Rethink, Retool, Reboot

Simon Trace

Technology underpins human development. We need it to provide the very basics of a minimum standard of life – food, water, shelter, health and education. But a significant proportion of the world’s population do not have these basics today. And whilst a fifth of the world’s population lacks access t...

Adaptive Management for Resilient Communities

Jodi Sugden

Short-term projects and linear management approaches are often unsuitable for achieving resilient development in the face of volatile complexity. Adaptive management combined with longer-term project funding has the potential to deliver more appropriate development outcomes. This will require develo...

Delivering Early Warning Systems to the Poorest

Jodi Sugden

Floods are the most common cause of weather-related disasters globally, causing billions of dollars’ worth of damage and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. Flood early warning systems can significantly reduce the devastating impacts of floods on lives and livelihoods for the poorest and mos...

From Risk to Resilience

Colin McQuistan

In 2011 Practical Action published From Vulnerability to Resilience: A Framework for Analysis and Action to Build Community Resilience. This was one of the first attempts by a development NGO to operationalize resilience and it provided project workers with a framework to apply the resilience concep...

Negotiating Knowledge

Rachel Hayman, Sophie King, Tiina Kontinen, Lata Narayanaswamy

International NGOs are increasingly under pressure from governments and the public to demonstrate evidence of impact and positive results. This book critically examines how development NGOs working around the world create knowledge and evidence, and use it to satisfy donors, to improve their practic...

The MSP Guide

Herman Brouwer, Jim Woodhill

In recent years, multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) have become popular for tackling the complex challenges of sustainable development. This guide provides a practical framework for the design and facilitation of these collaborative processes that work across the boundaries of business, governmen...

The Barefoot Guide to Working with Organisations and Social Change

This is a practical, do-it-yourself guide for leaders and facilitators wanting to help organisations to function and to develop in more healthy, human and effective ways as they strive to make their contributions to a more humane society. It has been developed by the Barefoot Collective. The guide,...

Stepping Stones and Stepping Stones Plus

Alice Welbourn

People with HIV can now live long, healthy and productive lives as long as they have timely access to medication when they need it, combined with care, love, respect and support. Stepping Stones and subsequently Stepping Stones Plus were manuals that grew out of a need to counter the prejudice an...

Brazil Inside Out 2nd Edition

Jan Rocha, Francis McDonagh

Brazil stands tall on the world stage as host for the world cup and olympic and paralympic games, attracting millions of new tourists to a country of dazzling scenery and welcoming people. In today's world, it is remarkable for the lack of serious ethnic, religious or racial conflict. Yet Brazil als...

Farmer Research Groups

Dawit Alemu, Yoshiaki Nishikawa, Kiyoshi Shiratori, Taku Seo

It has long been recognized that agricultural research should involve the farmers themselves. Participatory agricultural research methods have been developed to help farmers and researchers to identify the most appropriate technologies and techniques for a particular area. However, mainstreaming thi...