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Table of resources
Section One: General resources
Title Strengthening Communities: a guide to capacity building for communities and the public sector | Author(s) Steve Skinner |
Date 2006 | Publisher/ web link Community Development Foundation, London
www.cdf.org.uk | Geographical focus UK wide (with English material) | Theme / topic focus Capacity building in community groups and public sector organisations |
Size 150 pages | Accessibility Abstract ideas, but presented clearly with plenty of checklists and 'stories' | Cost £19.95 | Coverage All aspects of community capacity building |
Type Book: general introduction and guide to capacity building | Primary audience People designing, planning and providing capacity building activities in community, voluntary and public sectors; could include community groups |
Summary of content Introduction to principles and current practice; provides guidelines, checklists, frameworks and examples from the field for all stages. Emphasises the need both for growth in communities and changes in agencies, to which it gives equal importance. Introduces and uses the 'four building blocks' of capacity building: Building Skills, Building Organisations, Building Involvement and Building Equality. Includes material on effective community engagement. Does not claim to teach practical skills, but includes some 'Resources' including useful short guides to assessing needs and strengths and to evaluating capacity building. |
Comments / assessment A key source for a comprehensive overview of capacity building, providing clarity about what it is and is not, and well presented guides to its component elements. Almost certainly the best single guide to capacity building currently available. Although it claims to be designed for use 'across Britain' the policy information quoted is exclusively English, and this is not made clear. However the great majority of the material is entirely relevant to Scottish issues. |
Title Learning, Evaluation and Planning ( LEAP) | Author(s) Alan Barr & others (Scottish Community Development Centre) |
Date 2002 onwards | Publisher/ web link Printed resources: Community Development Foundation
http://www.cdf.org.uk On-line resources, including links to other download sites:
http://leap.scdc.org.uk/ | Geographical focus Scotland/ UK | Theme / topic focus Participative evaluation and planning. |
Size LEAP Handbook
76 pages LEAP Step-by-Step
12 pages LEAP for Health
92 pages etc | Accessibility Whilst the basic model is abstract, it has been widely used with success and is presented with many practical examples of indicators etc. Training is available, including a network of trained facilitators | Cost Handbook £17.95; LEAP Step-by-Step £5.00 Free downloads: LEAP for Health; LEAP for Volunteering; trainer's support manual; case studies; Online Learning object | Coverage All aspects of project, programme and policy planning and development |
Type Practice framework (and, for health projects, support service) | Primary audience All participants in planning and delivery of community-based programmes and projects |
Summary of content The core is a five stage model of the planning and evaluation process, led by the identification of desired outcomes. LEAP presents substantial step by step guidance and practical examples on the identification of outcomes, possible indicators and all other stages in the process. Tables for use in action planning are provided. It identifies five dimensions of building community capacity. |
Comments / assessment LEAP has become the main framework for planning and evaluating CLD activity, and is widely used in community health work. It is a tool to help agencies and communities to plan and evaluate their work in partnership. It can also be used to help people think about the purposes of community development and capacity building and how the results can be identified. |
Also: Greenspace LEAP Handbook, £35 from Greenspace Scotland
http://www.greenspacescotland.org.uk/default.asp?page=195
Printed copy of LEAP for Health Handbook available from NHS Health Scotland (£6)
Title The Community Development Challenge | Author(s) Community Development Foundation (with working party of Community Development Exchange, Federation for Community Development Learning and others) |
Date 2006 | Publisher/ web link Department for Communities and Local Government
http://www.communities.gov.uk/* | Geographical focus Mainly England, but contains much discussion of principles that apply well in Scotland | Theme / topic focus Community development |
Size 60 pages | Accessibility Abstract, but clearly presented, containing practice examples, summary diagrams etc | Cost £15 (free download) | Coverage The community development approach and its policy implications |
Type Summary review of principles and evidence aimed at influencing policy | Primary audience Policy makers, strategy planners, practitioners |
