Impact assessment and the quest for the Holy Grail - Bymolt, Roger (KIT Royal Tropical Institute, 2015)

Impact assessment of ICT-for-development projects a compendium of approaches - Heeks, Richard; Molla, Alemayehu (University of Manchester. Institute for development policy and management (IDPM), 2009)
OCLC: 686761171

Impact evaluation for portfolio programmes on policy influence: Reflections on the Indonesian Poverty Reduction Support Facility - Mackenzie, Jessica; Hearn, Simon (Methods Lab, 2016)
• Donors are increasingly using portfolio-based programmes that embrace ‘good failure’ and adaptive, political programming. • However, measuring the impact of these programmes is challenging, especially for those working on policy influence and building country systems; not only do you need to measure the positive and negative impact of the overall portfolio, but also the different pathways tested. • Programmes, therefore, need a light-touch monitoring and evaluation system that allows it to remain flexible. • Good practice examples of portfolio-based programmes present six strategies to evaluate impact: 1. Develop appropriate logic models 2. Collect observational data throughout implementation 3. Develop stories of change or case studies 4. Understand causal relationships without a counterfactual 5. Purposefully select which activities to study 6. Be explicit about how impact will be valued across the portfolio. • These strategies are only useful if monitoring and evaluation is placed at the centre of programme decision-making.

Impact Evaluation of Development Interventions: A Practical Guide - White, Howard; Raitzer, David (Asian Development Bank, 2017)
This book offers guidance on the principles, methods, and practice of impact evaluation. It contains material for a range of audiences, from those who may use or manage impact evaluations to applied researchers.
Accepted: 2017-12-26 Last Modified: 2020-07-22T18:28+08:00

Impact Evaluation: Taking stock and looking ahead - Conference report - Visser, Irene; Guijt, Irene; Kusters, Cecile (Centre for Development Innovation, 2013)
This report summarises the presentations and discussions of the Conference ‘Impact evaluation. Taking stock and looking ahead’, which took place in Wageningen on March 25 and 26, 2013. The Conference was organised and funded by the Centre for

Impact Evidence and Beyond: Using Evidence to Drive Adoption of Humanitarian Innovations - Dodgson, Kate; Crowley, Catie (Elrha, 2021)
This learning paper provides guidance to humanitarian innovators on how to use evidence to enable and drive adoption of innovation. Innovation literature and practice show time and time again that it is difficult to scale innovations. Even when an innovation is demonstrably impactful, better than the existing solution and good value for money, it does not automatically get adopted or used in mainstream humanitarian programming. Why do evidence-based innovations face difficulties in scaling and how can innovators best position their innovation to scale? This learning paper is for innovators who want to effectively use evidence to support and enable their journey to scale. It explores the underlying social, organisational and behavioural factors that stifle uptake of innovations. It also provides guidance on how to use, prioritise and communicate evidence to overcome these barriers. The paper aims to help innovators generate and present their evidence in more tailored and nuanced ways to improve adoption and scaling of their innovations.

Impact networks: measuring towards success - Small Foundation (Small Foundation, 2021)
How does Small Foundation think about the impact…

Implementation of the first adaptive management plan for a European migratory waterbird population: The case of the Svalbard pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus - Madsen, Jesper; Williams, James Henty; Johnson, Fred A.; Tombre, Ingunn M.; Dereliev, Sergey; Kuijken, Eckhart (Ambio, 2017)
An International Species Management Plan for the Svalbard population of the pink-footed goose was adopted under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds in 2012, the first case of adaptive management of a migratory waterbird population in Europe. An international working group (including statutory agencies, NGO representatives and experts) agreed on objectives and actions to maintain the population in favourable conservation status, while accounting for biodiversity, economic and recreational interests. Agreements include setting a population target to reduce agricultural conflicts and avoid tundra degradation, and using hunting in some range states to maintain stable population size. As part of the adaptive management procedures, adjustment to harvest is made annually subject to population status. This has required streamlining of monitoring and assessment activities. Three years after implementation, indicators suggest the attainment of management results. Dialogue, consensus-building and engagement among stakeholders represent the major process achievements.
Keywords: Adaptive harvest management; Human–wildlife conflict; Population target; Stakeholder involvement; Structured decision-making; Tundra degradation

Implementing Adaptive Approaches in Real World Scenarios: A Nigeria Case Study, with Lessons for Theory and Practice - Bridges, Kate; Woolcock, Michael (The World Bank, 2019)
How does adaptive implementation work in practice? Drawing on extensive interviews and observations, this paper contrasts the ways in which an adaptive component of a major health care project was implemented in three program and three matched comparison states in Nigeria. The paper examines the bases on which claims and counterclaims about the effectiveness of these approaches were made by different actors, concluding that resolution requires any such claims to be grounded in a fit-for-purpose theory of change and evaluation strategy. The principles of adaptive development may be gaining broad acceptance, but a complex array of skills, expectations, political support, empirical measures, and administrative structures needs to be deftly integrated if demonstrably positive operational results are to be obtained, especially when undertaken within institutional systems, administrative logics, and political imperatives that are predisposed to serve rather different purposes.

Implementing adaptive management: A front-line effort — Is there an emerging practice? - Teskey, Graham; Tyrrel, Lavinia (Abt Associates, 2021)
Among the many principles that currently inform donor-funded development initiatives, three appear to stand out: they should be politically informed, locally led, and adaptive. There is as yet little practical guidance for aid implementers regarding how to operationalise these approaches. What will it take to shift practice away from linear and planned approaches, towards models which foster local leadership and which engage with emergent and complex systems? This paper suggests that the answer is not to throw out the discipline of the logical framework, results frameworks, or theories of change. Rather they need to be handled rather more reflectively and ‘elastically’. The purpose of this paper is to set out how this can be achieved, and to propose 15 tools for donors, implementors and front-line staff to apply adaptive management (AM) in practice, at critical stages of the project cycle and within the dominant aid paradigm. This is what we are calling PILLAR: politically informed, locally led and adaptive responses. We are framing PILLAR to cover the full project cycle (design, implementation and review), hence the nomenclature of an ‘end to end’ approach. Our hope is that these tools will eventually replace the current planned, log-frame driven and top-down approach to aid design and delivery which dominates the development sector.

Implementing Innovation: A User's Manual for Open Government Programs - Reboot Design (2015)
This guide draws from our experience around the world helping government reformers achieve real change. It is a practical resource for anyone working to implement an open government initiative.

Implementing the new development agenda - Wrap up - Teskey, Graham (2017)

Importing Democracy: The Role of NGO's in South Africa, Tajikistan, & Argentina - Fisher, Julie (Kettering Foundation Press, 2013)
While street protesters demanding democratic reforms make headlines in the international news, Importing Democracy: The Role of NGOs in South Africa, Tajikistan, and Argentina, written by Julie Fisher and published by the Kettering Foundation Press, focuses on a quieter movement led by democratization NGOs. In South Africa, the Good Governance Learning Network shares participatory tools to make local governments more responsive. In Tajikistan, Jahan teaches local police about human rights. In Argentina, seven democratization NGOs sponsor public deliberations in local communities and have organized a nationwide citizens network to combat municipal government corruption. The book is organized around three chapters for each country, South Africa, Tajikistan, and Argentina. The first chapter of each country s section begins with the historical, political, and economic context and continues with a discussion of the general contours of civil society. The second chapter in each section deals with the role of democratization NGOs in promoting both loyal opposition and law-based civil liberties. The third chapter focuses on their role in promoting political culture and political participation. Loyal opposition and law-based civil liberties help define democratization at the national level, whereas changes in political culture and increased political participation often occur throughout society. Following the nine country chapters, the book concludes with a comparative overview and implications for international policy. Fisher, a former Kettering Foundation program officer, writes that the idea that democracy can be exported has lost credibility in recent years. In many countries, however, democratization NGOs are importing democratic ideas and recovering local democratic traditions.

Improving development aid design and evaluation: Plan for sailboats, not trains - Kleinfeld, Rachel (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2015)
How do reforms that require political engagement differ from traditional technical reforms? Why is political engagement different, and what are the implications for design and evaluation? How should development programmes that engage politics be designed? And how can those who fund or implement such programmes evaluate whether their efforts are contributing to reform? This report …
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Improving our legacy: Incorporation of adaptive management into state wildlife action plans - Fontaine, Joseph J. (Journal of Environmental Management, 2011)
The loss of biodiversity is a mounting concern, but despite numerous attempts there are few large scale conservation efforts that have proven successful in reversing current declines. Given the challenge of biodiversity conservation, there is a need to develop strategic conservation plans that address species declines even with the inherent uncertainty in managing multiple species in complex environments. In 2002, the State Wildlife Grant program was initiated to fulﬁll this need, and while not explicitly outlined by Congress follows the fundamental premise of adaptive management, ‘Learning by doing’. When action is necessary, but basic biological information and an understanding of appropriate management strategies are lacking, adaptive management enables managers to be proactive in spite of uncertainty. However, regardless of the strengths of adaptive management, the development of an effective adaptive management framework is challenging. In a review of 53 State Wildlife Action Plans, I found a keen awareness by planners that adaptive management was an effective method for addressing biodiversity conservation, but the development and incorporation of explicit adaptive management approaches within each plan remained elusive. Only w25% of the plans included a framework for how adaptive management would be implemented at the project level within their state. There was, however, considerable support across plans for further development and implementation of adaptive management. By furthering the incorporation of adaptive management principles in conservation plans and explicitly outlining the decision making process, states will be poised to meet the pending challenges to biodiversity conservation.

Improving the Evaluability of INGO Empowerment and Accountability Programmes - Shutt, Cathy; McGee, Rosemary (Centre for Development Impact, 2013)

Improving the Measurement of Civic Space - Malena, Carmen (Transparency & Accountability Initiative, 2015)
‘Civic space’ – i.e. the freedom and means to speak, access information, associate, organise, and participate in public decision-making – is essential to the healthy functioning and development of any society and a precondition for accountable governance and social justice. When civic space is restricted, human and civil rights are denied, government accountability is jeopardised, …

In praise of... Logframes - Teskey, Graham (From Poverty to Power, 2021)
In all the jobs I have held, the only training that has ever stayed with me was a three-day course on logframes, held in a very pleasant beach hotel on Fiji’s beautiful coral coast. This was a few months after I joined what was then the Overseas Development Administration, DFID’s forerunner. Three days on logframes. Yes really. Our Pacific team were gathered together to learn this new skill. The course was designed not only to help us think rigorously about how change happens, but also to ensure that we had a shared understanding of what constitutes good design. Twenty-five years later I am aware that logframes are out of fashion: references to the ‘tyranny of the logframe’ abound, its vertical determinism, and its lack of flexibility. Donors seem to have replaced logframes with things called ‘Program Logics’, as in the schematic below. You don’t have to be able to read it to get the picture… (and it’s logframes that are supposed to be too vertical…?).

In pursuit of the deep and sustained shifts necessary for adaptive management - Simister, Nigel (INTRAC, 2018)
The final blog in Nigel Simister's series on adaptive management and the M&E of complex projects and programmes.

In the goldfish bowl: science and technology policy dialogues in a digital world - Latta, Susie; Mulcare, Charlotte; Zacharzewski, Anthony (Sciencewise, 2013)

Inclusion in Making All Voices Count - Kelbert, Alexandra (Making All Voices Count, 2014)
Part of a sequenced learning process for MAVC's Research and Evidence Component, the summary of a thematic discussion led by researcher Evangelia Berdou.

Inclusive participatory approaches: A facilitator’s guide - Zaremba, Haley; Elias, Marlène; Devi, J. Tulasi; Priyadarshini, Pratiti (2021)
In community engagement and participatory processes, facilitators must make intentional efforts and adopt inclusive strategies to include marginalized and frequently overlooked groups. Yet, there is a lack of guidance on how to inclusively facilitate participatory processes. Facilitators are therefore often poorly prepared to engage with the power relations that underlie these processes, including those between the facilitator and participants and among participants themselves. This guide addresses this shortcoming by presenting strategies that have been shown to enhance the meaningful participation of women and marginalized groups in participatory processes. The aim is to equip facilitators with tools to create inclusive participatory spaces and community engagement. Although it refers to processes related to natural resource management, the guide is also applicable to the facilitation of participatory processes focusing on other issues or fields of significance to communities.
Accepted: 2022-01-12T09:19:12Z

Inclusive rigour for complexity - Chambers, Robert (Journal of Development Effectiveness, 2015)
Rigour can be reductionist or inclusive. To learn about and understand conditions of complexity, emergence, nonlinearity and unpredictability, the inclusive rigour of mixed methods has been a step in the right direction. From analysis of mixed methods and participatory approaches and methods, this article postulates canons for inclusive rigour for research and evaluation for complexity: eclectic methodological pluralism; improvisation and innovation; adaptive iteration; triangulation; plural perspectives; optimal ignorance and appropriate imprecision; and being open, alert and inquisitive. Inclusive rigour is inherent in participatory methods and approaches, visualisations, group-visual synergy, the democracy of the ground and participatory statistics. Transparent reflexivity, personal behaviour and attitudes, and good facilitation are fundamental. Fully inclusive rigour for complexity demands many personal, institutional and professional revolutions.
Keywords: Evaluation; Mixed methods; Participatory methodologies; Research; paradigm; rigour

Inclusive Social Accountability - Counterpart International (Counterpart International, 2019)
Counterpart International’s Inclusive Social Accountability (ISA) developmental framework integrates elements of social inclusion and community accountability into one comprehensive approach.

Incorporating Geospatial Analysis into USAID Biodiversity Program Design - Higgins, Mark; Salafsky, Nick; Adeney, Marion; Petrova, Silvia (USAID, 2017)
Incorporating Geospatial Analysis into USAID Biodiversity Program Design is a biodiversity case example that describes the use of geospatial data and analysis for program design, including examples and lessons learned.

Increasing Participation in Evaluation - Baker, A; Bruner, B (Bruner Foundation, 2014)
The Increasing Participation in Evaluation bulletin was developed by Anita Baker with Beth Bruner to help organizations integrate evaluative thinking into their organizational practice. This three page bulletin discusses how Organization Staff, Evaluators, and Funders are typically involved in participatory evaluation. The guide also defines the term "Ripple", and how to accomplish Ripple as well as examining what it looks like when Executive Leaders and Management Staff use Evaluative Thinking. Contents How are Organization Staff, Evaluators, and Funders typically involved in Participatory Evaluation? Organization Managers/Staff Roles Evaluators/Roles Funder Roles Shared Roles What is Ripple Anyway? How do you accomplish Ripple? What does it look like when Executive Leaders and Management Staff Use Evaluative Thinking? How to use these Bulletins

Incubating policy for economic transformation: Lessons from Nepal - Booth, David (ODI, 2018)

Independent Evaluation of SDC’s Results-Based Management System with a Focus on Poverty Reduction - Schmidt, Martin; Palenberg, Markus; Vähämäki, Janet (SDC, 2017)
The SDC's results-based management system ensures that the processes and instruments used for the design and implementation of programs and projects contribute to achieving the desired results (outputs, outcomes and impact). The independent evaluation examines the extent to which these processes and tools have fostered the results culture within the organization, and improved competencies for results-based management decisions, learning and communication. In addition to the findings, conclusions and recommendations, the evaluation report includes the management response of SDC’s Directorate.

Independent Review of Facilities: review and management response - DFAT (DFAT, 2018)

Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D)-A design challenge? - Tongia, Rahul; Subrahmanian, Eswaran (2006 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, 2006)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Information lives of the poor: fighting poverty with technology - Elder, Laurent; Samarajiva, Rohan; Gillwald, Alison; Galperin, Hernan (2014)

Information needs and policy change - Potter, Stephen; Subrahumanian, Ramya (Sage, 2007)

Information Systems and Developing Countries: Failure, Success, and Local Improvisations - Heeks, Richard (The Information Society, 2002)
This article presents evidence that–alongside the successes– many information systems in developing countries can be categorized as failing either totally or partially. It then develops a new model that seeks to explain the high rates of failure. The model draws on contingency theory in order to advance the notion of design-actuality gaps: the match or mismatch between IS designs and local user actuality. This helps identify two high-risk archetypes that affect IS in developing countries: country context gaps and hard-soft gaps. The model is also of value in explaining the constraints that exist to local IS improvisations in developing countries. Overall, the article shows how model and theory help understand IS cases in developing countries, and equally, how those cases provide valuable data to help develop IS models and theories.
Keywords: Developing Country; Evaluation; Failure; Information System; implementation

Information Technology and Political Engagement: Mixed Evidence from Uganda - Grossman, Guy (2016)

ING’s agile transformation - Schlatmann, Bart (McKinsey Quarterly, 2017)
Two senior executives from the global bank describe their recent journey.

