Concluding Remarks and Next Steps

A variety of models, frameworks and practical tools can be used during a process of building the capacity of CSOs to analyses and adapt appropriately to their complex environments. These provide some thoughts about how organizational capacity building can move beyond a focus on technical and management capacities to look more holistically at capacity development. However, it is also clear that the key to building analytical and adaptive capacity is not so much in the frameworks and tools themselves but the way in which they are applied. It is also clear that many questions and challenges remain in relation to putting the concepts and approaches presented in this paper into practice. These include:
• What enables some organizations in rapidly changing environments to perceive and respond more effectively to triggers for change than others?
• Are there effective and appropriate ways of mapping and scanning the environment?
• What conditions enhance and constrain the development of analytical and adaptive capacity both at individual and organizational levels?
• Is it possible for CSOs to manage both reductionist and systems thinking? How could this be supported?
• What capacities would CSOs need to develop in order to plan effectively whilst also being open to emergent opportunities? Are these appropriate in situations where organizations struggle even to carry out core activities?
• How can organizations be supported to ensure a ‘safe’ enabling environment for critical reflection, experimentation and risk-taking?
• How can the transition from organizational analysis to adaptation be facilitated?
• Can solutions be developed which combine both generic and adaptive elements which respond to historical, political, economic, cultural and social contexts and the way that these change over time?
• How can donors be encouraged to look beyond the linear pursuit of pre-selected outcomes and allow flexibility for both planned and emergent strategies?
• How can monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment methodologies be used to measure the development of analytical and adaptive capacities and contribute to organizational effectiveness?
It is hoped that the lessons shared by practitioners in the field will gradually produce some of the answers – and raise other critical questions. The Praxis Programme aims to engage with a wide range of civil society support providers and researchers and provide a space for mutual learning from experiences. In particular, Praxis believes that local practitioners in developing and transitional countries have a key part to play in generating new ideas and approaches.