The Management Model for Sustainable Development

Capacity WORKS is GTZ's management model for sustainable development and helps provide answers to the following questions: How does GTZ make an effective contribution to its partners' capacity development? How do we structure the management and steering of projects and programmes so that the results of capacity development are as effective and sustainable as possible? Following a successful eighteen-month pilot phase, we have been applying Capacity WORKS in the management of GTZ projects and programmes both in Germany and abroad since January 2009.

Capacity WORKS is a response to changes in conditions in the international setting. Structures both in partner countries and within the donor landscape have become more complex. Normally a project or programme is now no longer designed and implemented with just one partner, but involves a multi-organisational and multi-institutional framework.
GTZ's many years of experience in steering such multi-organisational contexts have therefore been systematically analysed, providing the foundation for the model. The structure of Capacity WORKS translates the corporate policy concept of 'sustainable development' into practical questions.

The key points of reference for Capacity WORKS are the objectives and results jointly agreed on in relation to the contract. In development cooperation projects, the procedure can be continuously reviewed and corrected in relation to the five success factors presented in the model. In each success factor, thoughts and actions are guided by key questions. This is further supported by the GTZ-specific consultancy principles. Capacity WORKS opens up various structured approaches that partners can apply flexibly in the management of complex projects and programmes. The model enables users to identify, focus on and address the relevant negotiation processes in these complex cooperation frameworks. Our partners are empowered to develop their individual organisational capacities to the full.

Since 2008, Capacity WORKS has been a protected wordmark both in Germany and internationally