Expertmeeting

Oxford, 9-11 December 2013

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Meeting objectives

1. Take stock of and review tools and approaches used in participatory agricultural research including their strengths and weaknesses, capacity requirements, when to use them, etc. (with particular focus on certain newly emerging tools and approaches).
2. Discuss the ways in which the tools and their use could be improved, (i.e. potential for using them in combination with quantitative diagnostic and biophysical research approaches, potential methods for documenting and monitoring the use of such tools, the data they produce and their impact).
3. Identify ‘thorny issues’ hindering the use of participatory research approaches/tools within the CGIAR and suggestions for addressing these issues.
4. Develop a community of practice to advocate for greater incorporation of participatory and social science approaches in CGIAR research activities.

Monday

0800 - 0900	Breakfast
0930	Arrivals, registration	Euforic and IIED
1000	Opening Aims, objectives, process Introductions	Beth Cullen Katherine Snyder Peter Ballantyne
1030	Humidtropics and Africa RISING – Why participatory methods?	PRESENTATION] Peter Thorne - PRESENTATION
1100	Short Break
1130	Setting the scene 1: Understanding and unpacking Participatory Agricultural Research (PAR): Overview	PRESENTATION] - BLOGPOST - KEYNOTE FULLTEXT: File:PAR_keynote_Sillitoe_dec2013.pdf
1215	Setting the scene 2: PAR within the CGIAR: how these approaches (and challenges) are, or are not, new	PRESENTATION] - BLOGPOST - CULLEN - BLOGPOST - SNYDER
1300	Lunch
1400	PAR Tools and Approaches ‘Bus stop’ session	Interactive space for participants to discuss and share ‘tools and approaches’ XLS file: File:product_profiles_busstops.xlsx
1530	Break
1600	Bus stops (continued)	Interactive space for participants to discuss and share ‘tools and approaches’
1730	Review day 1; preview day 2	Facilitators
1745	Close
1830 - 2100	Reception and Dinner

Tuesday

0800 - 0900	Breakfast
0900
0930	Mapping PAR tools and approaches: * Gaps * ‘thorny issues’ * When and where PAR tools work * Critical success factors	Facilitators Reflecting on the marketplace Drawing on the surveymonkey results Defining critical/thorny issues to work on
1100	Break
1130	PAR tools and approaches – Deeper dive into opportunities, critical success factors, thorny issues and challenges and how to overcome/resolve them. Zoom in on wider/bigger issues critical to uptake of PAR approaches	Facilitators
1300	Lunch
1400	Open space on tools and approaches	Space for people do spend time discussing/assessing/comparing approaches and tools and issues/opportunities arising
1530	Break
1600	PAR Panel: Testing Hypotheses (such as): * PAR approaches apply across scales – households to landscapes * PAR approaches enable us to better achieve development outcomes * We can integrate biophysical and social disciplinary approaches through PAR * PAR approaches deliver ‘real’ science and development results * PAR approaches catalyze engagement and partnerships for better impact * Lively ‘food for thought and action’ panel * Examining evidence and use cases for PAR
1645	Moving the PAR agenda forward: Constraints, opportunities, priorities Initial zoom in on actions and products likely to make a difference/be useful in uptake of PAR approaches	Quick brainstorm and work on activities, such as: * Inventory * guided resource kit/Toolkit * Community of practice * Mainstreaming PAR * thorny issues briefs and cases * forming collaborations
1730	Review day 2; preview day 3
1745	Close
Evening	Free

Wednesday

0800 - 0900	Breakfast
0900	PAR tools and approaches – Deeper dive into critical success factors, thorny issues and challenges and how to overcome/resolve them. Zoom in on wider/bigger issues critical to uptake of PAR approaches	Facilitators
1100	Break
1130	Moving the PAR agenda forward: Constraints, opportunities, priorities, actions, products Zoom in on actions and products likely to make a difference/be useful in uptake of PAR approaches	Brainstorm and work on activities, such as: * Inventory * guided resource kit/Toolkit * Community of practice * Mainstreaming PAR * thorny issues briefs and cases * forming collaborations
1300	Lunch
1400	Moving the PAR agenda forward – next steps	* Overall next steps * Agenda for the coming 2 days
1515	Close
1530	Break
1600-1700	Days 4/5 small planning group
Evening	Free