Participatory approach to solving problems of the population

The paper presents first results of the second stage of a complex study of the problems relating to application of the participatory approach to fighting poverty in small Russian cities. The project is carried out by an international team including researchers from the Nizhni Novgorod State University, ISESP RAS, Universities of Glasgow and Uppsala. The obtained results make it possible to identify the main directions of adaptation and of using participatory technologies in the practice of interaction between population, authorities and other interested parties for solving the problems of providing social services to indigent people.