Community governance and participatory design theoretical underpinnings and empirical perspectives from indonesia and myanmar

International Symposium on Community Governance Practices (ISCGP) July, 04 – 05, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Community Governance and Participatory Design: Theoretical Underpinnings and Empirical Perspectives from Indonesia and Myanmar Kien TO Senior Research Scientist, Singapore University of Technology and Design 20 Dover Drive, Singapore 138682; tokien@sutd.edu.sg Victoria GERRARD Director, Opportunity Lab, Singapore University of Technology and Design Abstract: Participatory decision-making processes used in the design of community systems, space and technology - or participatory design approach - is an element of community participation The interaction between participatory design and community governance seems highly interesting yet little studied This paper first briefly discusses the theoretical discourse of the relationship between participatory design and community governance The discourse suggests that (1) there is little insight regarding the effect of existing participatory community governance structures on the relevance and effectiveness of a participatory design process, (2) a participatory approach itself is not enough to ensure good governance, and (3) active participation in any decision making process requires a level of trust between stakeholders The paper then considers the early formation of the relationship between participatory design and community governance by discussing empirical studies from two preliminary scoping visits to Indonesia and Myanmar It reflects that superficial information, gathered through observation and interaction, during such preliminary community visits might usefully inform initial participatory design steps The paper recommends that any participatory design approach adopted needs to be developed with the unique characteristics of local governance and that this should begin early in the design process Guidelines should therefore be developed to assist in the identification and evaluation of community governance structures during scoping visits to communities Keywords: Community governance, participatory design, community participation Community governance and participatory design This paper seeks to understand the interactions between participation in community governance and the decision making processes used in the design of community systems, space and technology using a participatory design approach It considers how the superficial information gathered during a first visit to a community might usefully inform initial participatory design steps by discussing experiences from preliminary scoping visits to two communities in Myanmar and Indonesia In theory, participatory design includes a set of methods and techniques to actively involve all stakeholders of a problem in the design process used to overcome it It is an approach used in a variety of design fields including spatial, architectural, product, and software design Civil, state, industrial and academic stakeholders can be engaged in the process which has traditionally been facilitated by a design agent sympathetic of a participatory approach Its main precedents include participatory action research and public policy development methods, which are heavily promoted by development agencies, including the World Bank (Edwards, 2012) and nongovernmental organisations (Archer & Cottingham, 1996: Mayoux & ANANDI, 2005) Community empowerment rightly motivates the adoption of such approaches (Narayan and Srinivasan, 1994), however there are also notable limitations (Mosse, 1994; Guijt and Shah, 1998; Cooke and Kothari, 2001) including the inherent power inequalities  between  investigators  and  their  ‘informants’  and  the  problems  associated  with revealing power relations within communities (Woodhouse, 2007) Therefore, for design practitioners, it is important to decide whether and how participatory methods should be used (Mayoux & Johnson, 2007) Unlike the development literature, advocates of participatory design rarely acknowledge the limitations and intricacies of these methods, and therefore miss opportunities to effectively engage in their improvement In most cases, the literature asserts that participation in design will create outcomes which better meet the needs of society There is however a severe lack of rigorous enquiry to support these approaches and therefore no clear path to improving them (Sanders & Stappers 2013) Specifically there is little understanding regarding the effect of existing participatory community governance structure on the relevance and effectiveness of a participatory design process Community governance can be seen as local government collaborating with a wide range of other stakeholders to determine preferred futures, make decisions and take joint action In practice, there are various ideas about community governance, about whom and what it involves, and about how it should be pursued Community governance seeks to empower local communities not only to make decisions about their neighborhood, but also to play a key role in delivering services and undertake projects in order to achieve their goals (McKinlay et al 2011) Community governance occurs within the context of a collective of unique political and social agents with competing and consenting voices (Katsaura, 2012) Boltanski and Thevenot (2006) explain that societies are collections of co-existing, interdependent orders each with a unique value-specific justification These interacting orders generate not only conflicts, critiques and disputes but also guide the distribution of resources and the coordination of social actors Community governance structures can be seen as the realization of this coordination at a local level Introducing new coordinating