Adapting development: improving services to the poor - Wild, Leni; Booth, David; Cummings, Clare; Foresti, Marta; Wales, Joseph (ODI, 2015)
On current trends, it will take decades or longer to bring basic services to the world’s most disadvantaged people. Meeting this challenge means recognising the political conditions that enable or obstruct development progress - a radical departure from the approach of the Millennium Development Goals.
Keywords: Practice

The journey from rhetoric to reality: participatory evaluation in a development context - Chouinard, Jill Anne; Cousins, J. Bradley (Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 2015)
In this paper, we focus on participatory evaluation in the context of international development and specifically on the emerging empirical knowledge base. In a prior review and critique of research on participatory evaluation (Cousins and Chouinard 2012), we examined 121 studies, with only 21 (17 %) situated in development contexts. However, the circumstances and challenges for international development and for development evaluation are distinct from those found in developed countries and therefore warrant separate consideration. To provide a more focused and detailed understanding of participatory evaluation in international development contexts, in this paper we augment our initial sample to a total of 40 studies on participatory evaluation in development published over the past 16.5 years. Based on an analysis of this research and related theoretical and conceptual contributions we identify and discuss eight emergent themes: multiplicity of relationships, consequences of stakeholder selection, characterization of participation, contextual complexity, methodological requirements, cultural influence, politics and power and learning and capacity building. We conclude with some reflections on an agenda for research.

Analysing ICT and Development from the Perspective of the Capabilities Approach: A Study in South Brazil - Coelho, Taiane Ritta; Segatto, Andréa Paula; Frega, José Roberto (The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 2015)
Certain international agencies propose that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) allows development to be reached more efficiently and quickly. While there are success stories galore, there is acknowledgement of not all investments in ICT bringing positive effects towards development. Following the Capabilities Approach, this paper discusses how the use of ICT can promote a more effective development by studying the case of Sudotec (association for technological and industrial development), a non-profit organization that saw in ICT the opportunity to change the local scenario. The results revealed positive effects of the use of ICT in social, economical and cultural spheres, but not presenting political effect.

Citizens’ Use of New Media in Authoritarian Regimes: A Case Study of Uganda - Grönlund, Åke; Wakabi, Wairagala (The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 2015)
By subsidizing the costs of civic participation, the use of the Internet use is believed to stimulate participation but there are fears that intensive Internet use causes withdrawal from public life. This paper investigates the connection between the way individuals participate online and offline in authoritarian, low-income regimes, and the nature of eParticipation among citizens in authoritarian regimes such as Uganda. Based on personal interviews with 116 Internet users, the study found that common drivers of eParticipation, such as low cost, security and anonymity are hard to transplant into the offline world for citizens of authoritarian states such as Uganda. Perceived risks of retribution and intimidation for expressing a particular opinion or supporting a political cause mean that citizen-to-citizen participation is the predominant form but still at low levels, while citizen-to-government participation is negligible.

Between logframes and theory of change: reviewing debates and a practical experience - Prinsen, Gerard; Nijhof, Saskia (Development in Practice, 2015)
Theory of Change (ToC) is an emerging methodology in the practice of development programmes, often contrasted with the dominant logical framework. This article reviews current debates around ToC before identifying five aspects that are appreciated in practice. It appears that these aspects mostly cover areas where the logical framework is not – or is no longer – meeting the needs of practitioners. Subsequently, the article analyses experiences in ToC training for NGO staff and concludes that ToC can address shortcomings of the logical framework – if only by going back to some of the roots of the logical framework.

The effect of government responsiveness on future political participation - Mellon, Andrew Jonathan; Sjoberg, Fredrik Matias; Peixoto, Tiago Carneiro (The World Bank, 2015)
What effect does government responsiveness have on political participation? Since the 1940s political scientists have used attitudinal measures of perceived efficacy to explain participation. More recent work has focused on underlying genetic factors that condition citizen engagement. The authors develop a ‘calculus of participation’ that incorporates objective efficacy, the extent to which an individual’s participation actually has an impact, and test the model against behavioral data from FixMyStreet.com (n=399,364). The authors find that a successful first experience using FixMyStreet.com (e.g., reporting a pothole and having it fixed) is associated with a 54 percent increase in the probability of an individual submitting a second report. The authors also show that the experience of government responsiveness to the first report submitted has predictive power over all future report submissions. The findings highlight the importance of government responsiveness for fostering an active citizenry, while demonstrating the value of incidentally collected data to examine participatory behavior at the individual level.

Thinking and Working Politically: Professional Development Reading Pack - Booth, David (GSDRC Applied Knowledge services, 2015)

Effective Governance. Strategy for Australia’s aid investments - DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Government, 2015)

Doing legal empowerment differently: Learning from pro-poor litigation in Bangladesh - O'Neil, Tam; Valters, Craig; Farid, Cynthia (ODI, 2015)
Marginalised groups and their allies can, and do, use the law and justice systems, including public interest litigation, to improve their access to rights, goods and services.  Yet there is no automatic link between legal action and improved outcomes for poor people.  Where some minimum conditions are met – a progressive legal framework, a sympathetic judiciary and legal advocacy organisation – pro-poor litigation is a potential tool in disputes over rights and resources.  But concrete benefits for poor people also requires state action to enforce progressive rulings.  Much depends on whether claimants, legal activists and state reformers cooperate around shared interests, and whether activists can negotiate power and interest structures to motivate government action to implement rulings.  Effective strategies are those that link litigation with grassroots legal action and other forms of political and social activism and advocacy.  Donors need to fund legal advocacy organisations in ways that enable them to select social issues that are locally relevant and political feasible – and allows activists and reformers to work in politically smart and adaptive ways.

Beyond enforcement: communities, governance, incentives and sustainable use in combating wildlife crime. Symposium Report. - Roe, Dilys (IIED, 2015)

Development innovation: Fad, silo or catalyst? - Ramalingam, Ben (Nesta, 2015)
In the first of a two-part blog piece, Ben Ramalingam, affiliate of the Overseas Development Institute / Institute of Development Studies, discusses the challenges of implementing innovation in to the development sector - from keeping expectations realistic to managing the innovation process and assessing impact and value.

Scaling: Innovations Missing Middle - McClure, Dan; Gray, Ian (ThoughtWorks, 2015)

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

Nairobi Is Organizing- Grassroots Organizing &Public Participation for Social Change - TISA (2015)
The Institute for Social Accountability

The Qualitative Impact Assessment Protocol (QUIP) - Copestake, James; Remnant, Fiona (CDS Briefing Paper, 2015)
This brief presents an overview of the QUIP in three steps: the background to the QUIP and its main aims; the data collection and analysis methodology; and QUIP in the context of other approaches to evaluation. Each section can be read independently, depending on time available.

Mobilizing Accountability: Citizens, Movements and the State - Halloran, Brendan; Flores, Walter (Transparency & Accountability Initiative, 2015)

Straws-in-the-wind, Hoops and Smoking Guns: What can Process Tracing Offer to Impact Evaluation? - Punton, Melanie; Welle, Katharina (Centre for Development Impact, 2015)
This CDI Practice Paper by Melanie Punton and Katharina Welle explains the methodological and theoretical foundations of process tracing, and discusses its potential application in international development impact evaluations. It draws on two early applications of process tracing for assessing impact in international development interventions: Oxfam Great Britain (GB)’s contribution to advancing universal health care in Ghana, and the impact of the Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) on policy change in Tanzania. In a companion to this paper, Practice Paper 10 Annex describes the main steps in applying process tracing and provides some examples of how these steps might be applied in practice.

Development innovation: Taking the high road - Ramalingam, Ben (Nesta, 2015)
In part two of his blog on the challenges facing development innovation, Ben Ramalingam suggests how we might take the ‘high road’ to bring about long-lasting and meaningful innovation in the sector.

Supporting Learning? Exploring the relationship between grantee learning and grantmaking practice in the transparency and accountability sector - Ross, Jenny (INTRAC, 2015)
Learning is fundamental to work on transparency and accountability in complex environments. But how can funding practices best support learning?

Changes for Justice Project - Final Report - Chemonics International (USAID, 2015)

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, …

Investment Climate Reform: Doing it Differently - Manuel, Clare (Synthesis Paper, 1, 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.

Measuring Impact. Making Use of the Portfolio: Organizational Learning at USAID - Peabody, Shawn (Measuring Impact, 2015)
This technical analysis explores previous and ongoing social learning efforts, best practices, challenges, and lessons in USAID as a foundation for improving the implementation and design of the Agency’s forestry and biodiversity programs. This analysis is particularly relevant as the Bureau of Economic Growth, Education and the Environment’s Office of Forestry and Biodiversity (E3/FAB) begins to develop a Cross-Mission Learning Program under the Measuring Impact initiative, a five-year activity to promote the adoption of best practices in the USAID program cycle among Missions using biodiversity funds. The findings reported in this document can help inform the overall design and structure of the Learning Program and provide insight into possible challenges and best practices.

Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective - Stanley, Kenneth O.; Lehman, Joel (Springer, 2015)
Why does modern life revolve around objectives? From how science is funded, to improving how children are educated -- and nearly everything in-between -- our society has become obsessed with a seductive illusion: that greatness results from doggedly measuring improvement in the relentless pursuit of an ambitious goal. In Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned, Stanley and Lehman begin with a surprising scientific discovery in artificial intelligence that leads ultimately to the conclusion that the objective obsession has gone too far. They make the case that great achievement can't be bottled up into mechanical metrics; that innovation is not driven by narrowly focused heroic effort; and that we would be wiser (and the outcomes better) if instead we whole-heartedly embraced serendipitous discovery and playful creativity.Controversial at its heart, yet refreshingly provocative, this book challenges readers to consider life without a destination and discovery without a compass.

Scrum For Dummies - Layton, Mark C. (John Wiley & Sons, 2015)
Practice an agile form of management to stop wasting time and money Scrum For Dummies is an easy to use guide to managing the tricky transition from a traditional project management methodology to the new and most popular agile framework. As the most efficient, successful methodology for team project management, Scrum relies on transparency, flexibility, and fluidity to deliver a final product that fulfills the needs of all stakeholders. Written in easy–to–read Dummies style, this book walks you through the core principles of Scrum and provides a roadmap for tangible implementation. The vast majority of projects go over budget, and billions of dollars are wasted every year on overruns. Put a stop to this wasteful leakage by switching to a management style that keeps all participants informed, up–to–date, and accountable. Authored by a Certified Scrum Trainer, Mark Layton, Scrum For Dummies covers the key ideas and processes behind Scrum methodologies, and presents the inner workings of the plan in an engaging and accessible format. Topics include: The Scrum values, roles, artifacts, and activities that make up the principle of this methodology When and how best to use Scrum The differences between Scrum and other agile methodologies Using Scrum for IT, finance, construction, health care, and more The book also delves into the everyday use of Scrum, and how it can help you achieve your own personal goals outside of work. There′s a reason why scrum is quickly becoming the standard approach to project management it works! If you want to stop wasting time and start producing more effectively, Scrum For Dummies is the guide that will get you there.

Navigating by Judgment: Organizational Structure, Autonomy, and Country Context in Delivering Foreign Aid - Honig, Daniel (Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, 2015)
This dissertation examines when initiatives by International Development Organizations (IDOs) are more, and less, successful. The core argument is that allowing field-level agents to drive initiatives – what I call organizational Navigation by Judgment – will often be the most effective way to deliver aid. This inverts what a classical application of the principal agent model – the workhorse of studies of public management and bureaucracy – would predict, with better performance resulting from less control. In the delivery of foreign aid the costs of monitoring to the principal are often overshadowed by the deleterious effects of the monitoring itself. The core of the argument is that development implementation requires soft information, tacit knowledge, and flexibility that are crowded out by tight controls or an organizational navigation strategy focused on short term measurement and targets. As a result there are increasing returns to Navigation by Judgment in environments that are uncertain or difficult to understand from the outside and tasks where outputs are difficult to observe and/or poorly correlated with long term intervention goals. Insecure political authorizing environments which constrain the autonomy of IDOs prevent these organizations from Navigating by Judgment in situations where this is the best strategy. Empirically, this dissertation examines a cross-IDO dataset of projects (including over 14,000 projects over 50 years over 9 organizations), which I have assembled. It also examines eight cases of development interventions in Liberia and South Africa. These cases are matched pairs comparing the performance and navigation strategies of the US Agency for International Development (a low autonomy IDO) and the UK’s Department for International Development (a higher autonomy IDO) in capacity building and health sector interventions.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

A flowering of approaches to complexity and development? - Thorpe, Ian (KM on a dollar a day, 2015)
We are an important juncture in development at the moment with the Sustainable Development Goals due to be finalized later this year, and with discussion now turning full swing into what needs to h…

The Answer is 42. On Data, Information and Knowledge - Bours, Dennis (Earth-Eval, 2015)
A recent discussion with some colleagues on the differences between data, knowledge and information made me realize that there still is a lot of confusion when it comes to the use of terms; confusion that goes well beyond my earlier blog post on indicators, measures and metrics.

10 Things to Know About Evaluation - Buffardi, Anne; Hearn, Simon; Pasanen, Tiina; Price, clare; Ball, Louise (RAPID, 2015)
Evaluation is essential to good development. But there are still many myths and misconceptions about what it is - and how it should be used. ODI's Research and Policy in Development Programme (RAPID) has many years' experience supporting evaluation in complex development contexts. In support of the International Year of Evaluation 2015, we've put together our essential 'things to know' about evaluation in 10 infographics. Available in English and French.

Systems change: A guide to what it is and how to do it - Ellen Harries; Rachel Wharton; Rob Abercrombie (NPC, 2015)
Systems change has been attracting the attention of those in the social sector who want to deal with the root causes of problems, but, despite the buzz, much of what is written is abstract in tone. With the support of LankellyChase Foundation we have produced this guide to plug a gap in the systems change literature—providing accessible material and recommendations for action. Systems change has been attracting the attention of a range of progressive charities, funders and practitioners who are interested in dealing with the root causes of social problems. But while there is a buzz about a subject relatively new to the social sector, it is easy to feel frustrated by the literature—much of what is written is abstract in tone and there are few examples of success. We have produced this paper to address this problem and offer accessible material and recommendations for action. This systems change guide: Clarifies what is meant by systems and systems change Describes the main perspectives on systems change Outlines good practice for systems change Identifies what is and is not agreed upon by experts in the field Provides recommendations for charities, funders and the public sector on how to act systemically. We hope this presents a manageable introduction to the systems change field, especially for those new to it, and also guides those interested in acting systemically to improve the lives of people in need. Our conclusion is that although it may not be as novel as some claim, there is a good deal of value in a systems change approach and it offers a welcome reminder of what effective action looks like when it comes to the pursuit of social change.

Mentoring Programmes: Supporting Effective Technology Use in Transparency and Accountability Organisations - Herringshaw, Vanessa; Faith, Becky (Transparency & Accountability Initiative, 2015)
The global movement to hold governments and companies accountable is growing rapidly, and technology can play a vital role. Some actors harness this potential to brilliant effect. But many others waste precious money and staff time on technology that isn’t a good fit for their aims or capacity. Mentorships can be a really effective way …

DFID’s approach to delivering impact - ICAI (Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI), 2015)
UK aid, at its best, makes a real and positive difference to the lives and livelihoods of poor people around the world. Ensuring the best possible performance across a large and multifaceted aid programme is, however, a complex management challenge. This report reviews ICAI’s previous 44 reports and looks at how well DFID ensures positive, long-term, transformative impact across its work.

An Adaptive Capacity Guide Book: assessing, building and evaluating the capacity of communities to adapt in a changing climate - Jacobs, B.; Nelson, R.; Kuruppu, N.; Leith, P. (University of Technology and University of Tasmania, 2015)
A capacity to adapt to change is essential for managing Australia’s natural resources. The individuals, communities and organisations who manage our natural resources all have an innate capacity to adapt to change. Changes in climate, markets and technology have shaped the way we adapt the management of natural resources in urban, rural and coastal landscapes. Some of these changes are predictable and easy to manage. Others are expected, but their timing and magnitude are uncertain. Whatever the future holds, this guide can be used to build our capacity to meet future change with confidence.

Why is it so hard for non-state actors to be heard? Inside Tanzania's education policies - Katera, Lucas (MAVC, 2015)
Lessons from policy in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania

Managing Complexity: Adaptive Management at Mercy Corps - Mercy Corps (2015)
Managing Complexity: Adaptive management at Mercy Corps

Managing the Journey to Scale Up Innovation in the Humanitarian and Development Sector - McClure, Dan; Gray, Ian (ThoughtWorks, 2015)

Framework for the Biodiversity Cross-Mission Learning Program - Environmental Incentives; Foundations of Success; ICF International (Measuring Impact, 2015)
USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and the Environment/Office of Forestry and Biodiversity (E3/FAB) launched the five-year Measuring Impact program (MI) to help strengthen USAID’s biodiversity programs by building the capacity of the Agency to design, monitor, and evaluate effective programs and by enhancing the evidence base that informs programming decisions. A core programmatic strategy of MI is to “Improve Biodiversity Conservation Approaches” with the life-of-project (LOP) objective that E3/FAB and the Missions engaged with MI have a greater understanding of conditions under which commonly deployed conservation strategic approaches are effective. To accomplish this, MI is working with E3/FAB to design and implement a Biodiversity Cross-Mission Learning Program (Learning Program) to systematically capture and share lessons on theories of change1 (TOCs) for common conservation strategic approaches in the USAID biodiversity portfolio.