Innovating for inclusive rigour in peacebuilding evaluation - Apgar, Marina; Báez-Silva, Ángela Maria; Deng, Ayak Chol; Fairey, Tiffany; Rohrbach, Livia; Alamoussa, Dioma; Bradburn, Helene; Cubillos, Edwin; Gray, Stephen; Wingender, Leslie (Institute of Development Studies, 2022)
Inclusive and rigorous peacebuilding evaluation is both vital and complex. In this blog we share examples of how we are innovating our methodologies to move towards participatory and adaptive practice.

Innovating for pro-poor services: why politics matter - Mason, Nathaniel; Doczi, Julian; Cummings, Clare (2016)
This report addresses how politics matter for innovations. How politically smart approaches can help deliver access to services.

Innovating in Development Learning Event - Challenge brief - Vogel, Isabel (Ideas to Impact / iMC, 2017)

Innovation at UNDP: from weekend sport to daily practice - Quaggiotto, Giulio; Begovic, Mellie (Nesta, 2016)
The experience of working to embed innovation approaches in everyday practice at UNDP's country offices
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Innovation for Development Impact: Lessons from the OECD Development Assistance Committee - OECD (OECD, 2020)
The development co-operation community needs to innovate to meet the global challenges ahead. Although it has an established track record for innovating partnerships, funding instruments and technologies, they are not enough to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. This report synthesises the lessons emerging from an OECD Development Assistance Committee peer learning exercise on how innovation efforts can be strengthened, individually and collectively, to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The report is organised around three blocks – strategy, management and culture; organisation and collaboration; and, the innovation process – and provides recommendations on how innovation can best benefit poor and vulnerable people around the world.

Innovation for International Development: Navigating the Paths and Pitfalls - Ramalingam, Ben; Bound, Kirsten (NESTA, 2016)
Experiences, insights and practical advice from over 20 leading practitioners in innovation for international development, brought together in one collection.

Innovation histories: A method from learning from experience - Douthwaite, B; Ashby, J (2005)
Preparing an ‘innovation history’ is a method for recording and reflecting on an innovation process. People who have been involved in the innovation jointly construct a detailed written account (sometimes referred to as a ‘learning history’) based on their recollections and on available documents. The process of preparing this history stimulates discussion, reflection and learning amongst stakeholders. Subsequent planning can build on the lessons learned, formulate a shared vision and act as a catalyst for change. Based on the initial detailed account of the innovation process, more concise informational products can be prepared that summarize the innovation process for wider dissemination of findings. These may include public awareness materials, policy briefs or articles in professional journals.

Innovation in development: Sharing learning, improving impact - Vogel, Isabel; Minkley, Gabrielle; Chowdhury, Sajid (Ideas to Impact / IMC Worldwide, 2017)

Innovation lifecycle and the missing middle - Gray, Ian; McClure, Dan (Managing Humanitarian Innovation - The cutting edge of aid, 2018)

Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto - STEPS Centre (STEPS Centre, 2010)
Our Manifesto project publication is available in print, on CD or to view online. Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto recommends new ways of linking science and innovation to development for a more sustainable, equitable and resilient future. The multimedia version, with added audio, video and background documents, is available on CD and online.

Innovation teams and labs. A Practice Guide - Puttick, Ruth (Nesta, 2014)

Innovations in international humanitarian action - Ramalingam, Ben; Scriven, Kim; Foley, Conor (8th review of humanitarian action, 2009)

Innovative M&E from the Sandbox and beyond - Vester, Søren; Tran, Samuel (Medium, 2023)
In this blog we are sharing a digest of some of the many useful and innovative monitoring, evaluation and learning resources and efforts that have come through the M&E Sandbox in 2022. A lot of these resources have been shared by our community in response to the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the launch of the Sandbox (please keep them coming!). We hope you find it useful. We have grouped these efforts and resources under six broad questions: - How do we measure systems transformation? - How do we know if we are on track? - How do we rethink complexity and independence in evaluation? - Why, how and for whom do we measure? - How do we generate insights and learn? - How do we make decisions and adapt?

Insights for Influence: Understanding Impact Pathways in Crisis Response - Clark, Louise; Carpenter, Jo; Taylor, Joe (Institute of Development Studies, 2023)
The Covid-19 Responses for Equity (CORE) programme was a three-year initiative funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) that brought together 20 projects from across the global South to understand the socioeconomic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, improve existing responses, and generate better policy options for recovery. The research covered 42 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East to understand the ways in which the pandemic affected the most vulnerable people and regions, and deepened existing vulnerabilities. Research projects covered a broad range of themes, including macroeconomic policies for support and recovery; supporting essential economic activity and protecting informal businesses, small producers, and women workers; and promoting democratic governance to strengthen accountability, social inclusion, and civil engagement. The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) provided knowledge translation (KT) support to CORE research partners to maximise the learning generated across the research portfolio and deepen engagement with governments, civil society, and the scientific community. As part of this support, the IDS KT team worked with CORE project teams to reconstruct and reflect on their impact pathways to facilitate South-South knowledge exchange on effective strategies for research impact, and share learning on how the CORE cohort has influenced policy and delivered change. This report presents an overview of these impact pathways and the lessons learnt from a selection of the projects chosen to represent the diversity of approaches to engage policymakers, civil society, and the media to generate and share evidence of the effect of the pandemic on diverse vulnerable groups.
Accepted: 2023-11-10T12:56:06Z Publisher: Institute of Development Studies

Inspiring Radically Better Futures - Evidence and Hope for Impact at Scale in a Time of Crisis - Guijt, Irene; Mayne, Ruth (Oxfam, 2020)
The world faces converging crises of health, climate, gender and racial injustice and extreme economic inequality. The calls are mounting to ‘build back better’ to create more inclusive, caring and environmentally sustainable futures. But what evidence exists that this is possible? The Inspiring Better Futures case study series investigates whether radical change at scale is possible and how it was achieved. This paper synthesises 18 cases which show that people are already successfully building better futures, benefitting millions of people, even against the odds in some of the world’s toughest contexts in lower-income countries. Together they offer hope that transformative change and radically better futures after the pandemic are within reach.

Instituciones que aprenden - Informe para la XXVII Cumbre Iberoamericana de Jefes y Jefas de Estado y de Gobierno - Oliván Cortés, Raúl (XXVII Cumbre Iberoamericana, 2020)
La pandemia de la Covid-19 ha brotado súbitamente en un momento de transición para las instituciones y organizaciones sociales de medio mundo. Cuando aún no se había superado la crisis de confianza de la última década entre los ciudadanos y los gobiernos, en un momento de gran impulso de las iniciativas de gobierno abierto, planes de innovación y transformación digital, para hacer más democráticas y eficientes las administraciones a través de programas políticos encaminados a configurar un nuevo contrato social, verde y digital en el marco de la Agenda 2030; el coronavirus ha provocado un shock histórico alterando el decurso del siglo XXI y exigiendo una aceleración de todos los procesos en marcha. La complejidad y dimensión de la pandemia ha puesto de manifiesto la necesidad de arquitecturas institucionales más flexibles, ágiles y resilientes, que sean capaces de incorporar toda la energía civil para aprender de su talento y creatividad, dándole mayor protagonismo a la ciudadanía (activistas, emprendedores, tejido asociativo, academia, makers…) no solo en la toma de decisiones sino también en el diseño e implementación de las estrategias. Conforme se centrifugaba a millones de empleados a teletrabajar desde sus casas, se hacía más poderosa la idea de pensar las organizaciones como flujos más allá de los organigramas estáticos de lugares y personas. Transformar las jerarquías en redes, concebirlas como cuerpos sociales dinámicos, no solo amplía su radio de acción y su conectividad exterior, también reactiva sus fortalezas internas, aflora los liderazgos ocultos, multiplica el valor social producido y maximiza el uso eficiente de los recursos en una época de limitaciones. Los laboratorios de innovación pública, social o ciudadana, o laboratorios de gobierno, junto a otras formas de innovación abierta y diseño social, se reivindican como proyectos inspiradores de un cambio de paradigma: de las instituciones que ordenan a las instituciones que aprenden. Pensar las organizaciones bajo el prisma de la ciencia de redes y la ética de los rizomas –nodos, enlaces, hubs, comunidades…– nos debería permitir una aproximación a la compleja y escurridiza tarea de configurar los ecosistemas de innovación y creatividad en el ámbito de lo público y lo social. Este informe propone un modelo denominado Hexágono de la Innovación Pública (HIP) que promueve un cambio sistémico a través de seis vectores (OPEN_ abierto, TRANS_ transversal, FAST_ ágil, PROTO_ modelado, CO_ colaborativo y TEC_ tecnológico) basados en las propiedades de las redes y en el análisis de 105 metodologías que usan las agencias más innovadoras del mundo. Se incluyen una herramienta de autodiagnóstico y el HIP-SIM, una primera aproximación a un software abierto para visualizar, modelar y simular la creación de ecosistemas innovadores con el que queremos propiciar una comunidad y un debate internacional.

Instituições que aprendem - Relatório para a XXVII Cimeira Ibero-Americana de Chefes de Estado e de Governo - Oliván Cortés, Raúl (XXVII Cimeira Ibero-Americana, 2020)
A pandemia da Covid-19 surgiu de súbito num momento de transição para as instituições e organizações sociais de meio mundo. Antes ainda de se ter ultrapassado a crise de confiança da última década entre os cidadãos e os governos, num momento de grande impulso das iniciativas de governo aberto e de planos de inovação e transformação digital para tornar mais democráticas e eficientes as administrações através de programas políticos encaminhados para configurar um novo contrato social, verde e digital no quadro da Agenda 2030, o coronavírus provocou um choque histórico alterando o curso do século XXI e exigindo uma aceleração de todos os processos em andamento. A complexidade e dimensão da pandemia revelou a necessidade de arquiteturas institucionais mais flexíveis, ágeis e resilientes, capazes de incorporar toda a energia civil para aprenderem com o seu talento e criatividade, dando maior protagonismo à cidadania (ativistas, empreendedores, tecido associativo, academia, makers…) não só na tomada de decisões mas também na configuração e implementação das estratégias. À medida que se afastava do centro a milhões de empregados para teletrabalhar a partir de casa, tornou-se mais poderosa a ideia de pensar nas organizações como fluxos que excedem os organigramas estáticos de lugares e pessoas. Transformar as hierarquias em redes, concebê-las como corpos sociais dinâmicos, não só alarga o seu raio de ação e conectividade externa, mas também reativa as suas forças internas, aflora as lideranças ocultas, multiplica o valor social produzido e maximiza o uso eficiente dos recursos numa época de limitações. Os laboratórios de inovação pública, social ou cidadã, ou laboratórios de governo, a par de outras formas de inovação aberta e configuração social, reivindicam-se como projetos inspiradores de uma mudança de paradigma: de instituições que ordenam para instituições que aprendem. Pensar nas organizações sob a ótica da ciência das redes e da ética dos rizomas – nós, ligações, hubs, comunidades… – deverá permitir-nos uma aproximação à complexa e subtil tarefa de configurar os ecossistemas de inovação e criatividade no âmbito público e social. Este relatório propõe um modelo denominado Hexágono da Inovação Pública (HIP) que promove uma transformação sistémica através de seis vetores (OPEN_ aberto, TRANS_ transversal, FAST_ rápido, PROTO_ modelado, CO_ colaborativo e TEC_ tecnológico) baseados nas propriedades das redes e na análise de 105 metodologias usadas pelas agências mais inovadoras do mundo. Incluem-se uma ferramenta de autodiagnóstico e o HIP-SIM, uma primeira aproximação a um software aberto para visualizar, modelar e simular a criação de ecossistemas inovadores com o qual queremos favorecer a comunidade e o debate internacional.

Institutional Change, Political Economy, and State Capabilities : Learning from Edo State, Nigeria - Bain, Katherine; Porter, Doug; Watts, Michael (World Bank, 2015)
This paper is one of a series aimed at deepening the World Bank’s capacity to follow through on commitments made in response to the World Development Report (WDR) 2011, which gave renewed prominence to the nexus between conflict, security, and development. Nigeria is a remarkable illustration of how deeply intractable the cycle of poverty, conflict, and fragility can become when tied to the ferocious battles associated with the political economy of oil. This paper places the corpus of analytic and programmatic work concerning institutional reform in conversation with a now substantial body of work on resource politics and most especially, the debate over the politico-institutional character (sometimes called political settlements or pacting arrangements associated with the order of power) and reform landscape of the petro-state. Recent institution reform policy writing appears to have little to say about the political and economic conditions in which crises and institutional disjunctures may authorize, and thereby enable, agents to embark on institutional reforms. The authors focus on Edo state for two reasons. First, it does not on its face appear to be an obvious location in which to explore a reform experience, given its entanglement in the Niger Delta conflict and the maladies typically associated with state fragility. Second, Edo is of interest also because of the changes that its experience is contributing to the World Bank country team’s effort to engage operationally across all its instruments with the political economy of institutional reform in Nigeria, its largest client country in Africa.

Integrated Governance: Achieving Governance Results and Contributing to Sector Outcomes - Frazer, Sarah; Granius, Mark; Brinkerhoff, Derick W.; McGregor, Lisa (RTI Press, 2022)
Achieving broad-based socio-economic development requires interventions that bridge disciplines, strategies, and stakeholders. Effective sustained progress requires more than simply an accumulation of sector projects, and poverty reduction, individual wellbeing, community development, and societal advancement do not fall neatly into sectoral categories. However, researchers and practitioners recognize key operational challenges to achieving effective integration that stem from the structures and processes associated with the current practice of international development. Integration calls for the intentional linking of intervention designs, implementation, and evaluation across sectors and disciplines to achieve mutually reinforcing outcomes. In this report, we summarize the results of a study we conducted to explore the challenges facing governance programs that integrate with sector interventions to achieve governance outcomes and contribute to sector outcomes. Through a review of policy documents and project reports from recent integrated governance programs and interviews with donor and practitioner staff, we found three integrated governance programming variants, an emphasis on citizen and government collaboration to improve service delivery, interventions that serve as the glue between sectors, and a balancing act for indicators to measure contribution to sectoral outcomes. Our analysis identified four key success factors: contextual readiness, the application of learning and adapting approaches, donor support, and recognition of the limitations of integrated governance. We then discuss recommendations and implications and for answering the challenge of integrating governance and sector programming to achieve development outcomes.

Integrating Big Data and Thick Data to Transform Public Services Delivery - Ang, Yuen Yuen (IBM Center for The Business of Government, 2019)
This report explains how public organizations can combine big data and thick data to transform public services delivery—a strategy called mixed analytics. Governments can greatly enhance the value of big data by combining it with “thick” data—rich qualitative information about users, such as their values, goals, and consumption behavior, obtained by observing or interacting with them in their daily lives. Big data holds great promise for improving public services delivery and innovation in government, but they are not a panacea . Having lots of data can be overwhelming or have little utility if the data are “thin”—that is, they lack meaning for users or fail to capture issues that matter most . By yielding insights into what citizens really care about and how they consume services, thick data can inform both the collection and analysis of big data. This report introduces the concept of “mixed analytics,” integrating big data and thick data to transform government decision making, public services delivery, and communication. The report presents three case studies of organizations that employ mixed analytics at the international, federal, and city level, respectively. Together, this research offers a set of transferable lessons for agencies at all levels of government: Lesson 1: Big data is a means to an end, rather than an end. Lesson 2: Thick data can identify unexpected problems or previously unexpressed needs. Lesson 3: Thick data can inform the analysis of big data. Lesson 4: Mixed analytics can offer both scale and depth. Lesson 5: Applying technology is a social activity, not an isolated technical task. Lesson 6: The best solutions are not always high-tech. The report concludes with five actionable recommendations for public managers. Make data and technology relevant to the people who use it. Leverage thick data at appropriate stages of the problem-solving process. Build an interdisciplinary team of quantitative and qualitative experts who work closely with stakeholders. Combine big and thick data to improve communication Improve government agencies’ knowledge of mixed research methods. This report builds on multiple past IBM Center reports about how government can leverage data and analytics to improve decisions, including Data-Driven Government: The Role of Chief Data Officers, by Jane Wiseman; Ten Actions to Implement Big Data Initiatives: A Study of 65 Cities, by Alfred Ho and Bo McCall, and Realizing The Promise of Big Data, by Kevin DeSouza. The report also complements several chapters that assess the past and potential use of data across the public sector in our recent book, Government For The Future: Reflection and Vision For Tomorrow’s Leaders. At a time when the US and other governments continue to enhance their use of data as a strategic asset for transformation, we hope that Professor Ang’s report provides useful insights for government managers and stakeholders.

