Building Capacities for Sustainable Development

The book deals mainly with two components of development, the first being the improved approaches, tools and other requirements for a better planning and implementation of development programmes; and secondly, the concept of human resource development and building capacities among professionals and people to reciprocate as partners in the development process. There is a growing realization that empowerment can not be achieved, with out sharpening the mind-set of the disadvantaged people, as also the project administrators. Field experiences reveal that, it may be preferable to devote more efforts and resources directly to facilitation and promotional components of capacity building and empowerment process, rather than investing time and resources for justifying the failure of interventions at a later stage. In order to fill the gaps in capacities of development functionaries and to improve human resources, many international development agencies are investing huge amounts on the Training of Trainers (TOT). This book, as a tool, is intended to fulfill the following objectives: (1) To provide local trainers with guidelines on how to conduct training and impart professional working skills to development functionaries; and (2) To provide functional and managerial skills for the administrators and project manager. The book covers a wide range of topics and issues, such as, sustainable development, strategic planning, log framework, models of empowering, participatory approaches to planning, implementation and evaluation, and improving professional skills among development functionaries. Skills that are essential for day to day work of professionals, such as, planning and training skills, documentation and reporting skills, supervisory skills, team building and decision making skills, communication skills and evaluation skills are delineated in the book. The book provides practical advice to those institutions, NGOs and agencies responsible for designing and executing development projects. Since, it is all about building capacities and human resources development, the book would serve as a valuable guide for all professionals involved in training development personnel, planners, scholars, administrators and students of social work and community development.