In the spring of 2018, Katja and I founded Capability Oy upon returning to Finland after 15 years living and working in countries such as Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia. Capability is therefore rooted in our rich international backgrounds.
Social development is about catalysing enduring change in
and with communities
At Capability, we are driven by a commitment to address complex social challenges affecting vulnerable populations across the Global South. Our expertise spans critical areas such as democratic governance, education, climate change, natural resource management, and rural development.
We firmly believe that social development is about catalysing enduring change in and with communities. From poverty alleviation to promoting gender equality and human rights, our approach is anchored in policy reforms and innovative solutions that reshape social structures and foster sustainable progress.
Central to our methodology is linking insights from systems thinking, problem-driven political economy analysis, and developmental evaluation. These methods and analytical lenses empower us to co-design and implement with our partners development initiatives that start from locally-nominated problems and that seek solutions and reforms that are not only technically sound but also politically viable.
What our services include
- Research and analysis – We partner with local organisations to facilitate and conduct applied political economy analysis. This includes identifying and mapping locally-nominated problems, understanding stakeholder interests and incentives, and assessing how power dynamics influence policy outcomes. These insights help us design with our partners initiatives that are sensitive to the political environment and adapted to the local context.
- Change strategies – We facilitate the co-design of programme strategies that integrate problem-driven iterative adaptation. This collaborative approach helps generate theories of change and portfolios of actions aiming to shift governance systems so that they provide public services and livelihood support to the most vulnerables.
- MEL and strategic learning – We partner with local organisations to design and implement tailored monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems, collaborating as strategic learning partners throughout their programs. We combine developmental evaluation principles with sensemaking and group facilitation. By prioritising strategic learning, our MEL systems track progress and provide evidence and insights to guide programme adaptation and improve results.
Interdisciplinarity fosters creativity and innovation at Crazy Town
On Vappu, we joined the Crazy Town Tampere community because we recognize the value of linking and discussing ideas with organizations beyond the development sector. Interdisciplinarity fosters creativity and innovation. For instance, there is significant potential to brainstorm ideas with companies developing digital solutions for management processes and data analytics, exploring how these innovations can be adapted and applied to development initiatives. Conversely, for companies in Crazy Town interested in expanding their business and operations to the Global South, we offer context, suggestions, and ideas to facilitate their exploration.
Contact
I will be sitting three days a week in Crazy Town in one of the hot desk areas. If you want to hear more about our work or let me know about your business and work drop me an email at arnaldo.pellini@capability.fi
arnaldo.pellini@capability.fi
www.capability.fi
You can find me also on LinkedIn: Arnaldo Pellini