Integrating farmers’ adaptive knowledge into flood management and adaptation policies in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: A social learning perspective - Tran, Thong Anh; Rodela, Romina (Global Environmental Change, 2019)
Flood management and adaptation are important elements in sustaining farming production in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD). While over the past decades hydraulic development introduced by the central government has substantially benefited the rural economy, it has simultaneously caused multiple barriers to rural adaptation. We investigate the relational practices (i.e., learning interactions) taking place within and across the flood management and adaptation boundaries from the perspective of social learning. We explore whether and how adaptive knowledge (i.e., experimental and experiential knowledge) derived from farmers’ everyday adaptation practices contributes to local flood management and adaptation policies in the selected areas. We collected data through nine focus groups with farmers and thirty-three interviews with government officials, environmental scientists, and farmers. Qualitative analysis suggests that such processes are largely shaped by the institutional context where the boundary is embedded. This study found that while the highly bureaucratic operation of flood management creates constraints for feedback, the more informal arrangements set in place at the local level provide flexible platforms conducive to open communication, collaborative learning, and exchange of knowledge among the different actors. This study highlights the pivotal role of shadow systems that provide space for establishing and maintaining informal interactions and relationships between social actors (e.g., interactions between farmers and extension officials) in stimulating and influencing, from the bottom-up, the emergence of adaptive knowledge about flood management and adaptation in a local context.
Keywords: Adaptation; Flood management; Knowledge brokers; Mekong Delta; Shadow systems; Social learning; Vietnamese

Integrating Food Security and Wild Caught Fisheries Management in USAID Programming. Illustrative situation Model and Results Chain - Swaminathan, Vinaya; Best, Barbara; Ajroud, Brittany (USAID, 2018)
Integrating Food Security and Wild Caught Fisheries Management in USAID Programming is an illustrative case example that demonstrates how two adaptive management programming tools—situation models and results chains—can help USAID staff and its partners to better design and implement activities that integrate food security, nutrition, and sustainable management of wild fisheries.

Integrating Livelihood and Conservation Goals: A retrospective Analysis of World Bank Projects - Gómez, Andrés; Price, Claire (USAID, 2017)
Using a database of World Bank project evaluations, E3/FAB’s new study called “Integrating Livelihood and Conservation Goals: A Retrospective Analysis of World Bank Projects” aims to contribute to building the evidence base around the integration of biodiversity conservation and livelihood goals.

Integrating Local Knowledge in Development Programming - Johnson, Madelyn; Maunder, Ishan; Pinga, Andie (USAID, 2022)
The objective of this report, Integrating Local Knowledge in Development Programming is to share knowledge of how development donors and implementing organizations leverage local knowledge to inform programming. In a recent speech at Georgetown University, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power said, “As Americans with a fraught history living up to our own values, we’ve got to approach this work with intention and humility. But the entire development community needs to interrogate the traditional power dynamics of donor-driven development and look for ways to amplify the local voices of those who too often have been left out of the conversation.” To that end, USAID’s Agency Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning (KMOL) function facilitated conversations with multilateral and bilateral donors and local organizations to understand how organizations define, utilize, and incorporate local knowledge into their programmatic and operational activities. Using qualitative tools to gather data for this report, the research team explored five overarching themes: 1. Local Knowledge Nomenclature and Definitions 2. Best Practices 3. Outcomes 4. Ethics and Power Dynamics 5. Challenges

Integrating modelling and smart sensors for environmental and human health - Reis, Stefan; Seto, Edmund; Northcross, Amanda; Quinn, Nigel W. T.; Convertino, Matteo; Jones, Rod L.; Maier, Holger R.; Schlink, Uwe; Steinle, Susanne; Vieno, Massimo; Wimberly, Michael C. (Environmental Modelling & Software, 2015)
Sensors are becoming ubiquitous in everyday life, generating data at an unprecedented rate and scale. However, models that assess impacts of human activities on environmental and human health, have typically been developed in contexts where data scarcity is the norm. Models are essential tools to understand processes, identify relationships, associations and causality, formalize stakeholder mental models, and to quantify the effects of prevention and interventions. They can help to explain data, as well as inform the deployment and location of sensors by identifying hotspots and areas of interest where data collection may achieve the best results. We identify a paradigm shift in how the integration of models and sensors can contribute to harnessing ‘Big Data’ and, more importantly, make the vital step from ‘Big Data’ to ‘Big Information’. In this paper, we illustrate current developments and identify key research needs using human and environmental health challenges as an example.
Keywords: Big data; Environmental health; Environmental sensors; Integrated modelling; Population health

Integrating Top-Down and Bottom-Up Adaptation Planning to Build Adaptive Capacity: A Structured Learning Approach - Butler, J. R. A.; Wise, R. M.; Skewes, T. D.; Bohensky, E. L.; Peterson, N.; Suadnya, W.; Yanuartati, Y.; Handayani, T.; Habibi, P.; Puspadi, K.; Bou, N.; Vaghelo, D.; et al. (Coastal Management, 2015)
Climate adaptation planning provides an opportunity to enhance the adaptive capacity of stakeholders across multiple levels. However, reviews of standard top-down and bottom-up approaches indicate that the value of multistakeholder involvement is not fully recognized or incorporated into guidelines. Focusing on provinces in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea within the Coral Triangle region, we present a novel integrated top-down and bottom-up planning approach. Based on Participatory Systemic Inquiry the process involves three stages of workshops intentionally designed to promote social learning, knowledge exchange, empowerment and social networks among multilevel stakeholders. Stage 1 workshops engage government, nongovernment and science stakeholders at the provincial level to analyze sub-districts' vulnerability and design appropriate adaptation strategies. Stage 2 engages local government, non-government and community stakeholders within vulnerable sub-districts identified in Stage 1. Stage 3 combines Stage 1 and 2 stakeholders to refine adaptation strategies and design action plans for sub-districts. Evaluation demonstrated that different stakeholder groups' perceptions of community adaptation needs varied significantly, justifying the approach. In terms of adaptive capacity, the primary outcome for all stakeholder groups was innovative ideas, suggesting that social learning and knowledge exchange had occurred. Empowerment was a secondary outcome. We discuss how the approach could be further refined.
Keywords: Climate change; Coral Triangle; Evaluation; Social learning; knowledge cultures

International Development - Illusions and Realities - Black, Maggie (New Internationalist, 2015)
Part of the popular, reissued NoNonsense series from New Internationalist'Development' is often misunderstood and can embrace everything from building a large dam to planting trees. The idea can often mask confusion, contradiction, deceit and corruption. This book is essential reading for anyone wanting to know what development actually is. It covers all the key themes and critically suggests ways to bring the poor and marginalised into the process.

International Public Participation Models 1969-2020 - Hussey, Sally (Bang The Table, 2020)
International Public Participation Models 1969 – 2020 provides an essential resource of 60 different models to better map public participation in practice and theory.

Intervention or Collaboration? Redesigning Information and Communication Technologies for Development. - Bon, Anna (2020)
How can we design and build digital technologies to support people in poor and low resource environments to achieve their objectives? And how can we do this inclusively and ethically, while considering the complexity of their living and working environments? This is the central question in my research. One of the grand challenges of international development cooperation is to make digital technologies available for social and economic development of poor regions of the world. To achieve this goal – often referred to as ICT4D – knowledge and technologies are transferred from wealthy countries to poor regions. Nevertheless, these efforts have often turned out unsuccessful and unsustainable, despite large budgets and numerous projects in prestigious international development programs. Mismatch between the transferred technologies and the target environment is a recurrent problem of ICT4D projects. Improvement can be achieved, for example, by involving end-users in the design process. International development organizations are aware of this, and terms like "co-creation", "participation" and "user-oriented design" have nowadays become part of the international development discourse. However, real co-creation and user-centered design are incompatible with unidirectional transfer of technologies and knowledge (this is how ICT4D is commonly organized, in conventional international development). Moreover, the term participation becomes meaningless, in the light of externally formulated development goals. One key question to ask is: what do the envisaged users want? Remarkably, many ICT4D projects, programs and policies do not really ask and (field) investigate this question, which can only be answered by extensive research on-the-ground. This thesis describes the search for and the design of an alternative approach to ICT4D. Ten years of field and action research with partners in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana have led to a collaborative, iterative and adaptive approach, dubbed "ICT4D 3.0". What is novel of this alternative approach and how does it answer the central question? First of all, ICT4D 3.0 is a practical approach for critical investigation and action. It consists of a reconfigurable framework that guides the design and development of information systems, bridging the knowledge gap between developers and users to unlock and integrate different domains of (global, local, indigenous, academic, nonacademic) knowledge. It targets complex, resource-constrained environments where many (for the ICT developers and researchers) unfamiliar conditions or obstacles may exist. It fosters innovative capacity and learning in action, bringing together people with different backgrounds and perspectives in trans-disciplinary and multicultural teams. It is socio-technical, result-oriented, focused on the objectives of the stakeholders and the requirements of their livelihoods. This approach has been validated in various different contexts, by users, ICT developers, practitioners and students. Second, ICT4D 3.0 contributes to a theoretical understanding of ICT4D as a process of networked innovation in complex (adaptive) systems. The underlying idea is that knowledge sharing and diffusion of innovations are complex (non-linear) dynamic processes that evolve and propagate through social networks in rather unpredictable ways, whereby innovation works out differently, depending on context, and whereby contextual (e.g. social, cultural, environmental, political) factors play an important role, and have to be considered. This theoretical framework explains the effectiveness of a collaborative, iterative, adaptive approach in ICT4D. Third, ICT4D 3.0 is built on ethical principles. When reflecting on the meaning and purpose of digital development, it is clear that digital development is not only a question of technology and practice, and collaboration is more than a prerequisite for successful technological innovation and long-term sustainability: collaboration is a fundamental human, ethical value. Therefore, as a reflective practitioner, one has to ask oneself whose interests one is actually looking after, which goals one is trying to achieve, where they come from, how power and political issues play a role and which core values are at stake. This makes ICT4D 3.0 into a democratic process of dialogue and deliberation, in which all voices are heard, in which the local context and complexity are central and in which development goals are determined by the users themselves and not imposed from outside. In this light, the approach proposed in this thesis takes a value position and can be considered a decolonial approach, striving for democracy, emancipation, autonomy and social and economic betterment. Field experience shows that ICT4D can be a meaningful, collaborative, networked process of knowledge sharing, driven by local initiatives, realizing change for the better, in a complex world.

Interview protocol: Most significant turning points - Prieto Martin, Pedro; Faith, Becky (Institute of Development Studies, 2017)
This interview protocol was used for a research project on adaptiveness in technology for governance initiatives in Kenya. For more information, please read the research report at: Prieto Martin, P.; Hernandez, K.; Faith, B. and Ramalingam, B. (2017) Doing Digital Development Differently: Lessons in adaptive management from technology for governance initiatives in Kenya, MAVC Research Report, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, ids.ac.uk/project/making-all-voices-count
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Into the unknown: explorations in development practice - Chambers, Robert (Practical Action Publishing, 2014)
Into the Unknown reflects on the journey of learning, and encourages readers to learn from observation, curiosity, critical feedback, play and fun. This book will be of interest to development professionals, including academics, students, NGO workers and the staff of international agencies

Introducción a Capacity WORKS + Proyectos de Cambio - Informe - Cuéllar, Daniel (GIZ, 2014)

Introducing the CLA Maturity Tool for Implementing Partners - Salib, Monalisa; Ziegler, Jessica (Social Impact, 2023)
On December 13, 2022, Social Impact hosted a webinar in our Evidence for Impact series, "Strengthen Your Team's CLA Practices: Introducing the CLA Maturity Tool for USAID Implementers." Through the session, we shared more about the origin and history of the USAID tool upon which this version is based, why and how we updated
Section: Uncategorized

Introduction - Localising Governance: An Outlook on Research and Policy - Joshi, Anuradha; Schultze-Kraft, Markus (IDS Bulletin, 2014)

Introduction: Making change happen–citizen action and national policy reform - Gaventa, John; McGee, Rosemary (Citizen Action and National Policy Reform. London: Zed Books, 2010)

Introduction: Opening Governance – Change, Continuity and Conceptual Ambiguity - McGee, Rosie; Edwards, Duncan (IDS Bulletin, 2016)

Introduction to International Futures - International Futures at the Pardee Center (International Futures Help System, 2016)
INTERNATIONAL FUTURES HELP SYSTEM Introduction to IFs Purposes Visual Representation of IFs Issues and Modules Quick Survey of IFs Issues and Modules IFs Background IFs Geographic Representation of the World IFs Time Horizon Instructional Use Acknowledgements Feedback Support for IFs Use Development Mode Features

Introduction to Project Management - The Case of GIZ Projects - Lacroix, Eric J. (Khulna University, 2015)
In this course, we will try to understand the complexity and the structure of the management of a development project implemented by the GIZ for the German Development cooperation. We will first define the frame of management and project to enter in the map of two logics. Then, we will overfly the 5 success factors of Capacity WORKS, with concrete examples in annexe. It will bring us to the monitoring, the standard processes in GIZ cooperation projects, the basic tools for project implementation and the evaluation. The team building will allow us to enter in a specific aspect of project management.

Introduction to SAVI's way of working - State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI) - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
We are piloting a new approach to identifying and supporting our partners. This breaks with convention in many ways in order to improve impact. SAVI Approach Papers summarise key aspects of SAVI’s way of working. They explain what we do, and why – and link to relevant tools and frameworks. Our approach is summarized in...
Keywords: Practice

Introduction - Towards Systemic Approaches to Evaluation and Impact - Befani, Barbara; Ramalingam, Ben; Stern, Elliot (IDS Bulletin, 2015)

Investment Climate Reform: Doing it Differently - Manuel, Clare (DFID-LASER Programme, 2015)
LASER synthesis papers aim to help donors and other stakeholders better understand why and how to approach investment climate reform programming differently. The papers reflect emerging best practice and lessons learnt on what works and what does not work in doing development differently. The papers have been peer-reviewed by experts in the field including senior advisers at DFID, World Bank, IFC and the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (amongst others). First synthesis paper - Investment climate reform: doing it differently June 2015 Drawing on our experience in taking a problem-focused approach to investment climate reform, we discuss in this peer-reviewed paper emerging lessons and reflections on what works, both in recent literature and in practical experience.

Is DFID Getting Real About Politics?A stocktake of how DFID has adopted a politically-informed approach (2010-2015) - Piron, Laure-Hélène; Baker, Aislin; Savage, Laura; Wiseman, Katie (DFID, 2016)
1. Background This internal stocktake assesses whether DFID is “getting real about politics” - how it is taking power and politics into account in all its operations. Country Poverty Reduction Diagnostics undertaken by DFID teams identify politics as the most frequent barrier to poverty reduction and growth. The UK 2015 Aid Strategy has committed DFID to spending 50% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in fragile states. This requires a “patient, long-term approach” to addressing barriers to peace and stability which are fundamentally political, rather than purely financial or technical. The stocktake is based on three DFID offices case studies (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and Malawi) as well as extensive internal and external consultations between June and December 2015. It provides illustrations of how DFID is evolving but does not systematically offer evidence of development impacts or non-country work, as this would have required a different methodology. 2. What does it mean to take politics into account? Politically-informed approaches are based on a large body of evidence that confirms the importance of institutions and politics for sustainable development. External assistance needs to support locally-led change. Success depends on timing, context, political processes and local actors. Desirable outcomes are hard to achieve and difficult to predict. Politically-informed approaches improve development effectiveness through:  The ‘what’: political goals, using development assistance to shift how power is distributed in the economy and society. The two main elements are: aiming for long term transformation of institutions; and supporting locally-led change processes more likely to be sustainable and successful: locallyowned (i.e. with local salience) and locally-negotiated.  The ‘how’: politically-smart methods, with greater realism and feasibility. The three main elements are: understanding power and politics in a specific context in order to identify opportunities and barriers for change; influencing and stakeholder management skills; and proactive risk management. To influence DFID operations, a politically-informed approach needs to be iterative, not one-off. The explicit understanding of context, whether formal setpiece studies or more routine analysis, should inform policy and programme decisions, from high level strategic choices, to day-to-day implementation, for both international policy and country support. This is a dynamic process: as the context evolves and lessons are learned about what works, analyses and decisions are updated. These are the principles behind the ‘flexible and adaptive’ agenda.

Is It Time for a New Paradigm for "Citizen Engagement"? The Role of Context and What the Evidence Tells Us - O'Meally, Simon (People, Spaces, Deliberation, 2013)
The meteoric rise of "citizen engagement" Almost all development agencies promote some form of citizen engagement and accountability, often framed as 'voice', 'demand-side governance', 'demand for good governance' or 'social accountability'. The current World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, recently put it that, "citizen voice can be pivotal in providing the demand-side pressure on government, service providers, and organizations such as the World Bank that is needed to encourage full and swift response to citizen needs". There has, in turn, been a mushrooming of useful operational guidance on different "tools" for social accountability - i.e. steps, inputs and methodologies - that guide discrete interventions, ranging from citizen score cards to participatory expenditure tracking. One might, however, be forgiven for thinking that some of the debates on citizen engagement need an injection of realism; especially as contextual factors can make or break a "tool's" implementation. A review of experience to date would be one good place to start.

