- Promoting excellence in public participation in Southern Africa
NEWS & ARCHIVE
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
IAP2SA is proud to share some of the highlights of the Foundations course held in Gaborone in September, conducted by IAP2-accredited trainer Elmah Nthebolan.
Congratulations to all the participants on their successful completion of the course, and in the words of one of our esteemed Board members, "Well done ... being the change that you want to see!".
Delegates at the International Association for Public Participation Southern Africa (IAP2) were unanimous in their comments that the government, business and civic society have an obligation to close the trust deficit between communities and the government.
The hybrid conference was convened under the theme “Journey in time.” It was held in Bryanston on Friday, 18 March 2022, with other delegates connecting online from different parts of the world and country.
The City of Joburg Speaker of Council Cllr Vasco Da Gama said legislation compels local government to call for public participation for crucial decisions.
From left to right: Mike Makwela, IAP2SA Vice Chairperson; City of Johannesburg Speaker of Council, Councillor Vasco da Gama; and David Morema, IAP2SA Chairperson
Photograph by Dumisane Mawoneke.
IAP2SA Webinar Series
On 29 July 2021, IAP2 Southern Africa held the first of a series of webinars around the theme, “Using public participation and stakeholder engagement to mobilise sustainable community development … asset-based community development (ABCD) is just one of those tools!”. It was a successful afternoon, with local and international private practitioners and government practitioners from 14 countries among the audience.
The webinar explored the relationship between the IAP2 public participation spectrum and community-led development. A key observation is that the application of the ABCD approach often stimulates participation, enables involvement and moves engagement into collaboration and empowerment. This allows for a local multiplier effect with the outcomes being more than just the individual project pieces. The uniqueness is that the approach deliberately connects the human asset to the other asset categories – community/social, Institutional, finance/economic and natural resource assets.
An asset-based approach brings out the relationship between participation and the development impact of delivery.