Kaustuv Kanti Bandyopadhyay is the director of Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), India, and has been working on increasing citizen participation in urban and rural contexts for more than 28 years. He is the co-coordinator of Asia Democracy Research Networks and serves on the Governing Council of Asia Democracy Network. He has written several books, articles, manuals, and monographs on civil society, urban governance, and participatory development. He has a PhD in Anthropology.