Making Participation Meaningful at Porticus

At Porticus, meaningful participation is a moral obligation and the route we chose to create more impactful programmes.

We define meaningful participation as a collaborative process between funders, grantees and people with lived experience who share decision-making power and mutual accountability to ensure positive change. We recognise that all persons involved have equally valuable contributions to bring to the table. Participation is not only a means to an end, it is also the end in itself. 

This is why we want it to be at the centre of our philanthropic practice. However, we don't assume that we have all the answers. The path towards this goal will not always be smooth; meaningful participation often crosses unchartered territory for us. 
As we navigate what it means to be truly participatory, we build on experiences from others, and we share ours. These are the guiding principles we follow, as we aspire to make participation meaningful in our work. 

Episode I: Intention

Intention is where it all starts. It’s about being open to and creating the space for participation.

Intention is the motivating force that brings focus, purpose and drive to meaningful participation at Porticus.

We believe participation is our moral obligation, both in principle and in practice. It legitimises our work and that of our partners.

We also know that it leads to better outcomes and positive impact on the challenges we’re responding to. 

Intention is where we begin. At Porticus, we developed a roadmap to create the space for greater agency and voice to emerge in our work.

Episode II: Empathy

Empathy is an expression of care. It’s providing relief from trauma - not making people relive it.

Participation is about people - people with their own stories, circumstances and boundaries. When we forget that - despite all good intentions - we can cause harm. 

Empathy reminds us to approach meaningful participation with profound humility and shared humanity. 

Episode III: Endurance

We need endurance to engage all voices. It can be tricky - and will take time - but it is the only path to success.

Endurance demonstrates both patience and grit to invest in the process and seek out the voices that matter.

It’s also the value that ensures we keep asking ourselves important questions - like ‘Who is being left out? Which voices are we missing?’ - and demanding accountability in our response.

Episode VI: Trust

Keep the faith. Long-term change takes time and relies on mutual trust between all parties to achieve.

Taking a participatory approach isn’t linear, and it isn’t easy. We know there will be bumps along the way.

Our goal is to fail forward; to try, to learn (from our own journey and from others), and to grow.

If we trust the process, and express that same deep trust to people and partners, success will follow.

Episode V: Modesty

Participation is a spectrum. Modesty helps us find a new balance every time.

It’s hard - but essential - to talk about the role of power in meaningful participation. Systems change cannot happen without being open about where power lies and how to navigate and negotiate its distribution.

When we talk about being modest, we are bringing awareness to our relative power in meaningful participation relationships, and committing to using it responsibly - and challenging it every chance we get.

Behind the scenes