The idea of the Barefoot Guides was born in 2007 from a group of practitioners, initially CDRA and then a wider community of practitioners (the Barefoot Guide 1 Writer’s Collective), wanting to meet the growing demand for accessible resources on social change. Since the publication of the first guide, Working with Organizations and Social Change, in 2009, requests for additional guides have continuously come in allowing a guide to be published every 2 years: The Barefoot Guide 2 (BFG2) on Learning Practices in Organizations and Social Change was published in 2011; in 2013 the first Barefoot Guide, written by an external group was published: Mobilizing Religious Health Assets for Transformation; and in March 2015, the BFG4 Exploring the Real Work of Social Change was launched in the World Social Forum of Tunis. A total of 243 development practitioners have already collaborated in the writing of the first four Barefoot Guides.

Several more Barefoot Guides are now in the pipeline, held by a variety of groups: Transformative evaluation; Inclusive Development; Seed Sovereignty are already in motion. In early conception are Guides on Generative Leadership; Climate Change; The Creative Classroom; Conflict and Resilience.