Watering the Grassroots: A Strategy for Social Movement Support - Joyce, Mary (Transparency & Accountability Initiative, 2015)
In this third and final think piece exploring the role of grassroots organizations and movements for state accountability (find the previous pieces here and here), the author Mary Joyce, proposes new thinking about how funders and other external organizations can best support social movements. Funding and other support for popular organizations and movements is not straightforward, and there are potential risks and distortions involved. Interested supporters need to clearly identify and articulate these obstacles in their discussions with movement activists before pursuing and funding or other support activities. This think piece outlines several potential avenues of support: small, flexible grants; funding intermediary organizations; providing external consultants or researchers to work with movements; and other options as well. These suggestions provide ideas for funders and other organizations seeking to move beyond projects to supporting robust accountability ecosystems, in which grassroots organizations and movements play a critical role.

A Movements Perspective on Transparency and Accountability - Joyce, Mary; Walker, Tom (Transparency & Accountability Initiative, 2015)
This Think Piece describes social movements pursuing government accountability and the challenges and opportunities to supporting them.

Using Data to Influence Government Decisions. Opportunities and Challenges for User-Centered Design to Improve Governance Data Impact - Reboot (Reboot & OSF, 2015)

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

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

Technology for Democracy in Development: Lessons from Seven Case Studies - Fung, Archon; Gilman, Hollie Russon; Shkabatur, Jennifer (Deliberation and Development: Rethinking the Role of Voice and Collective Action in Unequal Societies, 2015)

Deliberation and Development: Rethinking the Role of Voice and Collective Action in Unequal Societies - Heller, Patrick; Rao, Vijayendra (World Bank Publications, 2015)
This book marries two fields that rarely converse with one another:deliberative democracy and development studies. The study ofdeliberation―which explores normative and practical questions aroundgroup-based decision making through discussion or debate―has emergedas a critical area of study over the past two decades. Concurrently, the fieldof development has seen a spurt of interest in community-led developmentand participation premised on the ability of groups to arrive at decisionsand manage resources via a process of discussion and debate. Despite thegrowing interest in both fields, they have rarely engaged with one another.This book, which brings together new essays by some of the leading scholarsin the field, deepens our understanding of participatory decision makingin developing countries while initiating a new field of study for scholarsof deliberation. In the process, it sheds light on how to best design andimplement policies to strengthen the role of participation in development.

The Politics of Evidence and Results in International Development: Playing the Game to Change the Rules? - Eyben, Rosalind; Guijt, Irene; Roche, Chris; Shutt, Cathy (Practical Action Publishing, 2015)
Understanding and demonstrating the effectiveness of efforts to improve the lives of those living in poverty is an essential part of international development practice. But who decides what counts as good or credible evidence? Can the drive to measure results do justice to and promote transformational change change that challenges the power relations that produce and reproduce inequality, injustice and the non-fulfillment of human rights? The Politics of Evidence in International Development provides a critical examination of the results agenda, with practical strategies for rendering it more helpful in supporting transformative development. The book deconstructs the origins and concepts of the results and evidence agendas employed in international development. It describes with concrete examples the current effects and consequences of the agenda, and goes on to outline a range of strategies used by individuals and organizations to resist, adapt or comply with the useful and problematic demands for results-oriented measurement and evidence of value for money."

Dialogic Organization Development: The Theory and Practice of Transformational Change - Bushe, Gervase R. (EDS Publications Ltd., 2015)
Dialogic Organization Development is a compelling alternative to the classical action research approach to planned change. Organizations are seen as fluid,socially constructed realities that are continuously created through conversations and images change happens when those conversations and images change. Leaders and consultants can help foster, support, or accelerate the emergence of transformational possibilities by encouraging disruptions to taken-for-granted ways of thinking and acting and the use of generative images to stimulate new organizational conversations and narratives. Dialogic OD is a different mindset, but it s also the previously unrecognized underpinning of such diverse change methods as Appreciative Inquiry, the Art of Convening, Future Search, and many more.

Guidelines for writing a case study on implementation (Book Project: Smart Implementation in Governance) - Kirsch, Renate (GIZ GmbH, 2015)

Evaluability assessment for Impact Evaluation: Guidance, checklists and decision support - Peersman, Greet; Guijt, Irene; Pasanen, Tiina (ODI, 2015)
This guidance note focuses on the utility of, and guidance for, evaluability assessment before undertaking an impact evaluation. The primary audience for this guidance note is evaluators conducting an evaluability assessment for impact evaluation. The secondary audience is people commissioning or managing an evaluability assessment for impact evaluation, as well as funders of an impact evaluation. Sections one and two provide an overview of evaluability assessment and how it can be used for impact evaluation. Section three provides guidance for planning to undertake an evaluability assessment for impact evaluation. This is informative for all intended users of the guidance note. Section four includes checklists and decision support for evaluability assessments. The checklist is geared to those conducting the evaluability assessment and can be adapted to suit a particular context or purpose. The decision support provides those conducting an evaluability assessment with evidence-based recommendations for impact evaluation funders and commissioners, about whether, when and how to proceed with the evaluation. Sections five and six provide guidance on what to do after the assessment is concluded, and offer lessons learned from evaluability assessments in practice.

Social Accountability: What Does the Evidence Really Say? - Fox, Jonathan A. (World Development, 2015)
Summary Empirical evidence of tangible impacts of social accountability initiatives is mixed. This meta-analysis reinterprets evaluations through a new lens: the distinction between tactical and strategic approaches to the promotion of citizen voice to contribute to improved public sector performance. Field experiments study bounded, tactical interventions based on optimistic assumptions about the power of information alone, both to motivate collective action and to influence the state. Enabling environments for collective action combined with bolstered state capacity to respond to citizen voice are more promising. Sandwich strategies can help ‘voice’ and ‘teeth’ to become mutually empowering, through state–society synergy.
Keywords: public information access; social accountability; state–society synergy; transparency; voice

Useful Theory of Change Models - Mayne, John (Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 2015)
Although theories of change are frequently discussed in the evaluation literature and there is general agreement on what a theory of change is conceptually, there is actually little agreement beyond the big picture of just what a theory of change comprises, what it shows, how it can be represented, and how it can be used. This article outlines models for theories of change and their development that have proven quite useful for both straightforward and more complex interventions. The models are intuitive, flexible, and well-defined in terms of their components, and they link directly to rigorous models of causality. The models provide a structured framework for developing useful theories of change and analyzing the intervention they represent.

Engineering Complex Scaled Up Innovations in the Humanitarian and Development Sector - McClure, Dan; Gray, Ian (ThoughtWorks, 2015)

What Startups Can Learn from General McChrystal about Combining Strategy and Execution - Pisoni, Adam (First Round, 2015)
Yammer Co-founder Adam Pisoni speaks with General Stanley McChrystal about the lessons technology companies might take away from his new book Team of Teams.

Five tips for evaluating your impact in international development - Pasanen, Tiina (The Guardian, 2015)
How can impact evaluations actually be helpful? These top tips will save development professionals time, energy and money. International development can be messy – with uncertain, complex settings, and multiple partners with different interests, goals and capacities. At the same time, we are under increasing pressure to demonstrate impact. We have to show that our projects have made a real change in people’s lives and that donor or taxpayer money hasn’t been wasted. But impact evaluations, which are often seen as a solution to this, aren’t always used. And in some cases they are unhelpful. So how can we improve the quality of impact evaluations, so that they produce results that are useful? This is where evaluability assessments come in. By asking whether we should evaluate a project – and if so, when and how – these assessments can improve the quality of impact evaluations. Here are five other reasons to assess evaluability before starting an impact evaluation.

What Are the Next Steps in Innovation for Good Governance? - von Sturmer, Lucy (Making All Voices Count, 2015)
What are the next steps in innovation for good governance? Lucy von Sturmer reflects on lessons learned at Buntwani 2015.

Strengthening Accountability Ecosystems: a Discussion Paper - Halloran, Brendan (Think Piece, 2015)

Strategy Testing: An innovative approach to monitoring highly flexible aid programs - Ladner, Debra (Working Politically in Practice, 2015)
The international development community has increasingly embraced the idea that finding durable solutions to complex development problems requires new ways of working that move beyond industry norms. This paper makes an important contribution to the current debate by outlining an innovative monitoring system called Strategy Testing (ST). This is the third paper in the Working Politically in Practice paper series, launched together with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Building a Learning Culture – The case of the Market Development Facility in Fiji - Miehlbradt, Alexandra (The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development, 2015)
Keywords: Case Report

SAVI Approach Paper 1: Core Values - SAVI (London, 2015)
Governance reform is about government and citizens working together in more responsive, inclusive and accountable ways for the benefit of citizens. More responsive, inclusive and accountable attitudes and behaviour on the part of government and non-government stakeholders are the critical factors which lead to meaningful reform processes, and replicate and sustain reforms beyond the lifetime...

