Participatory evaluation workshops

BEN used this type of workshop to encourage engagement at Saanjjhi.

The approach taken recognises the power of storytelling as a stimulus to the revelation of further stories. The participatory workshops started with a PowerPoint presentation, with the telling of the story of Saanjjhi, followed by explaining how the range of social and environmental activities affected the ladies’ lives.

BEN then explained why BTCV was seeking their help, through these workshops, to identify the social impact of environmental and non-environmental activities offered. The participants had no problem taking on the reality of BTCV's and funders' need to get at what is being achieved. They appreciated how this links into resourcing the continuity of the activities that they value.

See workshop format and workshop PowerPoint that shows the presentation given drawing from the Sannjjhi Report.

A discussion followed, with participants encouraged to tell their own stories.

BEN had put together a set of charts listing the activities undertaken by Saanjjhi with BTCV, followed by how these affected their lives. Then there was a listing of all the activities they did, with space for them to add what they would additionally like. There was also space for the participants to add their thoughts and make other input regarding their wishes for the future.

At this point, the information in the charts are already familiar as a result of the telling of the story of Saanjjhi. All the members of the Glasgow Group very seriously and carefully went through each point, sometimes stopping to clarify their understanding, and completed them for us. The London Group has less time, as they had to go home and prepare to receive their grandchildren coming back from school. They also could not read English, so the work was completed through a show of hands and a discussion capturing extra comments.

A range of matrices were used for the evaluation work. These can all be found here. See the following matrices, which show how these were used and how these could be adapted:

• A comparison Matrix I - An Overview of BTCV activities in three of the projects (what groups have done and what else they would like to do)
• A Blank Matrix which can be adapted for your own work

Workshop format

Black Environment Network - Format for participatory workshops aiming to discover the social impact of BTCV activities

1. Briefing in preparation for the workshops - Background information about the groups from BTCV staff and the programmes of activities
2. Presentation to the groups:
   • why BTCV needs their help
   • Saanjhi’s story
   • What they did with BTCV
   • What BTCV activities mean to members of Saanjhi
3. Questions for the groups, sharing stories and working together to put down:
   • what activities they did with BTCV
   • how the activities made them feel
   • what the activities made a difference to their lives
   • are any points from Sannjhi’s lists also true for them?
4. Voting: sometimes it is useful to ask the groups to put sticky dots against what they see are the 3 most important points or activities in each section. This can be used to give further direction for project development.

Materials and equipment

Powerpoint
Flip charts
Felt tips in different colours and sizes
Post it notes in different colours
Biros
Coloured sticky dots for voting
Blank matrixes with Saanjhi’s points for ticking off

Other

Venue (recommended to be a place the group is familiar with)
Tea and biscuits and fruit juice available during whole session
Lunch to be provided as appropriate to the timing of the session