Summary of content Looks at the current state of CD and assesses what steps might be necessary to raise its profile and effectiveness. Asks "What does community development do that other occupations don't do? Identifies 'Capacity Builder' as one of 4 key roles (with Change Agent, Access Facilitator and Service Developer). Looks at who currently does CD and the resource, training and other obstacles to making it more effective. Concludes with a vision and recommendations for delivering CD more effectively. |
Comments / assessment Makes the case more clearly than almost any other source for the often largely invisible role of community development in making other objectives such as community engagement possible. Offers perspectives that may currently be missing from strategic discussions about capacity building and community engagement, and should be used to influence these. References to policy and practice refer to England, but this does not appear to weaken the relevance of the main arguments. |
* http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/153241
Title Community Toolbox | Author(s) University of Kansas |
Date (Regularly updated website) | Publisher/ web link http://ctb.ku.edu/ | Geographical focus USA | Theme / topic focus Skills for community action and development |
Size "Over 6,000 pages" | Accessibility Short topic based sections with plenty of summaries and links | Cost Not applicable (reproduction allowed if credit given to source) | Coverage All aspects of community development |
Type Web based guidance and tools | Primary audience Practitioners, community activists |
Summary of content The Tool Box "practical skill-building information ... to support your work in promoting community health and development" (there is no specific focus on 'health' in a narrow sense). Over 250 Sections "provide training in specific skills of community work". Each section includes a description of the task, advantages of doing it, step-by-step guidelines, examples, checklists of points to review, and training materials. "16 core competencies involved in doing this work" (such as 'evaluation', 'cultural competence') are covered by extensive 'toolkits' breaking each down into guidance on a large number of specific topics. Users can also register for on-line forums. |
Comments / assessment This is probably the biggest freely available collection of such material world-wide. Based inevitably on a very limited reading, the 'tools' provided appear to offer sound general guidance on a wide variety of capacity building issues, without being unduly culturally specific to the USA. Many sections could be useful as quick reminders of issues and approaches. Others appear as potential tools for more substantive use: e.g. a 'trouble-shooting guide' to 'Common Problems in Working for Community Health and Development' which states possible problems (e.g. 'we don't have enough members'), breaks each one down into issues and links back to appropriate guidance on each issue. Links to other resources are largely US oriented. |
Title Achieving Better Community Development (ABCD) | Author(s) Alan Barr and Stuart Hashagen (Scottish Community Development Centre) |
Date 2000 | Publisher/ web link Community Development Foundation
www.cdf.org.uk | Geographical focus UK and Ireland | Theme / topic focus Community development |
Size Handbook: 92 pages Resource Pack: 110 pages Case studies: 50 pages | Accessibility Basic model clear; presentation can be abstract; best supported by internal or external facilitation | Cost ABCD Handbook: £10.95 Trainers Resource Pack: £28.00 Working with ABCD case studies £14.95 | Coverage Nature of community development; planning and evaluation |
Type Practice framework, explained in handbook and other printed resources; training available in support | Primary audience Community development workers and managers; community groups |
Summary of content ABCD is a programme of training and supporting materials, developed by the Scottish Community Development Centre. It provides a framework for understanding community development, and a model for planning and evaluating community development activity. It encourages people to be clear about what they are trying to achieve and how they should go about it, and helps them to develop a theory of how community development happens and how to measure changes. It sets out a broad framework, but does not detail the specific measures or processes to use. |
Comments / assessment ABCD provides a general framework through which organisations can think about what community development means to them. It is particularly applicable to monitoring and evaluation but has also been used in planning, skill development, needs assessment, visioning and staff supervision. It provides ideas and models that can be used in whole or part, rather than a process that must be worked through. |
Title How Good is Our Community Learning and Development?2 | Author(s) HM Inspectorate of Education |
Date 2006 | Publisher/ web link HMIE
http://www.hmie.gov.uk/* | Geographical focus Scotland | Theme / topic focus Quality improvement in community learning and development |
