The Dhulikel market place for providers and beneficiaries of capacity development services was a first in Nepal. Rural organizations normally don’t buy services to improve their performance. National programs decide what is needed and buy training packages in bulk from consulting firms. That is supposed to be cheaper. Well is it? The 40+ rural organizations in the Dhulikel…

For my work in Myanmar I have recently reviewed concepts of empowerment and civil society. Here are some old and new thoughts about it. (Cartoon from The Powercube)

Personal Power

My friend…

In a rare moment of being out of the movie studios, John Cleese offered his thoughts on creativity, training and development. It is funny, engaging, witty and punchy. More…

There are only a few at CBA6 who have discovered the benefits of social media for their personal development and personal effectiveness.  Most still  think they do not have the time for tweets and that sort of stuff.



I thoughht that talking about time saving and other advantages of an online CBA community  would help to get people excited. I…

The room was packed yesterday for the CBA6 session on integration with Ecosystems Based Adaptation. It was the most energized athmosphere that I witnessed so far at CBA6 (but hey, I have not been to any of the out-of-the-box sessions which I hear are super too!).

Some of the CBA crowd may frown a bit, because Ecosystems Based Adaptation comes out of…

I am on a quest to find common ground for a CBA community of practice.

There are a few issues that were mentioned yesterday at CBA6, the 6th conference on Community Based Adaptation (live coverage here or follow #CBA6…

Over a year ago I started my first consultancy in the climate change community. I am a capacity development facilitator, so my first interest was in finding out what others are doing. I got completely lost in the forest of climate change websites and portals, and to get in touch with the right people was next to impossible.

For instance, I was…

With development loosing political interest in much of Europe, It has become even more important that stories of grassroots organizations get told and heard. Local organizations however usually dread reporting time, and most will not see monitoring and reporting as an opportunity to learn.

So when I was asked to facilitate a seminar in Myanmar with local organizations…

My client wanted to have a panel in the seminar for grassroots organisations in Myanmar. They had invited interesting guest speakers, but I have developed an allergy for panels with 4 times 15 minutes presentation, after which the audience can ask questions. I learned that very few people are capable of delivering a memorable presentation. Moreover, many speakers take longer than the planned quarter of an hour, so that time for audience questions is reduced to a bare minimum. And then each…

The recent report on Aid Effectiveness is now out. Does aid still work? Are they still effective? Get the report…

I was checking out events on International Women's Day, next week the 8th of March. Then I remembered that Vietnam has its own National Women's Day on the 20st of October. That day has grown into something like Valentines Day, or Mothers Day. Women expect to receive flowers and to get pampered by…

Over the weekend, I followed a tweet to test your role in a community of practice. It comes just at the right time, when I am preparing to facilitate an online community for the first time in my life. I thought it might help me recognise various types of…

Re-posting this series from the early days of how-matters.org…

Most development workers know that development depends on people's own initiatives. Yet, that is easier said then done. How do you then help people to develop? It's a profession! That's why SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, an international NGO, is investing in professional development of its advisors.

I…

You guessed it! Project management is discovering more and more uses of the power of the ever present cellphones. Like the internet, cellphones reached the remote rural areas much faster than refrigerators, TV, radio and even electricity did.

Now, cellphones are used in Monitoring and Evaluations (M&E). it will be interesting to have more case studies…

The international organisation I am working with at the moment has been succesfully supporting the government with multi-stakeholder sector development. All donors and international technical assistance providers, including the organisation I'm consulting with, have agreed to align within one national program. International consultants have just arrived in the country for step two in the design of a multi-donor supported program.

Yesterday I discovered that the national government…

2011 was the year in which I discovered what social media can do for me. I’m intrigued by how using social media changes me, or rather changes the way in which I work and connect professionally. For the Dutch course I am following on social media and change, I read a book on the subject. Finding books like…

Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for. Lawrence Block

There was a week in november that really added to my collection for "Beads". I was getting ready for a big climate change event (see…

Last Friday we were out with a group of work-friends to celebrate two weeks of excellent teamwork. Monica, the communications officer, and I had send a tweet into the world to summarize the main insights gained, or rather confirmed in the context of Nepal, and linked it to my earlier blog on the issue

Tweet: Capacity Development is…