• The Good Enough Guide
  • View the Good Enough Guide
  • Download PDF
  • Training & Communication Materials
  • Accountability Learning
    • Key Elements of Accountability
    • Case Study: AIM Advisory Group
    • ECB Project helps CRS Pakistan build staff capacity in accountability
    • Key Terms
• Impact Measurement
• Inter-Agency Standing Team
• Joint Evaluations
• Joint Needs Assessment (JNA)
• Cluster Accountability Initiative

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The Emergency Capacity Building (ECB) Project focuses on improving capacity in three cross cutting themes:

• Staff Capacity
• Disaster Risk Reduction
• Accountability & Impact Measurement (AIM).

Agencies and country consortia are supported in this work by three inter‐agency Advisory groups brought together at the global level. They share their technical expertise to develop small multi‐agency projects, and provide support to the consortia for their country‐level activities. Each agency has designated one primary Advisor and one alternate to each Advisory group.

Etienne Wenger, a leader in the theory and practice of communities of practice defines them as:

groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

Wenger describes three characteristics of a community of practice, where members:

• Are committed to a particular area of common interest
• Build relationships so as to learn from each other by sharing information, helping each other, and working on joint projects
• Engage in practice together through shared experiences, tools, and ways of solving problems.

Using Wenger’s characteristics of a community of practice, the ECB Project undertook a case study to examine the ECB Accountability and Impact Measurement Advisory group. This case study outlines the learning from over two years of advisory group meetings and joint activities. Based on Wenger's criteria, we found that the AIM Advisory group fit the profile outlined in Wenger’s research.