Learning From Innovation Programme
Learning from innovation: a participatory research excersise
Over approximately one year, concluding in January 2018, Positive Vibes – in collaboration with its partner LGBT Denmark and local LGBT organisations – has utilised the Innovate and Learn grant to learn from the implementation of the LILO Project in Uganda, through a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach. Complementary data and insights have been drawn from current programme experience with LGBT-groups and individuals in neighbouring Tanzania where a similar LILO Project has been implemented since 2016.
Positive Vibes undertook the participatory research exercise with the aim to:
- Analyse the underpinning personalisation and human capacity development theories behind the design of its trademark LILO approaches, and the Theory of Change behind their practical application, linking personalisation to social transformation.
- Develop an in-depth understanding of the impact of LILO on individuals, groups and communities in an East African context, and the effect of LILO to increase confidence, competence, and engagement by LGBT-persons in the private and public domains.
- Develop an understanding of the implementation science necessary to stimulate, sustain and expand positive impact of the LILO methodology in contexts similar to East Africa, including an articulation of the complex requirements of authentic, rights-based human-centred approaches to working with the most marginalised in oppressive, hostile environments.
- Formulate a value-proposition for human-centred approaches as co-factors that significantly contribute to increased participation of excluded communities, and the application of that value-proposition to health and rights programming, design and strategy.
Several results were anticipated at the inception of the project, to be realised by the conclusion of the learning period:
- Positive Vibes will have significantly increased methodological analysis, based on data generated through a participatory process that links
participants in East Africa in reflection and dialogue with regional programme designers and strategists within the organisation. - East African LILO participants – primarily from Uganda – will have interacted with their own data as subjects of learning and reflection, rather than objects of an externalised research agenda. The process itself will contribute towards increased engagement and voice as representatives of the local LGBT community construct meaning from their own experience and evidence through an action research exercise.
- A study report will be generated, speaking to the relevance of personalisation approaches to psychological and behavioural wellness of socially excluded and isolated LGBT person, and to increased self-efficacy to participate in the socio-political environment.
- Positive Vibes will be positioned to share findings, learning and conclusions around technical elements of design, approach, method and implementation, relevant to programming and policy strategy aiming to increase inclusion of the most marginalised.
Find out more:
A Deeper Love – Insights into the lifeworlds of trans men and trans women in Eastern Uganda
First Principles – Critical analysis and conceptual framing of LILO in Africa
If I Were a Boy – Insights into the lifeworlds of lesbian, bisexual and other queer women in Northern Uganda
Learning from Innovation – An overview of philosophy, process and products
Make it Work – Applying the learning from LILO to the implementtaion science of personalisation-based programming
Making Meaning – Participatory data analysis and interpretation to learn from LILO in rural Uganda
