods to integrate women into village development planning and
decision-making processes.

THE A-I-C APPROACH FOR VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

Using the A-I-C approach in action research gave us an opportunity to test and refine this planning tool for
Thai contexts. The project's concepts, ideas, and design were based on a previous TDRI project on
Women's Organizing Abilities conducted in 1990, when TDRI and PDA jointly experimented with a new
development planning tool, known as the A-I-C concept, developed and introduced by the Organizing for
Development, an International Institute (ODII), a non-governmental organization in Washington D.C. The
A-I-C concept has its origins in a concept of a power field and the effect of the environment. In the center
of the power field is an actor with a purpose. It is the purpose that is actually the source of power. Within
the boundaries of the "self," the power is characterized by relation of control. Beyond the field bound by
the actor's control lies an area or relations to others characterized by influence power. The outmost
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boundary, beyond the influence of the central actor, consists of relationships of appreciation. Dr. Smith
related the power field to policy planning formulation and later designed a planning process using the A-I-C
concept.2

Implementing this action research, the project refined the approach for the Thai community development
contexts, expanded sample size to 40 villages covering four regions to test whether the tool can be
implemented in different environments and culture, and trained selected development officials in both
governmental and non-governmental organizations to learn more about GO and NGO's performance.
Basically, the approach used for village development planning forums is a planning process that combines
the best of several brainstorming techniques, together with the A-I-C technique. It is considered to be
people-centered, democratic, and cost-effective.

Based on the A-I-C concept that recognizes the power relations among stakeholders in the village, the
village workshop, using this approach, encouraged every single participant to become the center of a
power field built around his/her purpose or interest in village development. Each participant (individuals
attending the workshop) was then interactively involved in the situation. Objectivity in the traditional sense
was not possible. Each villager developed a personal responsibility for his/her relationships in village
development to the whole village (appreciation mode), to the others (influence mode) and to the self
(control mode).

The village workshop proved the strength of grass-roots participation in the development process. While
most development officials had always thought it difficult for villagers to plan their own future, the project
found the opposite to be the case. A two-day village workshop consisted of five sessions: opening,
appreciation, influence, control, and concluding sessions. The opening session was designed to guide
villagers into the A-I-C village workshop; games sometimes were used to break the ice and to reduce the
power gap among villagers, especially among men and women and among leaders and villagers.

z Appreciation session (A) comprised two sub-sessions: analysis of the village reality (sharing ideas and
discussing the village's situations, success stories, problems, and development opportunity) and
conception of an ideal village for the future (creating a shared vision of their desirable village
situation). The picture-drawing technique was used in both sessions because it helped to stimulate
some participants to discuss their ideas; combining picture-drawing and group discussion techniques
also served to restrain other participants who tend to dominate discussions and helped to formulate
village development goals—development vision.
z Influence session (I) served to identify the best development activities or projects to achieve the ideal
development state agreed upon during the appreciation session. Villagers were asked to define
rationales and consequences from each development activity and then set their own development
priorities.
z Control session (C) served to transform development needs and ideas into actions. Villagers
formulated their own action plan by identifying key participants or villagers to oversee projects,
planning activities, defining resources, and setting time-frames: all details necessary to implement
their ideas. Enthusiasm to implement development activities was strongly developed during this
session.

The concluding session was added to get the villagers' agreement and commitment to implement their
development activities. Moreover, this session discussed and selected representatives to attend the Tambol
Council meeting. In several sub-districts where the A-I-C workshops were organized in every village, the
project arranged a Tambol Council meeting, inviting village representatives, including women to discuss
villages' development projects proposed by villagers in each village. The meeting proved useful to the
villagers who attended the meeting, as they had an opportunity to learn from others' experiences—
assistance was being offered to help development their community—and often they agreed upon
integrating several village development projects into a single project to be added into the Tambol Plan.
This meeting also enhanced the women's opportunity to discuss and attend development planning forums
beyond the village level.

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VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES AND THAI RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Real changes within a community occur when men and women look within themselves to find their own
ways to solve problems, plan their future, and take part in the development process. Thus, a community
development plan must be initiated by the people within a particular community. In Thailand, the bottom-
up planning principle has always been stated in rural development policy and plans, as appears in the
National Economic and Social Development Plan. The Fifth Plan, for the first time, created a rural
development management and planning structure from the national to village levels to carry out such a
policy. From past experience, however, the level of participation by villagers in village development
planning and decision-making processes has been less than desirable. Instead, village development needs
and plans have normally been formulated and initiated by several village leaders and government officers
who decided for all villagers. As a result, most villagers paid little attention to community development
projects, especially projects that have a long term impact such as social, educational, and environmental
projects. At present, the perspective among villagers, in fact, indicates that community development is a
government function. Many development projects failed to meet the real needs of villagers or fail to
achieve development objectives, and they do not really solve the problems confronted by villagers.
Unfortunately, the enormity of financial resources and technical assistance devoted to community
development over the past two decades to eradicate poverty and improve the quality of life of rural Thai
people has been a waste; many people have raised serious questions about the government's previous
efforts and performance. One management obstacle was that there was no practical and simple approach
for development officials who were ordered to carry out the people-participated policy for them to use in
the field.