Is the problem driven iterative adaptation approach (PDIA) a panacea for public financial management reform? Evidence from six African countries - Lawson, Andrew; Harris, Jamelia (World Development Perspectives, 2023)
This article assesses the application of the problem driven iterative adaptation (PDIA) approach to public financial management reform in six African countries. It draws on primary data collected using a mix of interviews, overt participation observations and a short survey. PDIA responds to shortcomings in orthodox approaches to reform and technical assistance in developing countries. It stresses local solutions to local problems, achieved through experimentation and adaptation. The principles of PDIA are appealing, but its empirical assessment is in its infancy. This study aims to fill part of this gap. Findings show that PDIA delivers results in the short-term, particularly in cases where there is an influential authorising agent and dedicated team. Progress was less forthcoming for reforms that required high level political buy-in from senior officials. The approach does exceptionally well to develop staff capability, transferable skills, and local empowerment to solve local problems, thus potentially benefitting future reforms.

Is there a new Washington Consensus? An analysis of five World Development Reports - Evans, Alice (From Poverty to Power, 2017)
Is there a new Washington Consensus? Alice Evans analyses the last five World Development Reports and finds significant changes in orthodoxy, but also big gaps

Is (Web) Science Ready for Empowerment? - Akkermans, Hans; Gyan, Nana Baah; Bon, Anna; Tuyp, Wendelien; Grewal, Aman; Boyera, Stéphane; Allen, Mary (2011)

Is your evidence robust enough? Questions for policy makers and practitioners - Shaxson, Louise (Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice, 2005)
This article examines the reasons we need evidence for policy, discusses where evidence is needed in the policy-making process, and the nature of the evidence base for strategy and policy. Working relationships between policy makers and their advisers are key: as policy makers come from a variety of backgrounds, developing a common language helps set discussions about the robustness of the evidence base on a sound footing. The article identifies five components of robustness, proposes a series of questions that could be used to address them and discusses the implications for the processes of policy making.

It’s About Results at Scale, Not Collective Impact - Edmondson, Jeff; Santhosh-Kumar, Parvathi (Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2017)
Improving outcomes at scale requires a paradigm shift in how we work.

It's All About MeE: Using Structured Experiential Learning (“e”) to Crawl the Design Space - Pritchett, Lant; Samji, Salimah; Hammer, Jeffrey (Center for Global Development, 2013)
This paper argues that within-project variations in design can serve as their own counterfactual, reducing the incremental cost of evaluation and increasing the direct usefulness of evaluation to implementing agencies. It suggests combining monitoring (‘M’), structured experiential learning (‘e’), and evaluation (‘E’) so as to facilitate innovation and organisational capability building while also providing accountability …

It's the politics! Can donors rise to the challenge? - Unsworth, Sue (A Governance Practitioner’s Notebook: Alternative Ideas and Approaches, 2015)
The Governance Practitioner’s Notebook takes an unusual approach for the OECD-DAC Network on Governance (GovNet). It brings together a collection of specially written notes aimed at those who work as governance practitioners within development agencies. It does so, however, without attempting to offer definitive guidance – instead aiming to stimulate thinking and debate. To aid this process the book is centred on a fictional Governance Adviser. The Notebook’s format provides space for experts to speak on today’s governance issues: politics, public sector reform and stakeholder engagement. It encourages debate, charts the evolution of donor thinking, and highlights future challenges in the age of the Sustainable Development Goals. Each section introduces both technical issues and major areas of debate, providing ideas for future development support to institutional reform.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Iterative and incremental developments: A brief history - Larman, Craig; Basili, Victor R. (Computer, 2003)
Although many view iterative and incremental development as a modern practice, its application dates as far back as the mid-1950s. Prominent software-engineering thought leaders from each succeeding decade supported IID practices, and many large projects used them successfully. These practices may have differed in their details, but all had a common theme-to avoid a single-pass sequential, document-driven, gated-step approach.
Keywords: Agile methods; Application software; Feedback; Government; History; Iterative and incremental developments; Iterative methods; Personnel; Programming; Radio access networks; Terminology; Testing; iterative enhancement; software engineering; software system

Iterative Design and Monitoring for Adaptive Management: How Causal Link Monitoring can help - Britt, Heather; Hummelbrunner, Richard; Green, Jackie (Better Evaluation, 2018)
Development actors are embracing the concept and practice of adaptive management, using evidence to inform ongoing revisions throughout implementation. In this guest blog, Heather Britt, Richard Hummelbrunner and Jackie Greene discuss a practical approach that donors and partners can use to agree on what’s most important to monitor as a project continues to evolve.

Joint Programming in Conflict-Affected and Fragile States - Koenig, Sibylle; Brusset, Emery (Joint Programming - EU, 2019)
On the Joint Programming Practices from the EU in fragile settings

Journalism from the ‘Silicon Savannah’: The Vexed Relationship Between Nairobi’s Newsmakers and its ICT4D Community - Benequista, Nicholas (Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 2015)
During the course of a year-long knowledge exchange initiative called the Networked News Lab, a small group of Kenyan journalists and a PhD researcher from the London School of Economics and Political Science sought to identify opportunities for collaboration between newsmakers and practitioners from the field of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D). In almost every instance, the project failed to promote cooperation between the two groups, though it succeeded in highlighting the fundamental issues that separate them. Drawing from interviews, project documents and participant observation, this chapter describes the incompatibilities between the two communities and what they suggest about current efforts to strengthen journalism in Africa through the application of ICTs.
Keywords: ICT4D; ICTs; IMPORTANT; Journalism; Kenya; state-building

Jumping off Arnstein's ladder: social learning as a new policy paradigm for climate change adaptation - Collins, Kevin; Ison, Ray (Environmental Policy and Governance, 2009)
Participation of citizens, groups, organizations and businesses is now an essential element to tackle climate change effectively at international, European Union, national and local levels. However, beyond the general imperative to participate, major policy bodies offer little guidance on what this entails. We suggest that the dominance of Arnstein's ladder of citizen participation in policy discourses constrains the ways we think about, and critically the purposes we ascribe to, participation in a climate change context. We suggest an alternative framing of climate change, where no single group has clear access to understanding the issue and its resolution. Thus adaptation is fundamentally dependent on new forms of learning. Drawing on experiences of social learning approaches to natural resource managing, we explore how a commitment to social learning more accurately embodies the new kinds of role, relationship, practice and sense of purpose required to progress adaptive climate change agendas and practices. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Keywords: Arnstein's ladder; Climate change; Co-evolutionary adaptation; Natural resource management; Participation; Social learning

Keeping it Real: Using Mechanisms to Promote Use in the Realist Evaluation of the Building Capacity to Use Research Evidence Program - Punton, Melanie; Vogel, Isabel (New Directions for Evaluation, 2020)
This chapter explores the use of mechanisms within the realist evaluation of the Building Capacity to Use Research Evidence (BCURE) program, a £15.7 million initiative aiming to improve the use of evidence in decision-making in low and middle-income countries. The evaluation was commissioned to establish not just whether BCURE worked but also how and why capacity building can contribute to increased use of evidence in policymaking in the very different contexts in which the program operated. This chapter argues that using mechanisms helped provide nuanced and robust insights into these questions, while also strengthening the usefulness and policy relevance of the evaluation. Drawing primarily on qualitative data, including interviews with more than 500 stakeholders over 3 years, the evaluation explored the mechanisms that promote capacities to use evidence in decision-making, through developing and testing realist context-intervention-mechanism-outcome configurations (CIMOs). Uncovering the value of mechanisms for policy and program learning was not easy, and the chapter sets out some of the thorny challenges faced and how the BCURE evaluation navigated these. Ultimately, the use of mechanisms in the BCURE evaluation helped to generate practical and nuanced insights that fed directly into the design of a £17 million follow-up program. The seven mechanisms uncovered are continuing to inform our own and others’ work on institutional capacity change in a wide range of fields.

Kenya’s tech community will not save journalism - Benequista, Nicholas (Networked News Lab, 2014)

Key Concepts in Ethnography - O'Reilly, Karen (SAGE Publications, 2009)

Key Issues in Digitalisation and Governance - Roberts, Tony; Hernandez, Kevin; Faith, Becky; Prieto Martin, Pedro (SDC, 2022)
Digitalisation is perhaps the most important strategic challenge that governance will face over the coming decade. The process is delivering digital dividends as well as new exclusions and injustices, with the rapid but uneven increase in access to mobile and internet technologies transforming how social and economic life takes place. This report highlights the key opportunities and challenges arising from digitalisation.
Accepted: 2022-07-25T11:31:42Z Publisher: SDC Governance Network

Knowing When to Adapt - A Decision Tree - USAID (USAID LEARN, 2019)
This job aid will help you determine how best to resolve a challenge/issue in programming. It is intended for use by USAID, partners, and others working in international development.

Knowledge Management strategies and processes in Agile Software Development: a systematic literature review - Ouriques, Raquel Andrade Barros; Wnuk, Krzysztof; Gorschek, Tony; Svensson, Richard Berntsson (CoRR, 2018)
Knowledge-intensive companies that adopt Agile Software Development (ASD) relay on efficient implementation of Knowledge Management (KM) strategies to promotes different Knowledge Processes (KPs) to gain competitive advantage. This study aims to

Knowledge Networks: Innovation Through Communities of Practice - Hildreth, Paul; Kimble, Chris (IGI Global, 2003)
Knowledge Networks: Innovations Through Communities of Practice draws on the experience of people who have worked with CoPs in the real world and to present their combined wisdom in a form that is accessible to a wide audience. CoPs are examined from a practical, rather than a purely academic point of view. The book also examines the benefits that CoPs can bring to an organization, provides a number of case studies, lessons learned and sets of guidelines. It also looks at virtual CoPs and to the future by asking 'what next?' This book is a resource for all people who work with CoPs - both in academia and in the real world.

Knowledge Retention and Transfer (KRT) - Model and Matsurity Matrix - USAID (USAID LEARN, 2019)
The Maturity Matrix is not a standalone tool. It is one of the three major components of the KRT Model. The Maturity Matrix is meant to be used in conjunction with the KRT Toolkit and Implementation Plan.

Knowledge Retention and Transfer (KRT) - Model overview presentation - USAID (USAID, 2023)
What problem is the KRT model trying to solve? For workforces that experience continuous staff turnover, the lack of systematic knowledge transfer can often lead to: - Loss of programmatic momentum, - Duplication of efforts and frustration, and - Wasted time and resources. The Knowledge Retention and Transfer (KRT) model provides tools, processes, and practices to individuals, teams, offices, and organizations to improve knowledge handover, which in turn improves efficiency and programmatic and operational learning.

LAC MEL Specialists Use Peer Network to Improve Quality and Use of Evidence - Anderson, Todd M; Prevatt, Amy (USAID, 2019)
Based on consultations and stocktakings with LAC Missions, the LAC Bureau identified Mission Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialists as influential decision makers regarding data and evidence use. The LAC Bureau aims to improve the quality and use of evidence for decision making, and ultimately to improve development outcomes.

Landscape Analysis of Learing Agendas: USAID/Washington and beyond - Learning Lab (USAID, 2017)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY U.S. government agencies and development organizations around the world are increasingly recognizing and supporting learning activities— often informed by a learning agenda—as important tools for improving organizational effectiveness and efficiency. A learning agenda comprises a set of broad questions directly related to the work that an agency conducts; when answered, they enable the agency to work more effectively and efficiently, particularly pertaining to evaluation, evidence, and decisionmaking. This report surveys the landscape of learning agendas at USAID and beyond to inform the learning agenda initiative planned by the Office of Learning, Evaluation, and Research (LER) in the Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL). Reporting on research conducted over a 6-month period (September 2016 to February 2017), this landscape analysis focuses on six documented, office-, bureau-, or initiative-wide learning agendas being used at USAID/Washington. It also considers 11 new or noteworthy learning initiatives at USAID and five learning efforts at other federal agencies. The research team interviewed 60 staff from 20 USAID offices and bureaus, as well as staff from five other federal agencies. (See Annexes 1 through IV for more information.) The team also convened two focus groups: one with staff in USAID/Washington who had recently returned from serving in Missions, and one with PPL staff who discussed that bureau’s learning activities. The report details the interviewees’ remarks on six topics:  Motivations behind their decisions to pursue a learning agenda, such as expectations of accountability, especially in response to leadership demands  The key benefits emerging from their learning agenda efforts, which have included identifying gaps in knowledge and evidence, and supporting other cultural and organizational change processes  The participatory and consultative strategies they used to engage with stakeholders, including engagement with Mission staff and inclusion of academics and outside experts  The learning activities and products related to their initiatives  Challenges and strategies on resources, dissemination, and utilization, including ways to update their learning agenda to ensure that it remains a “living document”  Recommendations they had for PPL and others considering embarking on a learning agenda initiative

Large language model applications for evaluation: Opportunities and ethical implications - Head, Cari Beth; Jasper, Paul; McConnachie, Matthew; Raftree, Linda; Higdon, Grace (New Directions for Evaluation, 2023)
Large language models (LLMs) are a type of generative artificial intelligence (AI) designed to produce text-based content. LLMs use deep learning techniques and massively large data sets to understand, summarize, generate, and predict new text. LLMs caught the public eye in early 2023 when ChatGPT (the first consumer facing LLM) was released. LLM technologies are driven by recent advances in deep-learning AI techniques, where language models are trained on extremely large text data from the internet and then re-used for downstream tasks with limited fine-tuning required. They offer exciting opportunities for evaluators to automate and accelerate time-consuming tasks involving text analytics and text generation. We estimate that over two-thirds of evaluation tasks will be affected by LLMs in the next 5 years. Use-case examples include summarizing text data, extracting key information from text, analyzing and classifying text content, writing text, and translation. Despite the advances, the technologies pose significant challenges and risks. Because LLM technologies are generally trained on text from the internet, they tend to perpetuate biases (racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, and more) and exclusion of non-majority languages. Current tools like ChatGPT have not been specifically developed for monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) purposes, possibly limiting their accuracy and usefulness for evaluation. In addition, technical limitations and challenges with bias can lead to real world harm. To overcome these technical challenges and ethical risks, the evaluation community will need to work collaboratively with the data science community to co-develop tools and processes and to ensure the application of quality and ethical standards.
_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ev.20556

Large-Scale Transdisciplinary Collaboration for Adaptation Research: Challenges and Insights - Cundill, Georgina; Harvey, Blane; Tebboth, Mark; Cochrane, Logan; Currie‐Alder, Bruce; Vincent, Katharine; Lawn, Jon; Nicholls, Robert J.; Scodanibbio, Lucia; Prakash, Anjal; New, Mark; Wester, Philippus; et al. (Global Challenges, 2019)
An increasing number of research programs seek to support adaptation to climate change through the engagement of large-scale transdisciplinary networks that span countries and continents. While transdisciplinary research processes have been a topic of reflection, practice, and refinement for some time, these trends now mean that the global change research community needs to reflect and learn how to pursue collaborative research on a large scale. This paper shares insights from a seven-year climate change adaptation research program that supports collaboration between more than 450 researchers and practitioners across four consortia and 17 countries. The experience confirms the importance of attention to careful design for transdisciplinary collaboration, but also highlights that this alone is not enough. The success of well-designed transdisciplinary research processes is also strongly influenced by relational and systemic features of collaborative relationships. Relational features include interpersonal trust, mutual respect, and leadership styles, while systemic features include legal partnership agreements, power asymmetries between partners, and institutional values and cultures. In the new arena of large-scale collaborative science efforts, enablers of transdisciplinary collaboration include dedicated project coordinators, leaders at multiple levels, and the availability of small amounts of flexible funds to enable nimble responses to opportunities and unexpected collaborations.
Keywords: Climate change; collaboration; transdisciplinarity

Lasting Roots: Naatal Mbay and the Integrated Finance Model in Senegal - Fowler, Ben; Courbois, Laura (USAID, 2023)
This report addresses the well-recognized evidence gap1 on the longer-term impacts created by marketdriven programming; specifically, programming influenced by market systems development (MSD) principles. It does so by presenting the findings of an ex-post study conducted three and a half years after the close of USAID’s Feed the Future Senegal Naatal Mbay Activity (hereafter Naatal Mbay) in 2019. It examines the scale and sustainability of changes resulting from Naatal Mbay’s introduction of an integrated finance model (IFM) – described in Error! Reference source not found. below – in the domestic rice sector. This study is one in a series of ex-post evaluations that are being conducted between 2023-2026 on USAID-funded MSD interventions around the world. This study focused on four questions, noted below in Figure 1. These were addressed using a mix of desk research, 122 key informant interviews with market actors and other stakeholders remotely and in Senegal, focus group discussions with 26 rice producers networks in Senegal, and a validation workshop with USAID/Senegal, implementing partner staff and market actors. Findings were analyzed leveraging the Disrupting System Dynamics (DSD) framework (see Figure 4 in the body of the report) as an analytical tool for understanding systems change.