SAVI Approach Paper 10: Engaging State Governments - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
SAVI as a programme does not directly work with state governments – but we work in close conjunction with sister programmes who are supporting state governments on governance and sector reforms. SAVI supports non-government and SHoA partners to play their part in promoting more responsive, inclusive and accountable state governance delivering better services for citizens....

SAVI Approach Paper 2: Programme Design - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
SAVI supports citizen engagement in governance through a facilitated partnership approach, in contrast to the usual approach of grants to civil society organisations (CSOs). The overall aim is to facilitate and support working relationships and processes of reform that are home-grown, self-sustaining and, after initial engagement, not dependent on external support. Our way of working...

SAVI Approach Paper 3: Theory of Change - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
SAVI’s theory of change is a simple, practical guide that staff and partners use to plan and to monitor change – as well as to reflect on and enhance their own effectiveness. It sets out broad stages of attitude and behaviour change over time to facilitate effective citizen engagement in governance processes, systems and structures....

SAVI Approach Paper 4: Thinking and Working Politically - Supporting partners and staff through a participatory apporach to political economy analysis - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
Thinking and acting politically is central to the SAVI programme. We support staff and partners to analyse the power relations that shape change in their state, and to use this knowledge to inform their decision-making. This includes decisions made by SAVI state teams relating to the issues and partners they engage with and support, and...

SAVI Approach Paper 5: Defining and Measuring Results - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
SAVI aims to facilitate replicable and sustainable processes of citizen engagement in governance. The programme in each state is locally defined, flexible and adaptive, and results are not predictable in advance. Standardised monitoring tools are not applicable, and consequently we have evolved our tools and frameworks during the programme through processes of learning by doing....

SAVI Approach Paper 6: Engaging Civil Society - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
SAVI state teams provide support to CS groups to become more effective agents of citizens’ voice and public accountability, through a variety of mutually reinforcing interventions. These include: hands-on support to demonstration civil society Advocacy Partnerships (APs) facilitating working partnerships between civil society APs, SHoAs, and the media brokering working relationships between all of these...

SAVI Approach Paper 7: Promoting Gender Equality and Social Inclusion - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
We promote attention to gender equality and social inclusion in all of our engagement with CS groups, the media and SHoAs, and in all of the issues and processes they work on. In all the states we work in, we also support partners to focus on some issues and form some partnerships and networks which...

SAVI Approach Paper 8: Engaging the Media - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
The overall aim of SAVI engagement with the media is for media representation of citizens’ interests to become normal, and play its part in helping state governments to be more responsive, inclusive and accountable to their citizens. Media partners – individual media personnel and selected media houses – are supported to be more effective agents...

SAVI Approach Paper 9: Engaging State Houses of Assembly - SAVI (DFID, 2015)
The overall aim of SAVI engagement with SHoAs is to promote lasting reforms that are not dependent on external funding and which promote an increasingly more responsive and accountable relationship between Nigerian state governments and their citizens. SHoAs are supported to be more effective agents of citizen voice and public accountability, demanding better performance from...

Using Information on Results in Program Management – The case of Samarth-NMDP in Nepal - Stewart, Tim; Joshi, Sanju; Miehlbradt, Alexandra (The Donor Committee for Enterprise Development, 2015)
Keywords: Case Report

Theories of Change: time for a radical approach to learning in development - Valters, Craig (ODI, 2015)
The Theory of Change approach demands a radical shift towards more and better learning in development thinking and practice, creating a productive and much-needed space for critical reflection.

Assessing the Evidence: The Effectiveness and Impact of Public Governance-Oriented Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives - Brockmyer, Brandon; Fox, Jonathan A. (Transparency & Accountability Initiative, 2015)
Transnational multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) – voluntary partnerships between governments, civil society, and the private sector – are an increasingly prevalent strategy for promoting government responsiveness and accountability to citizens. While most transnational MSIs involve using voluntary standards to encourage socially and environmentally responsible private sector behavior, a handful of these initiatives – the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST), the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the Global Initiative on Fiscal Transparency (GIFT) and the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) – focus on information disclosure and participation in the public sector. Unlike private sector MSIs, which attempt to supplement weak government capacity to enforce basic social and environmental standards through partnerships between businesses and civil society, public sector MSIs ultimately seek to bolster public governance. But how exactly are these MSIs supposed to work? And how much has actually been achieved?The purpose of this study is to identify and consolidate the current state of the evidence for public governance-oriented MSI effectiveness and impact. Researchers collected over 300 documents and interviewed more than two-dozen MSI stakeholders about their experiences with five public governance oriented multi-stakeholder initiatives.This report provides a ‘snapshot’ of the evidence related to these five MSIs, and suggests that the process of leveraging transparency and participation through these initiatives for broader accountability gains remains uncertain. The report highlights the ongoing process of defining MSI success and impact, and how these initiatives intersect with other accountability actors and processes in complex ways. The study closes with key recommendations for MSI stakeholders.
Keywords: Accountability; Participation; Program evaluation; Transparency; global governance; multi-stakeholder

Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success - Syed, Matthew (Hachette UK, 2015)
The Sunday Times No.1 Bestseller From the Bestselling Author of BounceWhat links the Mercedes Formula One team with Google?What links Team Sky and the aviation industry?What connects James Dyson and David Beckham?They are all Black Box Thinkers.Black Box Thinking is a new approach to high performance, a means of finding an edge in a complex and fast-changing world. It is not just about sport, but has powerful implications for business and politics, as well as for parents and students. In other words, all of us.Drawing on a dizzying array of case studies and real-world examples, together with cutting-edge research on marginal gains, creativity and grit, Matthew Syed tells the inside story of how success really happens - and how we cannot grow unless we are prepared to learn from our mistakes.
Keywords: Psychology; Sports & Recreation / Sports Psychology; Strategic Planning

Webinar: Operationalizing Adaptive Management: What it takes. Why it matters. - Mercy Corps (Mercy Corps, 2015)
Development actors increasingly agree that managing programs adaptively – especially complex interventions – can improve their effectiveness. A growing body of evidence supports this claim. But what does adaptive management look like in practice? What does it require of managers and donors to make happen? How can we reconfigure incentives and success metrics to support adaptation, while remaining compliant?

Design for Sustainability: Countering the Drivers of Unsustainability in Development Projects - Meyer, Isabel; Marais, Mario Alphonso (The Journal of Community Informatics, 2015)
Development projects aim to make a difference in communities. Funders often require that the intervention needs to last, or that it needs to effect change that will last, over an extended period of time. In short, a sustainable difference needs to be made and this is an important measure of success.  However, there are inherent drivers in the combined system of donors and beneficiaries that counter sustainability. This article explores these drivers, and identifies project design elements that need to be in place in order to promote sustainability by countering the drivers. This approach is applied to an education project, and implications for ICT4D projects are developed.
Keywords: Development; Project design; Systems Approaches; sustainability

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.

Adaptive Management Tools: Concept Notes System - Mercy Corps (Mercy Corps, 2015)
Mercy Corps finds adaptive management is supported by four different but interconnected elements: Culture, People & Skills, Tools & Systems, and Enabling Environment. These elements are discussed in the context of one of Mercy Corps’ complex programmes in pastoral Ethiopia.

Embracing Complexity: Strategic Perspectives for an Age of Turbulence - Boulton, Jean G.; Allen, Peter M.; Bowman, Cliff (Oxford University Press, 2015)
The book describes what it means to say the world is complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The first part of the book is about the theory and ideas of complexity. This is explained in a way that is thorough but not mathematical. It compares differing approaches, and also provides a historical perspective, showing how such thinking has been around since the beginning of civilisation. It emphasises the difference between a complexity worldview and the dominant mechanical worldview that underpins much of current management practice. It defines the complexity worldview as recognising the world is interconnected, shaped by history and the particularities of context. The comparison of the differing approaches to modelling complexity is unique in its depth and accessibility. The second part of the book uses this lens of complexity to explore issues in the fields of management, strategy, economics, and international development. It also explores how to facilitate others to recognise the implications of adopting a complex rather than a mechanical worldview and suggests methods of research to explore systemic, path-dependent emergent aspects of situations. The authors of this book span both science and management, academia and practice, thus the explanations of science are authoritative and yet the examples of changing how you live and work in the world are real and accessible. The aim of the book is to bring alive what complexity is all about and to illustrate the importance of loosening the grip of a modernist worldview with its hope for prediction, certainty and control.

