PLA Notes (Notes on Participatory Learning and Action) is the world's leading series on participation. This special issue draws on a recent international workshop on learning and teaching participation in higher education (LTP), hosted by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK. The workshop brought together experiences of teaching and learning participation not only in universities but also in other institutions of higher learning, e.g. research institutes and training centres for professionals. The workshop and the global dialogue around it aim to examine the role of teaching as a force for understanding and strengthening processes of civic engagement and democratic participation in development.The articles describe experiences of teaching and learning participation in a range of higher education settings, from social work education in India, to a law faculty in Peru, to national agricultural research institutes in East Africa, revealing many similarities but also differences in approaches to teaching and learning. It focuses on three main areas:· participatory modes and programmes of teaching and learning, including internal aspects of programmes, such as teaching approaches and curriculum content, and the role of external relationships with communities and social organisations in effective teaching and learning. .university-community linkages, and the different forms these linkages can take; .the role of learning networks and ways of institutionalising LTP.