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Scotland Yard Adventure Centre (SYAC) –
8 staff and 25 volunteers
Participatory appraisal in action
'Our adventure play projects are decided upon and built
by the volunteers, parents and children. To involve
people with a mixed group of abilities we find methods
and tools that everyone can use. For example,
we've used drawings, magazine cuttings, videos, diagrams
and discussions, and we've even got people to mark their
preference with beans or stones which are then weighed
up. For our sensory garden we created a map of the area
and then people used post-it notes to indicate what
features they wanted and where. Unlike traditional decision-making
methods, PA encourages people to feel ownership of both
the decisions and the completed projects.
'A common misconception is that PA is an unwieldy process
and takes too long. But, if we didn't use it, we could
easily waste resources, money, and valuable decision-making
time and ultimately fail in our duty because projects
wouldn't be used. PA can also be flexible.
If circumstances change we can look at the question
again and reframe it. For example, people wanted to
make a solid cave-like structure for a new willow feature.
But we couldn't get enough funding for it, so we went
back to everyone involved and adapted our plans to fit
the budget.
'In the end it's worth going that extra mile to involve
people, and I think that many organisations could use
PA tools and models to reach decisions. The skills
that you need to facilitate PA are quite basic.
You need to be inclusive, ensure that the group feels
comfortable about saying what they want to say and how
they want to communicate it. Patience is important and
you need to ensure that everyone has input. You also
need to make sure that you follow through all the time
with the feedback of decisions that
have been made. It's vital to keep the group informed
about the next stage.'
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