Laudes Rubrics - Measurement and Learning Approach - Laudes Foundation (Laudes Foundation, 2023)
How can we measure and learn when promoting systems change? It’s a challenge that has inspired Laudes Foundation to develop a rubrics-based methodology to help us, our partners and the wider field of philanthropy, understand our contribution to change, while learning and adapting to new and unforeseen circumstances. Change cannot be captured by numbers alone because metrics put the focus on what can be counted, not always what’s most important. Rubrics are a framework that set a standard for what ‘good’ looks like – and create a shared language for describing and assessing it using both quantitative and qualitative evidence. At Laudes Foundation, the rubrics are integrated into our grantmaking processes – from the design phase through to measurement, evaluation and learning. The four Laudes Foundation rubrics categories Laudes Foundation has developed 21 rubrics that work across different levels, from processes to long-term impact. When measuring a specific initiative, a smaller set of relevant rubrics are chosen and assessed on a rating scale from ‘harmful’ to ‘thrivable’. The 21 rubrics are categorised into four groups, with some natural overlap between categories B, C and D. Category A focuses on the process-related aspects of initiatives, including design, implementation, monitoring, communication and learning, and organisation and network effectiveness. Category B focuses on the early and later changes that need to happen to create the right conditions to achieve the 2025 outcomes. Category C captures the 2025 outcomes, focusing on how policymakers, financiers, business leaders, and workers and producers behave. Category D captures the 2030 impacts, describing the new reality created as a result of sustained efforts.

Laying the Foundations for Impact: Lessons from the GCRF Evaluation - Vogel, Isabel; Barnett, Chris (The European Journal of Development Research, 2023)
Research for development (R4D) aims to make a tangible difference to development challenges, but these effects typically take years to emerge. Evaluation (especially impact evaluation) often takes place before there is evidence of development impact. In this paper, we focus on opportunities for assessing the potential for impact at earlier stages in the research and innovation process. We argue that such a focus can help research programme managers and evaluators learn about the pre-conditions for impact and adjust accordingly. Using the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) as a large-scale case of R4D evaluation, we identify and explore some of the building blocks that can increase impact potential. Guided by GCRF’s theory of change, we explore emerging evidence that highlights the importance of ways of working that supports positioning for impact. We conclude by drawing out a unifying construct around standards of development excellence; to sit alongside notions of scientific excellence for research intended to have an impact. Standards can help programme managers, researchers and evaluators learn and adapt to increase the likelihood of impact.

Leading Change Through Adaptive Design - Berstein, Maya; Linsky, Marty (Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2016)
By integrating two practices—design thinking and adaptive leadership—social innovators can manage projects in a way that’s both creatively confident and relentlessly realistic.

Leading Effectively in a VUCA Environment: A is for Ambiguity - Kail, Col Eric G. (Harvard Business Review, 2011)
This is the last in a series on the four aspects of VUCA, a framework used by the U.S. military to describe the environment in terms of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Diversity and global reach introduce ambiguity to the environment; therefore opportunities and challenges must be appreciated from multiple aspects, not just our own […]
Keywords: Leadership; Leading teams

Leading Effectively in a VUCA Environment: C is for Complexity - Kail, Col Eric G. (Harvard Business Review, 2010)
This is the third in a series on the four aspects of VUCA, a framework used by the U.S. military to describe the environment in terms of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Our complex environment demands a perspective that goes beyond viewing threats and opportunities as collective; we must see them as interactive. Leading through […]
Keywords: Leadership; Leadership development

Leading in a VUCA Environment: U is for Uncertainty - Kail, Col Eric G. (Harvard Business Review, 2010)
This post is part of an HBR Spotlight examining leadership lessons from the military. It’s the second in a series on the four aspects of VUCA, a framework used by the U.S. military to describe the environment in terms of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The frenetic pace of our environment, brought on by volatility, […]
Keywords: Leadership

Leading in a VUCA Environment: V Is for Volatility - Kail, Col Eric G. (Harvard Business Review, 2010)
This post is part of an HBR Spotlight examining leadership lessons from the military This is the first in a series on the four aspects of VUCA, a framework used by the U.S. military to describe the environment in terms of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Do challenges and opportunities that once took days or […]
Keywords: Leadership

Lean Data Approaches to Measure Social Impact - ACUMEN (NovoEd, 2018)

Lean from the Trenches: Managing Large-Scale Projects with Kanban - Kniberg, Henrik (Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2011)
You know the Agile and Lean development buzzwords, you've read the books. But when systems need a serious overhaul, you need to see how it works in real life, with real situations and people. Lean from the Trenches is all about actual practice. Every key point is illustrated with a photo or diagram, and anecdotes bring you inside the project as you discover why and how one organization modernized its workplace in record time.Lean from the Trenches is all about actual practice.Find out how the Swedish police combined XP, Scrum, and Kanban in a 60-person project. From start to finish, you'll see how to deliver a successful product using Lean principles. We start with an organization in desperate need of a new way of doing things and finish with a group of sixty, all working in sync to develop a scalable, complex system. You'll walk through the project step by step, from customer engagement, to the daily "cocktail party," version control, bug tracking, and release. In this honest look at what works–and what doesn't–you'll find out how to:Make quality everyone's business, not just the testers.Keep everyone moving in the same direction without micromanagement.Use simple and powerful metrics to aid in planning and process improvement.Balance between low-level feature focus and high-level system focus.You'll be ready to jump into the trenches and streamline your own development process.

Lean vs Agile vs Design Thinking: What you really need to know to build high-performing digital product teams - Gothelf, Jeff (CreateSpace, 2017)
As companies evolve to adopt, integrate and leverage software as the defining element of their success in the 21st century, a rash of processes and methodologies are vying for their product teams' attention. In the worst of cases, each discipline on these teams – product management, design and software engineering – learn a different model. This short, tactical book reconciles the perceived differences in Lean Startup, Design Thinking and Agile software development by focusing not on rituals and practices but on the values that underpin all 3 methods.

LEARN End of Contract Report - Learning Lab (USAID, 2020)
In September of 2014, USAID’s Office of Learning, Evaluation & Research (LER) awarded the Learning and Knowledge Management (LEARN) contract to Dexis Consulting Group and subcontractor RTI International.1 This document—the End of Contract Report—captures five and half years of results and reflections for our stakeholders. Our intention is to share the good and the bad, and while this report would not be considered a “tell all,” we think we have a story worth sharing, particularly to USAID CORs and AORs, activity managers, and other implementers of institutional support contracts.2 LEARN’s primary purpose was to support organizational change at USAID. More specifically, the contract was focused on helping USAID staff integrate collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) approaches into the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of programs (what is known at USAID as the Program Cycle). It was clear that most USAID staff, whether they realized it or not, were already integrating CLA into their work to some extent. The focus of our efforts, therefore, was to make those practices more systematic, intentional, resourced, and ultimately more widespread throughout the Agency, which would have a ripple effect on implementing partners and even other stakeholders, such as host country governments. This was based on the theory—later borne out by evidence—that by becoming a better learning organization, USAID could be a more effective development organization. And that theory brought the USAID CLA team within USAID’s Bureau for Policy, Planning & Learning (PPL) and LEARN contractors together, driven by a shared purpose of improving how USAID does business. LEARN was designed based on this belief and, as you might expect from a learning-oriented contract, began with more questions than answers. Primary among those questions was: could an institutional support contract do more than carry out requested services—could it actually accelerate positive organizational change at USAID? And if so, how and under what conditions?

LEARN Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning Plan - Learning Lab (USAID, 2016)
LEARN and USAID/PPL are managing an area of work known as Evidence Base for Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (EB4CLA). The purpose of this work is to answer key learning questions:

LearnAdapt: a synthesis of our work on adaptive programming with DFID/FCDO (2017–2020) - Laws, Ed; Pett, Jamie; Proud, Emma; Rocha Menocal, Alina (ODI, 2021)
Key takeaways. • Development is not linear or straightforward, but rather complex, uncertain and context-specific. This calls for international development actors to work differently, in ways that are based on deliberate experimentation, learning and adaptation, to inform decisions and drive effective development. • Although it might go by different names, adaptive programming has been used in a variety of areas and fields in both the public and private sectors. Development practitioners have much to learn from and contribute to these different approaches and experiences. • Trust and relationship-building across all relevant stakeholders are among the most critical enabling factors for adaptive management. They are essential to give partners the space, autonomy and authority needed to try, test, reflect, iterate and feed back at the frontline of implementation, and to give donors the confidence that decisions are being made on the basis of evidence and learning to improve effectiveness. • There is an urgent need to rethink how accountability requirements, results frameworks, value for money considerations, performance markers, procurement and contracting mechanisms and other processes are understood and applied so that they are better aligned with and can support adaptive management more effectively. • The role of senior managers leading adaptive programmes from the donor side should be to create a space for experimentation and learning. Funders should hold their partners accountable for learning and how it feeds into effective programming, rather than for delivering on predetermined targets. • While formal guidance is important, leadership, champions, institutional incentives, a supportive management culture and appropriate mindsets are essential to encourage adaptive ways of working. • Adaptive management is resource-intensive. It requires skill, commitment, time for building trust and investments in learning. It is a journey, not an immediate destination – so it calls for patience, open-mindedness and a more nuanced approach to risk.

Learning about New Technologies and the Changing Evidence Base for Social Science Research and Decision Making in International Development - Berdou, Evangelia (IDS, 2011)

Learning about Theories of Change for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Research Uptake - Barnett, Chris; Gregorowski, Robbie (IDS, 2013)
This paper captures lessons from recent experiences on using ‘theories of change’ amongst organisations involved in the research–policy interface. The literature in this area highlights much of the complexity inherent in the policymaking process, as well as the challenges around finding meaningful ways to measure research uptake. As a tool, ‘theories of change’ offers much, but the paper argues that the very complexity and dynamism of the research-to-policy process means that any theory of change will be inadequate in this context. Therefore, rather than overcomplicating a static depiction of change at the start (to be evaluated at the end), incentives need to be in place to regularly collect evidence around the theory, test it periodically, and then reflect and reconsider its relevance and assumptions.
Accepted: 2013-10-01T11:27:00Z

Learning, Adaptation & Change: the future of Making All Voices Count - MAVC (Making All Voices Count, 2014)
Learning, Adaptation & Change: what Making All Voices Count has learned since September 2013 and how the programme will adapt and change in the future.

Learning and Accountability - Simister, Nigel; Scholz, Vera (INTRAC, 2020)
Most people agree that monitoring and evaluation (M&E) should be used for both learning and accountability. However, there is no consensus about which one is more important. The debate matters as there is sometimes tension between the two purposes. In the past there has often been a disconnect between M&E and learning. Many M&E systems are primarily designed to enable accountability to donors.

Learning and adaptation: 6 pitfalls to avoid - Valters, Craig (Devex, 2016)

Learning and adapting: the use of monitoring and evaluation in countering violent extremism: a handbook for practitioners - Dawson, Laura; Edwards, Charlie; Jeffray, Calum; Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, 2014)
IN 2013, the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) was awarded a grant under the Kanishka Project to develop a handbook for monitoring and evaluating counter violent extremism (CVE) policies and programmes. The aim of this handbook is to support CVE policy-makers and practitioners (those who design, manage and evaluate CVE programmes), by providing them with key terms regarding violent extremism and radicalisation, describing the purpose of evaluation, and providing examples of key methodologies they can employ to conduct monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in this emerging policy field. The handbook will enable readers to understand why, when and how to conduct an evaluation of a CVE policy, programme or project. .
OCLC: 1079851950

Learning and Results in World Bank Operations: Toward a New Learning Strategy - World Bank (IEG , The World Bank, 2015)
This report is the second in a program of evaluations that the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) is conducting on the learning that takes place through World Bank projects. Learning and knowledge are treated as parts of a whole and are presumed to be mutually reinforcing.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Learning Evaluation Theory: Brinkerhoff’s Success Case Method - Downes, Andrew (Watershed, 2016)
Brinkerhoff’s model isn’t restricted to learning. It can be used to analyze any major business change, such as the purchase of new equipment or implementation of a new process. It’s based on the assumption that any initiative, no matter how successful or unsuccessful, will always include some success and some failure. It seeks to uncover the most impactful successes and failures of an initiative and then tell the stories behind them, backed by evidence. Your organization can use these stories to learn how to be more successful in the future.

Learning for change in accountable governance programming - Brock, Karen; Shutt, Cathy; Ashlin, Alison (IDS, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Learning for social-ecological change: a qualitative review of outcomes across empirical literature in natural resource management - Suškevičs, Monika; Hahn, Thomas; Rodela, Romina; Macura, Biljana; Pahl-Wostl, Claudia (Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2018)

Learning from adaptive programmes - 10 lessons and 10 case studies - Valters, Craig (Overseas Development Institute, 2018)
Internal DFID document from the DevAdapt Programme. Based on another previous document (also internal).

Learning From Failure 2020 - What CARE’s evaluations tell us about how to improve our work - CARE (CARE, 2020)
“Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” –Samuel Beckett Here’s my favorite part of that quote: the ultimate goal is not a lack of failure; it’s better failures. That’s good news for CARE, because we just published round two of our Learning From Failure initiative, and…I know this will surprise everyone…we haven’t stopped failures yet. We do have some hopeful signs that we’re failing better; or at least, that we’re improving on some concrete weaknesses we identified in the first round. It’s an interesting process to launch the second phase of learning from failure. The first round, we didn’t know what we were going to find. We spent as much time talking about how it was the first-ever report of its kind as we did about the actual failures. Our case study admitted, “It's still very early to see specific development impacts.” Round two isn’t quite the same. It’s not new anymore, so there’s less excitement at having invented something. We’re not discovering data and themes for the first time. In a lot of ways, the stakes are higher. Round two of learning from failure becomes an exercise in continuous performance improvement, rather than a journey of discovery. If we don’t see improvements, we don’t have the excuse that it’s too early to tell. It also takes a sustained commitment. Launching an exploratory exercise at a small scale is easy, especially when no one quite knows what the answers will be. Pulling together a few pieces of content over a few months is pretty straightforward. It takes some staying power—and real support from leadership—to keep up the work over time, especially in the middle of a pandemic. That’s even more true once we’ve seen one round of results and had a chance to understand the work that it takes to improve.

Learning from Life Story Collection and Analysis with Children who Work in the Leather Sector in Bangladesh - Sayem, Mashrique; Paul, Sukanta; Apgar, Marina; Snijder, Mieke (2022)
CLARISSA (Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-eastern Asia) is a participatory evidence and innovation generating programme. We are generating evidence on the drivers of the worst forms of child labour (WFCL) and exploring how to address them through participatory Action Research (PAR) with children and other stakeholders in the leather supply chain in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Our main intervention modality is Systemic Action Research (SAR) (Burns, 2007), of which life story collection and analysis (LSC&A) is the first step in our participatory design that will inform child-led PAR groups which will become the engines of innovative responses to WFCL. The LSC&A methodology is a storytelling and story listening methodology and was chosen because of the universal power of stories to make sense of complex realities and seek new futures. People across the world like to tell their stories; they like to feel listened to and they are interested in how their story connects and compares to others. By collecting and analysing stories from hundreds of children in WFCL we can visualise the bigger system that each individual story is connected to. We hypothesize that through engagement in the process of telling, listening, collecting, and analysing life stories, children engaged in harmful and hazardous work will use their understanding of systems dynamics to move into creating their own solutions to the drivers of WFCL. In 2021 in Bangladesh, we collected 405 life stories from children living in Hazaribagh, Hemayetpur, Lalbagh, and Bhairab in Dhaka, with more than one hundred of these stories collected by children themselves. Following the story collection and transcription, children were supported by the CLARISSA implementation team to collectively analyse the stories through identifying critical ‘factors’ (events which have causes and consequences) and understanding how they causally relate to each other. The analysis of the 405 life stories resulted in the development of large system maps that illustrate all the causal dynamics that underpin lived experiences of WFCL. Based on the systemic analysis process the children identified themes of the PAR to be set up in their localities. Our experience with the LSC&A methodology is the first in the context of children in WFCL. The methodology has been used in one other project in Bangladesh to date. We therefore intentionally aimed to learn from the implementation process and to evaluate if and how the telling of, listening to, collecting and analysing of life stories is empowering and in turn whether it leads to increased ownership of the problems which motivates collective action (Burns, 2021). In this learning note we share our methodological learning and reflect on operational implications for designing and facilitating an LSC&A process with children which we hope will support adaptation and use of the methodology by others working in participatory programming with children.
Accepted: 2022-07-21T08:43:41Z Publisher: Institute of Development Studies

Learning from Life Story Collection and Analysis With Children Who Work in the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Nepal - Karki, Shanta; Apgar, Marina; Snijder, Mieke; Sharma, Ranjana (Institute of Development Studies, 2022)
The CLARISSA Nepal team collected and analysed 400 life stories of children and young people engaged in or affected by the worst forms of child labour (WFCL), particularly in the “Adult Entertainment” sector in Nepal, which includes children working in Dohoris (restaurants playing folk music), dance bars, spa-massage parlours, khaja ghars (tea/snack shop) and guest houses. Stories were also collected from children in CLARISSA’s focus neighbourhoods, children in this category include street connected children and those working in transportation, party palaces, domestic labour and construction sites. Of the 400 stories collected, 350 were collected by adult researchers and 50 were collected by children themselves.
Accepted: 2022-11-04T12:22:13Z Publisher: Institute of Development Studies

Learning from Results-Based Management evaluations and reviews - Vähämäki, Janet; Verger, Chantal (OECD, 2019)
What have we learned from implementing results-based management in development co-operation organisations? What progress and benefits can be seen? What are the main challenges and unintended consequences? Are there good practices to address these challenges? To respond to these questions this paper reviews and analyses the findings from various evaluations and reviews of results-based management systems conducted by members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), the OECD/DAC Results Community Secretariat and other bodies in the past four years (2015-2018). It also draws on emerging lessons from new methods for managing development co-operation results. This analytical work aims to: identify recent trends in results-based management, explore challenges faced by providers when developing their results approaches and systems, select good practices in responding to these challenges that can be useful for the OECD/DACResults Community, considering new approaches, new technologies and evolving contexts. This body of evidence will inform the development of a core set of generic guiding principles for results-based management in development co-operation.

