The usefulness of horizontal learning in civil society organizations (CSOs) lies in its ability to generate internal change, inspire new strategies, and strengthen connections among actors facing common challenges. Through this collaborative approach, CSOs learn from one another, recognizing their experiences as valuable sources of practical knowledge.
In this post, we share two video testimonials that reflect how these peer exchange spaces have had a tangible impact on the work of participating organizations. These stories were collected during gatherings facilitated by COMETA, with the goal of promoting a more reflective, safe, and inclusive organizational culture.
What is horizontal learning and why is it useful?
Unlike vertical or hierarchical training models, horizontal learning is based on collaboration among equals. It allows organizations to share practices, mistakes, ideas, and strategies based on lived experience—leading to more empathetic, contextualized, and effective processes.
The usefulness of horizontal learning lies in the fact that it not only transmits knowledge but also strengthens trust between organizations, opens doors to strategic collaboration, and sparks structural change in internal work practices.
Horizontal learning enhances the ability of CSOs to drive internal change, inspire new strategies, and connect with peers facing similar challenges. This collaborative approach helps generate knowledge both within and beyond the organization, promoting effective collaboration in pursuit of social change.
From dialogue to institutional change (PODER)
In the first video, members of the organization PODER share how participating in the spaces facilitated by COMETA led to tangible actions such as creating an anti-harassment protocol, a code of ethics, and new practices around accessibility and inclusion.
💬 “It can’t just be rhetoric anymore… it’s time to act.”
Julieta Lamberti’s testimony shows how engaging with other CSOs helped them clearly identify areas for internal improvement—confirming the usefulness of horizontal learning as a catalyst for institutionalizing more just practices.
Realizing we’re not alone (IGO México)
In the second video, Yuleina Carmona from IGO México shares how exchanging experiences with other organizations helped them break out of isolation and craft their own solutions to urgent challenges. As a result, they began developing the first local security protocol within their network and revised their internal policies on diversity, mental health, and working conditions.
💬 “It wasn’t about competing—it was about sharing… and changing.”
Here, the usefulness of horizontal learning translated into real organizational strengthening, driven by a context of trust, listening, and mutual support.
COMETA: Building networks that drive transformation
Both of these stories were made possible by the spaces for exchange fostered by COMETA, which promotes institutional strengthening with a feminist and intersectional lens. Through horizontal learning, COMETA has helped many CSOs rethink their internal structures and find collective solutions to today’s challenges.
Reflect with us on the usefulness of horizontal learning
These videos show that organizational change doesn’t have to happen in isolation. The usefulness of horizontal learning lies in its ability to connect, inspire, and transform organizations from within.
Would you like to activate similar processes in your organization?
At COMETA, we continue creating spaces to walk together toward feminist, horizontal, and transformative organizational strengthening.
