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Training Module on

Community Mobilization for Citizen Participation

June -2015

Supported under

Comprehensive Capacity Building

Programme (CCBP)

Ministry of Urban Development

Government of India

Prepared by: Social development Team

Module Preparation Team:

1. Team Leader

T.PandurangaRao

2. Editorial Advise,Guidance and Review

Venkateswar Reddy

L.VenkateswarRao

Narmada

DemuduBabu

SrinivasaRao

3. Content Contributions:

VSN Murthy

Prasad

Ramadevi

Naga Raju

Outline of the Module

Component DESCRIPTION

Background The 74th

constitution Amendment Act aims at grassroots democracy with

civic services government being delivered to the people near their door steps

with the citizen participation. As per this act Community Mobilization for

citizen participation is needed for improving the quality of the services

provided by the municipalities. For effective community participation,

mobilization methods & technics and involvement of community based

organizations are important in this process. Community based organizations

have priority role in the community mobilization for getting the quality

service from the municipality.

Intended

Audience(s)

Town Level Federation (TLF) & Slum Level Federation (SLF) Office

Bearers (OBs) and TLF & SLF Resource Persons (RPs)

Learning

Objectives

On completion of the training, the participants will be able to:

Define community & Community Mobilization

Describe the need for Citizen Participation, its scope and advantage

Explain methods and technics for Mobilization of community for

Participation and participation levels

Module

Overview

This module covers Community Mobilization process, Scope and

advantages with citizen participation and process and techniques of

mobilizing community for participation.

Module delivery

outline

Awareness:

Defining Community

Community mobilization

Citizen Participation

Knowledge:

Scope and advantage of Citizen Participation

Skills:

Techniques for mobilizing community for participation

Process mobilizing Citizens for participation

Module activities (Methods of teaching)

Lecture / Input session

Small Group Discussion

Field visits

Power point presentation.

Supporting

materials

Reading Material in the form of hand outs

Training toolkit

Power point presentation

Module Developer National Institute of Urban Management

1 Defining Community..................................................................................................... 1

2 Community Mobilization ............................................................................................. 1

3 Citizen Participation ...................................................................................................... 1

3.1 What it is. .................................................................................................................... 1

3.2 Why Citizen Participation .......................................................................................... 1

3.3 Scope and Advantages ................................................................................................. 2

3.4 Participation as an integral part of ULB .................................................................... 3

3.5 Citizens Representation: ............................................................................................. 3

3.6 Process of enhancing the participation........................................................................ 4

3.7 Levels of Participation ................................................................................................. 4

3.8 Process mobilizing Citizens for participation ............................................................. 5

3.9 Techniques for mobilizing community for participation ............................................ 6

3.9.1 Techniques ............................................................................................................. 6

4 Citizen Involvement in the Policy Development Process ...................................... 9

Summary of the Module ..................................................................................................... 10

Module on Community Mobilization

1 National Institute of Urban Management

1 Defining Community

Community can be defined as

• Individuals or groups who share a common geographic location;

• Individuals or groups who have common language, culture or values;

• How the groups or individuals interact or have relationships with each other; and

• How members of the community use common resources and make decisions.

2 Community Mobilization

Community mobilization is a process through which local individuals, groups or

organizations identify needs and plan, carry out and evaluate activities on a participatory and

on-going basis to improve their lives.

The Asia Foundation (2008) provides a similar definition and aim stating that the ―objective

of social mobilization is to create a process to mobilize hidden democratic elements and

potentials for good governance, resources, self-help initiatives and joint efforts for trusted

partnership-building‖ (p.20). With their definition it is noted that the concept of social

mobilization would cover mobilization all groups as well as all stakeholder in the community,

strengthening of institutions.

3 Citizen Participation

3.1 What it is.

The term participation means taking part in joint activities for the purpose of reaching a

common goal. This encompasses both trivial and important situations in which participation

mainly has a technical meaning, ‖doing things together‖.

