Capacity-Building for Knowledge Generation

by Anke van der Kwaak, Hermen Ormel, Annemiek Richter

Capacity-building is key to sustainable development efforts and over the past decades has also enjoyed considerable attention in the field of health and development. However, perspectives on what capacity-building (or capacity development) means, what it intends to achieve and which strategies are most effective differ, depending on the context and the perspectives of a variety of stakeholders. This book aims to contribute to conceptual reflection and to share experiences regarding a range of capacity development approaches in different contexts that have in common that they are situated outside formal lecture hall settings and intend to contribute to knowledge generation. In Capacity-building for knowledge generation: Experiences in the context of health and development, professionals and scholars reflect on different strategies for capacity-building, ranging from empowerment, writeshops and strengthening of research capacity to stakeholder analysis, knowledge management and mind mapping. Prior to this, capacity-building related concepts and definitions and a framework for interpreting the various experiences are presented.The book contains seven chapters, each of which presents one of more cases of action learning or capacity development. These cases have engaged the research and non-governmental communities in diverse settings in -- mostly -- Africa. All aimed to strengthen intellectual engagement and the culture of enquiry, as part of a knowledge translation process. This means that not only knowledge institutes and researchers participated but also problem owners, policymakers, practitioners, advocates and other end-users of research. This book intends to cater to the demand for knowledge and ideas among these same groups.