capacity4dev.eu: Connecting the Development Community

We’re pleased to welcome you to the new, improved capacity4dev.eu which has been remodelled with cleaner, simpler and easier to use features to support our mission in ‘Connecting the Development Community’.

The new site seeks to further aid online collaboration and exchange by offering a simpler and better designed structure that can be used in a straight forward way.

Since launching in 2009, capacity4dev.eu has brought together over 1,700 development practitioners creating a diverse online collaboration community.

Capacity4dev.eu is funded by EuropeAid, but endeavours to bring professionals together across continents, cultures and organisations. Some 60 percent of registered users are external to the European Commission.

So what’s new?

At the outset, capacity4dev.eu was set up to support the Commission’s reform of Technical Cooperation, known as the Backbone Strategy. That reform process is ongoing and remains fundamental to capacity4dev.eu’s principles of knowledge sharing and teamwork. However, capacity4dev.eu now has a new, broader scope advancing those same key principles across 26 development themes.

You can still use capacity4dev.eu to share documents, seek out other experts in your field and set up working groups, but veterans of the site will notice some significant improvements in how these tools are managed and designed.

And, while the look, feel and structure of the site has been completely redesigned, any information you may have posted to the site, including your profile and login information, is still there: It’s just been repackaged in a more logical and easier to use way.

Groups

At the heart of the new capacity4dev.eu is the groups function (see image above). In groups, professionals can come together around a topic, theme or event to work, plan and exchange. Groups offer a flexible online working environment.

All groups are related to one or more of the capacity4dev.eu topics. This way it’s easier to find other groups, and other colleagues, who are working on similar or related areas.

There are two kinds of groups: Public Groups and Private Groups. By default, all groups on the site are public. This means that all content posted in the group can be seen by anyone, anywhere, anytime. If that doesn’t sound like a good thing, you can make a special request for a private group.

Green Gateway
With our carefully designed colour-coding, green is the gateway to activity on capacity4dev.eu. Once you are logged in, the green highlights will pick out information, groups and content that is of specific interest to you.

This information is automated and based on your interests and other information contained in your personal profile.

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There’s lots new to discover on capacity4dev.eu – but perhaps the best way to find out what’s on offer, is to get clicking!

The Editorial Team are available to answer questions.