The activity of participation is based on the principle that the built and natural environments

work better if citizens are active and involved in its creation and management instead of

being treated as passive consumers.

3.2 Why Citizen Participation

Citizen participation is essential for making democratic processes effective and for

strengthening them. It provides a platform to citizens to influence policy/program

development and implementation. While various platforms and systems for citizen’s



participation have developed organically there is a need to institutionalize them to make them

effective and sustainablei.

3.3 Scope and Advantages

The Community Participation Law aims to institutionalize community participation

platforms/systems (ward sabhas). If implemented in its true spirit it will have the following

advantages:

It will help deepen democracy, facilitate efficiency and sustained socio-economic

growth and promote pro-poor initiatives.

It will help in improving urban governance and service delivery.

It will promote transparency and accountability in governance.

It will improve the quality of the decisions made, as these would be based on

knowledge of local realities and requirements.

It has significance for regional planning structures like the District Planning

Committee (DPC) and the Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) both of which

require citizen participation in planning from the grassroots.

Citizens will have a say in determining how information is shared, policies are set,

resources are used and plans/programs are implemented.

Participation activities may be motivated from an administrative perspective or a citizen

perspective on a governmental, corporate or social level. From the administrative viewpoint,

participation can build public support for activities. It can educate the public about various

activities of the local bodies. It can also facilitate useful information exchange regarding local

conditions. Furthermore, participation is often legally mandated. From the citizen viewpoint,

participation enables individuals and groups to influence ULB decisions. The participation

can influence the relation between citizen and their local government like increases in trust,

boosts peoples willingness, getting idea from all sectors of the community etc.

According to the theory of social capital, the incorporation of citizens into public affairs

strengthens the social capital, because the citizens are involved in the adoption and

implementation of new relevant decisions, which will directly influence the community.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion



Factors that are important for effective participation at the local level can be distinguished:

Urban structure,

Types of participants,

Participation instruments (methods), and

Participation process.

3.4 Participation as an integral part of ULB

Local government has to be interested not only to improve its performance, cost budgeting,

but also to maintain public confidence in the implementation of citizen expectations.

However, the efforts to improve the quality of public services often lack systematic approach.

In this case, citizens are unused resources to improve service delivery. Narrow understanding

of citizen participation limits the possibilities to use neighbourhood groups as a basis for

community formation.

3.5 Citizens Representation:

Who should participate,

Who will select the participants,

What are the criteria for the participants to be selected and

Why do citizens participate?

Traditionally, the representatives of government of the city, mayors, municipal council or an

administrator invite citizens to participate. Invitation can be various: open participation to

everyone, who wants to devote his time and is interested in the problems; direct invitation

(for example by dividing the flyers, posters, advertisements, etc.) to the special meetings; the

geographical representation of urban areas, according to demographic criteria for the

selection and targeted invitation of traditionally active participants, based on experience. In

the public service decision-making case, all four possible strategies are possible for the

invitation, but for the provision and the development of public services the first two are the

most relevant techniques. It is also important, why the citizens decide to participate.

On the one hand, the positive reasons are distinguished as a sense of civic responsibilities,

interest in public affairs, etc. On the other hand, the negative reasons are dissatisfaction with



the current situation, the desire to influence the decisions that are made without the

participation of those actors, who will be directly influenced by these decisions, etc.

It may be noted that the assumptions for effective participation occurs when: citizens are

invited to participate by government or leaders of other responsible organization, i.e. when a

two-way communication is initiated; when everybody, who wishes, can participate and when

the possibility of representation is guaranteed for interests of all citizens; and when the

participants can be involved in decision-making or service provision process, from the

consideration of proposals to the final decision-making in all stages.

3.6 Process of enhancing the participation

Participation can take a number of forms. At one end of the spectrum is ―passive

participation‖ in which community members participate by being informed about something

that will happen or has already happened. At the other end of the spectrum is ―self-

mobilization‖, when communities organize and take initiative independent of any external

actors. There are various level of participation as mentioned below.

