Participatory research and analysis workshop for the institutional grantees

Participatory research and analyses conducted by the civil society organizations was the main idea of the workshop held on 18 May 2016 in the premises of MCIC in Skopje. 11 representatives of the institutional grantees of Civica Mobilitas participated at the workshop, and it was conducted by Simon Forester, an international expert of the program.

Five key areas: participatory research concept; strengths and weaknesses; methods and tools (interviews, focus groups, creation of diagrams/visualizations, collecting stories); samples and analysis, and reporting, were elaborated at the workshop. The participants had practical exercises for ranking and evaluation. In smaller groups, they worked on developing questions for participatory analysis, they shared their experiences, but also had an opportunity to hear about the experiences of the others in this area.

“Participatory approach is of key importance for the learning process, related to capacity building”, Forester said. “If the development is to be sustainable and to promote independence, engagement, control and responsibility for that development, it must be considered primarily as part of that process, and as a long-term goal”, he said.

“At the workshop, we strengthened our knowledge and learnt how to get feedback from the constituencies about the research we do, as well as their involvement in the data analysis”, Jana Meloska Petrova from Healthgrouper said. Also, the other participants expressed their satisfaction about the workshop contents. In the concept, they have recognized part of their past activities, and later, through practical work, they applied part of the things they have discussed about.