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Learning
Without learning, there can be no capacity development. Learning is the ability to acquire new knowledge and skills. It enables individuals, organizations and higher level human systems adapt, self-renew and respond to sudden changes and crises.
The available body of knowledge on learning is vast and encompasses areas of psychology, pedagogy, education, neuroscience, and increasing also economy and management sciences. The resources available on this page explore some of the challenges of bringing about learning at three levels: individual, organizational and institutional.
At the individual level capacity development practitioners need to engage in personal learning through self reflection. They also guide others in growing their personal competencies through learning. At the organizational level capacity development practitioners help facilitate collective learning processes that are aimed at enhancing overall performance. Furthermore, they contribute to building a learning culture, whereby learning becomes part and parcel of the organisation's day-to-day work processes. Finally, capacity development practitioners are increasingly being called upon to support learning within more complex multi-actor processes processes, in which individuals and organizations from a diverse social, political and professional spectrum attempt to work together for the common good.
Featured Article
Call for submission of countries' experiences with planning for and reporting on capacity development results (LenCD)
Political processes and cultural and societal changes produce long-lasting transformation, but they are long-term and very complex in nature.The Learning Network on Capacity Development (LenCD) has launched a call for submission of experiences on how countries plan for, manage and report on results from investments in capacity development. LenCD is interested in understanding which approaches and methodologies country governments adopt, which innovations are out there, where the good practices are, and what other countries can learn from them. Ultimately, this collection of country driven approaches and methodologies could shed light into alternatives for donor-driven reporting requirements.
This call is restricted to government-funded projects for which national (as opposed to donors’) monitoring and evaluation approaches and methodologies are applied.The deadline for applications is 13 April 2012.
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Recent Articles
LenCD case stories database
24 March 2012
Case stories are an important and accessible way of
sharing experiences and learning lessons. Many organisations publish case stories on their
websites, but finding these stories has always required a good deal of research.
LenCD (Learning Network on Capacity Development), has been building up an index of case stories including material from the United Nations Development Programme, the Task Team on South–South Cooperation, SNV, the World Bank Institute, ECDPM, and other sources.
More than 500 case stories have now been catalogued and are searchable by country and by keyword on www.lencd.org/case-stories.
MoreCapacity, complexity and consulting: lessons from managing capacity development projects
20 March 2012
In recent years, the Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) programme of the UK-based
Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has increasingly focused on managing large, multiyear
processes, aimed at building the capacity of local institutions in developing countries to change
the way they engage with policy. This paper draws on the observations of RAPID staff involved
in various projects as well as on primary documentation such as trip reports, after action reviews
and project reports. It also includes a ‘ light-touch’ review of some of the grey and academic
literature available on capacity development, complexity, managing social change and aid agency
behaviour.
Lessons Learned from 25 Years of Food Security Research, Capacity-Building and Outreach
15 March 2012
This document from Michigan State University contains an overview of the past 25 years of
research, capacity-building, and outreach by the university's Food Security Group (FSG). The paper
describes key elements of the FSG approach and examines the insights gained from research and
outreach, primarily in Africa, and their value to the U.S. Feed the Future Initiative in addressing
the major current challenges facing food and agricultural systems.
Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation: PRIA Global Partnership newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 4
14 March 2012
The October 2011 issue of PRIA's Global Partnership newsletter contains a selection of papers
that were presented and discussed in the International Conference on Monitoring and Evaluation: New
Developments and Challenges, jointly organized by INTRAC, PSO and PRIA held on 14-16 June 2011 in
the Netherlands.
New multi-language tool for measuring development effectiveness
10 March 2012
The International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC) has launched a learning tool meant to support trade unions worldwide in the
application of the effectiveness principles in their everyday development cooperation practice.
Known as the Trade Union Development Effectiveness Profile (TUDEP) the new
tool is based on a questionnaire that is automatically evaluated and analysed in an active excel
document. The aim is to contribute to the improvement of the quality and effectiveness of the
development cooperation work of trade unions by helping partners to reflect on their practice as
well as the principles and values that underpin their work. It also helps to facilitate the
monitoring and evaluation of the progress in the use of the principles and guidelines for trade
union development effectiveness.
Call for submission of countries' experiences with planning for and reporting on capacity development results (LenCD)
28 February 2012
Political processes and cultural and societal changes produce long-lasting transformation, but they are long-term and very complex in nature.The Learning Network on Capacity Development (LenCD) has launched a call for submission of experiences on how countries plan for, manage and report on results from investments in capacity development. LenCD is interested in understanding which approaches and methodologies country governments adopt, which innovations are out there, where the good practices are, and what other countries can learn from them. Ultimately, this collection of country driven approaches and methodologies could shed light into alternatives for donor-driven reporting requirements.
This call is restricted to government-funded projects for which national (as opposed to donors’) monitoring and evaluation approaches and methodologies are applied.The deadline for applications is 13 April 2012.
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Essential Readings
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Irene Guijt (2010) Accountability and learning: Exploding the myth of incompatibility between accountability and learning” in Ubels, J., N. Acquaye-Baddoo and A. Fowler (eds) Capacity Development in Practice, Earthscan, pp. 277-292
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Bruce Britton (2010) Self Reflection: monitoring and evaluation for personal learning, in Ubels, J., N. Acquaye-Baddoo and A. Fowler (eds) Capacity Development in Practice, Earthscan, pp. 264-276
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Simon Hearn & Nancy White (2009) Communities of practice: Linking knowledge policy and practice, ODI, November 2009
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Ben Ramalingam (2009) Organizational learning for aid, and learning aid organizations, Capacity.org # 33
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Peter Senge (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Currency Doubleday
More Web Resources
Featured Community
Featured communities
Capacity Development is a professional community of practice on Ning (a social
networking platform). Hosted by the World Bank Institute, the community currently has close to
700 members.
Capacity Development aims to unite a community of practitioners and experts
to encourage discussion on capacity development practice and results and the sharing of
related resources and experiences. The community is open to new members and includes practitioners
engaged or interested in capacity development in several contexts, such strategy, planning,
diagnostics, programme design, monitoring and evaluation, and systematic learning about what
works.
The
Learning Network on Capacity Development (LenCD) is an informal network of analysts and
practitioners aimed at creating a global community of practice around capacity development. Its
objectives are to facilitate the sharing of lessons and distill quality criteria for good practice;
promote research, share experiences, monitor outcomes and carry out other empirical work; foster
country-level, regional and international dialogue and collaboration; promote the mainstreaming of
capacity development issues into agency operations; and act as a key partner to advance the
OECD/DAC’s capacity development agenda.
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