Size 89 pages | Accessibility Systematically laid out with clear illustrative examples. Not appropriate for use as general learning aid without further selection/ introduction | Cost £20.00 Free download | Coverage Quality and performance indicators |
Type Self-evaluation/ Inspection framework | Primary audience CLD practitioners and managers |
Summary of content Introduction to self-evaluation. Performance and quality indicators for all aspects of CLD - measures, examples of possible evidence, illustrations of achievement at two out of six possible levels |
Comments / assessment Defines the whole range of CLD activity from the point of view of the generic delivery and management process involved and impacts sought. Apart from 'Impact on the community' indicators, the emphasis is inevitably on how well service providers engage with communities and deliver their services. Capacity building elements would need to be identified and extracted. |
* http://www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/publication/hgio2cld.html
Title Skills in Neighbourhood Work | Author(s) Paul Henderson & David N Thomas |
Date 3 rd edition 2002 | Publisher/ web link Routledge, London | Geographical focus Principally UK, includes international perspectives | Theme / topic focus Neighbourhood Work |
Size 280 pages | Accessibility Though not excessively 'academic' in style, this is a substantial book, with no teaching aids | Cost £20.99 | Coverage All stages of neighbourhood work |
Type Practice handbook | Primary audience Practitioners, students |
Summary of content Explains the skills, knowledge and techniques needed by community workers and other practitioners to work effectively in and with communities. Takes the reader systematically through the process of intervening in a neighbourhood, assessing its needs, getting people involved, helping to form and build organisations , links with decision makers and other groups and 'endings'. Appendix by Ruth Stewart on 'community auditing'. |
Comments / assessment Based strongly on practice experience. Although the book does not describe the processes involved as 'capacity building', it acknowledges a strong link with that concept. In fact, any process of capacity building that genuinely builds fundamental capacity in neighbourhoods (as opposed, say to simply working with established groups) would need to deal with all the issues covered here. This is therefore an important basic guide, and though perhaps difficult to use in training, sections dealing with particular issues could be extracted and used. |
Title Start with People: How community organisations put citizens in the driving seat | Author(s) Paul Skidmore and John Craig |
Date 2005 | Publisher/ web link Demos, London
http://www.demos.co.uk* | Geographical focus UK (includes Scottish & N Ireland case studies) | Theme / topic focus Participation and the role of community organisations |
Size 101 pages | Accessibility Mixes abstract theory throughout with personal and practice examples, and a conversational style. Lacks summary resources. | Cost £10 (free download) | Coverage Foundations of participation in community capacity |
Type 'Think Tank' report | Primary audience Policy makers, strategy planners, students |
Summary of content Report of research and case studies funded by the Big Lottery Fund to help provide evidence about the effects of participation, whether involvement in community organisations helps people to connect with wider society, and the processes at work in organisations that make it possible for them to engage their users, members or citizens effectively. Links participation to debates on social capital and democracy. Describes how case study organisations created 'participative experiences' by: working through and as networks; "giving users a voice while improving the acoustics of the institutions in which they speak"; the power of hope and shared expectations of communities' capacity. Spells out the implications of each. |
Comments / assessment The study starts from the policy requirement for 'participation' but emphasises the need to 'build communities of participation' "which offer people the widest possible range of opportunities through which, and the widest possible range of settings in which, to play a more active role in shaping the decisions that affect their lives". It would therefore be useful specifically for people thinking about why capacity building may be needed for community engagement. In general, it comes at familiar issues from sometimes unexpected angles, and could stimulate some valuable debates. |
* http://www.demos.co.uk/files/startwithpeople.pdf
Title 'Firm Foundations' | Author(s) Civil Renewal Unit |
Date 2004 | Publisher/ web link Home Office (now Dept of Communities etc)
http://www.communities.gov.uk/* | Geographical focus England | Theme / topic focus Capacity Building |
Size 32 pages plus appendices | Accessibility Succinct, substantial space given to examples, useful summaries and checklists | Cost Free (print or download) | Coverage Capacity building principles |
