Participatory methods in practice

The work being done by Suomen Latu in Nepal, as presented in the last lecture, is a good example that shows the benefits of participatory methods.

As it was often highlighted throughout the various lectures in the SGT courses, involving the native people in the planning & implementation processes plays a vital role in the successful execution of any development project.

Obviously, most development projects (during their inception phase) are planned to take into account the local people but a significant number of them somehow fail to put into practice this crucial part during the actual work on the ground.

In the case of our project, if NSN decides to deploy solar-driven Village Connection solution in the near future, it’s highly important to gather as much information as possible from the villagers living in different parts of the world (wherever NSN offers its system) about their requirements.

Each community will have its priority needs. So, developing a host of additional solutions based on experiences and allowing the villagers to choose the service that most fulfills their urgent need may be one approach to make sure that the service provided is of practical benefit to the community.