Beyond the toolkit: supporting peace processes in Asia - Denney, Lisa; Barron, Patrick (Working Politically in Practice Series: Case Study, 2015)

Addressing gender in impact evaluation: What should be considered? - Fletcher, Gillian (Methods Lab, 2015)
Gender and sexuality are intimately entwined; we must not lose sight of the ways in which gender affects non-heterosexual people, transgender people and people who do not identify as either male or female. • Gender and gender-related injustice is a feature of all interventions, whatever the focus, be it agriculture, capacity building, disaster management, education, health, peace building, water, sanitation and hygiene, or other. • Showing an increase in the number of women participants in an intervention is not the same as demonstrating gender impact. An ‘add women and stir’ approach is not good enough. • A good intervention design will identify critical inequalities and conduct a needs assessment that clearly identifies gender-related issues. If this needs assessment feeds directly into the programme theory, it will facilitate assessment of the intervention’s gender-related impact and will be more likely it is to have positive gender-related impact.

Operationalizing the Science of Delivery Agenda to Enhance Development Results - Gonzalez Asis, Maria; Woolcock, Michael (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015)
The clear development gains achieved in recent decades should not deflect attention from the scale and type of challenges that remain. The strategies largely responsible for these initial gains have been technical reforms promoting economic growth and logistical systems supplying basic inputs. Today, strategies are needed that focus on enhancing the quality of implementation— for example, ensuring learning and not just building schools and enrolling students. This concern now spans numerous domains of professional practice (especially health) and has entered World Bank discussions framed as the “science of delivery.” At the World Bank, the Global Delivery Initiative (GDI) is an operational manifestation and extension of these ideas. To date, the GDI has prepared a number of different case studies across numerous sectors on ways in which innovative teams solve particular problems during project implementation. On the basis of the initial case studies, the authors outline five key principles of how high-quality implementation occurs and invite others to add to this growing storehouse of knowledge. Specifically, task teams are encouraged to develop “live” case studies by and for their staff, documenting how, in real time, implementation challenges are being met. Projects must “learn” more rapidly and systematically how to solve the myriad range of complex implementation challenges they inevitably encounter, since most of these (by definition) cannot be anticipated ex ante. Delivery challenges of this kind will only intensify in the coming years as citizens demand effective responses to ever-more complex—and contentious—policy domains, such as justice, regulation, and taxation.

Barriers to Political Analysis in Aid Bureaucracies: From Principle to Practice in DFID and the World Bank - Yanguas, Pablo; Hulme, David (World Development, 2015)
Politics has become a central concern in development discourse, and yet the use of political analysis as a means for greater aid effectiveness remains limited and contested within development agencies. This article uses qualitative data from two governance “leaders” – the United Kingdom Department for International Development and the World Bank – to analyze the administrative hurdles facing the institutionalization of political analysis in aid bureaucracies. We find that programing, management, and training practices across headquarters and country offices remain largely untouched by a political analysis agenda which suffers from its identification with a small cross-national network of governance professionals.
Keywords: DFID; United Kingdom; World Bank; aid effectiveness; foreign aid; political economy analysis

Uncertainty, Precaution, and Adaptive Management in Wildlife Trade - Wiersema, Annecoos (Michigan Journal of International Law, 2015)

Navigating Complexity in International Development: Facilitating Sustainable Change at Scale - Burns, Danny; Worsley, Stuart (Practical Action Publishing, 2015)
Governments and organizations invest huge sums of money in development interventions to explicitly address poverty and its root causes. However, a high proportion of these do not work. This is because interventions are grounded in flawed assumptions about how change happens -- change is rarely linear, yet development interventions are almost entirely based on linear planning models. Change is also characterized by unintended consequences, which are not predictable by planners and by power dynamics, which drive outcomes towards vested interests rather than real need. Development processes need to engage effectively with these sorts of complex system dynamics. This book provides a conceptual framework for this thinking, offers detail case studies of interventions which have been built on this philosophy and which demonstrate key facets of it. It articulates some clear methodological underpinnings for this work, and draws out the implications both for development, practice and practitioners.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Systems Thinking For Social Change: A Practical Guide to Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences, and Achieving Lasting Results - Stroh, David Peter (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015)
Donors, leaders of nonprofits, and public policy makers usually have the best of intentions to serve society and improve social conditions. But often their solutions fall far short of what they want to accomplish and what is truly needed. Moreover, the answers they propose and fund often produce the opposite of what they want over time. We end up with temporary shelters that increase homelessness, drug busts that increase drug-related crime, or food aid that increases starvation. How do these unintended consequences come about and how can we avoid them? By applying conventional thinking to complex social problems, we often perpetuate the very problems we try so hard to solve, but it is possible to think differently, and get different results. Systems Thinking for Social Change enables readers to contribute more effectively to society by helping them understand what systems thinking is and why it is so important in their work. It also gives concrete guidance on how to incorporate systems thinking in problem solving, decision making, and strategic planning without becoming a technical expert. Systems thinking leader David Stroh walks readers through techniques he has used to help people improve their efforts to end homelessness, improve public health, strengthen education, design a system for early childhood development, protect child welfare, develop rural economies, facilitate the reentry of formerly incarcerated people into society, resolve identity-based conflicts, and more.  The result is a highly readable, effective guide to understanding systems and using that knowledge to get the results you want.

Appreciative Inquiry: Organization Development and the Strengths Revolution - Stavros, Jacqueline M.; Godwin, Lindsey N.; Cooperrider, David L. (Practicing Organization Development, 2015)
A ppreciative Inquiry (AI) is a theory and practice of inquiry-and-changethat shifts the perspective of organization development (OD) methodsby suggesting that the very act of asking generative questions has pro-found impact in organizational systems. Inquiry and change are not separatemoments. Our questions focus our attention on what is “there” to be noticed.Reflecting its social constructionist roots (Cooperrider, Barrett, and Srivastva1995; Gergen 1995), which suggest that words create worlds, AI offers a newchange imperative by suggesting that we be aware of the negativity bias thatpervades our investigations into organizational life and instead shift our focusto the good, the better, and the possibilities that often go undernoticed in oursystems. Building on Gergen (1995) and Cooperrider and Avital (2003), Cooper-rider and Godwin (2012) summarize, “AI posits that human systems move in thedirection of the questions they most frequently and authentically ask; knowl-edge and organizational destiny are intimately interwoven; what we know andhow we study it has a direct impact on where we end up” (740).Leveraging the power of generative questions, AI changes the focus of whatwe typically study in organizational life, questioning the prevailing mindset that“organizations are problems to be solved,” (Cooperrider and Srivastva 1987).Instead, AI suggests that “organizations are mysteries and miracles of humanrelatedness; they are living systems, alive and embedded in ever-wideningwebs of infinite strength and limitless human imagination. Organizations, ascenters of human connectivity and collaboration, are ‘universes of strengths,’” (Cooperrider and Godwin 2010, 10). AI invites change agents to look intotheir organizations with “appreciative eyes”—scanning the system for thingsfor which to be grateful, seeking out what is next and what is possible, andfocusing on valuing those things of value worth valuing. AI theorists posit thatsuch a shift in our approach to organizational change is needed if we are toinspire our imaginative capacities to their fullest potential.

Systems Thinking: An introduction for Oxfam programme staff - Bowman, Kimberly; Chettleborough, John; Jeans, Helen; Whitehead, James; Rowlands, Jo (Policy & Practice, 2015)
Development organizations frequently face and overcome challenges in programme delivery. But what happens when the proposed solutions fail? How can organizations adapt to changing conditions and ensure the benefits of programmes are shared as widely as possible?

Why Lean Enterprise Transformation is Hard - McClure, Dan (ThoughtWorks, 2015)

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.

Building capability by delivering results: Putting Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) principles into practice - Andrews, Matt; Pritchett, Lant; Samji, Salimah; Woolcock, Michael (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

Release the pressure on governance practitioners - de Weijer, Frauke; Hauck, Volker (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

The ethical limits of bungee research in ICTD - Dearden, Andrew; Tucker, William D. (2015 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society, 2015)
Research in ICTD is difficult because engineers with technical expertise are separated from the challenges that they are trying to address by large physical distances and significant social differences. To overcome these challenges, much research involves occasional short visits by external researchers to developing regions to investigate problems and generate ideas which are then developed back at the engineers' home base before further return visits for deployment and evaluation. This paper highlights the ethical limitations of this `bungee research', and reflects on our experiences in evolving more fruitful research practices. We argue that relying on bungee research as a primary model of research engagement is unethical, and we suggest some minimal conditions that are necessary, but not sufficient, for such visits to be ethically defensible in ICTD research.

Summary of Indicators for Combating Wildlife Trafficking - Environmental Incentives; Foundations of Success; ICF International (Measuring Impact, 2015)
USAID's Measuring Impact conducted a survey and analysis of existing wildlife crime indicators to inform the development of USAID indicators and build the evidence base for better alignment of the Agency’s monitoring efforts with best practices. This report summarizes the search strategy and main results of the survey.

