Capacity building: Facilitating citizen participation in local governance

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(Cuthill , 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.