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CAPACITY BUILDING FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING
CHAPTER FIVE CURRENT AND PLANNED PROVISION OF CAPACITY BUILDING
5.1 This study has identified a wide range of capacity building provision of relevance to the development of CP, provision that could be said to be the existing or planned building blocks of the Learning Development Framework described in the previous chapter.
5.2 There are programmes, modules, research materials or learning support services available under each of the four learning areas of Values and Visioning, Partnership Working, Practitioner Skills and Engaging Communities. Some are formal and others informal. Some lead to qualifications or career and professional development, while others are more focused on the internal requirements of the organisation. Some are openly available, others are in-house. There are, as yet, few examples of formal cross-partner learning, but these are beginning to emerge in some of the agencies such as:
- Communities Scotland partnership working programmes, which bring together partners in the Borders area, for instance
- Scottish Police College, which carries out similar programmes and invites partners to participate alongside police officers in partnership workshops
- Glasgow Alliance, where the CPP representatives brief other partners on their own organisation's budgeting and approval processes to enhance cultural and institutional awareness
5.3 The overall provision must be described as ad hoc and uncoordinated at present. This will be largely due to the expressed demand being equally ad hoc.
ISSUES RELATED TO THE SUPPLY OF CAPACITY BUILDING SERVICES
5.4 Against a backdrop of relatively unplanned and ad-hoc learning and training demand, the supply side is relatively under-developed. Most of the learning and training needs that were identified by consultees throughout the study can be classified as either 'specific' to CP (such as awareness of the work of partner organisations, their budgeting systems and their institutional cultures) or 'generic' (such as managing meetings and effective presentation skills). The generic needs appear to be relatively well served and provision is available through a range of private, public and voluntary sector providers for many of the elements of the Learning Development Framework.
5.5 However, to source development services to address specific CP needs, the CPPs are inclined to approach those providers with whom they have worked in the past. This locally-led and unco-ordinated approach to accessing learning and development has several drawbacks for those accessing the provision:
- There are information deficiencies in the current marketplace for CP-specific provision, with relatively few suppliers. This drives up costs of provision.
- Owing to the lack of integrated efforts in accessing learning and development provision, duplication might be taking place.
- By not accessing provision in an integrated way within a CPP - or even across CPPs in a region perhaps - there are no opportunities to spread development costs.
5.6 In recognising that a range of different skills, competencies, attitudes and behaviours are required to operate effectively in CP, consultees also recognised that the nature and location of the learning and development experience is very important. For example, needs related to awareness-raising or knowledge acquisition can often be delivered through 'formal' training or even self-directed learning. However, such an approach might be counter-productive where the learning need is more action-oriented and where sharing values, acquiring personal skills or behaviour adoption are the key focus. Such learning needs might be addressed more effectively within a 'real' and interactive learning environment.
5.7 Despite this understanding, most consultees pointed to evidence of more formal learning methods up to now. This might be partially explained by a relative lack of awareness by the consultees of some of the more informal modes of learning and development and how these might be accessed. This is something which will be addressed later in the report. Indeed, one interviewee stated that the distinction between 'consultancy' provision and 'development' provision is often blurred, from both the learner's and the provider's perspective. This suggests that the more informal learning and development needs of individuals, perhaps related to understanding behaviours and attitudes, are in danger of being overlooked due to the nature of the more readily available and more 'formalised' provision within the marketplace.
5.8 Another related issue is that of the perceived relevance of more informal forms of learning to individuals within CPPs. Despite recognition that training, learning and capacity building must be integrated with the actual work and objectives of the CPP - including engaging with communities - most consultees had not yet thought about how that might be done. It will be important to formulate an approach to learning and development that reinforces the linkages between the CPP and more community-based activity. Such an approach will assist in ensuring that capacity building activity takes place 'vertically' within the wider CP environment, as well as 'horizontally' across the partner agencies.
THE CAPACITY BUILDING SERVICES AVAILABLE
5.9 In Appendix 2 there is a list of capacity building opportunities that have been identified by consultees and by additional research. It is not exhaustive and it does not attempt to identify all training providers or material developed who work - for instance - in Influencing Skills or in Project Management. It is enough to indicate that such provision exists and to acknowledge that opportunities exist to customise such provision to focus it more clearly on the key learning issues of CP.
5.10 The Appendix focuses on some of the more innovative or challenging provision and on some of the high volume programmes that are in place to develop capacity in areas closely related to CP. It will be seen that some of the more significant programmes are available in England, for instance, the work on the Public Service Leaders Scheme being led by the Centre for Management and Policy Studies (CMPS), where the first 100 members had been trained by October 2001. However, there are a significant number of providers in Scotland working with individual partner organisations.
5.11 The "Working Together, Learning Together" programme is significant. Funded by the Scottish Executive, it has provided capacity building for 900 people involved in SIPs and Working for Communities pathfinders. Training has been modular, extending to 9 days per participant. The evaluation of this programme is nearing completion.
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