Douglas Reeler

I have been working for over thirty-six years in the development sector, mostly in Southern Africa and East Africa, and sometimes in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America across multiple issues and sectors. I see myself as a social change process facilitator.

I have three key competencies: Organisational Development Facilitator, Writer/Editor and Adult Educator.

My key competency, as a facilitator, is to accompany people and organisations to understand and develop their social change purpose/strategy/practice and the organisational forms that best support, lead and manage those practices.

My skills extend into the design and facilitation of processes of collective horizontal action learning, participatory action research, theories of change development and strategic reviews.

I have a special interest in supporting organisations to reflect on their work and experiences and to deepen their practice. As social change approaches become more sophisticated in more complex contexts, the ability of organisations, practitioners and community leaders to navigate their way through unpredictable processes, consequences and dynamics through effective action learning becomes increasingly vital. Seen this way, such qualitative learning process can become the learning core of monitoring and evaluation systems and practices, giving life and depth to otherwise lifeless and technical tickbox rituals.

I also design and facilitate collective writing and publication of practice guides and case studies (most strongly manifest in the Barefoot Guides). We know that action learning is in the DNA of adaptive management and facilitating emergent processes of change, and we have learned from our own and others’ experiences that collective horizontal learning processes often provide the best foundations for collaborative working and initiatives. I, and my colleague, have developed a range of approaches and methodologies to support these.