To correct this problem, a new approach to involve people in community development must be considered.
One way is to bring all interest groups together to plan democratically their future, solve their own
problems and undertake community development with some financial and technical assistance from
outsiders; then true development may take place. The project introduced a village planning model, using
the A-I-C approach in Thai contexts, to involve people in community development processes from the
beginning, which is planning the development.

The project findings indicate and confirm the necessity to involve villagers, both men and women, in
community development planning and decision-making processes. Villagers, when given the opportunity to
think, debate, and decide what should be done to improve their community, will be willing to work hard to
see the development projects succeed in order to fulfill their vision. Centralized project planning and
government agency-driven development projects do not fully serve the needs of local people or really solve
the problems; they should be eliminated from the Thai rural development administration. Prompting people
to participate in community development process through planning and decision-making processes not only
creates a sense of the community but also raises the awareness of the importance of development projects
for the community. The A-I-C approach is a tool that provides a way for villagers to participate in
community development planning. Its techniques and concept are feasible, simple, and cost-effective. The
technique is easily understood by development officials both in government (CDD workers) and non-
governmental organizations. Particularly, most CDD workers are those who have already acquired some
basic knowledge as moderators, so that only some additional training regarding the A-I-C approach is
needed.

At present, the Tambol Council Law will allow local people to decide and manage their own resources and
community. To establish a local administrative body that is sensitive to the people's needs, and is
democratic and effective, village planning functions must be strengthened. Villagers must become actively
involved in deciding their development directions and overseeing their own community development. If
villagers become actively involved, they can monitor the progress of all development projects and control
the Tambol Council themselves.

The A-I-C approach is a planning technique which can be used to stimulate interest and raise development
awareness among villagers. The study found that, if used correctly, it can be a considerably powerful tool.
But the A-I-C approach is not a magic technique for the success of village development. To use the A-I-C

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approach, three major things are needed.

z Skilled and experienced moderators who understand the A-I-C approach and concepts to conduct the
workshop at the village level.
z Village stakeholders or representatives of different interest groups to participate in village workshop.
z Follow-up action by development officials upon conclusion of the workshop, who may help provide
technical or financial support for some village development projects.

WOMEN'S OPPORTUNITY, ABILITIES, AND ROLES IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Women make up statistically half of the population and they are important actors in village development.
Women are a target group in development; as well, they comprise human power and resources to help
implement and maintain many development projects at the community level. At present, however, the
majority of women are socially, culturally, and politically barred from participating in community
development planning and decision-making processes. Traditionally, Thai society holds that it is a woman's
role and duty to take care of domestic chores, while men are expected to deal with tasks outside the
house. Adhering to this concept, most Thai women are not aware of and/or overlook their roles and duties
within the community, and they have little opportunity to participate in politics and decision-making
processes. The elected village leaders and village development committee members are examples; at
present, the majority of these are men.

Recognizing the fact that women comprise half of the villagers and are important actors in village
development, to successfully achieve village development goals, therefore, village women must be included
in community development planning and decision-making processes. The project, designed to integrate
half of women in development planning and decision-making processes, found that when women are
included, an opportunity was created not only for women to express their ideas and needs but also for
village leaders, most of them are men, to listen, learn, and understand women's needs and concerns about
village development. On the other hand, women participants in the processes also learned more about
others' needs and concerns. The A-I-C technique helped to stimulate this learning experience and
communication among men and women, and it can be considered as a mechanism to enhance women's
participation in village development planning and decision-making processes. Through the workshop
process and techniques, women dramatically gained more confidence in expressing their ideas and needs
to other villagers.

When women were actively involved in the processes, women's perspectives drawn from different life
experiences created a better and more balanced community development plan. Men, for example,
considered development in terms of infrastructure, such as road and bridge construction, electricity, the
establishment of revolving funds, and new farming techniques, while women, having different viewpoints
and daily life experiences, usually paid more attention to social and health problems; their project
proposals included education, child care facilities, nutrition programs, health-related projects, and
environmental projects.

