Your search
Results 26 resources
-
Headed off recently to discuss the state of Thinking and Working Politically within the aid sector. This is a loose network of aid wonks that came together to try and move aid from a pure focus on technical issues, towards taking account of power and politics and why they can facilitate/frustrate attempts to make change happen in any given context. It was great to be in a room with others (50/50 in person and online) – the neurons fire in a way that just doesn’t happen online (but I also...
-
A management treatise on 'simplre rules' for companies facing unpredictable situations could provide useful guidance to aid organizations
-
Policymaking is rarely ‘evidence-based’. Rather, policy can only be strongly evidence-informed if its advocates act effectively. Policy theories suggest that they can do so by learning the rules of political systems, and by forming relationships and networks with key actors to build up enough knowledge of their environment and trust from their audience. This knowledge allows them to craft effective influencing strategies, such as to tell a persuasive and timely story about an urgent policy...
-
It’s always a red letter day when a new paper from Graham Teskey drops. His most recent is Thinking and working politically: What have we learned since 2013? For those that don’t know him, Graham is a consummate insider-outsider within the aid sector – long stints at DFID (UK), DFAT (Australia) and now Abt (Management Consultants). From this vantage point he has been one of the leading proponents of ‘thinking and working politically’, always ready to call out the hand-wavey academics and...
-
This paper explores the current state of thinking among a range of aid actors (multilaterals, bilateral, applied scholars and international non-governmental organisations) on how to promote empowerment and accountability in fragile, conflict and violence affected settings. It seeks to identify trends, gaps and weaknesses in that thinking, and propose research questions and hypotheses to test. Three underlying sources of confusion are identified that are hindering progress on both...
-
This edited collection of peer-reviewed papers explores critical challenges faced by organisations and individuals involved in evidence-informed development through a diverse set of case studies and t...
-
A smart new report explores how a good idea - theories of change - is distorted by the way it is implemented in the aid sector
-
Lots of discussion on my US trip around the strengths/weaknesses of the context v intervention 2x2 that suggests particular theories of change acc to situation
-
Fragile, conflict and violence-affected settings (FCVAS) are messy and ambiguous contexts in which to plan and implement development initiatives. To work there, external actors are increasingly adopting an adaptive approach to empowerment and accountability (E&A) programming, whatever the setting. This means using a compass rather than map, where real-time political economy analysis (PEA) in relation to context and programme monitoring and evidence-informed learning in relation to...
-
Self-Critical reflections on AM and TWP. Linking it with The Hype Cycle - "it feels like we are heading downward to the ‘trough of disillusionment’ form the initial peak of ‘inflated expectations’, but we will bounce back to something more sustained, that becomes a permanent feature of the aid landscape".
-
A recent conversation with a good governance programme in Myanmar tried to identify its underlying rules of thumb. Was that a good idea?
-
Some top adaptive management exponents give their top tips on how to distinguish spin from reality, when looking at an avowedly AM programme
-
Report back from a meeting of international NGOs to set up a research and practice network on 'Doing Development Differently' that can complement other actors
-
Human society is full of would-be 'change agents', a restless mix of campaigners, lobbyists, and officials, both individuals and organizations, set on transforming the world. They want to improve public services, reform laws and regulations, guarantee human rights, get a fairer deal for those on the sharp end, achieve greater recognition for any number of issues, or simply be treated with respect. Striking then, that not many universities have a Department of Change Studies, to which...
-
In June it will be seven years since the Center for Global Development published the Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) paper. Few academic papers have had such an impact on development thinking. The question is whether the paper – and subsequent debate and experimentation - have had a demonstrable and beneficial impact on development practice. Experience to date suggests thinking politically is easier than working politically. Practitioners in development agencies, governments and...
-
From Poverty to Power From Poverty to Power argues that a radical redistribution of power, opportunities, and assets rather than traditional models of charitable or government aid is required to break the cycle of poverty and inequality. The forces driving this transformation are active citizens and effective states. Published in association with Oxfam GB. Full description
-
Review of a new book that explores the 'secret sauce' of Coalitions for Change - an unusually successful governance programme in the Philippines
Explore
Theme
- Adaptive Approaches [+] (16)
- Cases (4)
- Courses (1)
- Development Actors Perspectives (3)
-
Geography
(4)
-
Africa
(2)
- Central Africa (1)
-
Eastern Africa
(1)
- Tanzania (1)
-
Asia
(2)
-
South-eastern Asia
(2)
- Myanmar (2)
-
South-eastern Asia
(2)
-
Africa
(2)
-
MEL4 Adaptive Management
(6)
- Rules of Thumb (2)
- TOC (Theory of Change) (1)
- Networks and Communities of Practice (1)
- Sectors [+] (11)
Resource type
- Blog Post (14)
- Book (2)
- Book Section (1)
- Journal Article (2)
- Report (6)
- Video Recording (1)