A) Capitalize is to transform the experience into shareable knowledge 1. The capitalization Capitalization is the iterative process through which are

Transcription

1 Capitalize is to transform the experience into shareable knowledge Nome società Handbook for capitalization

2 A) Capitalize is to transform the experience into shareable knowledge 1. The capitalization Capitalization is the iterative process through which are identified and valued the good experiences with its successes and unsuccessful aspects, through this process this good experiences become lessons and tools for improving an territory or an organization. Through the capitalization process the best practice or the good practices can be identified, changed and improved and can be adopted by others. For a local governance, for an organization about to progress and adapt to change, they must become a learning local governance or a learning organization which draws lessons from its experiences and from others experiences in order to identify and understand good practices. These good or best practices will improve the way the local governance, the local communities or a single organization works. They can be applied to specific contexts, institutionalized, shared and replicated at different levels: from local to international. However, if no action is taken to analyse, capitalize and share the knowledge gained in programmes and projects, the memory will not be transmitted, the same mistakes will be repeated, the success of the experiences will not be known and opportunities for improved practices will be lost, thereby preventing the sharing of good practices. A territory, a local community, an organization can turn knowledge into action through knowledge sharing and capitalization of experiences. So we can say that the capitalization has the following goals: - To define the good and the best practices; - To analize the good and the best practices about their transferability and applicability in other context or organization; - To use the good or best practices as learning instruments about to improve knowledge. The capitalization can help the local communities to learn from others projects or others metodologies applied in differents territories. It can be a good instrument for to manage the changing at different levels: local, regional, national or international.

3 2 The capitalization process The capitalization process consists in more steps organised according to the following timetable: 1. Identification of the experience/ good practice that can be capitalised 2. Analyses of the experience/good practice about its positive or negative aspects; 3. Analyses of its transferibility in other contexts or organizations 4. Valorisation of the experience by transforming into usable information 5. Systematically integrate experience capitalization into the project cycle; 6. Use participatory methodologies (to ensure effective involvement of stakeholders) during the transferibility process; 7. To use a plan for monitoring and evaluation the diferent steps of the capitalization process; 8. Follow approaches that are useful to the process, such as analytical, self-evaluation and self-criticism approaches, and be open to criticism and changes; 9. to Use Communication and dissemination of experience gained. 10. Use knowledge sharing methods and tools; 11. Take gender into account (in order to include the specificities of target groups).

4 3 What difference between good practice and best practice? A good practice is not only a practice that is good, but a practice that has been proven to work well and produce good results, and is therefore recommended as a model. It is a successful experience, which has been tested and validated, in the broad sense, which has been repeated and deserves to be shared so that a greater number of people can adopt it. The best practices can be defined as the best examples of practices: which methods, tools, or approaches have been shown to be the best in a specific situation. As is the case of good practices, best practices should also imply ease of transfer to other situations with similar goals. As best practice may imply that no further improvements are possible. Continuous improvement and iteration are in fact implicit to the concept of good practice. However, the terms best practice and good practice both share the same goal and imply a single process, namely: A validated and successful experience which deserves to be disseminated for better adoption by a larger number of beneficiaries; A beneficial experience which can be replicated elsewhere; An experience, which has been tested, accepted and adopted by those who implemented it.

5 4 Criteria for identifying good practices How we can determine a good practice? The following set of criteria can help to determine whether a practice is a good practice : 1. Effective and successful: A good practice has proven its strategic relevance as the most effective way in achieving a specific objective; it has been successfully adopted and has had a positive impact on individuals and/or communities. 2. economically and socially sustainable: A good practice meets current needs, without compromising the ability to address future needs. 3. Gender sensitive: A description of the practice must show how actors, men and women, involved in the process, were able to improve their livelihoods. 4. Technically feasible: Technical feasibility is the basis of a good practice. It is easy to learn and to implement. Participatory 5. Inherently participatory: approaches are essential as they support a joint sense of ownership of decisions and actions. 6. Replicable and adaptable: A good practice should have the potential for replication and should therefore be adaptable to similar objectives in varying situations. A good practice 7. Reducing problems: contributes to problems reduction.