Type Policy framework | Primary audience English policy makers, strategy planners and practitioners |
Summary of content "The government's framework for community capacity building in England". Defines community capacity building and its focus. Identifies six principles for action, and a 'framework for action' at local and regional level: learning opportunities, 'community anchor organisations', local action planning and collaboration between local and national levels. An Appendix gives a 1_ page statement of the values and outcomes of community development. |
Comments / assessment Although the approaches described do not carry the same official backing in Scotland, they are described in ways that are applicable anywhere, with useful short summaries and checklists on issues such as: key components of support at a neighbourhood level; menus of learning opportunities; benefits of local action planning. All of these could be very useful in a Scottish context e.g. to inform local strategies. |
* http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/152480
Title Building Community Strengths: A Resource Book on Capacity Building | Author(s) Steve Skinner |
Date 1997 | Publisher/ web link Community Development Foundation
www.cdf.org.uk | Geographical focus UK | Theme / topic focus Community capacity building |
Size 136 pages | Accessibility Designed for practical/ reference use, though you may need to hunt around for what you need | Cost £18.50 | Coverage Community capacity building |
Type Training/reference handbook | Primary audience Practitioners, students |
Summary of content "A comprehensive guide to strengthening capacity of local community groups". Works systematically through definitions and principles, developing people, organisations, infrastructure and strategies, with guidelines, descriptions of practical methods, checklists, case studies and further reading lists throughout. |
Comments / assessment This has to some extent been superseded by Skinner's 'Strengthening Communities', but is more specific about methods than the later publication and can still be used as a source of practical guidelines to the entire field. |
Title North Lanarkshire Framework and Toolkit for Community Capacity Building | Author(s) North Lanarkshire Council |
Date 2006 | Publisher/ web link (Provided by North Lanarkshire Council) | Geographical focus North Lanarkshire (but mostly generic in nature) | Theme / topic focus Capacity building work by CLD staff |
Size Framework: 16 pages Toolkit: 37 pages | Accessibility Uses typical community development terminology, based on the sources of the material used | Cost For availability contact Senior Community Learning & Development Worker (Capacity Building) 0141 304 1551 | Coverage Process of working with groups from initial contact to exit |
Type Practical guide for local workers | Primary audience CLD workers in North Lanarkshire |
Summary of content The 'Framework' consists of definitions and checklists, mainly drawn from material reviewed elsewhere here. The 'Toolkit' aims to bring a degree of standardisation to decisions about the amount of time and resources devoted to particular groups. Includes general introduction to capacity building purposes and roles, contact sheet and health check for early contacts, and describes subsequent stages, recommending use of LEAP, plus guidelines for creating a database of relevant information on each group. |
Comments / assessment One of the most useful summary guides that we have seen drawn together at local level. Other areas could pull something similar together using material from the resources reviewed in this report. |
Title Aberdeenshire Community Capacity Building Handbook | Author(s) Aberdeenshire Council |
Date 2004 onwards | Publisher/ web link (Provided by Aberdeenshire Council) | Geographical focus Aberdeenshire, but some items of general interest | Theme / topic focus Capacity building work by CLD staff |
Size Large number of separate documents | Accessibility Mostly quite short and user friendly | Cost For availability contact Aberdeenshire CLD service | Coverage Policies and procedures to be adopted by staff |
Type Practical guide for local workers | Primary audience Aberdeenshire Council Community Learning and Development Services staff and partners |
Summary of content The 'Handbook' is intended to provide a statement of the Council's interpretation of Community Capacity Building, the methods by which it expects targets to be achieved, a recording framework and tools, which can be used by staff to achieve targets. As circulated in Aberdeenshire it contains a variety of documents of local applicability e.g. Health and Safety and Equal Opportunities policies and national material (e.g. National Standards for Community Engagement). Local items of potential general interest include: - A Strategy Statement containing summaries of 'the three elements of Building Community Capacity' and the contribution of the CLD service.
