Grape

Training Programme Aim and Design

The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), in collaboration with the Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI), delivers an advanced training and support programme tailored for the Grape platforms and their advocacy campaigns. This five-year initiative commenced in December 2022 and now welcomes a new cohort of trainees and advocacy champions annually.

Each cohort undergoes an intensive 18-month training period, during which they actively advance the advocacy campaigns.

The Grape programme conducts local participatory research and uses robust evidence-building for impactful advocacy. Local initiatives gain global traction through the extensive WCRC worldwide network, maximizing their influence. Consecutive training courses empower teams comprising church members, NGOs, and activists on a national level, facilitating the implementation of advocacy campaigns. In 2022/23, the designer team developed and planned the campaign, passing the baton now to the 2nd cohort for further implementation. The local Grape platforms ensure continuity and local ownership, while also connecting campaigns to global structures. The WCRC, utilizing its unique grass-roots contacts and global network, aims to contribute to meaningful change for just and peaceful societies. EPRI provides high-level training and research support, covering four broad areas:

The four Training Modules:

• Capacity Building: Local teams receive high-level training through intensive online and in-person workshops. The courses unravel the economic and sociological conditions for inclusive social and economic transformation and conflict resolution.
• Theological Reflection: The teams will engage in biblical and contextual theological analysis as a basis for contextual engagement.
• Research and Advocacy: Facilitated through EPRI’s mentoring, the teams conduct participatory research, compile quantitative and qualitative research agendas and publish findings to enhance the advocacy work.
• Results-Based Management: The advocacy programmes aim at high-impact outcomes through iterative monitoring and learning.

The modules include:

Participatory research

• case studies & listening surveys
• contextual bible studies

Qualitative and quantitative research

• Socio-economic concepts
• poverty
• unemployment
• COVID impact and recovery

Budget analysis

• budget tracking
• economic modelling

Climate crisis

• just transition

Documentation

• photography
• audio / video
• webpage / social media