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Development in Practice is a multi-disciplinary journal of practice-based analysis and research concerning the social dimensions of development and humanitarianism. It acts as a forum for debate and the exchange of ideas among practitioners, policy makers, and academics worldwide. The journal seeks to challenge current assumptions, stimulate new thinking, and shape future ways of working. Contents reflect a wide range of institutional and cultural backgrounds and of professional experience. Comprehensive details are available on this website.

SPECIAL ISSUE ON DEVELOPMENT AND THE LEARNING ORGANISATION

Editor in Chief: Deborah Eade, Oxfam GB

Guest Editors: Jethro Pettit, World Neighbors/Institute of Development Studies

Laura Roper, Oxfam America

Development in Practice is publishing a thematic double-issue (August 2002) on Development and the Learning Organisation, guest-edited by Jethro Pettit of World Neighbors/Institute of Development Studies and Laura Roper of Oxfam America. This will also be published in book form in the Development in Practice Readers series.

Learning organisations are innovative, people-centred, and extremely effective in achieving their goals. They can be a powerful force for change, both in terms of individual empowerment and personal growth and in mobilising different actors to achieve shared goals. At the same time, living a learning organisation philosophy often means changing organisational culture and behaviours in ways that challenge long-ingrained habits and beliefs, both of people within the organisation and of external stakeholders alike.

The concept of the Learning Organisation is central to modern management theory in the private sector, and has gradually been taken on in the non-profit sector. As yet, however, there is very limited documentation of how this concept has been applied to the work of development and humanitarian relief organisations. The concept of the Learning Organisation is based on the following tenets:

• Organisations are mission-driven and their organisational form evolves to best meet that mission within their own particular dynamic context.
• Staff should be empowered to maximise their potential and contribute at both the operational and strategic level.
• The centrality of teamwork and the need to break down functional barriers within an organisation.
• A culture that values experimentation, risk-taking, and learning in order to breed innovation, i.e. knowledge for action.
• Sensitivity to and strategic linkages with the external context, combined with in-built flexibility, which allow an organisation to thrive in a changing environment.

Development in Practice aims to provoke an exchange of experiences and to generate debate about the role of the learning organisation in the field of international development and humanitarian relief. We seek contributions from practitioners as well as students of development to use case experience to challenge and encourage development practitioners to 'walk the talk' of good Learning Organisation practice. We would especially welcome cases that offer perspectives of different participants in the experience, e.g. donor agencies (whether official agencies or NGOs), grant recipient or implementing organisations, community- or membership-based organisations, local stakeholders.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Examples of successful learning organisations (although they may not label themselves in this way) in international and/or community development.
• Examples of efforts to 'mainstream' or 'institutionalise' processes of learning and change, both within and among organisations.
• Examples of learning processes that have gone wrong or produced unexpected results, whether positive or negative.
• Multi-institutional learning collaborations and the extent to which they improved both process and outcomes.
• Experiences of navigating the tensions and differences that can arise between the learning priorities of 'partners' (e.g. Northern/donor organisations and Southern/implementing organisations).
• The harmonising of organisation-wide imperatives and responsiveness to issues of diversity, including a range of working cultures and management styles across different national, local, and ethnic contexts.
• The gender dimensions of applying the Learning Organisation concept in a development and relief setting.
• The challenges of organisational transformation and adaptability, particularly in an international and cross-cultural context.
• What it requires consistently to generate knowledge for action (as opposed to information for reports).
• Examples of efforts to bridge the gap between organisational philosophy and intent, and actual behaviour and practice at all levels of the organisation.
• Is it always appropriate to aspire to the learning organisation model?

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

ABSTRACTS by: 18 May 2001

SELECTED MANUSCRIPTS by: 3 September 2001

FINAL REVISIONS by: 7 January 2002

JOURNAL ISSUE: 27 July 2002

BOOK VERSION: January 2003

Authors should initially submit a brief (100-300 word) abstract of their proposed submission, stating whether this is intended to be a full-length article (6500 words) or a shorter piece (1500-3000 words). This should include (a) the title of the paper, (b) the names, affiliations, and full contact details of the author(s), and (c) a full summary of the paper's content. Abstracts should preferably be sent as a Word attachment to with 'Learning Organisation' as the subject of their message.

Abstracts and manuscripts are accepted in any of our four working languages (English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish). Submission of an abstract is taken to indicate that it describes original, unpublished work, and that the author is committed to publishing it in Development in Practice should the guest-editors invite her/him to submit a full manuscript. Development in Practice is a peer-reviewed journal, so authors should be aware that such an invitation is not a guarantee of acceptance. Final revised manuscripts must follow the presentational requirements outlined in our Notes for Contributors as a condition of publication: these are available in four languages and can be downloaded. Alternatively, a print copy can be requested from or from Development in Practice, c/o Oxfam GB, 274 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DZ, United Kingdom.