Professor Robert Chambers has a background in biology, history and public administration.
His current concerns and interests include professionalism, power, the personal dimension in development, participatory methodologies, epistemology, poverty, stunting, teaching and learning with large numbers, and work on sanitation and hygiene with the Sanitation Learning Hub.
Together with partners around the world, our focus is to support and strengthen the sector to tackle the complex challenges it faces in delivering the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2.
Series of short workshops for participants wishing to get a taste of PRA and PLA approaches
Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is a participatory approach that started in Bangladesh and has been spread to varying degrees in India, Cambodia, Indonesia, China, Nepal. To a limited degree, it has also been trialled in some African countries.
Promoting and developing immersions as a practical training method for people working in international development.
Here at IDS, on the second floor of the Octagon, is a hidden treasure trove: the Participation Resource Centre (PRC). Full of useful resources on participatory methods and the theory of power and participation, for many years, it was funded, open to the public and photocopies of materials were...
20 November 2023
A focus on food must mean a focus on farming. And a focus on equity in food systems must encompass equity in agricultural systems. As global food systems transform, generating increasing inequalities in access, we must ask how food is produced and by whom. Now all open access, the trio...
3 July 2023
We (Tessa and Robert) are working on a book of forewords Robert has written for other books. We think collecting the writing together In this way will draw attention to their importance and be valuable to others. We were brainstorming about the final section which is still to be...
19 October 2020
7 October 2020
This article presents lessons learnt from the evolution and usage of Rapid Action Learning methods developed to support the Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin (the Clean India Mission – Rural) in India. The Mission, started in 2014, aimed to change the sanitation behaviours of over 530 million...
15 November 2023
IDS Bulletin 54.1A
Robert Chambers is one of the most influential and prolific scholars to write about participation, poverty, and knowledge in development studies. His writing and thinking have revolutionised the discipline, inspiring both participatory processes and more inclusive practice. His work continues to...
30 March 2023
Frontiers of Sanitation: Innovations and Insights 15
This issue of Frontiers of Sanitation describes four Rapid Action Learning approaches that have been developed and tested in India by IDS and partners to support the Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin, and encourages others to use them, to innovate other approaches, and to share their...
21 September 2020
This book draws together and reviews the revolutionary changes in the methodologies and methods of development inquiry that have occurred in the past forty years, and reflects on their transformative potential for the future. It is for all who seek to be abreast of these revolutionary...
10 August 2018
IDS is excited to announce the launch of a new podcast series called ‘between the lines’ – exploring books for a better world. The series features a global development related book each month and interview with the author. The aim is to provide an insight on what’s behind the book...
3 October 2018
Participation is a right held by all people to engage in society and in the decisions that impact their lives. Participation is thus a political endeavour that challenges oppression and discrimination, in particular of the poorest and most marginalised people. Participatory processes enable...
World Bank Lead Economists, Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao examine the effectiveness of donor-led efforts to promote local participatory development