Learning how to go local: Lessons from six learning journeys for the Open Government Partnership - Moses, Michael; Soal, Sue (2017)
This brief reviews the evidence from Learning to Make All Voices Count (L-MAVC), a programme funded by Making All Voices Count, and implemented in collaboration with Global Integrity. L-MAVC intended to support six Making All Voices Count grantees, working in five countries, in co-creating and applying a participatory, learning-centred, and adaptive approach to strengthening citizen engagement in governance processes in their contexts, including with respect to the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The evidence from L-MAVC suggests that supporting citizen engagement with, and use of, OGP, and improving the extent to which OGP commitments are shaped by and matter to citizens in subnational districts, is not straightforward. Findings suggest that efforts to broaden and deepen citizen engagement with OGP, including at subnational levels, may be more effective when combined with support that helps local OGP champions iteratively learn and adapt, and discover and apply localisation models that fit best in their contexts. OGP and its partners may strengthen the impact of the initiative, and indeed, the impact of those working to leverage OGP at and below country level, by making structured learning support more available to local reformers. Targeted advocacy, focused on institutionalising collaborative OGP processes, and on linking subnational action with National Action Plans (NAPs), may also be useful.

Learning how to learn: eight lessons for impact evaluations that make a difference - Ramalingam, Ben (ODI, 2011)
This Background Note outlines key lessons on impact evaluations, utilisation-focused evaluations and evidence-based policy. While methodological pluralism is the key to effective impact evaluation in development, the focus here is on the factors that need to be considered for impact evaluations to be used in policy and practice – regardless of the method employed.

Learning in Development Co-operation - Carlsson, Jerker; Wohlgemuth, Lennart (Almqvist & Wiksell International, 2000)
Google-Books-ID: guMkAQAAIAAJ

Learning in the Thick of It - Darling, Marilyn; Parry, Charles; Moore, Joseph (Harvard Business Review, 2005)
After-action reviews identify past mistakes but rarely enhance future performance. Companies wanting to fully exploit this tool should look to its master: the U.S. Army’s standing enemy brigade, where soldiers learn and improve even in the midst of battle.
Section: Meeting management
Keywords: Aerospace sector; Corporate governance; Decision making and problem solving; Defense industry; Defense sector; Fabrication and manufacturing; Meeting management; Military; North America; Organizational culture; Presentation skills; Project management; Psychology; Telecom

‘Learning journeys’ for adaptive management – Where does it take us? - Ørnemark, Charlotte (Global Partnership for Social Accountability, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Learning Lab - Collaborate, Learn and Adapt for better development outcomes - Learning Lab (USAID, 2013)
CLA is: a component of several missions' CDCSes. a conceptual framework for some principles and operational processes that can enable USAID to become a more effective learning organization and thereby a more effective development organization. an approach to facilitating local participation and capacity and promoting country-led development. For more information on CLA visit:

Learning, monitoring and evaluating: achieving and measuring change in adaptive programmes - Callaghan, Sarah; Plank, Georgia (DFID-LASER Programme, 2017)

Learning study on 'the users' in Technology for Transparency and Accountability initiatives: Assumptions and realities - McGee, Rosemary; Carlitz, Ruth (IDS, 2013)

Learning through and about Contribution Analysis for impact evaluation - Apgar, Marina; Ton, Giel (Institute of Development Studies, 2021)
Over the past five years, colleagues from the Centre for Development Impact (CDI) – a joint initiative between the Institute of Development Studies, Itad and University of East Anglia – have been innovating with and learning how to use Contribution Analysis as an overarching approach to impact evaluation. In this blog series, we share our learning and insights, some of them in raw emergent form, highlight the complexities, nuances, excitements, and challenges of embracing new ways of doing impact evaluation. We begin this series by sharing ideas about ‘causal hotspots’ that first surfaced as ‘aha’ moments in our collaboration on the CDI short course Contribution Analysis for Impact Evaluation – the moments when we found the ways and words to better articulate our ideas and help people navigate the messy realities of theory-based evaluation.

Learning to adapt & adapting to learn - Using elements of outcome mapping in the ‘Resilient Adolescents in the Syria Crisis’ programme - van Ongevalle, Jan; Kvintradze, Ana; Rennesson, Gaël; Miller, David (Save the Children, 2021)
This learning paper highlights how elements of outcome mapping were used by Save the Children Sweden in a project (2018-2020) that supports adolescents, affected by the Syria crisis, to become more resilient. The paper first outlines how the spheres of influence framework has been applied to develop an actor focused theory of change. It then describes how progress markers, as an alternative to SMART indicators, were formulated to monitor the programme’s results. The paper also outlines how long lists of progress markers were categorised in a more realistic and practical results framework. The paper then continues to elaborate how outcome journals, qualitative data analysis techniques and regular review meetings and reflection workshops were utilised for data collection, for collective learning among programme stakeholders and for informing planning and programme adjustment. Various practical guidelines and tips on how to implement elements of outcome mapping are provided. The final part of the paper explores to what extent outcome mapping was able to foster several key enablers of adaptive programme management and highlights some of the challenges that programme stakeholders faced. Practical recommendations towards the use of outcome mapping in future programmes are also proposed.

Learning to Adapt: Building Adaptive Management as a Core Competency in Development Practice - Ramalingam, Ben (Institute of Development Studies, 2016)
Key messages 1. Development policies and programs increasingly operate in situations of high complexity and uncertainty. 2. There are growing efforts across the sector to design, plan and implement more adaptive responses that are more relevant and appropriate in such contexts 3. At the heart of effective adaptive programming is the capability to gather, interpret and use knowledge, information and data in real-time 4. Strengthening this capability requires a positive enabling environment—including tools and methods, structures and processes, leadership and management and culture and mindsets. 5. For adaptive development to succeed, there needs to be greater attention and investment in both knowledge, information and data systems and in appropriate enabling environments
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Learning to Adapt: Exploring Knowledge, Information and Data for Adaptive Programmes and Policies - Workshop Summary Report - fhi360 (IDS, 2015)
Adaptive management is increasingly seen as critical capability for development programmes and policies that are more effective, efficient, relevant and sustainable. There is increasing recognition that such work requires significant changes to the organizational structures, management processes, accountability and performance cultures and indivi

Learning to ADAPT: monitoring and evaluation approaches in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction – challenges, gaps and ways forward - Silva Villanueva, Paula (IDS, 2011)
This working paper is a methodological contribution to the emerging debate on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in the context of climate change adaptationand disaster risk reduction. Effectively managing disaster risk is critical for adapting to the impacts of climate change, however disasters risk reduction M&E practice may be limited in capturing progress towards adaptation. The unique nature of adaptation to climate change calls for experience-based learning M&E processes for discovering the key insights into adaptive capacity and its links to adaptation processes, and to risk and vulnerability reduction at large. The ADAPT guiding principles and indicators set the foundations towards this end.

Learning to change: The case for systemic learning strategies in the humanitarian sector - Ramalingam, Ben; Mitchell, John (ALNAP/ODI, 2022)
This paper presents the case for systemic organisational change in the humanitarian system. The paper firstly shows that that organisational learning has tended to reinforce existing ways of working and has not been able to shift a culture that values action over reflection. As a result, the rest of the paper asks about the most significant changes in the humanitarian sector

Learning to Learn Collectively - Wrigley, Rebecca (Capacity, 2008)
CABUNGO, a Malawian NGO, recently evaluated its own performance using the Most Significant Change approach. Rebecca Wrigley describes how, with the support of stakeholders,CABUNGO learned to improve its services.

Learning to make a difference: Christian Aid Ireland’s adaptive programme management in governance, gender, peace building and human rights - Booth, David; Balfe, Karol; Gallagher, Róisín; Kilcullen, Gráinne; O'Boyle, Sarah; Tiernan, Alix (ODI, 2018)
This paper assesses the relevance of adaptive or trial-and-error approaches to the field of governance, peace building and human rights. Tackling the problems of poverty, vulnerability and exclusion that persist in parts of the world that continue to be affected by violence or political insecurity is difficult for several reasons. For one, because of the complexity of the prevailing social, economic and political systems, solutions to chronic problems are far from obvious. One response to this aspect of the challenge is adaptive programme design and management. This paper is the product of a multi-year collaboration between ODI and the core team of Christian Aid Ireland to assess the relevance of adaptive or trial-and-error approaches to the field of governance, peace building and human rights. It explains the basis on which Christian Aid Ireland’s current five-year programme has become committed to an adaptive approach. It then describes and seeks to draw lessons from the programme’s first year of experience, considering the possible implications for implementation over the coming years. The authors find that to get full benefits from the move to adaptive management, the new ways of working and their underlying principles will need to become more embedded in organisational practices and cultures.

Learning to make all voices count: Lessons and reflection on localising the Open Government Partnership - Moses, Michael (2017)
This report reviews the evidence from Learning to Make All Voices Count (L-MAVC), a programme funded by Making All Voices Count and implemented in collaboration with Global Integrity. L-MAVC intended to support six Making All Voices Count grantees, working in five countries, in co-creating and applying a participatory, learning-centred, and adaptive approach to strengthening citizen engagement in governance processes in their contexts, including with respect to the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Two overarching sets of lessons emerge from the experiences of L-MAVC grantees. First, supporting citizen engagement and government accountability in subnational contexts, and localising the OGP in ways that matter to citizens, is not straightforward. Doing so successfully entails engaging with, navigating and shaping political and power dynamics in those contexts, and iteratively adapting to emerging lessons and challenges. Second, the effectiveness of adaptive ways of working depends in part on the extent to which they offer opportunities for cross-context peer learning, support the regular collection and use of data, and are themselves adaptive. These lessons have implications for the broader community of actors working to support governance reform, including the OGP and its partners, donors and multilateral institutions, and practitioners and policy-makers. The evidence from L-MAVC suggests that if these actors are to contribute more effectively to reforms that affect citizens’ lives, substantial changes – with respect to the nature of support provided to domestic stakeholders and to grant-making practices – may be warranted

Learning to Make All Voices Count: Lessons for OGP, donors, and practitioners - Moses, Michael; Soal, Sue (2017)
The Open Government Partnership (OGP), donors and multilaterals, and social accountability practitioners across the world are among various constituencies attempting to harness and actualise emerging insights about the nature of successful governance reform. But each of these groups faces challenges as they do so. This brief reviews the evidence from Learning to Make All Voices Count (L-MAVC), a programme funded by Making All Voices Count, and implemented in collaboration with Global Integrity. L-MAVC intended to support six Making All Voices Count grantees, working in five countries, in co-creating and applying a participatory, learning-centred, and adaptive approach to strengthening citizen engagement in governance processes in their contexts, including with respect to the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Two sets of lessons emerge from the experience of L-MAVC. First, supporting citizen engagement and government accountability in subnational contexts, and localising OGP in ways that matter to citizens, is not straightforward. Doing so successfully entails engaging with, navigating and shaping political and power dynamics in those contexts, and iteratively adapting to emerging lessons and challenges. Second, the effectiveness of adaptive ways of working depends in part on the extent to which they offer opportunities for cross-context peer learning, support the regular collection and use of data, and are themselves adaptive. These lessons have implications for the broader community of actors working to support governance reform, including OGP and its partners, donors and multilateral institutions, and practitioners and policy-makers. If these actors are to contribute more effectively to reforms that affect citizens’ lives, substantial changes – with respect to the nature of support provided to domestic stakeholders, grant-making practices, and practitioner approaches – may be warranted.

Learning to Target for Economic Diversification: PDIA in Sri Lanka - Andrews, Matt; Ariyasinghe, Duminda; Batuwanthudawa, Thamari; Darmasiri, Shivanthika; Silva, Nilupul; Harrington, Peter; Jayasinghe, Prasanna; Jayasinghe, Upul; Jayathilake, Gamini; Karunaratne, Jayani; Katugampala, Lalit; Liyanapathirane, Jeewani; et al. (Center for International Development, Harvard University, 2017)

Leather sector reform in Bangladesh - Harris, Dan (2016)
This paper examines the Asia Foundation’s efforts to support change in Bangladesh’s leather sector. Working closely with local partners, the Asia Foundation team has specifically supported efforts to move tanneries out of a dangerously polluted location to a modern industrial park that will improve compliance with health and environmental protection standards, and potentially lead to growth in the sector. At the time of release, this critical relocation has already begun. This case study lays out the real-time decisions and processes which drove the strategy and implementation of this project, providing useful insights into how politically astute and flexible programs can be successfully implemented. This case has emerged from an action research process, which was led by a researcher from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and conducted over the course of almost two years. By capturing and analyzing the experiences of the program team in Bangladesh, the paper intends to provide practical insights for others in the development community aiming to implement similar kinds of programming. This is the seventh paper in the DFAT-TAF Partnership Working Politically in Practice Paper Series released under the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) Partnership.

Leaving No One Behind in a Digital World - Hernandez, Kevin; Roberts, Tony (Institute of Development Studies, 2018)

'Leaving No One Behind': Why Ideas Matter - Evans, Alice (2016)

Lessons for Effective resilience programs: a case study of the RAIN program in Ethiopia - Kleiman, Shanti (Mercy Corps, 2013)
The RAIN program experience affirms the importance of multi-year and flexible funding as key program design features if progress in resilience building is to be supported in areas with high levels of structural and temporal vulnerability. These features enable management to respond effectively to changing circumstances in order to better meet the needs of communities and to create the necessary conditions for relief-to-development strategies to take hold. Finally, this study found that deliberate and effective coordination between donor agencies can ensure that development gains achieved during one program period are directly leveraged by subsequent programs, thereby increasing the effectiveness of resilience programs.

Lessons for PFM Reform - the PDIA Approach in Africa - Bento, Joana (Public Financial Management Blog - IMF, 2021)
Some important lessons are as follows: First, identifying a policy problem is critical for reforms to get traction both at a political and administrative level. Second, appropriate solutions can emerge from a process of experimentation, iteration, and adaptation. Third, building teams and institutional capabilities is a critical part of solving complex problems in a sustainable way.

Lessons from a trial of the Success Case Method - McGuinness, Liz (Better Evaluation, 2017)
The Success Case Method approach is useful for documenting stories of impact and for understanding the factors that help or hinder impact. It is particularly useful for uncovering the contextual forces that influence impact. Originally designed for evaluating corporate training programs, the Success Case Method is now being applied to other programs including international development interventions. Last year, I provided technical assistance to a pilot of the Success Case Method as part of the USAID-funded Complexity-Aware M&E Trials.

Lessons Learned from Applying the Data Powered Positive Deviance - Pawelke, Andreas; Glücker, Andreas; Albanna, Basma; Boy, Jeremy (DPPD, 2021)
This report presents six learnings from four pilot projects conducted by the Data Powered Positive Deviance (DPPD) initiative, a global collaboration between the GIZ Data Lab, the UNDP Accelerator Labs Network, the University of Manchester Center for Digital Development, and UN Global Pulse Lab Jakarta. The pilots seek out grassroots solutions to development challenges that range from the interaction between livestock farming and deforestation to gender-based violence and insecurity in dense urban environments in Ecuador, Mexico, Niger and Somalia. The learnings relate to the early stages of the DPPD method, originally proposed by Albanna & Heeks [1], and focus mainly on the access to, and use of digital data. They are summarized as follows: 1. Remain flexible in the face of data unavailability 2. Leverage existing partnerships for data access 3. Map and fill know-how gaps early 4. Scale with caution 5. Look at deviance over time 6. Look beyond individual or community practices and behavior The report is written for development practitioners, data analysts, domain experts, and more generally anyone interested in using new data sources and technologies to uncover successful local solutions to development challenges.

