While technical assistance for stakeholders may sometimes be required, there is also a kind of ad hoc support aimed above all at collective identification of solutions for immediate problems. This is often not enough to guarantee appropriate, sustainable results. To avoid this pitfall, Geres engages in capacity-building activities for teams in the field and their partners.

In concrete terms, this takes the form of long-term on-the-job learning, centred on the desire to “do things together”, which stresses the existing capacities and skills of all parties in moving towards a joint objective. In cases of extreme asymmetry of skills, or where the knowledge to be passed on is highly specific, more formal training and mentoring arrangements are put in place, sometimes in partnership with other agencies.

Geres also organizes short training sessions and “day schools” on technical subjects, from one day to two weeks in duration, aimed at professionals involved in what we do: technical staff of ministries and local authorities, civil society leaders and organizations or businesses and their employees.