Decision Making
This section deals with the activities carried out in a participatory decision-making process together with stakeholders. This includes activities for gathering ideas, analysing the situation together with the local population, taking joint decisions as well as planning further steps together with the stakeholders.
- Hardware
- Software
Gathering Ideas
Participatory Mapping
Principally, participatory mapping serves as a tool to provide a visual representation of information in a particular geographical context. It is…
Focus Groups
In a focus group discussion, people from similar backgrounds or experiences (e.g. young women, young men, handicapped, elderly etc.) are brought…
Semi-Structured Interviews
Semi-structured interviews are conducted with a fairly open framework which allows focused, conversational, two-way communication. The interviewer…
Brainstorming
“Brainstorming is a popular tool that helps you generate creative solutions to a problem. It is particularly useful when you want to break out of…
Rich Pictures
Rich pictures are pictorial representations of environmental or social systems. They can help to organise complex situations and identify underlying…
Mindmapping
Mind mapping is a diagram technique to generate, visualise, structure and class-ify ideas, and is used as an aid to organising information and…
Managing Coloured Cards
Using coloured cards is a creative means to manage group discussions effectively. On the one hand, discussions come to an end and to results quickly…
Situation and Problem Analysis
Problem Tree Analysis
The problem, objective and strategy tree analysis is one participatory tool of mapping out main problems, along with their causes and effects,…
SWOT Analysis
SWOT analyses can be a helpful tool to analyse an organisation or a planned or ongoing sanitation and water management and its environment. The…
Problem & Preference Ranking
Problem/Preference Ranking is a participatory technique that allows analysing and identifying problems or preferences stakeholder share in order to…
Scenario Building
Scenario building can be described as a story which is based on the analysis and understanding of current and historic trends and events. It includes…
Venn Diagrams
Venn diagrams were developed by the logician John Venn. They represent an easy way to identify structures or relationships among organisations and…
Assessment of Technology Options
The right decision on a suitable sanitation system is a key step towards sustainable sanitation. A sanitation system represents a configuration of…
CLARA Simplified Planning Tool
The CLARA Simplified Planning Tool (SPT) provides a tool to local planners, which not only allows but even encourages the comparison of fundamentally…
Deciding with the Community
Participatory Mapping for Decision Making
Participatory Mapping, a method used within Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is used in participatory research as well as in planning and…
Focus Groups
In a focus group discussion, people from similar backgrounds or experiences (e.g. young women, young men, handicapped, elderly etc.) are brought…
Nominal Groups
The nominal group technique is used for a meeting with a small group of participants with the aim of producing and prioritising ideas about a…
Visioning
Visioning is a technique that is used to support a group of stakeholders in developing a shared vision of the future. It involves asking the group of…
Conflict Management
In the process of optimising your local water and sanitation system, it is very likely that you will face conflicts between groups or individuals,…
World Café
Finding consensus can be particularly difficult when a bigger group is involved. World Café is a group discussion technique applicable to group sizes…
Planning with the Community
Strategy Development
When a community plans to implement sustainable sanitation and water management tools, it is crucial to develop a community strategy defining steps…
Logical Framework Approach
The Logical Framework Approach (LFA) is a highly effective strategic planning and project management methodology with wide application. It is…
Community Action Plan
A community action plan is a road map for implementing community change by identifying and specifying WHAT will be done, Who will do it and HOW it…
Data-based decision-making processes for WASH
Data is the lifeblood of decision-making and the raw material for ensuring accountability. Investment and Operation & Maintenance (O&M)…