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This paper investigates the lean enabling human capacities and develops a framework integrating individual, organisational and environmental level strategies to build human capacities for successful lean implementation of small and medium contractors (SMCs) in Sri Lanka.

An interpretivism stance is adopted, and a qualitative research approach is used. The data collection technique adopted is semi-structured interviews. In total, 24 experts with experience in lean implementation of SMCs were interviewed, and data were analysed through code based content analysis using NVivo10.

Team working skills, critical thinking, leadership, communication skills, work ethics, knowledge and positive attitudes were identified as lean enabling human capacities for SMCs. The framework developed in this study provides individual, organisational and environmental level strategies that can be used to build human capacities necessary for enabling lean in construction SMCs.

The study will be beneficial to construction SMCs, academics, researchers and government institutions in developing countries, which share socio-economic, demographic or cultural traits similar to Sri Lanka.

A novel lean enabling human capacity building framework is developed with the strategies required for building those capacities in order to accelerate the lean implementation in construction SMCs. This contributes to the body of knowledge as it uncovers individual, organisational and environmental level strategies for enabling lean through human capacity building in Sri Lankan SMCs.

Implementation of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in African projects is inundated with a number of capacity building challenges which affects growth and project performance. Further, there is paucity of empirical studies on the strategies for overcoming these challenges. Therefore, this research addresses that knowledge gap by examining the human capacity building (HCB) strategies for improving PPP implementation in construction projects in developing countries, with a focus on Tanzania.

HCB strategies identified from the scoping review were administered to 81 handpicked Tanzanian practitioners attending PPP training course. To examine the differences in the perception of the identified HCB strategies, and the relationships between different pairs of the HCB strategies, the data were subjected descriptive statistics, parametric tests, Kendall’s concordance and Pearson correlational analysis, including group wise correlation analysis.

Based on the overall sample, “Engagement of stakeholders on capacity development”, “Organization of PPP seminars and training” and “Introduction of in-house training to Public institutions expected to undertake PPP projects” are the top ranked HCB strategies. “Development of study tours to stakeholders involved in PPP projects” is the least ranked. Significant differences between the sub-groups of “no PPP experience” and “some PPP experience” were evident for “Invitation of International experts to share experiences” and “Sharing of responsibilities” HCB strategies. The “no PPP experience” group rated both strategies higher than those with “some PPP experience”.

The identified HCB strategies can be used as a “road map” for the development of appropriate engagement strategies with various stakeholders for the successful implementation of PPP thereby, enhancing the performance of the construction firms.

Eight strategies have been identified from the literature and tested for the Tanzanian context. The uniqueness of Tanzanian PPP implementation context arising from varying cultural, organizational, political and economic conditions differentiates the priority of HCB strategies when compared to other contexts where these strategies were investigated. This is germane to the PPP research.

Building institutional capacity to prevent, prepare and respond to disasters is among aspects emphasized in the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005‐2015 to enhance the resilience of disaster‐affected communities. Lessons from past programmes could help the design and implementation of future capacity building interventions with a view to making them both a means and an end in themselves in building disaster resilience of communities and nations. This paper aims to explore the issues.

The paper is based on the authors' experiences and reports in institutional capacity building in Ethiopia.

Institutional capacity building programmes should adopt a non‐intervention approach, using existing structures. Programmes should be demand‐driven and beneficiary‐based rather than supply‐driven and should be holistic and integrated with coordination being an important ingredient. Capacity building is a slow process and unless all partners are willing to make a choice in favour of assessing and working the holistic and integrated capacity building will struggle to make a lasting influence in reducing disasters and their impacts to Ethiopians.

With capacity building being at the centre of the building community, resilience, coordination by donors as well as government agencies is fundamental.

The paper illuminates areas of good practice as well as complexities surrounding the delivery of the disaster resilience through capacity building and how governments and development and humanitarian agencies are implicated.