6 5 The cycle of capitalization process The cycle of capitalization through it is possible to individuate and to transfer a good practices can be defined in five steps as illustrated in the graphic representation below: Identification of the experience/ good practice that can be capitalised Adopt, adapt and apply the good practices Analyses of its transferability in other contexts or organizations Share and disseminate the good practices Assess experiences and learn lessons

7 6 Methodologies and tools to help capitalization process in the local polycentric development About to individuate the good practices for capitalization it is necessary to adopt a good methodology of analysis. To help with this analysis, several tools and methods are available: Storytelling Anecdote circles Focus groups Interviews After action review Critical moments reflection Appreciative inquiry SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Peer assists Village assembly Briefing and debriefing Templates/checklists Knowledge fairs When we have individuate the good experience we have to analyze it in accordance with the criteria indicated in the point 4 of this handbook. We need to determinate the possibility to transfer the good experience in other context, and the capacity of the good experience to answer to the needs of this new context. The elements describing a good practice have to include: 9 A good practice identifies the main actors or owners of the good practice. 9 A good practice explains the context and the process. 9 A good practice explains what the change/innovation is, as a result of applying the practice. 9 A good practice explains failures and not only successes, as these help to identify weaknesses, thereby allowing improvement of the good practice. 9 A good practice explains the critical success factors that have triggered the positive change being observed. 9 A good practice explains what risks and constraints there are in applying the practice. 9 A good practice explains the impact on the community (based on appropriate evaluation and validation). 9 A good practice uses participatory approaches in order to engage stakeholders and ensure good practice ownership and sustainability. Lessons learned describe constraints as much as key success factors. Key success factors are the elements that will determine whether the practice can be described as a good practice. These factors will allow emergence of solutions and innovations found in order to remove the constraints encountered during the experience and learn from failures. When a good experience has individuate it is necessary to share and to condivide it with the stokeholds. The audience of good practices will vary, from policy makers to farmer organizations to individuals, and from extension workers to partner organizations. A good practice should be presented in different formats (text, audio, video, etc.) depending on the target audience. Disseminating and sharing, involving interaction and conversation, can take place through Share

8 Fairs, workshops, networks and communities of practice, Web sites, newsletters, etc. Decisions related to methods and tools for sharing and disseminating a good practice should be discussed with the stakeholders involved in the process of capitalization. Some tools for sharing a good experience could be the following: - Online community; - Knowledge fairs; - Workshops - Forum; - Study visits; - Video - Web sites; - Networks; - Communities of practice. When a good practice are been individuated and analyzed it is possible to adopt it. The aim to capturing, documenting and sharing a good practice is for them to be adopted and applied in future activities of the same or similar nature. We do not proceed immediately to the adoption of a new practice simply because we are aware of its benefits. The process is more complex and requires going through steps. Once aware of a good practice, a person must also have an interest in a practice. If the person or the local community understands and is aware of how he/she can use this practice, he has yet to change his attitude or behaviour. When the person validates what needs to be done to apply the practice to his/her context, then he/she can go ahead with the practice, its adoption and ownership. This process is not immediate, but is built thanks to the process of Communication and dissemination. This process takes time and requires openness to dialogue.

9 7 How the capitalization can help the policy makers to build a local polycentric development The increasing globalization of the economy and changing technologies have opened new markets and new competition to which local development policies can offer a response, for example through their promotion of entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. The economic crisis obliges the policy makers to adopt new strategies for local development, the creativity and the innovation could be an opportunity to improve new processes of economic growing at local level. To analyze and to learn for others experiences helps to build new local strategies for elaboration of new model for polycentric urban development. During a Seminar in Bruxelles the partnership of Inflowence and some experts have discussed as the capitalization process can help the local governance to manage the economic crise and the local development. They have discussed as the creativity and the innovation can contribute to the local development and as the capitalization can support this processes. How the local policy makers can have benefits from the capitalization of good practices? Capitalization is a process through which the local governance can profit or benefit from a "capital" that we have or others have. This capital comes from existing practices in their territory or in other contexts referring to polycentric urban development. The local policy makers can profit from an "itinerary" or strategy based on good practices for taking better their decisions. In this sense, capitalization implies a learning period during the process itself, and an increase of knowledge of those who are taking part in the process. Managing the capitalization process through experiences exchanges is a complex process, which demands high motivation to learn and show, and the adoption of an open minded and critic attitude. A series of requirements are to be met, in terms of the form of presentation and the explanation of each practice, in order to achieve an exchange and effective production for the capitalization. These general guidelines can facilitate the work for defining a "itinerary" for individuate the good or best practices and to adopt them if can contribute to local urban development. Creativity and Innovation will be two of the priority themes of programming period. So a guidelines for capitalization that involves this aspects can be a benefit for the local policy makers.