- A Reporting Framework, including Initial Project Task Report, Developing a Mission Statement form, Developing a Community Group Action Plan, Community Group Action Plan Checklist (to demonstrate progress), Project Assessment Report and Organisational Health Check for Community Groups
- 'Tools' including Community Profile Template; Guidance notes for staff on Community Needs Assessment; SWOT analysis guide etc
|
Comments / assessment Practical examples of how to document good practice for and by local staff and integrate national and local materials. More likely to be a source of ideas that might be adapted rather than for direct use elsewhere. |
Title Eldis Participation Resource Guide | Author(s) Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex |
Date (Constantly updated website) | Publisher/ web link http://www.eldis.org/participation/ | Geographical focus World | Theme / topic focus Participation |
Size Large! | Accessibility Lots of loosely structured material, but plenty of aids to navigation around the site | Cost Not applicable | Coverage Development (urban and rural) |
Type Web portal/ guide to resources | Primary audience Practitioners, students and teachers |
Summary of content This is part of a much wider resource, funded by the Department for International Development amongst others, which provides access to resources on development issues. The 'participation' section includes news (with RSS newsfeed); extensive weblinks by subject; descriptions of and links to a large number of other resources e.g. 22 specifically on 'capacity building', 25 on 'participatory monitoring and evaluation'. |
Comments / assessment Gives access to an enormous range of material. Whilst there may be few uses in Scotland for 'Using African proverbs to understand organisational culture', a browse on the site is likely to spark ideas and lead to the discovery of unexpected resources, some of which may well be applicable in the local context |
Other resources
We considered including the National Occupational Standards for Community Development as a resource. They are clearly and simply worded, and could, for example, be used to inform training or presentations on capacity building. The Standards do not in fact distinguish capacity building as a category within community development, and all of them could be seen as to some extent relevant. But the long list of Standards makes them unwieldy as a resource for any sort of direct use. Available at: http://www.lifelonglearninguk.org/documents/standards/cdw_nos.pdf
We also considered 'Lessons for Community Capacity Building: A Summary of Research Evidence' by Michael Chapman and Karryn Kirk, published by Scottish Homes in 2001. This works systematically through evidence on capacity building at levels from personal to networks, the role of intermediary organisations and funding issues. It is reasonably accessible for an academic research report, but is not structured for use as a learning aid. It may still be a useful guide to the available literature for people seeking to scope strategy or learning for capacity building and covers some neglected topics such as the role of intermediaries. The policy context is now a little out of date. www.scot-homes.gov.uk/pdfs/pubs/260.pdf
We reviewed the Department of Communities and Local Government's 'Together We Can' initiative ( http://www.togetherwecan.info/) which brings together a series of English Guide Neighbourhoods, public body 'Champions' etc. Various newsletters and other items are available, but nothing that appears to be compelling as a resource for use in a Scottish context. The 'Active Citizenship Centre' contains links to a wide range of research and resources, and 'Together we can in action' a range of brief local case studies.
'Local Community Involvement: A Handbook for Good Practice' by Gabriel Chanan (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions/ Community Development Foundation, 1999). Sets out in very general terms, intended for cross-national understanding and use, the role of communities, the role of community development, issues in extending participation, the potential for evaluation etc. An excellent overview, but other resources cover similar ground. http://www.eurofound.eu.int/pubdocs/1998/73/en/1/ef9873en.pdf
We considered the 'Training for Transformation' series but have not had copies available to review. 'Training for Transformation: a handbook for community workers' by Anne Hope and Sally Timmel is in four volumes. Based on experience particularly in South Africa and the USA, it is designed to assist workers who are encouraging the development of self-reliant creative communities. Book one is about the theory; Book two is focused on the skills necessary for participatory education; Book three deals with the analysis necessary to develop critical awareness, long-term planning and solidarity. Most relevant, perhaps would be Book four ( ITDG Publishing, 1999; £14.95) which is a practical workbook with examples and exercises relating particularly to the environment; gender and development; ethnic and racial conflict; intercultural understanding; and building participatory governance.
Several other international resources are available: Capacity.org ( http://www.capacity.org/) is a "web magazine-cum-portal" produced by the European Centre for Development Policy Management, United Nations Development Programme and others "for practitioners and policy makers who work in or on capacity development in international cooperation in the South". An interesting but not comprehensive range of articles and resources are included.
'Coming Together: building collaboration and consensus' ( http://www.communitycollaboration.net/) is a US site that "contains extensive information on Collaboration and Public Participation with an emphasis on Youth Participation", which includes simple but not particularly excitingly presented checklists and summaries.
The 'Community Building Resource Exchange' ( http://www.commbuild.org/) is another US site, by the Aspen Foundation. It "provides a broad array of resources and information about innovative community building efforts to revitalize poor neighbourhoods and improve the life circumstances of residents and their families". It lists resources including articles from academic journals, reports, evaluations, case studies, and links that might be particularly helpful to people studying community involvement in regeneration.
We also reviewed a limited amount of material submitted by other local authorities. Those that we have not included in this section or elsewhere were felt to be either too specific to local management processes or simple local adaptations of material from elsewhere.
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