processes into this context, such as participatory design, requires the justification and critique of its value by the community For participatory design to be embraced by communities, any critique needs to lead to the co-evaluation and change in its processes and outcomes These changes in design process will largely be informed by existing community governance structures The level and structures of community governance vary widely by locality and significantly affect the ability of civic initiatives to shape community decision making (Matonyte & Bucaite, 2007) Research shows that a participatory approach itself is not enough to ensure good governance In many cases it has been an imposition of donor agencies in northern democratic countries and remains an alien and ambiguous concept to many countries in the south (Waheduzzaman, 2008) Advocates of strengthening community governance encourage more spaces for the public to participate in decision making processes that affect their own lives and future (Widianingsih 2006) There are, however, few guidelines describing what these theoretical spaces should look like or how they can be developed within the traditional community governance structures Further exploration of how a model of community participation can be fostered which is appropriate, effective and accepted by the context is needed Active participation in any decision making process requires a level of trust to be built between a multitude of stakeholders (Christopher, 2008) Building trust in itself is a delicate exercise of cultural negotiation over the course of a relationship where early interactions can color the subsequent characteristics of such partnerships Revealing the existing decision making processes of all stakeholders in the early phases of relationship building will help develop the trust required to achieve an honest community based critique of participation and therefore provide an environment to explore models of community participation in design of community policy, spaces and technology What follows are some preliminary insights from two short scoping field visits to two communities in Indonesia and Myanmar The discussion explores the realities of building an understanding of community governance structures from such preliminary informal visits and how this might inform a community participation model for subsequent design activities These insights are a very initial exploration of the relationship between participatory design and community governance by the authors Case studies This empirical study presents short field trips to two communities:  Sub-neighborhood 08 (or RW 08), Yogyakarta, Indonesia (suburban, visited in 2010) RW stands for Rukun Warga, which means sub-neighborhood  A village in Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar (remote rural, visited in 2013) Interviews with community residents were conducted and community interactions were observed and recorded through photography and video, field notes and interview notes 2.1 Case study in Indonesia In 2010, the first author joined a team of international and local experts to conduct a field  visit  to  ‘Green  Village’  communities  located  in  sub-neighborhood 08 (RW 08) Gambiran, Pandeyan village, Umbulharjo district, Yogyakarta city to observe the community environmental initiatives being conducted there 2.1.1 The site With an area of 3,185 km2 and population of about 400.000, Yogjakarta City (also known as Jogja, Jogjakarta) can be classified as a small and medium city in the Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia (Fig.1) The city is the capital and geographically located in the center of the province (Shima et al 2006) The city is one of the most important tourist destinations in Indonesia and renowned as a center of classical Javanese culture It is also famous as a center for Indonesian higher education accommodating a number of universities Fig Map of the Yogyakarta Special Region (Source: Joglosema.co.id) Fig Map of the broader visited area (incl RW08) (Source: Google Map) The ‘Green Village’ communities (Fig.2) are a manifestation of the consciousness of local residents to the importance of protecting the environment The campaign has been running for 5 years, and there have been significant changes in people’s lifestyle toward  taking care of the environment It had been challenging to grow a sense of community and environmental awareness among local residents The site RW08 comprises of RTs (RT stands for Rukun Tetangga, which means block), namely RT 30, 31, 32, 45 and 47, surrounded by the Gadjah Wong River The river poses a significant flooding threat to the neighbourhood and most significantly to RT 30, RT 45 and RT 47 Large floods in 2005, 2006, and 2007 caused heavy loss of life, damage to property and led to disease outbreaks such as dengue fever Residents realized that the garbage they disposed of directly into the river had partially blocked the flow of water, thereby contributing to the flooding and subsequent environmental and public health issues (Fig 3) In response the residents initiated participatory discussions to overcome the social issues leading to environmental damage in the community After a long process, the community ultimately committed to manage and conserve the environment, and pledged themselves in the Declaration of April 2007 as a ‘Village Green Gambiran’ in RW 08 (Kampung Hijau, 2013) (Fig.4) They launched a website for their environmental initiatives called “Kampung Hijau” (lit means Green Kampung, at: www.kampunghijau.com) Fig Scene of floating garbage on a Gadjah Fig A gate barrier among RTs showing a Wong River’s branch and its banks, which partly competition  called  ‘DIY  Green  and  Clean  2010’ (Source: First Author) blocks the flow of water (Source: First Author) 2.1.2 Community governance and participatory design practices The