The birth of the African Capacity Building Foundation on February 9, 1991, was the culmination of intense efforts and groundbreaking commitment to capacity building in Africa by Africa Governors of the World Bank, the Bank itself and the cofounding Institutions ‐ the African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Program, as well as numerous other individuals. The successes chalked by ACBF towards attainment of its objectives have vindicated those who held the view that establishing an indigenous African institution, with focus on and commitment to the course of Africa’s development was the right course of action at the time. Twenty years on, ACBF has supported nearly 250 projects and programs in 44 African countries and committed more than US$400 million to build capacity on the continent. Projects and programs supported by the Foundation have drawn synergy with and complemented countless other activities of various development institutions operating on the Continent. ACBF’s support has been crucial in the building of development capacity in Africa, whether in ministries of finance and economic planning or central banks. For many among us who dedicated to this initiative and worked towards its realization, we remain humbled by the opportunity to witness the twentieth anniversary of ACBF.

The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework for capacity building in post disaster construction and demolition (C & D) waste management at a national level to address the identified capacity gaps in managing disaster waste resulting from natural hazards.

Data were gathered through pilot interviews, case studies and expert opinion surveys representing government, non-government and other sector organisations involved in post disaster waste management.

The study revealed unavailability of a single point of responsibility and provision for disaster waste in existing policies and capacity constraints in prevailing peace time solid waste management practices which were identified as major capacity gaps. Establishment of a regulatory body and enforceable rules and regulations with necessary levels of capacities was identified and presented in a theoretical framework comprising of seven identified areas for capacity building in post disaster waste management.

This study is limited to disaster C & D waste as debris generated from totally or partially damaged buildings and infrastructure as a direct impact of natural hazards or from demolished buildings and infrastructure at rehabilitation or early recovery stages. Waste generated during reconstruction phase of post disaster management cycle is not considered as disaster C & D waste for purposes of this study.

The research enabled analysis of existing capacities and presents approaches for capacity building for identified gaps in post disaster C & D waste management to attain sustainable post disaster waste management for future resilience.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and try to understand the human side of public sector reform (PSR) in local government in Ghana in the context of the challenges facing human resource capacity building and development policies.

Adopting an exploratory case study design, the paper triangulates both secondary and primary sources of data. Primary data were generated from self‐completing questionnaire and interview schedule tools covering 105 local government employees selected from national, regional and district levels. Semi‐structured interviews also solicited views from 16 senior public officers and managers in nine public and quasi‐public organizations. These primary sources were complemented with relevant secondary documents from the organisations investigated.

It was found that Ghana's PSR has significantly influenced the strategic direction of human resource development policies of the decentralized local government service. Major challenges in human resource capacity manifest themselves as related to policy, task, skill and organisation issues and performance motivation.

Addressing the human resource capacity challenges has enormous strategic and financial resource implications for policy makers in transitional and developing economies, due to their over‐reliance on external donors for funding.

Unlike previous studies, this paper did not explore HR capacity issues of elected officials; rather, it focused on the public servants (technocrats) implementing local political decisions. Of much value is that the results were derived from the experience of frontline local government staff, whose day‐to‐day inputs are critical for effective decentralization.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a prologue to the issue of development in Africa and the critical need to build capacity through investment in people.

The paper reviews relevant literature on the seminal issues of defining human development, promoting human development in Africa, new development deal for Africa and investment in human capital as key to human development. In addition, the paper provides a brief overview of the articles focusing on capacity building in Africa. Literature pertinent to the topic of development in Africa is provided.

Understanding the meaning of development and human development in particular is not only a necessary but a sufficient condition to designing strategies and policies aimed at promoting human development in Africa. As established in this guest editorial, Knowledge, entrepreneurship and the mastery of information and communication technologies in this century should become Africa ' s best competitive advantage. Instead of people in Africa being consumers of knowledge they should strive to produce knowledge based on their indigenous, cultural, political and socioeconomic perspectives. To do this, African governments must be willing and able to invest in quality education.

