Capacity Building and Empowerment: A panacea and a challenge for agency-university engagement

Abstract

Capacity building is an effective strategy for promoting organizational change and/or improving the quality of social services. In this article I present an empowerment approach to capacity building. In doing so I propose a number of principles that can promote capacity building and collaboration between social service agencies and universities from an empowerment perspective: keeping the control of the capacity building process in the agency; developing competencies that matter to the people in the agency; engaging in supportive roles; maintaining a strengths-based approach to capacity building; focusing on sustainability, institutionalization and utilization of acquired skills; and paying attention to cultural and contextual issues. Further, the challenges and benefits of the empowerment approach to university-agency collaboration are discussed in this article.

Ethical collaboration and the need for training: Partnerships between Native American Tribes and climate science organisations

“…Formalising and publicising best practices in preparing and facilitating these partnerships is especially important (Lazrus & Gough 2013). Educational programs and training interventions are most likely to be effective when they are based on clearly articulated theories of behaviour change (Townsend et al 2003), and when they provide knowledge and skills that fill a perceived need by their audience (Suarez-Balcazar et al 2008). Using a theoretically grounded program may allow for creation of a basic ethical STEM training program that can be implemented -with appropriate cultural revision -in many research contexts.…”

“…Tribes and CSOs should include ethical STEM training for researchers in organisational protocols in order to provide this training consistently. Dedicated commitment by these organisations is necessary, not only in achieving the goals of, in this case, promoting ethical STEM, but also in ensuring that these training programs are sustained over time (Suarez-Balcazar et al 2008).…”

Hospitable Planet: Faith, Action, and Climate Change by Stephen A. Jurovics. New York, USA: Morehouse Publishing, 2016. 155 pp. ISBN 978-0-8192-3253-3

“…They also act as champions both to garner commitment from partners, as well as public approval of the importance of the social issue that inspired the formation of and the remedies proposed by the partnership (Woulfe et al, 2010). Overall, leadership is important for stimulating the synergy, participation, and success of a collaborative partnership (Butcher, Bezzina, & Moran, 2011;Crosby & Bryson, 2005;El Ansari, Oskrochi, & Phillips, 2009;Gray, Mayan, Lo, Jhangri, & Wilson, 2012;Suarez-Balcazar, Balcazar, Taylor-Ritzler, & Iriarte, 2008;Zakocs & Edwards, 2006).…”

Capacity Building Approach and Application: Utilization of Earth Observation Data and Geospatial Information Technology in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

“…Like other developing countries, the countries in the HKH region also lack the human, technical, and institutional capacities to deal with many of these challenges (World Bank, 2005;GEO, 2006;Merino and Carmenado, 2012;ECBI, 2018). Thus, they require customized capacity building approach and implementation programs which enhance organizational and technical abilities, as well as relationships and values that enable countries, organizations, groups, and individuals to carry out relevant functions and achieve their development objectives (Morgan, 2006;Balcazar et al, 2008;Whittle et al, 2012;Chandler and Kennedy, 2015). The challenges are multifaceted as they influence actions at local, subnational, national, and regional scales.…”