discussion for this paper will focus on a small community - RT45 - that contains approximately 30 households With support of local collaborators to arrange meetings, excursions and translation, the group was able to observe and interact, both formally and informally, with some community leaders and residents a Self-nominated self-sustained leadership The community themselves appointed their leaders, who are often self-motivated activists in the community Many of them are retirees with much time for community work They keep big responsibilities while working voluntarily without salary The community established their own communal committee comprising of motivated residents from different background to manage, oversee and implement different community tasks Two active, highly motivated leaders of the RT45 community seemed eager to improve the quality of the environment and lives of the people, as part of the city’s programs or as their own initiatives. They were also open to get people involved in supporting them to achieve their goals, which signals a form of participatory community governance When asked about the most important criteria to select people to the committee, they said ‘enthusiasm’, ‘self-motivation’ and ‘trustability’.  b Co-design and self-governance of community facilities As part of a participatory design effort, the community built a small one-storey multipurpose room (ca 45 m2) as a community house In 2003 a small library was installed in the space with books donated by the residents and managed by a young volunteer Other recreational facilities include a table-tennis set, a TV set, and a community photo exhibition (Fig.5) Fig A meeting among two community leaders (sitting on the right end), external experts and local facilitators in the Community House (left), and an interior view showing the space with a library and some facilities (right) (Source: First Author) source Adjacent to the house is a community playground, with a badminton court, simple fitness machines, a pavilion and many plants (Fig.6) According to the leaders, the community house and the common ground are visited by the residents from time to time Fig Scenes of Community Playground, facilitated with badminton courts, simple fitness machines, a tea pavilion, sorted trash bins and plants The graffiti wall reads: ‘Jadikan Bumi untuk  Kehidupan yang Bermartabat’  (lit.  means  ‘Make  the  Earth  for  Life  with  Dignity’)  and  ‘Green  Village Pioneer for Green Justice’. These graffiti walls are part of an environment campaign called  ‘Green  Village  Pioneer  for  Green  Justice’  and  a  competition  called  ‘Yogyakarta  Special  Region  (DIY) Green and Clean 2010’  (Source: First Author) c Participatory governance of open and public spaces There is a wide range of small, open and very green spaces in the community and managed by the entire community Many open spaces are widely shared for internal and public use, and among the residents themselves The public/private status of pathways is often unclear to outsiders, but appears well governed with some private paths made available for public use d Participatory environmental sustainability initiatives During the visit, a new initiative was introduced which was inviting the community and external parties to contribute their ideas for the design of a new project called ‘Environment  Education  Park’.  The  5000m2 park would be constructed partly on the land of the community RT45 (Fig.7-left) The leaders described the city’s aims and their  ideas regarding the design and development of the site and then part of the visiting group conducted a Q&A session with them Table presents some of the ideas generated during that discussion Table Example of some external experts’ ideas for the ‘Environmental Education Park’ Category Design-related Ideas in key words/phrases Composting projects, herb/hydroponics/butterfly garden, garden cafe Everyone can grow anything they want and share, organic food Bio-fertilizer, bio-mass, local trees that edible, etc Implementation Children participation in ideation, rallies on eco-campaigns, voluntary guides, etc Network with other communities, incorporate lifeful or sport activities, playgrounds Discuss with municipality for budgeting, etc Other issues Water treatment plant, bank protection against erosion, regular cleaning programs,etc The ‘Kampung Hijau’ website shows significant progress has been made (Fig 7-right) Fig The 5,000 m2 open space to become “Environmental  Education  Park”  (left, as of 2010 Source: First Author), and the park under construction (right, as of 2013 Source: Kampung Hijau-b) The garbage management system in the community was well organized Sets of bins for metal, paper and plastic were provided by the city in numerous locations Some residents had created additional garbage sorting bags for community use which were on the fence outside their house to complement the city’s collecting system. Many  households also had a waste bin for biodegradable materials Moreover, there were garbage storage shelters for the residents to gather, sort and store garbage before collection by the government (Fig 8) Fig A signage in front of the community committee hall, which reads (translated): “Secretariat/Community  Gadjah  Wong  River/Green  Kampung/Yogyakarta  City/Hot  Spot  Area/  www.kampunghijau.com”.  