Why is capacity building so important?

Short Answer #

Because strong community capacity increases the likelihood that language revitalization efforts will continue and grow over time.

Expanded Answer #

Many projects focus on deliverables. Capacity building focuses on people. Examples include:

• Training language workers
• Developing teachers
• Strengthening governance
• Improving workflows
• Building technical skills

Capacity remains after projects end. Infrastructure remains after projects end. Knowledge remains after projects end. This is one reason capacity building is often viewed as one of the most valuable outcomes of language revitalization initiatives. Strong capacity creates stronger futures.