Capacity building: Facilitating citizen participation in local governance

Abstract

The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) suggests that local government, as the level of government closest to the people, has an important role to play in facilitating opportunities for local citizens to take action on local sustainability issues (ICLEI 1997). However, it is argued that citizens and community groups will require support from local governments to be able to participate effectively. Such a capacity building role for local governments has not yet been well articulated (Cuthill 2003b, 2001; Gaventa 2001; Blaxter 2003; Wallis and Dollery 2002). Capacity building is an ambiguous concept both in its conceptualisation and in implementation (Eade 1997). Epstein et al. (2000:2) argue that ‘it is difficult to point to a widely accepted ‘good practices framework’ either for citizens or for those attempting to engage citizens’. Nevertheless, while recent literature suggests some distinct themes that might contribute to such a framework (Cavaye 1999; Eade 1997; Jackson 2001; Kaplan 1997; Lowndes and Wilson 2001; Lyons et al. 2001), little work has been undertaken to synthesise these themes within a capacity building framework. This article presents a synthesis of research findings drawn from a pilot study and five applied research projects focusing on the concepts and processes which underpin the operationalisation of citizen participation in local governance. However, it does not re-visit in any detail the empirical research methods and findings from these previous studies. Rather, the approach taken in this paper is heuristic in that it draws on inductive reasoning from past experience. Readers are invited to explore in more detail, through the cited literature, results from these previous studies. The research program was completed over a three year period from 1999 to 2002. The guiding question for this research asked, How can local governments enhance the capacity of citizens to take informed action for a sustainable local community? This guiding question was explored through the pursuit of three objectives. These were first, to identify and analyse what is required by communities to enable them to take informed action for a sustainable local community, second, to explore the role that citizen participation in local governance plays in working towards a sustainable local community; and third, to identify, analyse and implement institutional requirements within local government that will support and facilitate citizen participation in local governance. The pilot study (Cuthill 2002a) and subsequently, five applied research projects were undertaken to explore these objectives (Cuthill 2004, 2003a, 2002b, 2001, Cuthill et al. 2004). These projects adopted an action research approach working with citizens, local community groups and local government, to test capacity building processes that might facilitate citizen participation in local governance. Building on the results from the pilot study, applied research and the literature reviewed for