City  supplied  sort-out trash bins are on the right side (left) and a community-designated garbage collection hut (right) (Source: First Author) 2.1.3 Reflections The  community  RT15  is  very  small  but  dreams  ‘big’,  with  an  aspiration  to  overcome  challenges (foremost the flooding issue) and take up opportunities that community participation can bring about to make a better future The members of the community value and retain a tight social network A good level of trust has been built among stakeholders, including the city, local authorities and residents who seem to interact and collaborate effectively in order to facilitate participation There is significant self-governance and the residents are empowered to engage in community-led planning and development with little national intervention with grass-roots activities The sustainable community initiatives and practices are interesting evidence of overcoming the traditional hierarchy, top-down direction of decision-making by relying on internal strengths, trust, enthusiasm and resources within the community, the most valuable of which are the community members These are strengths that should be leveraged and built upon when considering participatory design activities with the community There are however still challenges that the community of RT15 needs to overcome Some members of the community continue to practice bad environmental habits such as disposing of waste into the river It is unlikely that these habits are due to a lack of green waste disposal facilities and rather suggests that environmental awareness has been internalized to a varying degree by individuals in the community A new participatory approach to encouraging behavior change which meets the needs of these ‘latent’ environmentalists seems necessary A careful understanding of the dynamics of the current relationships between the active green members of the community and those who are generally more disinterested in the initiative is required The choice of a participatory design approach should attempt to recognize and accommodate such community diversities It is clear that a good attempt at participatory governance has been made however there are also inherent power structures in the community which are difficult to overcome Community consultation is followed by a decision making process by the community leaders who make the final decision This however is a constraint of any participatory process where there needs to be a balance between discussion and action In addition to this, there are constraints related to whether ideas generated at the ground or external level are feasible to implement For instance, the documentation of ideas generated from the visiting team was passed to the community leaders as well as local authorities with little certainty of whether they could be realised The field visit to RT15 provided a preliminary introduction to a dynamic community governed environmentalists Understanding the community governance structures was not the intended focus of the visit, however the recording of the interactions between various community members and the more formal governance structures are interesting when considering the type of participatory design approach to adopt in any future work 2.2 Case study in Myanmar The purpose of the 2-day visit to a rural coastal village in Myanmar (Jan 2013) was to explore potential collaborative design research and education opportunities Due to current politically sensitive issues in the country, the name of the village is not stated in this paper, and hence, hereinafter referred to as village A 2.2.1 The site a Village A Village A is a traditional coastal farming village in the Ayeyarwady region of Myanmar, located close to Chaung Tha village/beach resort and not very far to the North West of the regional capital Pathein (Fig.9) The village has a population of 1900 inhabitants in over 300 households with an average family size of persons over generations The village is a traditional coastal farming community, which mainly grows and processes coconut to generate income (Fig 10) In addition to this, some community members have diversified into other industries to supplement this revenue stream The village is relatively resource rich and these current income generating activities seem to provide the majority of the community with a comfortable way of life The main concerns of the community members are decreasing coconut prices, an unknown reduction in the cashew crop, lack of employment for graduates and a lack of school teachers Village A Village A Fig Location of village A and travel route b Context of there governance in and Myanmar from Yangon via Pathein Chaungtha (Source: Authors; background: Google Map) Fig 10 Part of the dirt track arterial road in village A, lined up by shady coconut trees (Source: Authors) In 2011, the military regime transferred formal authority to the first nominally civilian government of Myanmar for over 20 years Due to electoral restrictions and manipulations the resulting elected government consists mostly of former military officers closely aligned to the former military authority The nature and organization of governance in Myanmar therefore maintains much of its authoritarian characteristics However, the introduction of democratic elections has opened the realm of governance to new actors across all levels of society In particular, the landscape of interaction between civil-military, central-regional, and international actors is changing (MacDonald, 2013) These evolving interactions are perceived optimistically by the people of Myanmar and, from those interviewed, there seems to be strong political awareness and a general delight about the opportunities ‘democracy’ offers 2.2.2 Community governance practices a Formal community governance in village A The new democratic values seem to have been embraced by the village which holds elections to appoint a new village leader every four years In fact the leader who hosted the scoping visit was soon to be replaced by a younger gentleman recently elected The village leader is responsible for coordinating communal village activities and oversee the delivery of infrastructure projects in the village One such responsibility is the coordination of a one year loan from the Cooperative Bank The loan is distributed throughout the village and repayments collected each