This study contributes to the literature on participation in public multi-stakeholder initiatives that address how participation is enacted in these settings. Using a convergent mixed methods research design, I investigate the work of seven Local Action Groups in Croatia - public multi-stakeholder initiatives implementing the European programme for rural development named the LEADER measure. I ask: what practices do actors develop within public multi-stakeholder initiatives when they enact participation? How do they use the established procedures through which participation is to be enacted? And with what outcomes? Based on multiple data sources, I develop a model for the practice of participation and identify three key variables around which the enactment of participation unfolds: activation of territorial capital, mode of governance, and deliberation practices. The model identifies the actions through which participation is made to be either simply procedural or substantive. It provides an analytical approach that critically scrutinises participation processes and answers the calls for management and organisation research to reveal the underlying practices of participation.