Lessons learned from PERL and partners' response to the COVID-19 crisis - Sharp, Samuel; Nwachukwu, Tochukwu; Srivatsa, Sripriya Iyengar (PERL Programme, 2021)
The first case of COVID-19 in Nigeria was confirmed on 27 February 2020, with the first lockdown orders issued on 30 March 2020. The pandemic and resultant containment measures have had farreaching socio-cultural, economic, financial and political implications, globally as well as in Nigeria. For the Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) and its partners, the pandemic has required considerable adaptation of their strategic approach and working practices. This report reflects on how COVID-19 changed the operating context for PERL’s partners, how PERL responded and what lessons have been learned across delivery teams. For government partners, the most substantial impacts have been to budgets, struck by falling oil prices and reduced economic activity. Universally, states have had to adjust budgets and reforecast, revising budgets downwards and shifting the focus of expenditure towards healthcare. The World Bank’s State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme has generated powerful incentives for this budget revision, which PERL has been able to work alongside. A range of new governance structures – such as public response committees and task forces – have been established to deal with various aspects of COVID-19 policy, and PERL has had to grapple to maintain its ongoing engagement with these. For civil society organisations (CSOs), the closure of offices from 30 March 2020 has changed the nature of engagement with government. CSOs often developed innovative approaches to maintaining access, including use of social media and direct calls. But the shift to virtual working has been challenging for many CSOs, both in terms of covering the costs of data for virtual meetings and the risks of disengagement and marginalisation for some organisations. In response to this changed context, from March 2020 PERL began to restrategise. The flexible nature of the programme’s workplans, progress markers and budgets enabled activities to be adjusted in a relatively timely manner, with a new workplan approved by the end of April 2020. Central PERL management developed a COVID-19 response strategy which provided a broad framework for adaptations, but allowed substantial autonomy to state and regional teams to lead on reprioritisation according to their understanding of the local context. This was valued by both management and delivery staff. Challenges manifested themselves more in effectively delivering on these adapted workplans than in the process of restrategising – due to two rounds of budget cuts, the merger of DFID and the FCO to form the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the difficulties of engaging partners virtually. Overall, the pandemic undoubtedly delayed activities (by roughly three months for deprioritised areas of work), but resulted in an array of new, tailored interventions under its broad categories of work. Interventions relating to the health sector became more prevalent, as did work supporting budget adjustments. Domestic resource mobilisation and education interventions were often adjusted to be more relevant to the COVID context or experienced delay. The report provides short illustrative case studies of PERL’s adaptations to: support budget revisions; work with media partners on COVID-19 sensitisation; tracking and advocacy for palliative distribution; and support for the introduction of tax relief. There is some evidence, albeit partial, that PERL was able to take advantage of windows of opportunity offered by the pandemic to drive ahead with certain ongoing reform initiatives.

Lessons Learned from the Forest, Climate and Communities Alliance - Boshoven, Judy (USAID, 2014)
The Forest, Climate, and Communities Alliance (FCCA) was an initiative funded by USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and the Environment/Office of Forestry and Biodiversity (E3/FAB) under the USAID Global Development Alliance (GDA)1 between 2009 and 2013. FCCA was one of the first USAID-funded projects for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+). The Rainforest Alliance (RA) implemented FCCA in Ghana and Honduras. Operating in two different contexts allowed FCCA to generate important lessons learned that may be useful as countries around the world search for approaches to prepare for and implement successful REDD+ mechanisms. In 2013, as FCCA was coming to an end, USAID tasked the Measuring Impact (MI) initiative with an independent review to generate lessons learned from FCCA. In capturing and disseminating lessons from the FCCA project, the Agency intends to contribute to the understanding of what may be effective, and under what conditions, when promoting REDD+ in conjunction with forest and agricultural product certification. MI is a five-year USAID project executed by the E3/FAB Office designed to improve the Agency’s practice of conservation by building USAID’s capacity to better design, manage, evaluate, and learn from biodiversity conservation initiatives. As such, MI was tasked with carrying out this review of lessons learned from FCCA while using RA’s general hypothesis as the basis to describe the project and its lessons.

Lessons Learned From the Use of the Most Significant Change Technique for Adaptive Management of Complex Health Interventions - Ohkubo, Saori; Mwaikambo, Lisa; Salem, Ruwaida M.; Ajijola, Lekan; Nyachae, Paul; Sharma, Mukesh Kumar (Global Health: Science and Practice, 2022)
Introduction:The Most Significant Change (MSC) technique is a complex-aware monitoring and evaluation tool, widely recognized for various adaptive management purposes. The documentation of practical examples using the MSC technique for an ongoing monitoring purpose is limited. We aim to fill the current gap by documenting and sharing the experience and lessons learned of The Challenge Initiative (TCI), which is scaling up evidence-based family planning (FP) and adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) interventions in 11 countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Methods:The qualitative assessment took place in early 2021 to document TCI’s use and adaptation of MSC and determine its added value in adaptive management, routine monitoring, and cross-learning efforts. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted virtually with staff members involved in collecting and selecting MSC stories. Results:TCI has had a positive experience with using MSC to facilitate adaptive management in multiple countries. The use of MSC has created learning opportunities that have helped diffuse evidence-based FP and AYSRH interventions both within and across countries. The responsive feedback step in the MSC process was viewed as indispensable to learning and collaboration. There are several necessary inputs to successful use of the method, including buy-in about the benefits, training on good interviewing techniques and qualitative research, and dedicated staff to manage the process. Conclusion:Our assessment results suggest that the MSC technique is an effective qualitative data collection tool to strengthen routine monitoring and adaptive management efforts that allows for flexibility in how project stakeholders implement the process. The MSC technique could be an important tool for global health practitioners, policy makers, and researchers working on complex interventions because they continually need to understand stakeholders’ needs and priorities, learn from lessons and evidence-based practices, and be agile about addressing potential challenges.
Publisher: Global Health: Science and Practice Section: ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Let’s Take the Con Out of Randomized Control Trials in Development - Pritchett, Lant (Center for International Development, Harvard University, 2021)
The enthusiasm for the potential of RCTs in development rests in part on the assumption that the use of the rigorous evidence that emerges from an RCT (or from a small set of studies identified as rigorous in a “systematic” review) leads to the adoption of more effective policies, programs or projects. However, the supposed benefits of using rigorous evidence for “evidence based” policy making depend critically on the extent to which there is external validity. If estimates of causal impact or treatment effects that have internal validity (are unbiased) in one context (where the relevant “context” could be country, region, implementing organization, complementary policies, initial conditions, etc.) cannot be applied to another context then applying evidence that is rigorous in one context may actually reduce predictive accuracy in other contexts relative to simple evidence from that context—even if that evidence is biased (Pritchett and Sandefur 2015). Using empirical estimates from a large number of developing countries of the difference in student learning in public and private schools (just as one potential policy application) I show that commonly made assumptions about external validity are, in the face of the actual observed heterogeneity across contexts, both logically incoherent and empirically unhelpful. Logically incoherent, in that it is impossible to reconcile general claims about external validity of rigorous estimates of causal impact and the heterogeneity of the raw facts about differentials. Empirically unhelpful in that using a single (or small set) of rigorous estimates to apply to all other actually leads to a larger root mean square error of prediction of the “true” causal impact across contexts than just using the estimates from non-experimental data from each country. In the data about private and public schools, under plausible assumptions, an exclusive reliance on the rigorous evidence has RMSE three times worse than using the biased OLS result from each context. In making policy decisions one needs to rely on an understanding of the relevant phenomena that encompasses all of the available evidence.

Letting Evidence Speak for Itself: Measuring Confidence in Mechanisms - Befani, Barbara; D'Errico, Stefano (New Directions for Evaluation, 2020)
This chapter argues that the credibility of causal mechanisms can be greatly increased by formulating them as statements that are both empirically falsifiable and empirically confirmable. Whether statements can be so depends on the potential availability of the relevant evidence (e.g., no evidence exists that can prove or disprove the existence of God, but good quality evidence is potentially available in many other cases). The Bayes formula can be used to measure the extent to which a given set of empirical observations supports or weakens the belief that a causal mechanism exists. With this approach, confidence in the existence of a mechanism is increased or decreased through a process that can be open, transparent, and shared with the public or groups of stakeholders, reducing cognitive biases, and improving internal validity and consensus around the existence of given mechanisms. The approach is showcased in the evaluation of a learning partnership whereby a knowledge product released by a research organization influenced policy at the municipal level.

Leveraging Experimental Evaluations for Understanding Causal Mechanisms - Peck, Laura R. (New Directions for Evaluation, 2020)
Experimental evaluations—especially when grounded in theory-based impact evaluation—can provide insights into the mechanisms that generate program impacts. This chapter details variants of experimental evaluation designs and also analytic strategies that leverage experimental evaluation data to learn about causal mechanisms. The design variants are poised to illuminate causal mechanisms related to program implementation and the contribution of selected components of multifaceted programs. The analysis strategies lend themselves to illuminating causal mechanisms related to participants’ responses to program components as well as to the contributions of selected program components themselves. The chapter offers an example from one, theory-based impact evaluation, which embedded both design and analytic strategies to examine the extent to which specific program components and participant experiences might be identified as causal mechanisms. The particular value in using this theory-based experimental strategy is that the results are rigorous and potentially highly relevant to policy and practice.

Life and death in the App Store - Newton, Casey (The Verge, 2016)
As last year began, the app developer Pixite held its company retreat at a converted Old West movie set outside of Palm Springs. They spent a few days dreaming about the future while eating...

Life Stories From Children Working in Bangladesh’s Leather Sector and its Neighbourhoods: Told and Analysed by Children - Sayem, Mashrique; Sayed, Sayma; Maksud, A. K. M.; Reaz Hossain, Khandaker; Afroze, Jiniya; Burns, Danny; Raw, Anna; Hacker, Elizabeth (Institute of Development Studies, 2023)
CLARISSA (Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia) has a participatory and child-centred approach that supports children to gather evidence, analyse it themselves and generate solutions to the problems they identify. The life story collection and collective analysis processes supported children engaged in the worst forms of child labour in Bangladesh to share and analyse their life stories. Over 400 life stories were collected from children who worked in the leather supply chain, or who lived and worked in leather sector neighbourhoods. Using causal mapping, 53 children who were engaged in or had experience of the worst forms of child labour collectively analysed the data. This resulted in children’s life stories becoming the evidence base for revealing macro‑level system dynamics that drive the worst forms of child labour. This paper is a record of the children’s analysis of the life stories and key themes they identified, which formed the basis of a series of seven child-led Participatory Action Research groups.
Accepted: 2023-11-07T09:14:57Z Publisher: Institute of Development Studies

Lifestyle politics and the concept of political participation - Moor, Joost de (Acta Politica, 2017)
Van Deth’s comprehensive ‘conceptual map of political participation’ has reinstated a lively debate about the concept of political participation, and provides some compelling solutions to it. However, an important question that has been raised is whether van Deth’s map actually achieves its main goal of unambiguously identifying and classifying emerging, complex types of participation, like online political activism – or lifestyle politics. To contribute to this debate, this article aims to evaluate the usefulness of van Deth’s approach for the analysis of lifestyle politics. Such an evaluation requires a clear classification of lifestyle politics. This, however, is still missing from the literature. The second aim of this article, therefore, is to identify and classify different types of lifestyle politics. On the basis of a literature review, this article argues that lifestyle politics are often enacted throughout different private, public and institutional arenas, and that they are often targeted at various social, economic and political actors at once. Applying van Deth’s conceptual map to these empirical realities, then, suggests that it cannot always account for their complexity sufficiently. Therefore, this article proposes a modification of van Deth’s framework that increases its usefulness for analyzing emerging, complex political participation repertoires.

Linking Assessment to Instruction: Using Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills in an Outcomes-Driven Model - Kaminski, Ruth; Cummings, Kelli (Dynamic Measurement Group, 2008)
As educators increasingly are held responsible for student achievement, school personnel struggle to find ways to effectively document student responsiveness to interventions and track progress toward important outcomes. While many educators focus on high-stakes tests as a means of documenting student achievement of important outcomes, other assessment approaches may be better suited to assessing student progress. Assessment that can be used to adapt teaching to meet student needs is called formative assessment. Because the primary purpose of formative assessment is to support student learning, it may arguably be considered the most important assessment practice in which educators engage. This paper will focus on linking assessment to instruction to improve student outcomes through the use of Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) within an Outcomes-Driven Model.

Linking constituent engagement and adaptive management - Buell, Stephanie; Campbell, Megan; Pett, Jamie (Overseas Development Institute, 2020)
Constituent engagement is the two-way process of involving constituents in the design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of programmes. Constituent engagement and adaptive management together can be a powerful combination; high-quality constituent engagement can reinforce effective adaptive management, and vice versa. By highlighting stories from leading practitioners and their organisations, this paper explores how programmes ensure that constituent engagement informs meaningful adaptation. Key messages Constituent engagement and adaptive management are both important tools for implementing responsive and effective development programmes. Together, they can be a powerful combination: input from constituent engagement can be a key source of information and evidence that meaningfully informs programme design and adaptation, and closing the feedback loop in this way increases the quality of future engagement. Both adaptive management and community engagement principles recognise that, for a programme to be effective, it must be responsive to the people meant to ultimately benefit from it. Beyond providing a key source of information for potential programme adaptations, constituent engagement efforts also help build trust with stakeholders, align expectations and promote accountability. This paper explores five key elements for ensuring that constituent engagement and adaptive management are effectively linked within a programme: strong internal systems and external channels; skilled staff that value engagement and adaptation; decision-maker champions; clear points for reflection and action; and a meaningful role for constituents.

Linking the prepositions: using power analysis to inform strategies for social action - Gaventa, John (Journal of Political Power, 2021)
This article reviews longstanding debates about the relationship between power over and power to – often posed as the tension between domination and emancipation. It then turns to several frameworks which integrate these approaches to inform strategies for social action. In particular, it focuses on recent empirical studies which apply one such framework, the ‘powercube’, to glean insights into how social actors navigate across multiple forms, spaces and levels of power. In so doing, we gain clues into how relatively powerless groups develop the capacities for agency and action which challenge domination and in turn give new possibilities for emancipation.
Keywords: Lukes; Power; agency; collective action; empowerment

Listen carefully. Tread lightly. Adapt quickly. Approaching Adaptive Management: Examples from our Somalia Education Programming - CARE (CARE, 2020)
Adaptive management approaches potentially offer us opportunities to deliver high quality results in circumstances where change is complex, including in fragile, unstable or conflict affected places. However, building adaptive programming continues to be a challenge for the sector. For CARE, our Department for International Development -UK Aid funded Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) programming has provided useful learning on how to operationalise adaptive approaches. In this paper we expand on our learning from this project and offer some recommendations for how to create more opportunities for truly adaptive programming in the future. In particular: • Projects that are designed to adapt need budget structures, results frameworks and governance that enable the process of adaptation. In our GEC projects the approaches employed by DFID, including the introduction of Review and Adaptation meetings have served to support meaningful adaptation. • Adaptive projects require both strong participatory elements and flexible governance and accountability structures. Whilst rigorous and comprehensive Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) systems are important without these other elements appropriate adaptation can be hindered. • Adaptive Management requires resources. Where the expected change is complex, adaptation is frequently necessary to ensure we are responding to context and evidence. This should be adequately resourced if we are to expect results. In an environment where many INGOs work consistently within complex environments, the sector also needs more opportunities to trial these approaches and could benefit from more funding streams available which include the kinds of approaches used by DFID in current GEC programming

Livelihoods in the Za'atari Camp: Impact evaluation of Oxfam’s Cash for Work activities in the Za’atari camp (Jordan) - Lombardini, Simone; Mager, Franziska (http://hdl.handle.net/10546/620883, 2019)

Lives Amid Violence: Transforming Development in the Wake of Conflict - Schomerus, Mareike (2022)
Violent conflict and its aftermath are pressing problems, particularly for international development initiatives. However, the results of development in conflict contexts have generally been disappointing and their preventative potential thus questionable. Available Open Access, Lives Amid Violence argues that this is because practitioners adhere to a mental model that emphasises linearity, certainty, and causality, assuming that violence is best addressed through work plans that deliver state-building, stabilisation and services. Based on ten years of multi-method research from, in, and on conflict-affected countries, this book challenges this approach.Drawing on a significant collaborative body of scholarship, this work puts forward original and generalizable conclusions about how lives amid violence persist, offering an invitation to abandon restricting mental models and to embrace creative ways of thinking and working. These include paying attention to the long-term effects of conflict on individual behaviour and decision-making, the social realities of economic life, the role service delivery plays in negotiations between citizens and states, and to creating meaningful relationships. Transformation also requires reflection and therefore the book concludes with constructive suggestions on how to practice these insights to better support those whose lives are shaped by violence.More details are available at www.transformingdevelopment.orgThe eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Local Capacity Strengthening Policy - USAID (USAID, 2022)

Local Empowerment Through Rapid Results - Matta, Nadim; Morgan, Peter (Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2011)
Why local ownership and commitment are the exception in most development efforts—and what development professionals can do about this problem.

