Practical Action has developed a framework for a community-centred approach to reducing vulnerability, see 'From Vulnerability to Resilience (V2R)'. It recognizes the need to build the capacity of community members and institutions to analyse their situation and to plan and implement relevant activities to strengthen resilience.

Empowerment to build communities’ capacity to determine their own future as well as to access and influence institutions and decision making process that affect them is central to Practical Action’s approach to livelihood security. Building self-reliance is at the heart of our approach, and this is achieved through valuing and respecting people’s livelihood choices and building on local skills, capacity and knowledge to strengthen those livelihoods. Most of our projects take a collective approach to working and this is achieved through strengthening local institutions, such as Village Development Committees, Women’s Development Associations and other Community Based organisations. These organisations vary considerably, some are connected to the lowest level of government (e.g.in Nepal) and others are based on traditional tribal structures, sometimes outside of project support (e.g. in. Sudan). Other groups are more specific and represent the interests of groups within communities such as women, fishers, farmers or blacksmiths and others are based on social institutions such as savings and loan groups or water management groups.

Community organisations are essential in ensuring that communities are able to analyse the causes of their situation of poverty and envisage and plan for positive solutions. Community based approaches promote local ownership of processes of change, and so can ensure better management of knowledge and resources for implementing public action and ensuring sustainability long after external support phases out.

Practical Action has developed guiding principles to support the process of working with community organisations and help overcome some the challenges that can be faced. There can be obstacles to mobilising community organisations which can include problems of dependency, accountability and the maintenance of existing hierarchies where the interests of the group is captured by elites, therefore not addressing the needs of poorer members. Our guidelines contain three main principles that experience has shown are important when working with community organisations: (1) Facilitate community empowerment and self-reliance through a ‘light touch’ that encourages empowerment and lessens dependency on external actors (2) Include and represent the poor to ensure their voices are heard (3) Meet practical needs to ensure wellbeing as community organisations can be most effective and sustainable in situations where they meet people’s specific on-going needs. In order to enact these principles, Practical Action uses a number of tools in different contexts to encourage successful and self-reliant community organisations which include facilitation, community based planning and capacity building measures such as leadership training, bookkeeping and financial support. More detailed information can be found in Practical Action’s ‘Training for Transformation’ Handbook and ‘A Light Touch’ briefing paper.