month by the leader Community members use the loan to start new income generating activities such as buying livestock (pigs, chickens etc.) and to trade If households are unable to pay, the village leader pays and collects the balance at a later date to ensure the village doesn’t defaulted on the loan Another community activity coordinated by the village leader is the delivery of products into the village which arrive on a large truck which he owns Household orders are compiled together and then distributed once delivered to the village Transport is generally organised on a collective basis because it is relatively expensive This includes transport for the village coconut and cashew nut trade With respect to infrastructure, the village leader is coordinating the community funding of a small operating theatre for obstetric procedures (Fig 11) Women generally give birth at home unless there is an emergency, in which case they are sent to the nearby hospital near to Chaung Tha If a difficult birth is suspected then the women will be sent to the nearby hospital earlier in their pregnancy to avoid the potentially dangerous journey Caesareans are not often performed however it seems that difficult pregnancies are quite common bearing in mind the decision to invest in a dedicated operating theatre Once complete, women will be able to stay in the village during a difficult labour and the doctor will travel to the village to assist in delivery Currently the building of the theatre has stopped due to lack of funds Fig 11 The construction of the operating theatre has stopped due to lack of funds (Source: Authors) Fig 12 The monastery where we were well received by all parties in the village (Source: Authors) From this first visit the community leadership structures in the village seem well developed It is difficult from such a brief visit to understand exactly how the leadership interacts with the rest of the community and how financial and infrastructure decisions at the village level are decided What is clear however is that there is some coordination of democratic financial governance when it benefits the whole community As the village overcomes the recent fluctuations in coconut prices due to increasing transport costs, these initiatives might begin to suffer, as can be seen with the halting of the operating theatre construction b Informal community governance in village A During the scoping visit it became apparent that there are several informal community governance activities occurring in the village which are worth noting Buddhism is the predominant religion in the village There is a well maintained monastery which for the last years has run a day meditation (Fig 12) People attend the meditation from other villages in the area The monastery provides food and accommodation for the visitors The young people of the village who are out of work prepare and serve the food The governance role played by the monastery in the village was not explored during the visit, however a well-attended meeting with the whole community was conducted at the monastery The open behaviour of residents at this meeting suggests that the monastery plays a significant role in facilitating community participation and governance The village health centre is run by a health assistant and midwives Monthly training sessions are organised by a group of doctors in Pathein to update and maintain the medical knowledge of rural health workers Health assistants and midwives from the surrounding area are invited to attend and the topics are selected based on feedback from the health assistants This is not a government initiative but rather a response to an identified need by trained civil servants to improve healthcare provisioning in rural areas Existence of informal activities such as this suggest an active civil population willing to contribute their professional expertise to the improvement of their community without an expectation of financial or professional reward Group saving schemes exist in the village where a collection of residents pay 200K a month into a group saving and every 15 days members of the group take turns to use this money for other investments such as fixing houses, buying furniture etc In addition to taking advantage of the large bank loan coordinated by the village leader, these smaller microfinance saving schemes allow community financial management at a smaller scale Such schemes indicate a level of willingness by residents to participate in small household group schemes in order to benefit at an individual household level These initiatives show there is community coordination beyond the formal community and national governance models, which meet the spiritual, professional and financial needs of the community c Centralized government decision making Community governance achievements in the village, such as the building of the operating theatre, community bank loans, microfinance schemes and the running of a successful monastery etc are required to work within a framework of centralized government Some of these governance structures could be restricting governance at the community level d Choice of civil servant postings Civil service staff seem to be allocated to a school by central government with little regard for geographic preference of the individual The village school (Fig 13) currently has 15 teachers, of which are assigned to the school by the government but only attend A trained head teacher living in the village was allocated a school hours away from his home which he turned down, but was unable to take up a teaching position at the village school which is understaffed Instead he and his wife run several small businesses including a DVD rental shop, a DVD player and watch repair service, photography and printing service, and a moped transport service to Chaung Tha which he has been running for years