Using participatory approaches for institutional change

Multiple stakeholders, multiple interests

This course covers state-of-the-art thinking about designing and facilitating MSP’s and social learning. You will learn what an MSP is, why we need them, what its key elements are and how to design and facilitate them. Creating MSP’s means finding innovative approaches to work together across boundaries of business, government and civil society. We will work highly interactive building on participant’s own experiences. You will have discussions, work on group assignments, engage in role-plays and undertake fieldwork to explore the real life MSP. You will practice with a wide range of participatory methodologies and tools. The facilitators follow a flexible programme that allows adaptation to specific needs of individuals and the group.

Course objectives

Upon completion of the course you will be able to:

• understand the concept and rationale of multi-stakeholder processes, institutional change and social learning;
• analyse different types of multi-stakeholder processes in terms of the issues at stake, the stakeholders, their interests, power relations, conflicts, external contacts, etc.;
• practice and learn how to use a broad range of participatory methodologies and tools in MSPs;
• have a good insight in the types of institutional change and support necessary for effective MSPs;
• design and plan an extended MSP;
• assess the impact of your  personal style in facilitation, communication, leadership and dealing with conflicts.

Target audience

We welcome participants who are involved, or will be involved in the future, in the facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes. You may work for an NGO, government, private sector organisation, research facility, university or consultancy and you are in the challenging position to design, facilitate or participate in MSP’s.