Capacity Development

Capacity development is the process that enables individuals, organizations and societies obtain, strengthen and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time. Capacity development is essential for making a sustainable contribution to development and is more than the delivery of training in that it involves needs assessment at community levels, developing local solutions for different stakeholders based on the country context, direct exchanges with local stakeholders and duty bearers, maximising available resources, and building on identified strengths.

Partnerships are a critical component to our development approach and Sport Matters actively seeks multi-sectoral partnerships that leverage the convening power of sport for sustainable change – often connecting the aid and development sector, the sporting sector, government agencies and community organisations for the first time.

Our team have facilitated capacity development workshops in Australia, the Pacific, Asia and Africa including; Australia (Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney), Bangladesh, Fiji, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Samoa, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu.

Sport Matters utilises a range of tools and methods in our development approach including participatory approaches such as social mapping, priority ranking, confidence scales, the ten seed technique and participatory video evaluation. Along with the more traditional focus groups, surveys and interviews, our programs also draw on theory of change, most significant change, stakeholder mapping, and logical frameworks. A combination of tools are selected and tailored to suit each cultural context, development complexity, and specific considerations in relation to gender, ability, geography, literacy, available technology and budget.