Under these conditions it is perhaps understandable that the two missing teachers at the village school would not take up their allocated postings To overcome the shortage of teachers the school runs later and some teachers teach classes To enable this later opening the school must run the power generator which is an additional fee During exam time additional teaching is provided after school and the generator is also used Any additional fees for education will obviously impact spending elsewhere in the community such as enterprise investment or contribution to community projects such as the semi-constructed operating theatre e Degree choice Unemployment of the village graduates was of great concern to the village The older generations seem proud of their graduates and were keen for them to either take up farming responsibilities or to supplement the teaching in the village school This does not necessarily resonate with the young people in the village who seem reluctant to farm and are perhaps more keen to work in the hotel industry at Chaung Tha The girls are especially reluctant to go in to farming and the boys seem interested in exploring other enterprises apart from the traditional They seem excited by the prospects of their future but are very unclear about how to move forward (Fig 14) Fig 13 Male children playing football at the back of the village school during a recession (Source: Authors) Fig 14 Villagers’ response when asked about  their willingness to work in service sector (Source: Authors) Over 100 of the 300+ villagers have completed school and 92 villagers have a higher degree The degrees held by the younger members are in Burmese Literature, Geography, Economics, Psychology, and Marine Biology Most students studied their degrees through the distance learning scheme where students attend weeks of intense classes each year for three years They not choose their degree course but are assigned a subject dependent on their grade 10 exam results which are at risk of bribery The restriction of degree course allocated by the central government seems to be a significant frustration for young people One of the girls summed up the general sentiment  with  the  statement  ‘If  someone  gives  us  leadership  we  will  follow’.  By not allowing young people to choose their vocational training, the education system is fostering a nation of followers rather than a new generation of community participants Strong community governance structures require the active participation of residents in community problem solving An ability and motivation to make decisions is an essential part of this process and the education system should encourage it from an early age f Land use Government approval is required for foreigners to visit the area surrounding the village The tourist zone extends only to a headland 20 minutes drive from Chaung Tha Along this road there is significant foreign investment into tourist infrastructure For now the village is protected from this investment by government legislation, however this does not necessarily provide security for the future Whether the government has plans for extending the tourism zone or some other land use initiative, the village does not have complete control over its future The village leader, when asked for his opinion on this recent nearby expansion of tourism, replied ‘what will be will be’ Security regarding the future of a community is required for residents to participate and invest in the planning and implementation of its development Strong two-way communication between national and local governance structures will foster sensible and ambitious development planning at the national and community levels g Military presence Although there has been a decline in military activity there is still significant military presence in Myanmar, even at the village level During the scoping visit two army officials entered the village and seemed concerned by the presence and free movement of foreigners To dispel any further anxiety the scoping visit was cut short Although the mechanism of interaction between community governance and the military is unclear from this visit, state-level authoritarian presence most certainly affects community governance structures in the village 2.2.3 Reflections From a participatory design perspective the governance structures in village A provide both opportunity and challenge The enthusiasm with which democracy is seemingly embraced by the village provides an established foundation for discussion about participation in decision making in the design of community policy, space and technology The history of authoritarian rule at a national level undermines this approach however the strong existing community governance structures, along with the ingrained Buddhist values of the community, can be leveraged to navigate this Understanding further the practice of negotiations between community governance and the national authority would help guide the participatory design approach Engaging current community governance structures in the design of the participatory approach itself is essential to understand, use, navigate and challenge existing decision making practices The financial coordination provided by an elected village leader, the community building provided by the monastery and the service provision provided by professionals are all examples of governance structures at the local level that could inform a participatory design process The patterns of negotiation between community governance and the national government are in the process of transformation and although it is useful to leverage existing knowledge to negotiate governance challenges, it is also essential that the processes change to meet the needs of, and provide opportunities to, the younger generation Providing freedom to young people to choose a vocation and