10 How a good practice can be a good solution for a local concrete problem of development? For start a capitalization process that can find good practices as solutions to local problems it is necessary to cross different steps with the involvement of local stakeholders and policy makers. 1. Creation of group for helping and managing the process of capitalization (Thematic experts) ; 2. Definition of the types of stakeholders involved (To build a matrix of potential involved stakeholders). A stakeholder analysis has to be made in order to find out who should be invited to the process. Stakeholders are those who are influenced by and exert an influence on this process, that take place in the territory and in the fields of analysis directly or indirectly. They can be individuals or organizations and they can be both for or against a capitalization process. About to decide the participants in the capitalization process it is necessary to considerate not only problems but problems and potentials of the territory or the theme of the process. Stakeholders could be divided up into more main groups: - Primary Beneficiaries of capitalization process ; - Secondary beneficiaries of capitalization process ; - Implementers - Decision-makers Could be involved too: - Externals - Partners

11 Stakeholders Interests Likely impact on the activity Priority Primary Determine Determine High priority e.g, High e.g, High Determine the level Determine High or low Secondary Possibly low A stakeholder = an agency, organisation, group or individual who has a (direct or indirect) interest in the field of discussion/programme, or who affects or is affected positively or negatively by the implementation and outcome of it. Before to start the forum it is important to do a stakeholder analysis that is a technique used to identify and assess the importance of o key people, o groups of people, or o institutions - that may significantly influence the success of your activity. - Share some identifiable interest in common - Provide something of importance to the organization About to define the stakeholders It is possible to use the following matrix.

12 Stakeholder Analysis Matrix Stakeholder Enterprises Public body NGO Stakeholder s Interest(s) My Interest(s) in the Stakeholder How important is the Stakeholder? Potential Strategies for Obtaining Stakeholder Support or Reducing Obstacles

13 Associations 3. Clear definition of the territory problems through a participatory methodology with the involvement of territorial stakeholders (Strategic chose, GOPP, Visioning or others); 4. Researching of good/best practices in according with the characteristics explained in the point 4 of these guidelines; 5. Organization of a workshop for presentation, in accord with a format, the good practices individuated referring to the theme or the problem object of the discussion; A workshop have to be not a show room of good practices but a key part of capitalization process with the active involving of stakeholders and policy makers. During the workshop it is good to use the laboratory approach with the organization of a plenary session and a small work group taking into account different cultural backgrounds of everyone and the knowledge. 6. Validation of the good practices, conceptual reflection and new knowledge, analysis of obstacles to be overcome, recommendations on the theme, etc. When there are a validation of a good practice? When the good practice has developed a solution applicable to a community s specific problem. This has to be evaluated and documented for the benefits realized in others specific contexts. 7. Analysis of transferability of good practices as solution for the territorial problem; Not every good practice is transferable. Key components of transfer can be identified as knowledge derived from real-world experience together with the human expertise capable of transforming that knowledge into social solution. A transfer implies, at a minimum, the identification and awareness of solutions, the matching of demand for learning with the supply of experience and expertise and a series of steps that need to be taken to help bring about the desired change. Such

14 change may range from policy making, management systems and technology, to attitudes and behavior. A good practice transfer provides a tangible basis for learning, based on proven solutions to common problems or issues. The good practice transfer becomes both feasible and desirable when an organization recognizes that another organization has successfully implemented a solution for a set of problems or issues which the former is seeking to address and is willing to inspire its own actions based on lessons derived from that success. This implies not only a willingness to learn and a willingness to share, but also a willingness to change based on lessons learned. An important factor contributing to a successful good practice transfer lies in the preparation of the learning process, before, during and after the change. An important factor contributing to a successful good practice transfer lies in the preparation of the learning process, before, during and after the change. The transfer is of a good practices and the capitalization is a continuous process of interactions, of increased shared knowledge, within networks where members learn from each other. For this reason it is important to create opportunity of to organize network meeting (better if permanent) and virtual community for give the possibility to have a continuate interactions. 8. Starting the capitalization process with learning step and new knowledge. When start the capitalization process? When the good practice are been validate from a participatory process with stakeholders. Before to start the capitalization process it is necessary that the stakeholders and the local actors analyse their context (during the participatory workshop/forum) and after it is necessary to see if in any other place, someone is using practices and procedures that are considered as excellent and if the means used lead to improved effectiveness within the their context. It is necessary to plan a framework programme through to transfer the good practice, with a evaluation system and appropriate indicators about to measure the impact of the good practice transferred before to start and during the transfer process. The capitalization process can meet some obstacles as the following: - Lack of competences in local government to tackle certain problems of local development. - Weaknesses in technical procedures and methods. - Weak cooperation among local stakeholders - Conflicts among local actors - Resistance to adopting an integrated new approach transfer good practices ; - Underestimation of the time needed to secure solutions in local development.

15 8 Conclusion Capitalization is an important process that help the organizations or the territories not lost the benefit of good experiences that they or other have applied in a territory. These guidelines must be considered in a flexible way to apply a capitalization process for urban local development.