Support to Learning for Capacity Development
Learning is a critically important element of Capacity Development (CD), Technical Cooperation (TC) and Technical Assistance (TA). In the past the focus was very substantially on training as the primary method of capacity development and learning was not well covered in aid and development literature. Recent studies are starting to bring learning into a clearer focus within the overall CD discourse. For example, the ability to learn was recognised as core to achieving sustainable development results in the ECDPM study, and the JICA study of TC confirmed the hypothesis that the likelihood of effectiveness is increased by ‘embedding within an organizational learning process’. Understanding is now emerging that training is only one of many approaches to learning, that it is not the most effective approach for some needs, and that in many circumstances other approaches will prove to be more effective.
The business, academic and education communities have been paying attention to all aspects of learning for much longer, and the aid and development sectors can from sources, such as the body of knowledge available about learning in management of change processes. This resource corner therefore offers both documents and references from the aid and development sectors, and from other disciplines concerned with learning.
Editor's choice
The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation, Peter Senge Second edition 2006, and The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organisation Senge, 1994
Generally considered to be the seminal work on learning organisations, The Fifth Discipline, and the accompanying Fieldbook, from leading management academic Peter Senge, offer theories from a range of disciplines, together with insights and examples from companies that use the methods, and practice guidance about how to work with tools and techniques that support the development of organisational learning.
Capacity, Change and Performance Synthesis Report
This research provides fresh perspectives on the topic of capacity and its development. It does so by highlighting endogenous perspectives: how capacity develops from within, rather than focusing on what outsiders do to induce it. The research also embraces ideas on capacity development drawn from literature outside the context of development cooperation. The relationship between learning and capacity development is a recurrent theme throughout the study.
The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) long-term strategic framework for 2008–2020 argues that ADB must play a bigger part in putting the potential of knowledge solutions to work in Asia and the Pacific. It has determined that in order to do this the institution must become more flexible and work with both internal and external learning. Learning for Change in ADB has been developed to offer practical guidance for achieving those ends.
Berlin Statement on International Development Training: Final Declaration of the High Level Retreat on the Effectiveness of International Development Training, Berlin, 4-5 June 2008
In response to evaluation studies that brought specific areas of training practice into question a number of development training institutes and representatives of bi- and multilateral development agencies reviewed aspects of their operational effectiveness. This statement is the outcome of their deliberations which identified 7 key messages for operational effectiveness and aid effectiveness of training.
Pursuing a Learning Agenda: a year of evaluation, learning and strategic change. CDRA’s 2009 Annual Report
Between 2007 and 2009, CDRA underwent an extensive period of evaluation, including self-evaluation, external feedback, a facilitated OD process and several rounds of strategic review. This report documents their process of working to incorporate evaluation into their ongoing learning and strategising, to balance self-evaluation with external perspectives, and to balance internal evaluation with review of impact and strategy.
Knowledge Services and Learning: A UNDP Capacity Development Resource 2006
This is one in a series of UNDP papers examining various aspects of capacity development, and addresses the role that could be played by UNDP and interested development partners. Knowledge services and learning are defined, and related to other relevant concepts, such as human resources development, within the operational and policy contexts of the UN system. The special focus is on education and training.
Assessing and Learning for Social Change: A discussion paper. Irene Guijt 2007 IDS
This work is the result of a group of development practitioners coming together to discuss the question ‘What processes for assessing and learning about social change can help improve the strategies and results of organisations working to transform inequalities in favour of the poor?’ It covers a range of reflections, resources and real life examples of assessment and learning practices.
Power and Emotion in Organizational Learning Russ Vince, Human Relations 2001; 54; 1325
This article explores the impact that power and emotion have on relationships and politics within organisations, and how these are fundamental factors in determining what is learnt and how. Vince introduces the notion of regressive learning, as the processes in which people learn to comply and conform in order to be in tune with the prevailing structures of relationships and power.
IDRC Strategic Evaluation of Capacity Development: "Doing things better? How capacity development results help bring about change" Taylor and Ortiz, IDRC 2008
This document summarises the findings of IDRC’s strategic, five year long evaluation of its own capacity building practices. It is particularly interesting for its analysis of the links between working with learning and a theory of change.
