IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

Capacity Development is described as the process through which individuals, organizations and societies obtain, strengthen, and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time (UNDP, 2008). The term of capacity development, previously defined as capacity building, evolved since 1970s, incorporating the development of organizations and the broader social environment into the initial focus on strengthening only the individual capacities and human resources (Bester, 2015; Lusthaus et al., 2002).

To contribute to the discussions and application of the concept of capacity development in water, SIWI has developed, through a process of literature review and consultation with experts, a framework for capacity development in water (SIWI, 2023), as well as this Step-by-Step Guide for its application. 

This document is intended to provide water practitioners with a stepwise approach for intervening in capacity development programs. We define practitioners as water professionals implementing practical interventions in the sector, as opposed to performing academic or research work. Practitioners may play different roles in different stages of the process described in this guide: such as design the development of the intervention, support certain aspects of it, or facilitate some sections.