Participatory communication
Communication is, by definition, participatory. It is a two-way process. So this term refers to the full involvement of participants in communication process and includes giving those individuals access to communication channels and enabling them to participate freely and equally in dialogue and debate.
“Real participatory communication for social change – where voices people are not just informants, but where they have the capability or “agency” (A. Sen) to strengthen their own communication processes to participate in the decision making instances, which too often are vertical and far away of their reach.”
The goal of participation is to empower communities to determine their objectives and take action to achieve them. Participatory communication aims to facilitate the expression of people’s needs and priorities through effective communication processes.

Participatory Communication for Sustainable Development
            The development processes based on top-down approach which have not only perceived the clientele as passive audience of the developmental programmes rather than being an active participants, but also undermined the importance of indigenous technical knowledge, beliefs, and social systems. The strategy catered the developmental plans more in the interest of the urban elite than the rural people, and could not solve the problems of the needy people at grass-root level. Such situation gave birth to an alternative communication named as participatory communication.
Participatory communication (PC), a by-product of participatory approaches and participating communities, is an innovative approach for sustainable development of rural people. This communication methodology involves people at different stages of development viz., decision-making, implementation, evaluation, and sharing of benefits the developmental projects. The communicators in this process are not only neutral movers of information but intervene actively to trigger changes aimed at encouraging people’s participation. In fact, it’s a dynamic and two-way process of communication, in which the techniques of communication have not changed, instead ideologies and philosophies behind the practice of the techniques have been moulded. There is main emphasis on interpersonal and traditional methods, viz., street theatre, folk songs, speech, and group activities as effective channels for communication. The process can work effectively at all levels i.e. community, regional and sub-regional. Besides, there is “Participatory Rural Communication Appraisal (PRCA)” technique, which is used for strengthening the participatory communication process. Before applying this communication methodology, there happens to be few pre-conditions like- type of community, leadership quality, conflicts, situation, cost involved, external funding, etc. which has to be cared by the concerned communicators and/or extension personnel. However, there are some challenges before the practitioner apropos application of PC in real situation, viz., proper definition, conflicts, up-scaling, governance, co-existence with other communication, long term commitment, flexibility, effective training and confidence building, etc..
Thus, it is the responsibility of the extensionist and/or development communicators to meet challenges, so that, it could be used at wider scale. Moreover, all processes have its own limitations, likewise PC has too, which are: PC is not a panacea for development; the apparently opposing concepts of participation and manipulation can be viewed from many perspectives; the price, people have to pay for taking part in PC, is often overlooked. For proper implementation of PC, the limitations must be given proper attention. Keeping above facts in mind, it could be said that PC has immense potential and can play vital role in changing socio-cultural and econo-political arena, where we are trying to assure sustainable development of community up to maximum extent. Thus, it is prime time to harness the real benefits of such innovative communication process, which is well-capable to speed up the rate of adoption by reducing the existing communication gaps between technology generator and its ultimate user.

Determinants of participatory communication:
The determinants of participatory communication are both obvious and obscure – but in any case require careful examination for both its understanding & practice.
Three key determinants ‘arenas’ –

• The political
• Epistemological
• Organizational – shape the possibilities and limits and merits.

The power equation:
    First of all, participatory communication is a political activity based on changed power equations. It is the means by which a scarce societal resource, i.e., the means of communication is handed over to the people themselves so that their voices can be heard.
It is a fact that for every single successful alternative media enterprise, there are many others merely project an image of being alternative and participatory, when in fact merely reinforce the dominant paradigm of communication.
A number of power – based factors come in the way of genuine communication process.
These include

•  The self – interest of the organizers and important members of the community.
•  The lack of trained personnel in communication skills.
•  The tendency to dogmatize
•  The influence of local and state politics.
•  The caste factor.
•  The class factor.

Epistemological position:
Participatory communication is based on a changed epistemological position.
It is based on the rhetoric and practice of liberation of freedom, of emancipation, of struggle, of the ‘preferential option for the poor’, and of transformation and change.
This changed epistemological position has been crucial to the development, organization, and implementation of a changed communication practice.
In fact , the redefinition and revaluation of the dominant theory , its interpretations, and practices, have resulted in a new revolution in knowledge – in a knowledge that is specially associated with the cause of a just world community.

Organizational Aspects:
 Participatory communication is based on a changed organizational ethic and method of operation. This has been crucial for the success of participatory communication projects in many places.
Their inadequate appropriation has at the same time been the reason for its failure in many parts of the world. In the enthusiasm for a non-hierarchal, non-formal and fully democratic organizational setup, there has been a tendency for participatory projects to totally give up all previous forms of organization and methods of work.
Unstructured methods of organization are definitely important for motivating people, for getting their assent and cooperation; but they need to be situated within a structured movement that both directs and orients the facilitating process.
The lack of clear direction has been the bane of many participatory communication projects. Added to this are the problem of leadership, the inability to terminate a project when its mandate has been fulfilled, the tendency for initially manageable media projects to grow into widely proportions leading to the dilution of work methods, and of the unclear definition of objectives.