Improving the Results of Learning for Capacity Building Forum (2009)
This report is a summary of formation of the working group of 16 international development training and learning institutes committed to improving the practice and metrics of learning programmes. The working group focuses on managing for development results, strengthening development training and learning institutes, and fostering collaboration and harmonization on learning results among such institutes.
Good practice / case materials
Adult Learning and Capacity Development in IDRC Anne Bernard, IDRC 2005
This concept paper provides a frame of reference for understanding capacity development in the context of IDRC. It uses the theories, principles and approaches of learning theory, adult education and institutional development, anchoring these within the analysis of a cross-section of 40 IDRC projects. Originally intended as an internal document it offers analysis that will be helpful to many organisations.
Horizontal Learning - Engaging Freedom's Possibilities Doug Reeler, from CDRA Annual Report 2004/2005
This report explores transformative practices of horizontal learning and community exchanges at the creative margins of the development sector.
Reflections on Innovation, Assessment and Social Change Processes: A SPARC Case Study, India Sheela Patel 2007
This is a case study from the Assessing Social Change group initiative in the Power, Participation and Social Change Team at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK. It brought together activists, researchers, evaluators, facilitators, and international and local NGO staff. The SPARC case study demonstrates how learning can be integrated into social change projects.
USAID supported individuals from 45 countries to study at US universities for over 40 years. This evaluation looked at the development impact of the scholarship programme at individual and institutional levels.
Participatory learning groups in an aid bureaucracy Cornwall et al, undated, in the Lessons for Change Series from IDS
This report documents the process in which Cornwall and colleagues from IDS worked with the Swedish International Development Agency to establish and run two participatory learning groups for agency staff based in Stockholm and Nairobi.
Transfer of learning Don Clark, 2009
Clark defines the transfer of learning as the application of skills, knowledge, and/or attitudes that were learned in one situation to another learning situation. He offers practical suggestions about how to overcome the common problem of learning from training not being transferred to workplace practice.
Useful website and partners
The Impact Alliance: The Impact Alliance is a global action and learning network committed to strengthening the capacity of individuals and organizations to generate deep impact within the communities they serve. It provides space for sharing, learning and collaboration in order to define and develop standards of excellence that improve performance. The website has many resources about development, including capacity, from different sources worldwide.
The Society for Organizational Learning: The Society for Organizational Learning, founded by Peter Senge, is an intentional learning community composed of organizations and individuals. The purpose of SoL is to discover (research), integrate (capacity development) and implement (practice) theories and practices of organizational learning for the interdependent development of people, their institutions and communities.
Institute of Development Studies – Participation, Power and Social Change Team: The website of the Participation Power and Social Change team at IDS has the details and outputs of various projects. See the sections on Learning and Social Change, the Capacity Collective, Learning and Teaching for Transformation, and Facilitating Learning and Action for Social Change.
International Development Research Centre: IDRC recognizes that evaluation makes an essential contribution to learning and acquiring knowledge about effective approaches to research for development. This webpage provides access to publications, programmes, methodologies, tools and links related to IDRCs work on evaluation, including the latest and final reports from their five-year, strategic study of their own capacity development practices.
Rapid Results Institute: This page provides a listing of publications, case studies and evaluations related to the use of the rapid results approach.
Capacity.org: This website is the home of the Capacity.Org journal and also provides regular updates about the broader world of capacity development, primarily for practitioners. The issues covered are organised around resource corners that provide the latest research and policy news, practical toolkits and online resources, publications, and organisational initiatives under each topic. See http://www.capacity.org/en/resource_corners/learning and particularly http://www.capacity.org/en/journal/archives/organizational_learning
Don Clark: an American consultant specialising in learning and performance, train-the-trainer, and designing eLearning and training processes and platforms. On his website he has made available an impressive range of writing, tools and techniques that he has developed and used in his work.
INTRAC Praxis Learning Programme: The Praxis Learning Programme was designed to enable civil society organisations to become more effective by linking theory and practice and by developing and disseminating learning around organisational capacity building. The website has a large resource of papers and practice notes covering many aspects of capacity development practice.
Gender at Work: Gender at work is an international collaboration supporting gender equality. Their approach builds knowledge and knowledge products about effective practice to engender organisational, individual and community change. They have an action-learning-process tool as a core methodology to support their work.
