Some of you may be interested in this ... forwarded from another network. regards Will
>>> Peter Taylor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 28/03/2008 3:35:50 a.m. >>> Dear colleagues, I would like to let you know about the publication last week of a report entitled "Capacity for Change". Sorry in advance for the rather long message that follows below, but I would like to give a flavour of what the report addresses, and we hope that many of you will find it of interest. The two parts of the report can be accessed currently at: Main report: http://www.dgroups.org/groups/pelican/docs/Capacity_for_a_change.pdf?ois=no Additional material: http://www.dgroups.org/groups/pelican/docs/Additional_material.pdf?ois=no Any comments or feedback would be very welcome. Best wishes, Peter ------------------------------------- Capacity for a Change Enormous amounts of funding are invested every year in "capacity development" (estimated at around 25% of the global expenditure on ODA), and of course there are many positive outcomes from this, yet there is often dissatisfaction with both the idea and the practice. This report from the 'Capacity Collective' - a so-far informal grouping of organisations and individuals, many of whom engage regularly in PELICAN discussions, was based on an international dialogue and workshop convened by IDS in Autumn 2007, and supported jointly by DFID, IDRC, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IrishAid and the UK ESRC. The Report sets out for policy makers and a range of actors across donor/practitioner/research communities a series of challenges and opportunities for support to capacity development (CD). It aims to encourage further debate on deeper meanings of knowledge and learning, and on ways in which power relations influence the capacity of individuals and organisations to engage as actors in processes of development and change. It pays particular attention to a systemic approach for understanding and supporting the development of capacity at three interlinked levels: the individual, the organisational and in wider society. The Report which we see as representing a collective effort to explore these issues, has been published as a means of contributing to an ongoing, open dialogue that aims to help reduce the gap between 'what we know' about CD, and 'what we do'. It is published in two sections; the first part is a stand-alone publication containing analysis, discussions, and suggestions for ways to move forward. The second part contains a series of annexes, including a set of scoping papers commissioned as part of the Capacity Collective initiative, a listing of how different organizations define CD, listing of a range of recent projects and programmes focusing on CD, as well as the findings of evaluative studies of CD initiatives, and finally a set of conceptual frameworks for CD emerging through the work of several different organisations. Considering evidence from CD practice and the dialogue that took place through the initiative, the Report observes that the majority of CD initiatives adopt an instrumental and technical approach, emphasizing mechanical fixes for technical blocks, applying predetermined inputs for training, organisational development or institutional reform, with little attention to systematic contextual assessment of capacity needs or drawing on valuable knowledge associated with wider disciplines. Theoretical understandings of change processes are rarely articulated. Despite the common rhetoric of 'partnership', insufficient attention is paid to the nature and evolution of the relationships within which CD is to be promoted, and a North-South transfer of capacity is often assumed, rather than a process of mutual learning and change. Our reflection on the evidence has led those involved in the Capacity Collective to identify four key dimensions of successful CD. First, an evaluative, rather than a merely descriptive, stance to capacity development analysis appears to be an essential attribute of successful interventions. Second, successful CD focuses on the dynamics and processes that are encountered or seen as desirable, and emphasises the importance of learning, rather than applying a limited technical/rational model. Third, a critical dimension of successful CD is the systemic integration of the levels of individual, organisational and wider society. And fourth, a nuanced understanding of specific context is needed, recognising the importance of political, social, economic and cultural factors. Fundamentally, we believe that valuable opportunities are being lost for learning, which demands a continuous interplay between developing theoretical understanding and improved practice. The Report recognises that energy for good change exists in every context, but that there is a need to learn how to construct approaches that detect the dynamics of specific context and to mobilise and nurture this energy productively through a process of dialogue. This means focusing on change and adaptive management in an approach rooted in endogenous strengths, needs, aspirations and expectations arising from specific contexts rather than seeing CD always from an exogenous, deficit perspective. The report calls for a real sea-change in how CD is understood and practiced, by: * promoting empowering relationships * supporting rallying ideas * mobilising dynamic agents * proactively framing and shaping the context for CD * enhancing grounding/enabling knowledge and skills through systemic learning processes. Looking forward, there is a wide range of actions that may facilitate this change in the current paradigm for CD, moving towards a more systemic approach that mobilises energy for good change: * supporting the development of innovative strategies for evaluation of CD from a systems and learning perspective * revisiting the way CD processes are labelled, to ensure that learning is maximised from a very wide range of activities as well as being more rigorous about what is understood as CD, and * examining the relative strengths and weaknesses of CD interventions within different forms of partnership, over different time-frames, in order to identify the variables that bring about significant and positive change in power relations, equity and voice. Through the work of the Collective, we have identified specific ways forward for certain groups of actors - including donors, and a wider group of researchers, CD service providers and practitioners. A real shift in thinking and practice of CD requires a shared learning process of different actors - donors, academic researchers and practitioners. In the Capacity Collective we hope to involve actors who have not participated so far in this dialogue, in a shared endeavour to challenge and reimagine CD. Only through a combined and committed effort in advocacy and dialogue, and a determination to link theory, policy and practice systemically, does it seem likely that the benefits from capacity development processes will be realised in ways that make a real difference to the development challenges of the future. We hope that the "Capacity Collective" will continue to support this collaboration, and we welcome feedback, and ideas for further collective work on this issue. For further information, please contact Peter Taylor, at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WARNING: This email and any attachments may be confidential and/or privileged. They are intended for the addressee only and are not to be read, used, copied or disseminated by anyone receiving them in error. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by return email and delete this message and any attachments. The views expressed in this email are those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the official views of Landcare Research. http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ _______________________________________________ IntSci mailing list IntSci@learningforsustainability.net http://mail.learningforsustainability.net/mailman/listinfo/intsci_learningforsustainability.net
