Practical Action has been introducing consensus-based planning approaches in villages that are poor even by Bangladesh standards, where 90% of people live under the poverty line and over 60% are illiterate. These methods work on raising the voice and confidence of the poor at the local level within their communities, and the results have been spectacular--opening up new income generation and resource management and influencing opportunities for marginalized communities in flood-prone areas.

Highly useful in countries that reject the role of NGOs in governance or human rights, and...