Mind the gaps: What's missing in political economy analysis and why it matters - Hudson, David; Marquette, Heather (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

Guidance on tasks and deliverables for different evaluation phases - Methods Lab (2015)
This tool describes the five key phases of evaluation, from planning and design, to implementation and communication of results. It provides a list of the main tasks and deliverables for each phase, intended for use by anyone managing an impact evaluation. This tool was developed by Irene Guijt, Simon Hearn, Tiina Pasanen and Patricia Rogers for use in Methods Lab projects. It follows to some extent the BetterEvaluation Rainbow Framework.

Guiding questions to help narrow the scope of an evaluation - Methods Lab (2015)
Time and budget constraints can mean that programmes are not able to assess all possible evaluation questions; this is especially true for multi-component or multi-site programmes operating in challenging environments. This tool identifies areas of enquiry to help programmes prioritise the number of questions and measurement indicators used. This tool was developed by Anne Buffardi for use in in Methods Lab projects.

Report template on integrating impact into an existing monitoring and evaluation system - Methods Lab (2015)
Many development programme staff will commission an impact evaluation towards the end of a project or programme, only to find that the monitoring system did not provide adequate data about implementation, context, baselines or interim results. This tool provides a template outline for a report making recommendations on how to integrate a focus on impact into a programme’s existing monitoring and evaluation system, as the programme moves into a new phase. This template was developed by Anne Buffardi and Tiina Pasanen for use in Methods Lab projects.

Report templates for evaluability assessment - Methods Lab (2015)
An evaluability assessment aims to assess the extent to which, and how best, a project can be evaluated in a reliable and credible fashion. These templates are intended to help anyone conducting an evaluability assessment to structure the final report. This tool was developed by Anne Buffardi and Bronwen McDonald for use in Methods Lab projects. It accompanies The Methods Lab publication ‘Evaluability assessment for impact evaluation: guidance, checklists and decision support’.

Sample agendas for an evaluability assessment stakeholder workshop - Methods Lab (2015)
An evaluability assessment aims to assess the extent to which, and how best, an intervention can be evaluated in a reliable and credible fashion. These sample agendas are intended for people convening key stakeholders (such as project implementation staff and managers, donors and government officials) to discuss the purpose and scope of an impact evaluation and to identify key evaluation questions. This tool was developed by Bronwen McDonald, Anne Buffardi and Irene Guijt for use in Methods Lab projects. It accompanies the Methods Lab publication ‘Evaluability assessment for impact evaluation: guidance, checklists and decision support’.

Sample interview questions for evaluability assessment - Methods Lab (2015)

Template concept note for an impact evaluation - Methods Lab (2015)

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

Theory of Change Thinking in Practice - van Es, Marjan; Guijt, Irene; Vogel, Isabel (2015)
Want to know better how your interventions can contribute to change? A Theory of Change (ToC) approach helps in deepening your understanding - and that of your partners - of how you collectively think change happens and what the effect will be of your intervention. Not only does it show what political, social, economic, and/or cultural factors are in play, it also clarifies your assumptions. Once a ToC has been developed, it can be used to continually reflect on it in ways that allow for adaptation and checking of assumptions of your intervention. This user friendly guideline helps you to use a Theory of Change approach. Theories of change are the ideas and beliefs people have – consciously or not – about why and how the world and people change. How people perceive and understand change and the world around them is infused by their underlying beliefs about life, human nature and society. They are deep drivers of people’s behaviour and of the choices they make. Social change processes are complex and characterised by non-linear feedback loops: our own actions interact with those of others and a myriad of influencing factors. This triggers reactions that cannot be foreseen and makes outcomes of change interventions unpredictable. Given these uncertainties, how can we plan strategically and sensibly? How can social change initiatives move forward in emerging change processes in a flexible way, while remaining focused on the goal? In this context of complexity, Hivos has found a theory of change (ToC) approach useful in guiding its strategic thinking and action, as well as its collaborative efforts with others. As it fosters critical questioning of all aspects of change interventions and supports adaptive planning and management in response to diverse and quickly changing contexts. It contributes to the quality and transparency of strategic thinking, and therefore to personal, organisational and social learning. This guide builds on the experiences of Hivos working with a ToC approach. It is a practical guide for Hivos staff in applying a Theory of Change approach, but is also very useful for others working on social change such as social entrepreneurs and innovators. This guide builds on the work of a ToC Learning Group initiated by Hivos and comprising of staff of the Centre for Development Innovation (CDI) of Wageningen University and Research Centre and of experts Iñigo Retolaza Eguren, Isabel Vogel and Irene Guijt. For current thinking and work on the use of Theory of Change thinking in complex change processes, see http://www.theoryofchange.nl

A Governance Practitioner’s Notebook: Alternative Ideas and Approaches - Whaites, Alan; Gonzalez, Eduardo; Fyson, Sara; Teskey, Graham (OECD, 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

Minister of International Development and La Francophonie Mandate Letter (November 12, 2015) - Office of the Prime Minister (2015)
Dear Minister:I am honoured that you have agreed to serve Canadians as Minister of International Development and La Francophonie. You will be part of a strong team of ministers led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Try, learn, adapt, repeat: T/A Learn reflections - Alan (www.globalintegrity.org, 2015)
By Alan Hudson — November 16, 2015. I spent last week in Rio de Janeiro (tough assignment, I know), participating in the Transparency and Accountability Initiative’s third T/A Learn Annual Workshop. As the report of the second Annual Workshop, held...

Fostering Systems Change - Gopal, Srik; Kania, John (2015)
Five simple rules for foundations seeking to create lasting social change.

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

What is a Theory of Change? Really. - Mack, Katelyn (FSG, 2015)
Recently thousands of evaluators came together in Chicago to celebrate the growing field, share exemplary practices, and to push our collective thinking on how evaluation responds to the complexity of social change efforts.

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World - McChrystal, General Stanley; Silverman, David; Collins, Tantum; Fussell, Chris (Portfolio Penguin, 2015)
As commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), General Stanley McChrystal discarded a century of management wisdom and pivoted from a pursuit of mechanical efficiency to organic adaptability. In this book, he shows how any organization can make the same transition to act like a team of teams - where small groups combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share their experience.Drawing on a wealth of evidence from his military career and sources as diverse as hospital emergency rooms and NASA's space program, McChrystal frames the existential challenge facing today's organizations, and presents a compelling, effective solution.

Multi-project programmes functions, forms and implications for evaluation and learning - Buffardi, Anne; Hearn, Simon (Methods Lab, 2015)
Multi-project programmes can serve different purposes. For instance, they may coordinate multiple implementing entities; standardise management and technical support; compare intervention approaches across different contexts; enhance leverage through joint action; or foster sustainability by building relationships among organisations. • At the same time, multi-project programmes are costly, potentially duplicate other mechanisms that fulfil similar functions, and can dilute focus and create confusion. • To guide decisions on what coordination, evaluation and learning mechanisms are needed, it is helpful to articulate the intended purpose of using a programme model. Identifying the purpose(s) can help staff determine what types of knowledge sharing strategies may be most useful to the programme, and how project and programme theories of change can be sequenced

What does ‘adaptive programming’ mean in the health sector? - Tulloch, Olivia (ODI, 2015)
• There is considerable interest in the concept of adaptive development and what it may look like in different sectors, including health. • Adaptive types of programming from the health sector are relatively advanced; as we work towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), experiences in health can provide useful lessons for other areas of development. • The international health community may not use the label ‘adaptive development’, but many are already conducting adaptive work. ‘Quality improvement’ is one such tried and tested approach. • Quality improvement is problem-driven, iterative and flexible. The methodology and principles can be used to identify, test and implement changes in any context or part of a health system. • Quality improvement is being used successfully, but there is still limited experience and evidence of how to apply its values and philosophy beyond the project level and embed it within national structures and systems. • Systems thinking and analysis of the political economy environment may help embed complex interventions like quality improvement and sustain their achievements

What Is Disruptive Innovation? - Christensen, Clayton M.; Raynor, Michael E.; McDonald, Rory (Harvard Business Review, 2015)
For the past 20 years, the theory of disruptive innovation has been enormously influential in business circles and a powerful tool for predicting which industry entrants will succeed. Unfortunately, the theory has also been widely misunderstood, and the “disruptive” label has been applied too carelessly anytime a market newcomer shakes up well-established incumbents. In this article, the architect of disruption theory, Clayton M. Christensen, and his coauthors correct some of the misinformation, describe how the thinking on the subject has evolved, and discuss the utility of the theory. They start by clarifying what classic disruption entails—a small enterprise targeting overlooked customers with a novel but modest offering and gradually moving upmarket to challenge the industry leaders. They point out that Uber, commonly hailed as a disrupter, doesn’t actually fit the mold, and they explain that if managers don’t understand the nuances of disruption theory or apply its tenets correctly, they may not make the right strategic choices. Common mistakes, the authors say, include failing to view disruption as a gradual process (which may lead incumbents to ignore significant threats) and blindly accepting the “Disrupt or be disrupted” mantra (which may lead incumbents to jeopardize their core business as they try to defend against disruptive competitors). The authors acknowledge that disruption theory has certain limitations. But they are confident that as research continues, the theory’s explanatory and predictive powers will only improve.