Local First in practice - Pinnington, R (Peace Direct, 2014)

Local Systems: a framework for supporting sustained development - USAID (USAID, 2014)

Local Works Guidance - Round 4 - USAID (USAID, 2019)

Localizing Development : Does Participation Work? - Mansuri, Ghazala; Rao, Vijayendra (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013)
The Policy Research Report Localizing Development: Does Participation Work? brings analytical rigor to a field that has been the subject of intense debate and advocacy, and billions of dollars in development aid. It briefly reviews the history of participatory development and argues that its two modalities, community-based development and local decentralization, should be treated under the broader unifying umbrella of local development. It suggests that a distinction between organic participation (endogenous efforts by civic activists to bring about change) and induced participation (large-scale efforts to engineer participation at the local level via projects) is key, and focuses on the challenges of inducing participation. The report provides a conceptual framework for thinking about participatory development and then uses this framework to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature. The framework develops the concept of “civil society failure” and explains its interaction with government and market failures. It argues that participatory development, which is often viewed as a mechanism for bypassing market and government failures by ”harnessing” civic capacity, ought to be seen instead as a mechanism that, if done right, could help to repair important civil society failures. It distills literature from anthropology, economics, sociology, and political science to outline the challenges for effective policy in this area, looking at issues such as the uncertainty of trajectories of change, the importance of context, the role of elite capture and control, the challenge of collective action, and the role of the state. The review of the evidence looks at a variety of issues: the impact of participatory projects on inclusion, civic capacity, and social cohesion; on key development outcomes, such as income, poverty, and inequality; on public service delivery; and on the quality of local public goods. It draws on the evidence to suggest several recommendations for policy, emphasizing the key role of learning-by-doing. It then reviews participatory projects funded by the World Bank and finds the majority lacking in several arenas – particularly in paying attention to context and in creating effective monitoring and evaluation systems that allow for learning.

Locally driven development: Overcoming the obstacles - Ingram, George (Brookings Institution, 2022)
Locally led development is a complex process that the development community, in the U.S. and around the world, has spent several decades trying to get right. Yet, despite all the experience and lessons learned, it feels like we are barely beyond the starting line. This publication aims to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on locally led development, especially as to how the United States can address the obstacles posed by U.S. law, regulation, policy, and practice. It consists of two parts: • An essay by George Ingram that notes the path that has taken us to this point, identifies key obstacles, and invites a discussion of how to overcome impediments and move forward. • A set of 15 commentaries written by development experts that add a range of perspectives and nuances to the discussion

Locally Led Development: Engaging Local Stakeholders in Building An Evidence Base - OLS (USAID Learning Lab, 2020)
For two months in the Spring of 2020, the Office of Local Sustainability’s Evidence and Learning Team invited staff from across USAID to join us in exploring how the Agency approaches its generation and use of evidence from the perspective of locally led development. Our seven-part Standards of Evidence for Locally Led Development series brought together eight expert presenters and more than 670 participants to engage in conversations ranging from scientific research to complexity-aware monitoring to ethical considerations when conducting research. This blog post outlines some of our key learnings from the series and introduces the topics covered by each presenter. We encourage you to explore the event resources and share your own takeaways in the comment section below. WHAT DID WE LEARN? Three key themes emerged from the series: - Practitioners should draw on a wide range of evidence to inform locally led development programming. - Local actors can provide important contextual knowledge throughout the life of your research programs. - Prioritize local actors as the end users for your evidence to help them build their own self-reliance and increase sustainability of your program’s outcomes.

Logics of Government Innovation and Reform Management in China - Husain, Lewis (STEPS centre, 2015)
Since the beginning of reforms in the late 1970s, China has developed rapidly, transforming itself into a middle-income country, raising hundreds of millions out of poverty and, latterly, developing broad-based social protection systems. The country’s approach to reform has been unorthodox, leading many to talk of a specific Chinese model of development. This paper analyses the role of innovation (chuangxin) and experimentation in the Chinese government repertoire and their contribution to management of change during the rapid, complex and interconnected reforms that China is undergoing. ‘Innovation’ is understood as the process of generation, putting into use, and spread, of new ideas. This contemporary focus on innovation is an extension of an older Chinese government attachment to sub-national initiative in policy formulation and development that goes back to the beginnings of the PRC and before. Central government backing for, and endorsement of, proactive agency on the part of sub-national governments responds to a belief that China is too large, and conditions around the country too diverse, to allow adoption of ‘one size fits all’ policy. Sub-national governments are expected to show initiative in adapting policy locally, and creating locally-useable policy solutions within the overall scope of central policy mandates/ paradigms. The paper argues that innovation by sub-national government is systemically embedded: while central government sets the policy agenda, local governments are frontline managers, and develop a range of policy practices. Differences in conditions between localities mean that multiple variant policy practices are often in circulation at any one time. While innovation is not quantifiable in the aggregate, there is much controlled experimentation, freewheeling innovation, and trial and error, all of which are part of a search for new policy fixes and institutional solutions. Many forms of policy transfer and learning are in evidence, including much central learning from sub-national models, as well as sub-national circulation of a range of innovative policy practices. While much government innovation is not ‘original’, and may be ‘inefficient’ or of little systemic usefulness, overall, the churn of government innovation remains valuable in underpinning systemic adaptation and reform. The paper situates the analysis of government innovation within a larger framework on the functioning of Chinese government and international literature on policy transfer, and outlines an agenda for future research on the structural bases of Chinese government innovation and its contribution to adaptive management.

Looking for a way out of aid’s pre-pandemic mess? A model based on cake - Baguios, Arbie (From Poverty to Power, 2020)
Arbie Baguios presents his ideas on how to reform the aid system

Lost Causal: Debunking Myths About Causal Analysis in Philanthropy - Lynn, Jewlya; Stachowiak, Sarah; Coffman, Julia (The Foundation Review, 2021)

M&E Universe - intrac (INTRAC, 2019)
The M&E Universe is a free, online resource developed by INTRAC to support development practitioners involved in monitoring and evaluation (M&E). It consists of a series of short papers (2-6 pages) on different subjects related to M&E. It can be explored through an online platform (intrac.org/universe) that is compatible with most web browsers. The M&E Universe is designed for M&E practitioners with different levels of experience and expertise in M&E, from those new to M&E who want an entry level into the subject to experienced practitioners wanting to broaden their knowledge. Initial contact with the Map will provide people with a starting point for understanding different aspects of M&E and how they link to each other. More experienced practitioners can browse the Map to identify more advanced subjects of interest, such as sampling methods, different forms of evaluation, organisational M&E systems and complex methodologies for data collection and analysis.

Mainsreaming gender in an adaptive, politically smart governance programme - Lessons from Institutions for Inclusive Development in Tanzania - Laws, Ed (ODI, 2020)
• This paper looks at the experience of gender mainstreaming in the Institutions for Inclusive Development (I4ID) programme – an adaptive, politically smart governance programme in Tanzania. • When development programmes try to engage with political stakeholders and align with the priorities of wider coalitions there is a danger that gender equality is de-prioritised. • It is important that formal political economy analysis, as well as other data collection, analysis and consultation exercises, are gender-sensitive. Teams should also look for ways to make gendered political and power analysis part of the everyday routine practice of staff. • Working politically and adaptively to advance gender objectives calls for staff with a specific skillset, as well as links to appropriate networks and political stakeholders. It also implies establishing checks and incentives to hold staff and partners accountable for gender objectives, and strong and consistent messaging from team leaders.

Making adaptive rigour work - Principles and practices for strenghening monitoring, evaluation and learning for adaptive management - Ramalingam, Ben; Wild, Leni; Buffardi, Anne L (ODI/GLAM, 2019)
Adaptive programmes can be accountable, rigorous and high quality in how they use evidence by taking an ’adaptive rigour’ approach. Core development and humanitarian challenges are complex, and require processes of testing, learning and iteration to find solutions – adaptive management offers one approach for this. Yet large bureaucracies and development organisations can have low tolerance for experimentation and learning, and adaptive management can be viewed as an excuse for ‘making things up as you go along’. This briefing from the Global Learning for Adaptive Management (GLAM) initiative argues that adaptive programmes can be accountable, rigorous and high quality in how they use evidence – but this requires rethinking some key assumptions about how they are practised. The paper sets out three key elements of an ‘adaptive rigour’ approach: - Strengthening the quality of monitoring, evaluation and learning data and systems. - Ensuring appropriate investment in monitoring, evaluation and learning across the programme cycle. - Strengthening capacities and incentives to ensure the effective use of evidence and learning as part of decision-making, leading ultimately to improved effectiveness.

Making All Voices Count: A Slam Dunk? - Global Integrity (Global Integrity, 2012)
Yesterday, I had the chance to attend the public launch of a new government transparency and accountability funding mechanism – Making All Voices Count. Held at USAID headquarters, the discussion featured a veritable who’s who of open government and transparency practitioners in the Washington area; probably 250 people were packed into the room. (Announcing a …

Making All Voices Count's Research & Evidence Strategy (2014)
Building an evidence-base on what works in technology for voice, transparency and accountability, how, and why.

Making design core to the agile process: a look into how we built Salesforce's Lightning Experience - Schoen, Ian (Medium, 2016)
A look into how we built Salesforce’s Lightning Experience

Making Details Matter: How to Reform Aid Agencies to Generate Contextual Knowledge - Ang, Yuen Yuen (SSRN, 2014)
My essay considers a central problem of reinventing foreign aid in the twenty-first century: how to reform aid agencies to enable a “best-fit” approach to development assistance. For the past decades, the aid community has tried to transplant best practices from the developed world to the developing world. Increasingly, however, it is recognized that copying best practices does not work and may even backfire; rather, aid programs work best when they are tailored to local contexts. Yet while the idea of a best-fit approach is widely embraced in principle, actualizing it is easier said than done. For meaningful changes to take root in practice, we must first identify the obstacles to localizing development assistance and suggest ways to address these problems. To this end, I propose a three-pronged strategy to promote the generation of contextual knowledge among aid professionals, a necessary condition for crafting solutions that can fit various local contexts, namely: (1) build a bank of knowledge about unorthodox practices that work, (2) diversify expertise within aid agencies; and (3) carve experimental pockets. My proposal does not fit neatly into any one of the six themes specified in the GDN competition; rather, it concerns all of the themes. Whether it is to use aid to improve governance, apply information technology, or design financial instruments, the overarching challenge is to empower and incentivize aid professionals to learn and apply contextual knowledge to creatively solve problems in developing societies.
Keywords: Contextual knowledge; Localization; Public policy; foreign aid; international development

MAKING - Fostering new ideas for social inclusion and accountable, responsive governance - Edwards, Duncan (MAVC and IDS, 2014)

Making good on donors’ desire to Do Development Differently - Honig, Dan; Gulrajani, Nilima (Third World Quarterly, 2018)
AbstractForeign aid donors are increasingly focused on changing the way their development agencies function. This discourse has focused on desired qualities, including greater knowledge of local contextual realities, appropriate adaptation to context and greater flexibility to respond to changing circumstances. We argue that more attention needs to be devoted to the achievement of these qualities and turn to contingency theory to identify some under-exploited ways to ?do development differently?. The qualities sought by donors are emergent properties of complex organisational systems and will only be achieved through a micro-level and interlinked focus on the fundamentals of organisation.

Making Good Use of Adaptive Management - Doremus, Holly; Andreen, William L.; Camacho, Alejandro E.; Farber, Daniel A.; Glicksman, Robert L.; Goble, Dale D.; Karkkainen, Bradley C.; Rohlf, Dan; Tarlock, A. Dan; Zellmer, Sandra B.; Jones, Shana Campbell; Huang, Yee (Center for Progressive Reform, 2011)

Making humanitarian response more flexible: bibliography - ALNAP (2018)

Making humanitarian response more flexible: Challenges and questions - Obrecht, Alice; Bourne, S. (ALNAP/ODI, 2018)

Making Outcome Mapping Work - Evolving experiences from around the World - Jones, Harry (Outcome Mapping Learning Community, 2007)

Making Outcome Mapping Work - Volume 2 - Innovations in Participatory Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation - Hearn, Simon; Schaeffer, Heidi; van Ongevalle, JAn (Outcome Mapping Learning Community, 2009)

Making politics work for development: harnessing transparency and citizen engagement - Khemani, Stuti; Ferraz, Claudio; Finan, Frederico S.; Johnson, Stephenson; Louise, Corinne; Abrahams, Scott David; Odugbemi, Adesinaola Michael; Dal Bó, Ernesto; Thapa, Dikshya (The World Bank, 2016)
Too often, government leaders fail to adopt and implement policies that they know are necessary for sustained economic development. They are encumbered by adverse political incentives, which prevent them from selecting good policies, and they run the risk of losing office should they try to do the right thing. Even when technically sound policies are selected by leaders, implementation can run into perverse behavioral norms among public officials and citizens, who seek to extract private benefits from the public sector. Such behavior might be supported by widespread beliefs that corruption is the norm. Even countries with low corruption and strong institutions experience problems of political incentives and behavior that prevent the public sector from solving shared problems. Ideological polarization among citizens and capture by special interests can lead to policy gridlock and the failure of the state to provide public goods, even in advanced economies. Even educated citizens can hold ideological beliefs about the role of public policy that lead them to deny technical evidence contrary to these beliefs. Too often, government leaders fail to adopt and implement policies that they know are necessary for sustained economic development. Political constraints can prevent leaders from following sound technical advice, even when leaders have the best of intentions. Making Politics Work for Development: Harnessing Transparency and Citizen Engagement focuses on two forces—citizen engagement and transparency—that hold the key to solving government failures by shaping how political markets function. In today’s participative world, citizens are not only queueing at voting booths, but are also taking to the streets and using modern communication technology to select, sanction, and pressure the leaders who wield power within government. This political engagement can function in highly nuanced ways even within the same formal institutional context and across the political spectrum, from autocracies to democracies. Political engagement becomes unhealthy when leaders are selected and sanctioned on the basis of their provision of private benefits rather than public goods, giving rise to a range of government failures. The solutions to these failures lie in fostering healthy political engagement within any institutional context, and not in circumventing or suppressing it. Transparency—citizen access to publicly available information about the actions of those in government and the consequences of these actions—can play a crucial role by nourishing political engagement. The report distills policy lessons for governments, international development partners, and civil society on how best to target transparency initiatives so that the provision of public goods becomes the focus of political contestation. Even so, unhealthy political engagement may persist. But to build institutions that are capable of tackling public goods problems, politics needs to be addressed and cannot be side-stepped. Targeted transparency is one way to move in the right direction: it complements everything else policy makers do and holds the potential to make politics work for development rather than against it. " This pathbreaking report places politics at the heart of the development dialogue—exactly where it belongs. It provides constructive ideas for harnessing the forces of transparency and citizen engagement in ways that are suited to diverse institutional contexts so that reform leaders can overcome political constraints to their countries’ development goals. " Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, Director of Research, Development Research Group, The World Bank "This book not only provides an authoritative statement of what we know about how to align political incentives with the interests of society, but it does so with an eye to making change happen even in the face of political opposition. The World Bank will never be the same again. " James Robinson, University Professor, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago " A lesson for us at the World Bank also comes out of this research. We can do more…to work with our clients to diminish political constraints to achieving development goals…To do this we have to overcome the fear of talking about politics, and confront it as part of the challenge of development. That is what we are doing through this report. " Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, The World Bank

Making Sense of Complexity: Using SenseMaker as a Research Tool - Van der Merwe, Susara E.; Biggs, Reinette; Preiser, Rika; Cunningham, Charmaine; Snowden, David J.; O’Brien, Karen; Jenal, Marcus; Vosloo, Marietjie; Blignaut, Sonja; Goh, Zhen (Systems, 2019)
There is growing interest in studying processes of human sensemaking, as this strongly influences human and organizational behavior as well as complex system dynamics due to the diverse lenses people use to interpret and act in the world. The Cognitive Edge SenseMaker® tool is one method for capturing and making sense of people’s attitudes, perceptions, and experiences. It is used for monitoring and evaluation; mapping ideas, mind-sets, and attitudes; and detecting trends and weak signals. However, academic literature describing the tool-set and method is lacking. This introduction aims to guide researchers in choosing when to use SenseMaker and to facilitate understanding of its execution and limitations. SenseMaker can provide nuanced insight into system-level patterns of human sensemaking that can provide insight to nudge systems towards more desirable futures, and enable researchers to measure beyond what they know.
Keywords: Mixed methods; SenseMaker tool; complex systems; sensemaking; social complexity