From Community Participation to Social Participation: An Ecohealth Approach

This paper presents development of the concept of participation in its different meanings, especially community participation and its transformation Into the social participation that is proposed. The different ways the concept has been used by governments, researchers and social movements Is discussed in order to support the EcoHealth social participation approach. The article argues that participation is the cause and consequence of social capital. bemuse It empowers Individuals, communities and civil society. Modes of understanding participation and levels or degrees of participation are highlighted, and tools, such as the participation ladder, are presented. As one of the Ecollealth principles, social participation and its relationship with the other principles of this public health approach are analyzed. Partici-pation Is postulated as "a social space where Individuals and social actors, each one with different Interests, roles and resources, get together in order to strengthen their capacity to reach agreements, take action and change the environment In order to Improve their quality of life."The different kinds of actors, the reasons that motivate the participation and the necessary conditions for It to occur are de-fined. The article concludes with the premise that participation involves the Intervention of different and sometimes opposing actors In social processes, and that achieving common goals requires elements such as trust, mediation, use of a common language and the existence of minimal organization In communities.