With community mobilization, participation is about meeting the interests of the whole

community. When every member of a community has the chance, directly or through

representation, to participate in the design, implementation and monitoring of community-

level initiatives.

The approach takes into consideration the different experiences, needs and capabilities of

various groups in a community – women and men, youth and the elderly, persons with

disabilities and the able bodied, ethnic/religious/language minorities and majorities.

3.7 Levels of Participation

Interactive Participation

Functional Participation

Participation for Material Incentives

Participation by Consultation

Participation in Information Giving

Passive Participation



3.8 Process mobilizing Citizens for participation

The citizen participation process is designed and implemented in four discreet stages, as

outlined below.

1. Preliminary Design

a) Situation analysis.

b) Decision process.

c) Information exchange.

2. Developing the Plan

a) Identify and address major issues.

b) Identify and involve the stakeholders.

c) Choose techniques.

d) Prepare to provide and receive information.

e) Budget, staff, resources, logistics, roles and responsibilities.

f) Prepare to give and get feedback.

3. Implementation

(a) Follow the critical path.

(b) Apply techniques.

(c) Provide and receive information.

(d) Monitor the process.

4. Feedback

(a) Report to decision makers.

(b) Report to participants.

c) Evaluate the overall process.



3.9 Techniques for mobilizing community for participation

A number of emerging community mobilization techniques provide the opportunity for

involvement of citizens, which has been difficult to achieve with traditional techniques. This

section provides an overview of both traditional and emerging techniques.

The techniques include print publications, public meetings, open houses, advisory

Committees, workshops, bilateral meetings, and focus groups. Emerging techniques include

open space technology, future search conferences, policy dialogue, and a suite of electronic

techniques. In general, emerging techniques offer more in-depth opportunities for dialogue

and collaboration, with emphasis on value exploration and reaching consensus on shared

outcomes in complex situations.

It should be noted that public servants and community groups have numerous opportunities to

interact with each other, exchange information and gain a better understanding of each

other’s views and interests. All consultation and engagement activities are not necessarily

formal. The details of techniques are as follows

3.9.1 Techniques

The following are simple descriptions intended to provide an overview of the types of

techniques available:

i. Publications and Public meeting: All consultations produce some type of

published material, which may describe the process, define the problem, issue or

situation; suggest options; or request direct feedback from readers on their views,

interests or alternatives. Sessions open to anyone with an interest in the subject of

the consultation are publicized and held. Public meetings often begin with a

technical overview of the situation and process, then provide opportunity for

members of the public to speak from the floor regarding their concerns or to ask

questions of expert panellists.

ii. Open house: An open house usually communicates information about a project or

proposal through a series of displays. Staff are present to answer questions and

provide clarification. Visitors are asked to register their views before leaving.

Information hand outs can be available.



iii. Advisory committee/task force: Groups are selected to represent a cross-section

of interests, and may be asked to prioritize, review, make recommendations,

develop alternatives, evaluate, assist, etc. Advisory groups tend to be long-term,

whereas a task force has a short time horizon.

iv. Workshops: Stakeholders are invited to attend a meeting to review information,

define issues, solve problems or plan reviews. Generally, workshops are expected

to educate participants and solve a problem or develop a product such as an action

plan. Most workshops use facilitation.

v. Target briefings: These are designed to reach specific audiences who may

benefit from private and individually tailored presentations. Audiences for

targeted briefings could include ministers, municipal officials, media or specific

interest groups.

vi. Focus groups discussion: Groups of eight or ten people are structured to

represent a cross-section of the stakeholders affected by an issue. A moderator

leads a discussion of the facts, exploring participants’ feelings, values, interests,

concerns, etc.

vii. Bilateral meetings: The sponsoring agency meets directly with stakeholder

groups to receive feedback or discuss areas of interest. This can be useful if the

issue under discussion is accompanied by a high level of conflict.

