Networked Toolbox

Tools for participation, ready to take in the field.

A variety of participatory tools are used as part of the Reflection-Action process to help people to analyse rights and power and to better understand and plan action on the issues that affect them. Asking people directly about such issues can lead to silence, fear or confusion. The tools provide structure to the process and encourage discussion, enabling people to base their analysis on the systematisation of their own knowledge. This respect for people's own knowledge and experience is a powerful foundation for learning - one which builds on what people know rather than focusing on what they do not know.

There is a huge basket of tools available, including visual tools (such as maps calendars and timelines), social audit tools (such as participatory budgets, citizens' scorecards and transparency boards) and creative tools (such as role play, forum theatre and song) - and we are continuously adding new ones.