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
Répertoire d’études de cas du LenCD
26 March 2012
Les
études de cas constituent un instrument important de partage de connaissances et d’apprentissage.
Nombreuses sont les organisations qui en publient, mais il a toujours fallu des efforts
substantiels de recherche pour y accéder.
Le LenCD (Learning Network on Capacity Development – Réseau d’apprentissage sur le renforcement des capacités) a constitué un répertoire d’études de cas réunissant notamment des matériels du Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement, de l’Équipe de projet sur la coopération Sud-Sud (OCDE), de la SNV et de l’Institut de la Banque mondiale.
Plus de 500 études de cas ont été répertoriées à ce jour. Elles sont accessibles et interrogeables (par pays et par mots clés) sur le site du LenCD à www.lencd.org/case-stories.
MoreNew 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.
MoreUsing (South-South) knowledge exchange for capacity development: What works in global practice?
26 January 2012
While knowledge exchange, especially between countries facing comparable challenges, is widely
recognised as a tool for facilitating development innovation, there has been little empirical work
to assess the effectiveness of such programmes with a view to informing global practice. This joint
study by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and World Bank Institute (WBI) assessed three of
their South-South knowledge exchange programmes in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
CAPACITY → RESULTS
30 November 2011
This
new publication from the Learning Network on Capacity Development (LenCD) features case stories on
capacity development and development results. The collection showcases how endogenous investments
in capacity development have led, over time, to produce short, medium and long-term sustainable
results.
La réalisation de Facilitating Resourcefulness
30 November 2011
Le présent article est un supplément au numéro 43
de Capacity.org. Il offre un aperçu de travaux réalisés dans le cadre d'une vaste \evaluation
consacrée à l'appui du renforcement des capacités de sept partenaires au développement
néerlandais (PDN), cordonnée par le Service de l'évaluation des politiques et des opérations (IOB)
du ministère néerlandais des Affaires étrangères. L'évaluation avait pour but de tirer des
enseignements sur les moyens d'accoître l'efficacité des interventions de renforcement de
capacités.
Other Topics
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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