PANDA (Participatory Appraisal of Needs and Development of Action) : A Multi Methodological Framework

PANDA (participatory appraisal of needs and development of action) is a multimethodological framework that was developed during the 1990s for use in planning and implementing group decision-making in multi-agency settings. The authors developed PANDA in the process of critically reflecting on their own practice and that of others. Much of the author's practice (both individually and together) has been in the field of community or third sector operational research. The term PANDA first appeared in print and was fully described in 2000. PANDA is based on a theoretical stance that is labelled post-structuralist or postmodernist. It represents one particular type of multimethodology, based in a stance of pragmatic pluralism. This chapter covers the development of PANDA, linking it to earlier work, both inside and outside the systems field. It then moves on to consider an example of PANDA in practice, and finishes by highlighting some challenges and directions for the future.