The A-I-C processes facilitated women's participation in the village decision-making arena which used to be
male domain. Bringing several women representatives together with male counterparts to discuss village
development proved to be useful; women, as a part of the community, understood the importance of
development projects and felt responsible for implementing them. Since women effectively and successfully
participated in the processes, men, particularly village leaders, recognized women's abilities and the
necessity that they be included in community development. The male perspectives about women's roles
and place in the society changed; they thought of women as equal partners in development. Women were
selected to help in community activities and later these women were elected to be committee members of
the Village Development Committee (Kor Mor). (An increasing number of female village committees in the
villages, implemented in the project in Ang Thong, evidences the clear impact of this project.)

The idea to include women as equal partners in village development planning and decision-making
processes has evidently offered a higher status to women in community development. Women no longer

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are a target group, they have become project owners—the ones who initiate the development projects, not
merely those who carry out projects initiated by others. As a result, development projects will reflect the
real needs of women and the community.

The project also found that most of the women who attended the village workshop and had thought about
and discussed village development during the workshop actively become a driving force in getting the
project implemented. The workshop helped to stimulate development awareness among women's groups in
the village. They work together to lobby to get their development projects considered, funded, and
implemented; and, finally, they oversee the projects to make certain that their mission is accomplished and
the villagers' vision is fulfilled.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The project highly recommends that both government and non-government development agencies directly
responsible for community or village development should seriously consider and find way to involve people
in village development planning and decision-making processes. The A-I-C technique is a practical
brainstorming tool for development officials; the project found that the technique is suitable for village
development planning.

To successfully implement the rural development policy of bottom-up planning approach and people
participation in rural development processes, the project recommends that the Department of Community
Development, Ministry of Interior, should be the government agency that has the potential to carry out this
task, as it is the Department's mandate and there are sufficient and qualified personnel to be trained as
village workshop moderators at the sub-district level. NGO development officials who are trained as A-I-C
moderators can assist the government in some areas where there are no moderators. A team of NGO
development personnel can be subcontracted to organize village workshops. However, the NGO team must
closely coordinate with government officials at the sub-district and district levels, so that development
projects and technical assistance can be arranged for villagers.

In 1994, the Training Division of the CDD included the A-I-C approach into its curriculum on community
development process to be taught to all new development officials (Pattanakorn). This pilot testing and the
project's findings demonstrate that the Department as well as most of the present development officials
will be able to implement the policy. In addition, information about the A-I-C technique and concept can be
disseminated to all CDD staffs in every province, using a 30-minute audio-visual presentation and a manual
that details the A-I-C technique and the village workshop approach. What is needed are development
officials with an open mind and the willingness to learn this new approach. Therefore, if the Ministry of
Interior wants to use the A-I-C approach for village development, it is important to set a clear policy
guideline. To implement the policy, a series of seminars should be organized for government officials at all
levels. It is important that senior executives at the departmental level understand and support this policy.
Senior management support and upstanding is also necessary for many non-governmental organizations
that want to use the A-I-C technique in their community development programs.

Although the CDD officials at the sub-district level are already trained and qualified to be moderators, and
although the A-I-C technique is quite simple, a training session for the CDD workers (Pattanakorn) is
necessary to help them better understand the workshop's process and gain sufficient confidence to
effectively conduct village workshops using the A-I-C technique. From the project's experience, a village
workshop can be conducted and managed by one moderator, but the process will be easier to implement
and more enjoyable for all—villagers and development officials—if it is run by a team of moderators. In
practice, each district should form one or two moderator teams to organize village workshops and Tambol
Council meetings within the district.

Use of the A-I-C technique in village development planning is recommended to be carried out once a year
prior the formulation of Tambol plans to ensure that villagers' needs and concerns are discussed, and that
both villagers and CDD workers have sufficient opportunity to review and consider development projects
and activities to be submitted to the Tambol Council.

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In addition, village women should be stimulated and encouraged to take a more active role in village
development planning and implementation. Since completion of this project, many policy-makers and
planners in both government and non-governmental organizations have recognized the importance of
women's roles in village development planning and decision-making processes. It is important that
development officials from both GOs and NGOs become more gender sensitive, and seriously recognize
that women are important actors in community development.

A village planning workshop that invites 50 percent of female participants enhances the opportunity for
women to participate in village development planning and decision-making processes, and provides an
opportunity for women to get involved in community development activities. While the project found that
many women participants are able to plan their development projects and can efficiently and effectively
participate in community development, some, especially those who are young, poor, disadvantaged and
uneducated, are less able. Programs and projects to develop self-confidence, negotiation techniques and
planning skills should be designed and implemented for this target group.

While women's needs and concerns are heard and discussed at the village levels, little attention will given
at the Tambol Council level if there are no female representatives to debate the issues, women's needs and
concerns from village level are often forgotten. It is important that the Tambol Council structure and the
component of the committee members be reconsidered, so as to add more women into this decision-
making body.

ฉ Copyright 1996 Thailand Development Research Institute

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