viii. Toll-free phone line: This provides an impersonal opportunity for the public to

give feedback, provide ideas or identify issues. The phone can be answered by a

staff member who discusses the issue directly with the caller, or by a taped

message and opportunity to record comments.

ix. Surveys: Surveys are used to collect information, solicit opinions and build a

profile of the groups and individuals involved. They provide information to the

public and help focus public attention on specific issues. Individual discussions

with the public or representatives of interest groups may allow participants to

cover a wider range of information than is solicited on a questionnaire, and thus

perhaps to identify new issues or concerns not previously considered



x. Public hearings: A public hearing is a forum at which stakeholders can make

formal Statements about the issue at hand. Oral statements are often accompanied

by written briefs. A panel representing the sponsoring agency may ask questions

of the presenter. The panel generally submits a final report with findings and

recommendations. Below are brief descriptions of emerging techniques;

xi. Open space technology, uses plenary circles (i.e., participants sit in a circle) and

has a few, simple rules. Breakout sessions are organized, led and reported on by

self-selected participants. This technique can maximize the creativity, energy,

vision and leadership of all participants, and is egalitarian and inclusive. It can be

used to set strategic direction, plan or initiate a project, and develop standards,

criteria or regulations. It has the ability to maximize teamwork.

xii. Future search conferences, are workshop conferences at which 40-80 people

join forces to visualize a desired future and then design the steps needed to get the

organization there. This technique uses a whole system approach and places

emphasis on self-managed, small group discussions. It can be used when the

solution to an issue or problem resolution may require a change in organizational

mission, functions or structure.

xiii. E-participation, includes a wide range of specific individual techniques,

including e-mail, provision of Web site information, bulletin boards, chat and

news groups, dialogue groups and virtual communities. These low-cost

approaches are only available to those who have access to a computer and are

useful when the policy community is spread over a broad geographic area, or

where open information-sharing is important.

xiv. Appreciative inquiry focuses on the positive aspects of a situation, opportunities,

strengths, proven capacities and skills, resources — and affirms, appreciates and

builds on existing strengths. Appreciate inquiry is a very effective way to get

people to think about their demonstrated abilities instead of listing and dwelling

on problems or challenges



4 Citizen Involvement in the Policy Development Process

For the policy development process, how we can involve citizens? What factors will we

consider? What techniques might be effective?

1. Problem definition

2. Value/goal clarification

3. Option generation

4. Selection

5. Implementation

6. Evaluation

• The issue of citizen participation has gradually gained importance since the end of the

1960s.

• Various forms of participation that might improve the quality of democracy have been

discussed in recent years. These include participation through constitutional reforms,

the use of ICTs in politics and policy-making, and interactive policy-making. In

general, the existing political institutions and the traditional hierarchical way of

policy-making are not criticized.

• Citizen participation is mainly seen as an instrument to strengthen and support the

way Representative democracy is functioning now.

• The local or national government should take and keep the initiative in policy-

making.

Initiatives ought to be taken from above. The process of involving citizens in politics and

policymaking should not lead to the erosion of the primacy of the representative institutions.

The central focus of thought is not on citizens, but on the government.

• The role of participation is mainly an instrumental one. That is, its main objective is

to give citizens and their organizations a say in the official political process.

Participation is not regarded as a value in itself, but is merely aimed at producing a

government.

• Participation has no other functions.

• Massive participation is undesirable and could even be dangerous. Though this is the

dominant view, some authors (academics in particular), point to different, more

expressive elements of participation and consider citizen participation as essential to

democracy.



Summary of the Module

This module on Community Mobilization for Citizen Participation gives

greater understanding of importance of community mobilization for citizen

participation in ULB. This module covers Community Mobilization process,

Scope and advantages with citizen participation and process and various

techniques of mobilizing community for participation. This will be of good use

to the participants in realizing need for community mobilization for citizen

participation and processes involved in mobilizing the community

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