Defining community capacity building: is it possible?

OBJECTIVE Community capacity building has emerged as an important element in effective health promotion practice. The literature highlights many interpretations of community capacity building. Like other broad concepts such as community and social capital, the term 'community capacity building' is not easily captured. The context in which capacity is built is important and possibly contributes to the array of definitions. METHOD This paper reviews the definitions of community capacity building in health promotion beginning with early definitions in the 1990s to the latest offered by the WHO's Health Promotion Glossary in 2006. RESULTS The definitions have a common formula with three features: (1) community capacity building is a process/an approach; (2) capacity building is a collection of domains often referred to as characteristics, aspects, capabilities or dimensions; and (3) definitions incorporate an outcome or the rationale for building capacity. CONCLUSION The commonality in definition challenges the idea that the term 'capacity building' is fraught with a plethora of meanings. The formula can be utilised by communities needing to define capacity building for their own purposes, in their own contexts.