Determine the indicator's value by using the following methodology:
1) List the various occasions when the local residents can participate in influencing local decision-making processes, such as public hearings organized by the local authorities.
2) Based on the number / frequency of such events determine how many events a person needs to attend to be considered as “systematically participating” (for example, to attend at least 50% of the events). Similarly, define what a person needs to do in order to be considered as “actively participating”.
3) Define the period you are evaluating (for example, in the past 12 months).
4) Use the following methods to identify the people who in the past 12 months participated in the pre-defined events:
- review of meeting minutes
- review of attendance lists
- review of any other documentation, such as photos
- interviews with the key informants, such as local authorities, representatives of civil society organizations, more active members of the target communities, etc.
- people who attended some of these events and are able to recall who else was participating (i.e. using “snowball sampling” methodology)
5) By conducting either in-person or phone interviews with the identified participants, assess: 1) how many and which events they attended in the past 12 months; and 2) how actively they participated. For example, did they only listen? Did they raise some comments or propose specific solutions? If so, in how many meetings did they do so?
6) Calculate the indicator’s value by counting the number of people who participated in the decision-making events in a systematic and active way, as defined by your criteria (see point 2).