The Art of Building Training Capacities in Community Forestry Development

To improve natural resource management on a larger scale, trainings must create a lasting impact on participants' lives and work. With 30 years of experience delivering trainings in the Asia-Pacific region, RECOFTC has found the best way to improve the effectiveness of trainings is to use a more participatory and interactive approach. Building on trainers' existing skills and knowledge, this training manual offers methods for teaching and building capacities in natural resource management, especially "learning by doing". 

This training manual will help enable trainers to:

• Develop a participatory, effective, and creative learning environment
• Enhance participants' communication and facilitation skills (observing, listening, probing, discussing, negotiating, and giving feedback)
• Develop particpants' field-level skills (building teams and trust; monitoring group progression and role development; and encouraging teamwork, equitable participation, and conflict resolution capacities)
• Increase the planning skills of participants (assessment, design, planning, management, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of participatory learning process

The training manual covers:

• Basic theory on learning and training: Universal adult learning principles
• Training design cycle: The sequence of steps and activities involved in planning and implementing training
• Situational analysis and training needs assessments: Cause/effect linkages and situational analyses, and their importance in the training process
• Training design: The multiple approaches that may be employed in developing a training program
• Participatory methods: The value and variety of participatory training processes
• Training and facilitation techniques: An overview of the tool kit of facilitation and training skills available for use in participatory training settings