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The aim of the present study was to examine the convergence of two approaches used to assess community capacity in health promotion interventions. One was used to examine women and men in rural communities in Fiji, and the other to study women only in rural communities in Nepal. Both approaches used a set of Ôcapacity domainsÕ, a ranking scale and a means of visually representing the findings. The experiences of using each approach, and the strengths and weaknesses of using rating scales and the Ôcapacity domainsÕ to assess community capacity are discussed. The use of visual representations of community change, in particular the Ôspider webÕ approach, are also discussed. The capacity building ÔdomainsÕ presented in this study are robust and capture the essential qualities of a Ôcapable communityÕ. ÔParallel trackingÕ of the domains allows programmes themselves to be viewed as a means to the end of building community capacity. These approaches provide a useful new dimension to programme evaluation. Keywords