Learning by Doing at the Community Level

The Potential of Learning by Doing and Continuous Direct Engagement of the Community

The problem with the conventional approach of many ICT, social entrepreneurship and social initiatives is that they seek to develop and provide solutions for the needs of developing communities and not to build the solutions with their active participation throughout the entire process.

It is not enough to work with them to identify their needs, interests, limitations and potential. Communities need to be an active player at all stages of any social initiative, from diagnose to design, to development and implementation, to feedback and continuous improvement. Otherwise, the solutions provided are alien to them and often fail to truly empower them.

There is also a unique opportunity for capacity building in engaging a community not only in the definition of its development goals, paths to follow (more than one there must always be) but in the entire process of building it.

This way they cease to be mere recipients of technology and solutions and are empowered by the experience and knowledge of creating a solution. This “learning by doing” can be more important and powerful than the very solution being built and provided. Even if the projects fail or are interrupted (as often happens), these skills and knowledge remain an invaluable contribution to the empowerment process of the people and their communities.

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