almotamar.net - In hope of resolving poverty and facing the community development challenges to meet up with the sustainable development goals agenda, and its subsequent problems on the community, in third world countries; a lot of institutions and governmental bodies invest a lot of efforts and attention into community participation. One of the most important research methodologies introduced in the recent present is the Participatory Action Research which relies entirely on community participation in every aspect of the research from setting goals to presenting the final results. Rather than having community participation as just a research method, this methodology promotes it to become a way of life amongst all segments of the community.
In that regards a workshop was carried out in five countries (Yemen, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunis, Jordan), with 25 participants from each country, in the aim of developing Heya's trainees' skills at utilizing the participatory research methodology. In addition to that, build up their training capacity in order to apply the methodology within their geographical regions.
In order to keep the workshop organized and efficient, it was divided into five stages. We started by the introductory stage in which the participatory action research method was introduced to the participants. Following that, the practical training starts; this leads into the third stage, designing a research plan. After this is complete the actual field research begins; and last but definitely least, the analysis stage is in gear. In this stage the field research results are analyzed and discussed. All these stages are designed to both help in the comprehension of the participatory research method and to engage the participants and to get them to interact with each other as a team.
During this workshop there were practical steps taken to practice this methodology in the working field. Amongst these steps was the identification of the two main causes to be studied which are; women's empowerment and environment sustainability. In addition to that, designing a research action plan to estimate the size of the problems and conducting a field research.