In a country with a lot of forced labour, citizen participation might have a different connotation than in the Dutch polder model. During interviews, the discussion often turned from citizen participation to ‘volunteering’ instead. Providing input for meetings or discussing solutions were mentioned less often. On the grassroots level, this meant that some solutions of villagers to the waste problem remained unnoticed by ward authorities. Thus in Pathein, what does citizen participation entail? And what could a municipality do to engage it’s citizens in a way the citizens feel heard?

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