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

40 Agile Methods in 40 Minutes - Smith, Craig (YOW! Australia Software Development Conference, 2015)

Participatory Budgeting in Scotland: An overview of strategic design choices and principles for effective delivery - Escobar, Oliver; Harkins, Chris (2015)
Description

Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurialism in Public Sector Reform - Cummings, Clare (Public Administration and Development, 2015)
Summary There is growing recognition within the international development sector that there is a need for a new, more effective approach to engaging in public sector reform. This article builds on an emerging body of work that advocates more entrepreneurial and adaptive public sector reform programming. Drawing on knowledge and theory from public sector management, psychology and entrepreneurialism, this article aims to understand what motivates public sector workers to work entrepreneurially and suggest how these ideas can be applied to the way in which international development agencies engage in public sector reform work. This requires a shift in thinking from predesigned, large, externally led programmes promoting international best practice to interventions in which agencies adopt the role of a facilitator, helping to establish the enabling conditions for local partners to work entrepreneurially, developing their own solutions to the problems that they identify in their work. Copyright ? 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keywords: Development; Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Public sector reform; motivation

TWP CoP (Thinking and Working Politically - Community of Practice, 2016)

Adapting Aid: Lessons from six case studies - Algoso, Dave; Beloe, Jon; Hemberger, Alison; Hill, Philippa; Proud, Emma (MercyCorps & IRC, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

A Guide to Peer-to-Peer Learning - Andrews, Matt; Manning, Nick (Effective Institutions Platform, 2016)

Doing Iterative and Adaptive Work - Andrews, Matt; Pritchett, Lant; Woolcock, Michael (CID Working Paper, 2016)
Many of the challenges in international development are complex in nature. They involve many actors in uncertain contexts and with unclear solutions. Our work has proposed an approach to addressing such challenges, called Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA). This paper is the most recent in a series intended to show how one can do PDIA, building on the first paper, "Doing Problem Driven Work.” The current paper addresses a key part of the approach one moves to once a problem has been identified, performing real-time experimental iterations. This is intended as a practical paper that builds on experience and embeds exercises for readers who are actually involved in this kind of work.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

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.

Social Return on Investment - Better evaluation (Better Evaluation, 2016)
Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a systematic way of incorporating social, environmental, economic and other values into decision-making processes. By helping reveal the economic value of social and environmental outcomes it creates a holistic perspective on whether a development project or social business or enterprise is beneficial and profitable. This perspective opens up new opportunities and forms the basis for innovative initiatives that genuinely contribute to positive social change and poverty reduction for all. SROI balances proving and improving or addresses the paradox between accountability and learning by placing the perspectives of the different stakeholders at the center of the valuation process. ​SROI originated in the USA from social enterprises interested in new ways to value the contributions they were making to society. It later arrived in Europe, where there is an increasing interest in the methodology as noted by recent publications by Context international cooperation in the Netherlands, the New Economics Foundation in the UK and the SROI Network head-quartered in the UK. SROI is used for planning purposes in terms of designing a Theory of Change, or Business Plan, and for assessing to what extent impact is realised or changes need to occur in the Business Plan. Although the SROI approach supports the thinking along the lines of a result chain, it does not support the idea of the components being connected in a linear fashion. The SROI approach is embedded in the acceptance of development taking place in situations of complexities. Here is a simple, illustrative example: A project aims to uplift the standard of living of people in a certain area and a beekeeping initiative is set up. As a result a beekeeper now enjoys regular meals whereas before this was not the case. In traditional Cost Benefit analyses, the value of the lunch would be measured in market prices. However after interviewing the beneficiaries, and applying some valuation tools, it turns out that the ‘real’ value is much higher than the market price; social value has been created above the market / economic value which is now being accounted for. Like traditional cost-benefit analysis, SROI includes a ratio; in this case a Social Return on Investment ratio. Where in traditional cost benefit analyses the ratios would be used to compare different projects, the SROI ratio is much more seen as one element in explaining and communicating general progress of certain developments. The number itself is not seen as the end goal. It can be interpreted as aiding the narrative of this particular initiative. The aspect of stakeholder perspectives is essential in the SROI approach. It is precisely the value perspectives of the stakeholders (and most importantly the key beneficiaries), assessed, not by assuming these values, but by thoughtfully and intellectually engaging the stakeholders themselves, which is at the heart of this innovative (e)valuation approach.

Foresight and International Development* - Bingley, Kate (IDS Bulletin, 2016)
This article provides an overview of the use of foresight-type approaches and techniques in policy-related work in international development. It draws primarily on published and grey literatures, as well as select interviews with foresight practitioners. It begins with a brief introduction to the approaches and tools used in the field of strategic foresight, and then a broad mapping of the foresight landscape as relevant to international development. It provides reflections on the evidence of use and impact of foresight initiatives, and makes suggestions around future directions for foresight in international development.

Adaptive management: an overview of the concept and its practical application in the Scottish context - Blackstock, Kirsty; Brown, Katrina; Gimona, Alessandro; Prager, Katrin; Irvine, Justin (The James Hutton Institute, 2016)

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

The MSP Tool Guide: Sixty tools to facilitate Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships - Brouwer, Herman; Brouwers, Jan (CDI, Wageningen University and Research, 2016)
What is ‘The MSP Tool Guide’ all about? This compilation of 60 tools is an companion to The MSP Guide, the Wageningen University & Research CDI resource on how to design and facilitate effective multi-stakeholder partnerships. At the request of many readers we have compiled them into one document to enable easy storing and sharing. These tools are available in summarized version in the MSP Guide in Chapter 6. The detailed versions on how to use the tool, and when to use it, are available on the portal www.mspguide.org/tools-and-methods. The content of this portal is compiled in this Tool Guide.

The MSP Guide: How to Design and Facilitate Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships - Brouwer, Herman; Woodhill, Jim; Hemmati, Minu; Verhoosel, Karèn; van Vugt, Simone (Practical Action Publishing, 2016)
In recent years, multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) have become popular for tackling the complex challenges of sustainable development. This guide provides a practical framework for the design and facilitation of these collaborative processes that work across the boundaries of business, government, civil society and science. The guide links the underlying rationale for multistakeholder partnerships, with a clear four phase process model, a set of seven core principles, key ideas for facilitation and 60 participatory tools for analysis, planning and decision making. The guide has been written for those directly involved in MSPs – as a stakeholder, leader, facilitator or funder – to provide both the conceptual foundations and practical tools that underpin successful partnerships. What’s inside draws on the direct experience of staff from the Wageningen Centre of Development Innovation (WCDI), at Wageningen University & Research, in supporting MSP processes in many countries around the world. The guide also compiles the ideas and materials behind WCDI’s annual three week international course on facilitating MSPs and social learning. This work has been inspired by the motivation and passion that comes when people dare to “walk in each other’s shoes” to find new paths toward shared ambitions for the future.

