In September 2005, ECDPM, SNV and UNDP hosted a workshop on ‘Networks as a form of Capacity’, which brought together Northern and Southern researchers and practitioners to discuss networks and the capacities they comprise and create.

The participants saw networks as falling along a continuum, ranging from simple ‘networking’, to informal alliances, to formal networks with clearly defined goals and leadership. Networks are dynamic, and evolve over time in response to the challenges they address, such as to improve access to information or resources.

Networks are influenced by several factors, including their leadership, which can range from authoritarian to facilitating. A network’s abilities to learn and to adapt to changing circumstances also determine its lifespan and impact.

The workshop emphasised the distinction between the capacity of a network, and that of its individual members. A network can generate capacity that is greater than the sum of its parts, yet can also have a ‘decapacitating’ effect, such as when there is competition for financial resources.

See also the Workshop Report: Networks as a Form of Capacity and the discussion paper, Networks and Capacity, by Suzanne Taschereau and Joe Bolger (2005).