“The training is eye-opening in many ways, especially in community development.  The training itself was a living example of how there can be learning through practice.  I believe we’ll go back with a meaningful purpose.”

-Lipongse Thongtsar, Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency, India 

 
Documentation of project learnings and field experiences has always been a challenge for development workers who are usually busy doing the work and have no time to tell the tale. In response, IIRR developed the Writeshop, a participatory writing, editing, and compiling of information into books or other dissemination materials. We're not just a pioneer of the Writeshop process, IIRR has now enhanced its courses and is offering a training for other NGOs and institutions on how to organize and run a Writeshop to document project learnings and field-based experiences.

(To read more about IIRR's innovative Writeshop process, click here)

The first formal Writeshop training for other organizations, "Capturing Lessons from the Field: The Writeshop Process" was held June 13-24 2011 at the Yen Center, Headquarters of IIRR in the Philippines. Twelve development practitioners from five countries: Africa, India, Indonesia, The Philippines, and The Netherlands were trained in designing, organizing and managing a Writeshop, improving their personal writing and analytical skills, and taking ownership of and effectively communicating project experiences for dissemination. 

As part of the hands-on, experiential course, participants produced eleven case stories and one "case-let". These stories were compiled into the soon-to-be released book, 12 Community Development Experiences: Capturing Lessons from the Field as a final output of the training.The e-book will be available on the IIRR website soon.

(Click here to see other publications and e-books produced through IIRR Writeshops)

For more information, please contact: