Action Research Roundtable Series, Ireland

The GEOFORMATIONS team launched the Action Research Roundtable (ARRO) Series, a platform for collaborative dialogue on key themes and questions within the realm of development practice. The first session in the series, held in December 2024, explored the theme of localisation and the transformation of civil society relations and capacities from within organisations. The event brought together a diverse group of participants, including practitioners from the NGO and CSO sector in Ireland and internationally, donor institution representatives, and academic experts. The event had two key aims:

• To share and discuss insights from civil society leaders on their experiences of operationalising locally led civil society action in Asia, particularly through demand-led capacity development initiatives and innovative participatory evaluation methodologies.
• To facilitate a structured roundtable discussion on key questions relating to organisational transformation and related governance processes.

Dr Susan Murphy, GEOFORMATIONS Principal Investigator, opened the event with an overview of the project’s positioning, investigative scope, and sectoral relevance. Raising vital questions surrounding justice models and the adaptation of development cooperation to socio-political crises, Dr Murphy highlighted the significance of global shifts in practice post-2008 whilst simultaneously emphasising the importance of tracing ongoing contemporary transformations across sites and scales.

Following the introduction, guest speakers Dr Kaustuv Bandyopadhyay and Dr Aruna Rao (Oxfam International and Gender at Work) each shared their experiences of and reflections on operationalising locally led civil society action in Asia through multi-scale initiatives and innovative participatory evaluation methodologies.

Dr Kaustuv Bandyopadhyay on building capacities and addressing challenges in localising civil society action

Dr Bandyopadhyay’s presentation, entitled ‘Accelerating Capacities and Expanding Civic Space through Organizational Development’, discussed PRIA’s work across India, acknowledging the transformative phase the country is currently undergoing and emphasising the challenges faced by the civil society sector.

Introducing PRIA, Dr Bandyopadhyay provided an overview of the contemporary civil society landscape in South Asia, highlighting its diversity in terms of organisational origins, motivations, and reach. Stemming from such diversity, the audience heard how CSOs in the region take on multifaceted roles, including delivering essential services such as health and education, facilitating governance and decision-making, advocating for transparency, policy reform, and accountability, and promoting participation from marginalised groups. 

The sector is also experiencing significant shifts, including regulatory pressures due to the introduction of stringent and often undemocratic legal frameworks, funding challenges due to declining resources and growth-oriented, market-driven approaches, and the proliferation of private philanthropy with limited capacity for transformative work. Additionally, Dr Bandyopadhyay noted that in India, shifting demographics have led to declining interest among young workers, while the influx of experienced professionals from the private sector has reinforced a narrow focus on organisational scale and impact. 

Offering a practical example, Dr Bandyopadhyay concluded by outlining his experience spearheading PRIA’s Capstone Programme, which aims to build organisational capacity for social transformation and empowerment across the sector. With 67 participating organisations working across 16 Indian states, the program is focused on small, new, and resource-constrained CSOs, including many led by women and/or with a strong youth focus.

Key takeaways -

Challenge: Market-driven service delivery constrains transformation within the sector and disincentivises local, grassroots involvement. 

Need: A greater emphasis on multisectoral partnerships and alternative approaches to development across the CSO space

Concern: There is an over-reliance on single metrics, such as organisational size, when measuring impact.

Question: (How) Can grassroots organisations actively and sufficiently participate in development processes in resource-constrained contexts?