A practical, do-it-yourself guide for leaders and facilitators wanting to help organisations to function and to develop in more healthy, human and effective ways as they strive to make their contributions to a more humane society. The guide, with its supporting website, includes tried and tested concepts, approaches, stories and activities. It's purpose is to help stimulate and enrich the practice of anyone supporting organisations and social movements in their challenges of working, learning, growing and changing to meet the needs of our complex world. Although it is aimed at leaders and facilitators of civil society organisations, we hope it will be useful to anyone interested in fostering healthy human organisation in any sphere of life.

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Soal, Sue. (2003). A workbook for development practitioners. Published by CDRA

CDRA has worked since 1987 as colleague, consultant, facilitator and client with hundreds of development practitioners. This workbook is a  response to the many requests we have received over the years for a 'toolkit' to make our exercises and methods transparent. But this is not an easy 'how to' manual because our approach relies on both exercises and, more importantly on each practitioner's professional insight, judgement and ability to intervene in the moment. Instead, this workbook outlines a developmental process of readings, reflective challenges, creative exercises and conversations for the reader to undertake with a trusted speaking partner. It is based on the principle that you cannot do with others what you have not been through yourself. Users of this workbook will find that going through this journey will help them to think more about who they are and what they are trying to do, and to see and work with development in more creative and effective ways.. Compiler Sue Soal has been a development practitioner with the CDRA since 1994. She is particularly interested in organisational learning processes and their connection to field practice.

Unfortunately this is no longer available in print but can be downloaded. (pdf 1.6Mb)

De Wet, Heather; Everett, Catherine. Pothier, Siobhain; Soal, Sue. editors. Published by CDRA (2003), 144 pages.

What will it take to build organisations that are robust enough to absorb the impacts of the HIV/Aids epidemic, while providing humane, stable workplaces? A practical resource for NGOs, this booklet contains 6 sections: * A conceptual overview of the epidemic * A research report into the experiences of South African NGOs affected by the epidemic * A guide to the South African legal and policy framework * Methodology for NGOs adapting to the HIV/Aids environment * A practical toolkit for responding to HIV/Aids * An annotated bibliography and references to key web-sites. The sections can be read individually or in sequence, and contain valuable information and lessons for organisations affected by the impact of HIV/Aids – which increasingly means all organisations.

James Taylor. Published by CDRA, 2003, 64 pages

A succinct description of a developmental practice and the nature of organisation and people required to support it.

by Sue Soal (CDRA), Rick James, Liz Goold (INTRAC) and William Ogara (CORAT), Published by CDRA, 2003, 56 pages

Promoting an organisation development (OD) approach to development practice, this book is addressed primarily to those readers who work as donors and have an interest in finding creative ways of developing and supporting an organisation development consultancy resource in the countries and regions in which they work, and for those who work in NGO support organisations, particularly when a strategy of providing OD consultancy is pursued.

Allan Kaplan. Pluto Press, 2002

Allan Kaplan presents a radically new approach to the understanding of organisations and communities, and to the practice of social development. His approach eschews the conventional instrumental or technicist way in favour of a methodology which embraces the full complexity and ambiguity of social transformation.

Allan Kaplan, Pluto Press, 1996

This book, drawn from intensive reflection on years of practice in the field of development, is about the essentials of development practice, underpinned by a fresh perspective on the contested and contentious terrain which marks the passage of development.

Allan Kaplan. NGLS Development Dossier (United Nations) 1999

Unfortunately this is no longer available in print but can be downloaded. (doc 182Kb)

The Action-learning Series aims to capture the wealth of development knowledge and experience built up by development fieldworkers. The lessons and case studies, with facilitators' notes, provide an invaluable resource for effective training and facilitating and ongoing learning from experience.

Drawn from reflections of development practitioners with years of experience in the field, these books bring a clear focus to these complex issues and provide valuable insights for anyone grappling with these challenges.

Effective Fieldwork and Managing Conflict

James Taylor and Dirk Marais (Juta and Co. Ltd.) 1999

Community Participation and Financial Sustainability

James Taylor, Dirk Marais, Stephen Heynes (Juta and Co. Ltd.) 1998

Action Learning for Development: use your experience to improve your effectiveness

James Taylor, Dirk Marais, Allan Kaplan, Juta and Co. Ltd., 1997

This book is an introduction to Action Learning. It is a celebration of the validity of everyone's experience as a source of learning that can change the world. The authors invite you to join them on their journey of learning as they draw on many years of experience working in organisations in Southern Africa. They speak as fieldworkers to other fieldworkers they have come to know so well through their work in the field.

This book is out of print but photocopies are available.