This paper introduces this special issue on capacity building for Africa ' s development. It reviews the literature on the meaning of development and human development, promoting development in Africa, new development deal for Africa and investment in human capital as key to human development and it gives an overview of the five papers included in this special issue.

This paper seeks to explore and understand the public sector reform (PSR) as it affects local governments in Ghana within the context of challenges facing human resource capacity building and development policies.

Adopting an exploratory case study design, the research triangulated both secondary and primary sources of data. Primary data generated from self‐completing questionnaire and interview schedule tools covering 105 local government employees selected from national, regional and district levels. Semi‐structured interviews also solicited views from 16 senior public officers and managers in nine public and quasi‐public organizations. These primary sources were complemented with relevant secondary documents from the organizations investigated.

Amongst others, it was found that Ghana's PSR has significantly influenced the strategic direction of human resource development policies of the decentralized local government service. Major human resource capacity challenges manifest three‐dimensionally as: policy, task/skill/organization and performance motivation induced.

Addressing the human resource capacity challenges has enormous strategic and financial resource implications for policy makers in transition and developing economies, due to their over‐reliance on external donors for funding.

Unlike previous studies, this empirical study did not explore human resource capacity issues of elected officials; rather, it focused on public servants (technocrats) implementing local political decisions. Of much value is that the results were from the perspective of the frontline local government staff whose day‐to‐day inputs are critical for effective decentralization.

The purpose of this paper is to provide further discussion on the role of educational support adding value by sustaining the function of capacity building in emerging countries and states in transition and development. The Asia-Pacific region is noted for being in a continuous and rapid state of change dramatically affecting both private and public institutions. One such institution involves the provision of education with specific emphasis on leadership development in the defence sector; and the on-going education and development of military personnel, civil servants and civilians from different professions, in the wider Indonesian society. This exploratory research paper highlights one bi-lateral educational initiative that has acted as a catalyst for change which was developed in partnership between the Indonesian and British governments and Cranfield University in the UK. The findings highlight a challenge to dominant western perspectives on educational provision in general and leadership development in particular; and focused on the potential for a schism between content and process issues in the provision in particular of leadership development that is not contextually situated and can be dominated by Anglo-American perspectives. Key factors including capacity building, knowledge management, the learning process and the influence of culture were identified as fundamental and integral for a more appropriate design of leadership development programmes in defence and security, within the Asia Pacific region.

Using a case study approach, it utilises one educational institution involved in the provision of education with specific emphasis on leadership development in the defence sector; and the on-going education and development of military personnel, civil servants and civilians from different professions.

The findings highlight a challenge to dominant western perspectives on educational provision in general and leadership development in particular; and focused on the potential for a schism between content and process issues in the provision of education and leadership development that is not contextually situated and can be dominated by Anglo-American perspectives.

It is a potential guide in helping practitioners in identifying, designing and implementing leadership development courses to manage the complexity of the processes of change in an international context.

Given the dearth of research on defence and security the study was prescient. This paper contributes much needed further discussion about the role leadership development interventions play in supporting capacity building in states in transition and development.

Although the value of community capacity building is widely accepted within scholarly literature, these initiatives thus far appear to have achieved very little impact in the achievement of community development aspirations. This paper aims to increase knowledge regarding specific priority areas which when targeted will result in more effective pathways towards sustainable development.

This study was performed through utilization of a qualitative strategy, which involved the combination of a number of qualitative methods and techniques including individual interviews, surveys, focus groups, literary review and policy analysis.

The investigation found that improving identified CSD priority areas, aligned with the sustainable development goals (SDGs), seems to be the most effective strategy to enhance the ability of local communities to overcome sustainability challenges over time. SDGs 9, 4, 15, 16, 17 and 8 were identified as the areas of greatest significance for practical community capacity building for sustainable development (CSD).

This paper answers scholarly literature’s call for greater investigation into bringing sustainability research closer to society, to clearly define research direction and agenda. It also recommends ways to action the global goals locally.