geographic location for their future is important to build a citizen base which is motivated to engage in decision making – an essential part of any design process The preliminary scoping visit to village A in Myanmar provided some initial insights into the governance structures of the community Although the intention of the visit was not to build a complete picture of community governance, the superficial yet original information gathered is useful to begin to evaluate the effectiveness of any potential participatory design processes adopted in the future What is clear is that even a limited consideration of existing community governance structures in the design of a participatory approach is useful Conclusions and Recommendations This paper discusses the interaction and relationship between participatory design and community governance Community empowerment motivates the adoption of a participatory design approach but there are notable limitations which need to be acknowledged in order to promote learning and improvement in the process There is little understanding regarding the effect of existing participatory community governance structures on the relevance and effectiveness of a participatory design process, and a participatory approach itself is not enough to ensure good governance Active participation in any decision making process requires a level of trust between a multitude of stakeholders, and revealing the existing decision making processes of all stakeholders in the early phases of relationship building will help to develop this required trust The paper then considers the early formation of the relationship between participatory design and community governance by discussing empirical studies from preliminary scoping visits to Indonesia and Myanmar and reflects on how the superficial information that can be collected from such visits might usefully inform such a community participation model for subsequent participatory design activities The field visit to Indonesia provides insights into a participatory community governance of a sustainable community initiative aiming to develop and manage a more healthy and sustainable approach to living in sub-urban areas at a sub-neighborhood scale In contrast, the scoping visit to village A in Myanmar provided an insight into the governance practices of a small traditional rural community The community governance practices in both sites are unique, and can be summarized as follows: Yogyakarta, Indonesia  Grass-roots community governance  Community not fully engaged  Balancing level of participation between discussion and action Village A, Myanmar  Formally elected leader – Coordinates community finances  Strong monastery – Develops community cohesion  Civic engagement in informal governance activities In Yogyakarta there is a strong grass-roots spirit to community governance whereas in village A the community takes a more traditional approach This might be due to the nature of national governance in both countries Myanmar has experienced decades of military rule and has only recently been given the opportunity to vote for its leader The people seem delighted by the concept of democracy and apply it with seriousness Voting for a formal elected representative to handle certain community affairs might be a reflection of this enthusiasm On the other hand, Yogyakarta is well known to be a centre of a bohemian arts scene in Indonesia which values creative contributions by its citizens A more flexible grass-roots approach is more expected in this setting Having said that there is clearly informal governance activities being conducted in village A such as microfinance saving schemes and healthcare worker training which should not be discounted Exploring these less formal structures of governance during a participatory design approach could be useful to navigate the traditional structures In contrast it is clear in the Indonesia case that although a participatory approach is being followed, there needs to be some reflection regarding how non-participating members of the community can be engaged The initial visits to communities in Indonesia and Myanmar provide some preliminary insights into the structure of community governance In both visits the intention was not to research community governance, however, even the superficial information gathered can provide a useful first step to evaluating the style of subsequent potential participatory design processes in either community What is clear is that even this limited consideration of existing community governance structures in the design of a participatory approach is useful as it encourages more suitable participatory approaches to be adopted in subsequent visits From this paper, it is recommended that:  To be successful the adopted participatory design approach should reflect the distinct local governance styles of each site An initial understanding of these structures can be obtained during the first visit to the community  Informal governance activities and/or initiatives should be considered as early contributors to a participatory design approach A preliminary insight of these less dominant governance structures should be acquired during a first community visit to help navigate other potentially restrictive structures later in the design process  Guidance to effectively identify and assess the community governance structures in relation to participatory design during an initial visit to a community should be developed Acknowledgement The field visits to Indonesia and Myanmar have been supported by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 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Conclusions and Recommendations This paper discusses the interaction and relationship between participatory design and community governance Community empowerment motivates the adoption of a participatory