Capacity4Dev: This is a knowledge management tool aimed at improving technical cooperation as part of EuropeAid’s Backbone Strategy for reform of technical cooperation. The platform is an open forum where EC staff at country level and in headquarters, development practitioners, partner countries, other donors, academics and civil society representatives can share ideas and knowledge.
Global Campus 21: InWent have created this learning platform to offer courses on both e-learning and e-pedagogy and also for different sectoral content. Additionally it is a portal for different fora and alumni networks. Within the GC21 InWent are establishing an E-Academy with management courses.
Opinion pieces and discussion platforms
Does Training Work? Re-examining Donor-sponsored Training Programs in Developing Countries, WBI 2006
This article examines the available evidence about training as an instrument of capacity development and asks whether it works and under which conditions it is most optimally pursued. The paper compares training from the World Bank and other international donors, with that of private sector firms. The article then considers what conclusions from the private sector can help formulate a better understanding of the optimal conditions for training in a development context.
South-South Capacity Development: The Way to Grow? World Bank Institute, Feb 2007, Issue No. 20
A growing body of evidence suggests that learning and cooperation among developing nations is increasing in both frequency and complexity. People in developing nations are coming together to find new and innovative solutions to development issues. Reviews suggest that South-South learning is often more effective in developing capacity than one-way knowledge transfers from the North. The article highlights successful cases of South-South learning and cooperation.
Rethinking capacity building, Alnoor Ebrahim, 2009
This thought piece in capacity.org discusses the reasons why 50 years of capacity building initiatives have failed, and argues for greater attention to be paid to developing analytical and adaptive capacity.
This discussion paper summarises current concerns, thinking and commitments about training as one of the central practices of capacity development.
Other knowledge resources: tools, reports, books, ...
Asian Development Bank (ADB). Practical Guide to Capacity Development in a Sector Context (Working Draft, 2008)
This Practical Guide has been developed in response to the targets defined in ADB’s action plan for capacity development. It is in particular designed to increase demand-orientation and effectiveness of upstream technical capacity development support. It does address learning as integral to CD, but not in a substantive way.
Supporting Capacities for Integrated Local Development UNDP 2007
This Practice Note provides UNDP staff and other development practitioners with a concise overview of the capacity challenges involved in local development as well as an easily adaptable five-step approach to address them. The note is not meant to be a comprehensive toolkit or guide but rather a review of different approaches to local development from a capacity development perspective based on best practices and lessons learned.
Sourcebook on Emerging Good Practice in Managing for Development Results
The sourcebook provides solution-oriented examples of MfDR in action for practitioners at many levels and in many contexts. By focusing on observable and replicable interventions, the Sourcebook aims to increase the understanding of MfDR and illustrate how many stakeholders are effectively implementing MfDR principles for greater development effectiveness.
Culture: Hidden Development A practical working guide to Culture and Development for the international development sector Creative Exchange 2004
This guide is helpful for reminding about the often forgotten aspects of culture in capacity development debates.
Tools for Knowledge and Learning: A Guide for Developmentand Humanitarian Organisations ODI, 2006
This toolkit aims to help improve knowledge and learning for development and humanitarian operations. It pulls together 30 tools and techniques under five headings: i) Strategy Development; ii) Management Techniques; iii) Collaboration Mechanisms; iv) Knowledge Sharing and Learning Processes; and v) Knowledge Capture and Storage.
Development and the Learning Organisation: A Development in Practice Reader 2003 Ed. Roper, Laura with Jethro Pettit and Deborah Eade Oxfam GB, Oxford
This is the most comprehensive collection of articles about learning organisations in the development sector. It both covers the theory and provides several case studies.
European Commission. Guidelines on Making Technical Cooperation more Effective. 2009
These guidelines are a key contribution to the EC strategy to reform how it will work with Technical Cooperation (TC) in the future. They will be updated based on lessons learned and reactions from partners, EC staff and donors. It has a useful example of peer learning.
The managing for impact approach
Jim Woodhill and Mine Parabi. This is a practice report available on www.capacity.org. There are increasing calls for new Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) approaches that encourage learning and participation. The authors explain how the managing for impact approach places M&E at the centre of learning and management processes.
New related publications
