Building the capacity of communities

Supporting the capacity of community organisations to take effective action and a leading role in the development of their communities. Typical courses we deliver are:

Assessing community strengths/SCORE

½ day or 1 day course: this course covers the key elements of strong communities and related community capacity building support. Training and consultancy support can be tailored to meet local need but will normally include: 

• understanding the features and uses of community strengths assessments
• becoming familiar with the different stages involved in assessing community strengths
• identifying the different skills needed to carry out the tasks involved in an assessment
• developing a strategy for implementing a community strengths assessment
• exploring ways of dealing with some of the potential issues/challenges that may arise
• feeling confident in applying the assessment process

This course can be accompanied by the publication 'Assessing Community Strengths' by Steve Skinner and Mandy Wilson.

Building effective organisations/achieving community change

1 day course: this course covers the key elements and processes involved in building strong community groups and organisations and explores how community organisations can best prepare their case for change, build alliances and support, and develop strategies for sustainable change. Training and support can be adapted to meet local need, but will typically cover:

• how to identify community needs and issues
• how to assess community strengths and weaknesses
• how to build alliances
• how to research, prepare and present a case for change
• understanding an advocacy and negotiating role
• how to maximise community involvement and accountability
• how and why to engage excluded groups
• how and why to work with others
• how and why to plan and evaluate

'Developing a Community Capacity Building Strategy'

This training is primarily for managers or senior staff in Community Learning and Development, or other sectors, responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating a community capacity building strategy in the context of community planning or at organisational/service level.  Training can be adapted to meet local need but typical learning outcomes are as follows:

• An understanding of the principles and purpose of community capacity building
• An understanding of the current policy context for community capacity building
• An understanding of the relationship between community capacity building and community engagement and the way in which community capacity building contributes to wider quality of life outcomes.
• An understanding of the way in which current tools and frameworks can be used to assess, build and evaluate community capacity