PGIS is an evolved form of community mapping, the result of a spontaneous merger of Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methods with Geographic Information Technologies and Systems (GIT&S). PGIS practice is based on using geo-spatial information management tools ranging from sketch maps, participatory 3D models (P3DM), aerial photographs, satellite imagery, readings obtained through Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software as interactive vehicles for discussion, information exchange, analysis and support in decision making. If appropriately utilised, PGIS practice may have profound implications and stimulate innovation and social change. More importantly and unlike traditional GIS applications, PGIS aims at placing control on access and use of culturally sensitive spatial data in the hands of those who generated the data thereby protecting traditional knowledge and wisdom from external exploitation. The articles for this special issue were selected from papers presented at the Mapping for Change International Conference of Spatial Information Management and Communication held in Nairobi, Kenya, 7-10 September 2005.

This special edition of Participatory Learning and Action is a collation of lessons and innovative tools that have been developed by the facilitators of community-based natural resource management programmes in southern Africa and is also an important resource for facilitators in other regions. These tools have been broadly divided into two categories: facilitators tools and management tools. Tools in the former category range from Theatre for Africa's role in policy development to the CAMPFIRE Game for improving training in financial management. The managment tools have been developed to allow communities to manage wildlife in modern market economies. Examples of these tools range from the event book system developed in Namibia to the quota setting methodologies developed in Zimbabwe.

This special issue of Participatory Learning and Action captures the experiences of Southern civil society organisations (CSOs) which are engaging in the monitoring, evaluation and implementation of poverty reduction strategy (PRS) processes. In many countries CSO engagement in this particular stage of these strategies is just beginning. There has been much reflection on engagement by CSOs in the formulation of PRSs, but much less written about how they are being monitored and implemented. With respect to monitoring and evaluation, this issue explores how CSOs are working towards the articulation and realisation of poor people’s rights and the accountability of governments and other powerful actors towards them. Authors for this issue came together at a workshop in July 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss the contributions and to share their experiences in PRS processes.

Participatory Learning and Action 52 is a general issue. It includes a wide selection of articles, extracts and training tips from participatory practitioners around the world.

This special issue contains articles reflecting on experience, providing critical analysis, and suggesting ways forward - on the adaptation and application of tools in participatory action and learning in situations where participants must deal with more powerful institutions and individuals. These tools aim to help less powerful people achieve positive change in natural resource policy - through understanding, organisation, engagement, resistance and persistence.

This special double edition is based on the outcomes of a writeshop held in April 2004 at the Institute for Development Studies, UK. The writeshop brought together the Participatory Learning and Action editorial team and several previous guest editors to share their wealth of experience of using participatory approaches in their own particular field. This resulting double edition provides a timely critique of the current state of play in participatory development. And the question of ‘where are we now?’ inevitably leads to ‘where do we go next?’ 

This special issue focuses on community-based planning (CBP) – planning by communities, for ther communities which links into the local and national government planning systems. The issue draws on the four country CBP project from South Africa, Uganda, Ghana and Zimbabwe and includes examples from franophone Africa, Asia and Latin America. The country studies seek to draw comparisons between the different approaches, objectives and scales used in CBP projects and highlight the need to look at them as part of an integrated planning process for an area.

It is not often that a single publication sparks a storm of international controversy and debate in any field. But that is precisely what happened after members of a team from India and the UK published and distributed the report of their scenario workshop and citizen jury experiment - Prajateerpu - in Andhra Pradesh, India.

This general issue allows for articles on a wider range of themes, contexts, and countries. It starts with a ‘mini-theme’: the generation of numbers through participatory approaches - and in particular aggregrating and using those numbers beyond the community level, an area in which there is growing interest. These articles take a critical look at issues such as:· How to find ways of standardising the data;·Aggregating the numbers for higher level planning and policy purposes;·The question of ethics: whether using participatory methods in this way is necessarily ‘extractive’ or whether there can be something in it for communities;·Examines the scope for empowerment; and,·How to maintain quality, both methodologically and ethically?Other articles discuss issues such as:taking stock of PRA and its current status;·what good PRA practice is what PRA is really about or for;·the role of trainers and practitioners; and,·critical reflections from practice.PLA Notes 47 also includes the usually In Touch resources section, e-participation website reviews, and Tips for Trainers.