Bolivie

From theory to practice: Identifying and activating community capitals for sustainable local economic development

Le sommaire ci-dessous est présenté dans la langue de la demande soumis par les demandeurs du concours SCR-CALA.

This research partnership is aimed at increasing capacity of researchers, community leaders, and municipal officials to support the practice of sustainable economic development and food security initiatives by indigenous peoples in the Bolivian highlands. Researchers from the partner institutions will work with community leaders in Viacha, Bolivia to test two planning instruments – the Community Capital Balance Sheet and the Community Capital Scan – to assess their effectiveness in engaging community members in effective participatory planning processes for locally defined economic development and food security initiatives.

The Community Capital tools were designed to engage local communities and actors in identifying existing and potential assets in their communities and to assess the impacts of their proposed initiatives on sustainable development indicators. A preliminary test of the tools with two indigenous communities in Viacha in May 2012 showed that they have the potential to support the participation of female and male community members in planning community development initiatives; and to support the effective participation of communities in municipal budgeting and planning processes. This research would assess these results more broadly, and build capacity in local communities to generate local sustainable economic development planning in collaboration with the municipal government. The project would also greatly strengthen the partnership between the researchers for future collaborations in community-based, action-oriented research.