Resources & Ideas
The Governance Action Hub gathers ideas and knowledge resources from across the world highlighting new insights that help to push the envelope of governance reform.
Featured Resources and Ideas
How a coalition is trying to save a city
What the Joburg Crisis Alliance can teach us about civic power, political accountability, and reimagining the future of South Africa’s most important metropolis.
Centering Community Voices: An Interview with Samke Phewa
Informal settlements are often overlooked, but not by Samke Pewa of CORC, a member of the Governance Explorers Network at the Governance Action Hub. Through community-led data...
State Capture: From Exposure to Strategy, Reflections from OTT 2025
At the OTT Conference 2025 in Johannesburg, the Governance Action Hub, New South Institute, and On Think Tanks convened a pivotal session on an urgent governance challenge:
State Capture Matters: Challenging corruption and a new dataset
Blog | Editor’s note: This blog is part of the Governance Action Hub’s efforts to leverage evidence and data for action, focusing on one of its key themes: state capture and...
Ideas
Emerging thoughts from the Governance trenches. Here, we collect blogs published by the Hub’s team and other thought leaders.
How a coalition is trying to save a city
What the Joburg Crisis Alliance can teach us about civic power, political accountability, and reimagining the future of South Africa’s most important metropolis.
Centering Community Voices: An Interview with Samke Phewa
Informal settlements are often overlooked, but not by Samke Pewa of CORC, a member of the Governance Explorers Network at the Governance Action Hub. Through community-led data...
State Capture: From Exposure to Strategy, Reflections from OTT 2025
At the OTT Conference 2025 in Johannesburg, the Governance Action Hub, New South Institute, and On Think Tanks convened a pivotal session on an urgent governance challenge:
Collaborating for Responsiveness? Asivikelane’s Evolving Approach to Community Engagement with Government to Improve Service Delivery in South Africa – Part 1
How do you shift a system stuck in cycles of exclusion and unresponsiveness? This first blog in a two-part series by Brendan Halloran introduces Asivikelane, a South African civic initiative...
Collaborating for Responsiveness? Asivikelane’s Evolving Approach to Community Engagement with Government – Part 2
Collaboration with government sounds good – but does it really deliver results for marginalized communities? In this second blog, Brendan Halloran unpacks the lessons, risks, and tensions that come with...
Unlocking the Transformative Potential of Energy Communities
Blog | Explore how community-led models—from solar-powered villages in Morocco to grassroots cooperatives in Costa Rica and Brazil—are transforming the...
Voces Wayuu: Sostenibilidad de las Comunidades Energéticas
Este es el tercer blog de una serie sobre nuestro trabajo en La Guajira junto a la Universidad de La Guajira,...
Rethinking the role and strategies of think tanks
Blog | This article was part of the publication of the 2024 On Think Tanks State of the Sector Report. Explore the report and resources here.
Energy Communities: Collaborative efforts for a just transition
Blog | Editor’s note: The Governance Action Hub is evaluating how it can add value to existing local initiatives in Colombia to improve governance and enhance citizen participation, as well...
Harnessing local systems: Energy Transition in Colombia
Blog | Editor’s note: The Governance Action Hub is currently assessing how to add value to existing local efforts towards energy transition in Colombia, with a focus on justice and...
State Capture Matters: Challenging corruption and a new dataset
Blog | Editor’s note: This blog is part of the Governance Action Hub’s efforts to leverage evidence and data for action, focusing on one of its key themes: state capture and...
Making Colombia’s energy transition a just one for all
Blog | The Governance Action Hub aims to convene and put local change agents in the driver’s seat to analyze local challenges, co-create solutions and take action collectively. In March...
Strengthening Local Coalitions for Change: What’s Next?
Blog | A few weeks ago, the R4D-led Governance Action Hub hosted its official launch event. Since then, the team has been preparing for initial country-level engagements and designing a...
Tools and Toolkits
These are collections of insight and how-to information that inform the way the Governance Action Hub and partners promote governance reform.
Human Learning Systems: A practical guide for the curious
Tool | READ THIS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN: A new approach to public services that focuses on learning, experimentation, and system change rather than traditional management models. This guide is...
The Strategy Testing Workbook: Politically-Smart Adaptive Programming
Tool | READ THIS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN: Strategies to design and implement responsive good governance programs that can adapt to a changing landscape.
Collaborative Learning Networks Measurement & Learning Framework
READ THIS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN: Understanding how to measure the impact of collaborative learning networks in driving systems change through peer-to-peer learning.
All Resources and Ideas
Rethinking the role and strategies of think tanks
Blog | This article was part of the publication of the 2024 On Think Tanks State of the Sector Report. Explore the report and resources here.
USAID Local Systems Position Paper
Paper | READ THIS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN: A short and concise presentation of approaches in systems thinking and systems practice that can help strengthen and further embed these mindsets...
Human Learning Systems: A practical guide for the curious
Tool | READ THIS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN: A new approach to public services that focuses on learning, experimentation, and system change rather than traditional management models. This guide is...
Making the energy transition in Colombia a just one: A political economy analysis and collective ideas for action
Paper | READ THIS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN: Understanding how political economy analysis can be applied to support equitable energy transitions, particularly in emerging markets. This resource is particularly relevant...
Energy Communities: Collaborative efforts for a just transition
Blog | Editor’s note: The Governance Action Hub is evaluating how it can add value to existing local initiatives in Colombia to improve governance and enhance citizen participation, as well...
Harnessing local systems: Energy Transition in Colombia
Blog | Editor’s note: The Governance Action Hub is currently assessing how to add value to existing local efforts towards energy transition in Colombia, with a focus on justice and...
The Strategy Testing Workbook: Politically-Smart Adaptive Programming
Tool | READ THIS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN: Strategies to design and implement responsive good governance programs that can adapt to a changing landscape.
Not influential but useful: Rethinking how we assess think tanks
READ THIS IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN:Understanding the true role of think tanks and how their contributions extend beyond direct policy influence.
State Capture Matters: Associated Dataset and Index
Article | Note: This article by senior fellow Daniel Kaufmann explores the concept of state capture. It presents a global State Capture Index, revealing how state capture differs from...
Governance Action Spotlight
The Governance Action Spotlights showcase diverse local governance efforts and initiatives globally. We also highlight innovative and transformative work happening at the grassroots level, in order to foster a broader understanding and appreciation for effective governance practices worldwide.
Join the Governance Explorers
We are bringing together a global network of people eager to rethink governance and influence local, national and global debates.
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