Competences in context

International cooperation for reaching development goals has expanded gradually since the 1950s. The effectiveness of the Overseas Development Aid (ODA) has become a topic of great public interest. A growing body of experience exists to demonstrate that finance alone is not sufficient for development, and capacity and knowledge are increasingly seen as the constraints to proper decision making, absorption of funds, and effective results on the ground.

This book presents the investigation into the role of Knowledge and Capacity Development (KCD) in public water resources management in Indonesia and the Netherlands.

The two cases indicate that the institutional environment is defining for the type of knowledge and capacity development that is prevailing in that period and it also determines the formal organisational structure and the KCD mechanisms in use. The cases further show the importance yet the low valuation of tacit knowledge, while the Indonesian case also suggests that tacit knowledge is among the most important assets gained from international post-graduate education.

The conceptual model introduced in this book allows to measure knowledge and capacity at three nested levels: the institutional, organisational and individual level. It provides insight in the numerous contextual factors that influence knowledge and capacity and KCD mechanisms.