Participation by All - The keys to sustainability of a CRS food security project in Niger - Cekan, Jindra; Kagendo, Rutere; Towns, Alexandra (Valuing Voices, 2016)
This project that ran from 2006-2012 in Niger and was implemented by three NGOs: CRS, Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), and Helen Keller International (HKI) under the direction of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Food for Peace (FFP) as a multi-year assistance program (MYAP) to support food security activities in the Dosso, Tahoua, and Zinder regions. PROSAN focused on increasing agricultural production and agro-enterprise, improving household health and nutrition status, reinforcing the capacities of health agents, and enhancing community resiliency. Here are the highlights from the report which itself is an excerpt from a longer analysis we did. Also please note one Annex highlights the similarlties/ differences we found to USAID/ FFP’s 4 elements of sustainability: AIM, METHODS, AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS The aim of this sustainability evaluation was to explore perceptions of sustainability from Nigeriens involved in PROSAN, former CRS staff and donors. It focused on evaluating participants’ adherence to project outcomes and their creation of new innovations. It also evaluated partners’ involvement in sustaining project outcomes. This evaluation used qualitative and quantitative methods including community mapping, focus group discussions, beneficiary interviews, and key stakeholder interviews. The evaluation was carried out in six communities in the Dosso region, with more than 500 interviewees, focusing on the following research questions: Sustainability of activities and groups: Are the communities sustaining the activities three to five years after the end of the project? What can we learn from the communities and their post-project implementation partners? Spread and unexpected outcomes: If the project was considered a success in the eyes of the community, how well did it spread? Fostering Sustainability: What are the long-term prospects for continued sustainability? FINDINGS Three years after PROSAN’s conclusion, the project was considered a success by community members, national partners, the implementer (CRS), and donor (USAID) staff. The main findings include: 1. SUSTAINABILITY OF ACTIVITIES AND GROUPS Eighty percent (80%)[*] of all activities were reported to have become self-sustained and community innovations have emerged: On average, households reported moving from being food secure for 3-6 months per year during PROSAN to 8-12 months at the time of this evaluation, which is a remarkable impact [1]. CRS_Niger_PROSAN_Sustainability_Evaluation_pdf [1] Women reported greater income through the increase in sales of food that was produced and processed due to the grain mills [1]. Respondents also reported improved household health, hygiene, and nutrition, with 91% of survey respondents indicating that their health and sense of well being had improved, especially through the efforts of the health posts and clinics that CRS helped build and the government of Niger’s efforts in sustaining them with resources and staff [1]. Community groups/committees have continued and are well-supported by NGO partners: 81% of the committees set up by PROSAN were functioning at the time of this evaluation, with many participants discussing ways to sustain best practices within their communities, and members still receiving regular trainings or updates [1]. Several new and refresher trainings come through national partners, NGOs, and new channels such as radio programs [1]. Some new NGOs and international organizations have built upon PROSAN’s success, for instance, by using land previously managed by PROSAN for a new vegetable gardening training program, building hygiene programs on past health awareness efforts, or extending agricultural credit for further inputs [1]. Twenty percent (20%) of implemented activities were not sustained or have stagnated: While hygiene practices were sustained by households and there was widespread latrine construction, sanitation was poor in the villages, and most latrines had fallen into disrepair [1]. Fewer than 50% of women reported practicing exclusive breastfeeding for children less than six months of age [1]. While almost half of all health committees no longer exist, new health clinics staff have replaced some of the work of the committees with health and agricultural promotion messages now being sent via radio, television, and cell phones [1]. Literacy training and theater groups have completely ceased [1]. With the exception of the Système Communautaire d’Alerte Précoce-Réponses aux Urgences’ (SCAP-RU) SCAP-RU early warning system which has expanded, other resilience activities such as roadwork and caring for the environment are a lesser priority due in part to the lack of food and cash-incentives to continue doing them [1]. 2. SPREAD AND UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES New innovations and ceased activities reflected the project’s legacy: Community innovations have emerged such as collective funds paying for cleaners of the new health center, community-imposed sanctions for births occurring outside of the health centers, and the monitoring of savings from well water sales. National partners have praised the project, with many lamenting its withdrawal. One non-PROSAN village told an Agriculture Ministry staff and potential NGO partner that “No one should bring a program here unless it is like PROSAN.” PROSAN-trained masons, well repair technicians, and village youth have learned land recuperation techniques (zai holes, bunds and demi-lunes) that helped generate income beyond project communities. Project activities that received free inputs have largely stopped being implemented once the incentives were withdrawn such as Food for Training (FFT), Food for Work (FFW), or Cash for Work (CFW) (e.g. literacy, seedlings, latrines, theater etc.); nonetheless the inputs were highly valued and have continued to support agriculture and health (carts, bicycles). 3. FOSTERING SUSTAINABILITY The following areas were identified as potential barriers to sustainability that could be systematically explored in other projects: Although most committees are still functioning, there are no processes in place to engage and train youth and new inhabitants of the villages. While village communities have been maintained, there is an increasing lack of ministry resources (e.g., staff, transportation, and communications) to take the place of NGOs like CRS after a program ends. There is little management of knowledge around project data, which is further exacerbated by staff changes in NGOs, government ministries, and donors. Project data (proposal content, monitoring data, evaluation results, participant lists, partner names, and exit agreements) must be managed ethically, locally and be held online, accessible for future projects to use and for villages to conduct self-evaluations.

The Governance of Climate Change Adaptation Through Urban Policy Experiments - Chu, Eric K. (Environmental Policy and Governance, 2016)
Climate change is increasingly posing risks to infrastructure and public services in cities across the global South. Building on ideas of policy experimentation at the nexus of institutional and transition theories, this paper assesses six climate change adaptation experiments across the cities of Surat, Indore and Bhubaneswar in India to uncover the politics behind how experiments are conceived of, implemented, and supported in light of local development needs. Through employing both embedded and cross-case comparative methods, I argue that policy experiments are often framed around achieving tangible urban economic benefits and maximizing specific project complementarities, which allow emerging adaptation priorities access to established policy directives and funding streams. However, I conclude that despite being arenas for testing new ideas, quantifying climate and development co-benefits, and engaging private and civil society actors, adaptation policy experiments must be coherent with urban political economic contexts in order for them to affect sustained, equitable and transformative programmatic change. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Keywords: Climate change adaptation; India; Policy experiments; urban governance; urban planning

Civic Technologies as tools for change: Is balance between online and offline actions a necessary condition for achieving social change through civic innovation? - Civic Innovation Accelerator Fund (Evaluation Report, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Scaling up - From Vision to Large-Scale Change - A Management Framework for Practitioners - Cooley, Larry; Kohl, Richard; Ved, Rajani R. (MSI, 2016)
This document was originally published in 2006 and re-issued in a substantially revised Second Edition in 2012.

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.

Measuring the Barriers to Big Data for Development: design-reality gap analysis - Fernando Gomez, L.; Heeks, R. (Manchester University Development Informatics Working Paper Series, 2016)

Beyond Participation and Accountability: Theorizing Representation in Local Democracy - Fischer, Harry W. (World Development, 2016)
Recent decades have seen growing emphasis on enhancing public participation and accountability in governance processes. Yet the valence of these discussions has focused almost entirely on the character of citizen engagement itself, with little attention to the ways in which citizens’ agency is constituted in relation to changing forms of public authority. In this paper, I advance a theoretical account of political representation, a concept that is central to analysis of democracy, but which has seen only limited attention in the scholarship on democratic decentralization. I draw on two contrasting models—selection and sanction—to elaborate an understanding of representation that recognizes both mechanisms that enable citizens to hold their leaders to account as well as the character of leaders’ own intrinsic motivations. Through a qualitative account of three decades’ political change from a locality in the Indian Himalayas, I document a gradual process of institutional and social change that has enabled a new generation of more diverse elected leaders to ascend to positions of elected authority, including many from historically marginalized sections of society. By examining the experiences of three such individuals in detail, I demonstrate the importance of understanding who leaders are and what they do—their skills and aspirations, their identity and aﬃliations, and the kinds of representative relationships that they embody. Placing the selection and sanction models in dialog reveals new and productive avenues to explore the interplay between external incentive structures and leaders’ intrinsic motivations in shaping broader process of political change.

The Principle of the Malevolent Hiding Hand; or, the Planning Fallacy Writ Large - Flyvbjerg, Bent; Sunstein, Cass R. (Soocial Research, 2016)
We identify and document a new principle of economic behavior: the principle of the Malevolent Hiding Hand. In a famous discussion, Albert Hirschman celebrated the Hiding Hand, which he saw as a benevolent mechanism by which unrealistically optimistic planners embark on unexpectedly challenging plans, only to be rescued by human ingenuity, which they could not anticipate, but which ultimately led to success, principally in the form of unexpectedly high net benefits. Studying eleven projects, Hirschman suggested that the Hiding Hand is a general phenomenon. But the Benevolent Hiding Hand has an evil twin, the Malevolent Hiding Hand, which blinds excessively optimistic planners not only to unexpectedly high costs but also to unexpectedly low net benefits. Studying a much larger sample than Hirschman did, we find that the Malevolent Hiding Hand is common and that the phenomenon that Hirschman identified is rare. This sobering finding suggests that Hirschman’s phenomenon is a special case; it attests to the pervasiveness of the planning fallacy, writ very large. One implication involves the continuing need to de-bias decisions and decision support tools like cost-benefit analysis; another is that accountability for decision makers, planners, and forecasters is required for such de-biasing to be effective and lasting.
Keywords: Behavioral economics; Cost-benefit analysis; Hiding hand; Planning fallacy

Connecting the Dots for Accountability: Civil Society Policy Monitoring and Advocacy Strategies - Fox, Jonathan; Halloran, Brendan (Transparency & Accountability Initiative, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Re-imagining Inclusive Urban Futures for Transformation - Friend, Richard M; Anwar, Nausheen H; Dixit, Ajaya; Hutanuwatr, Khanin; Jayaraman, Thiagarajan; McGregor, J Allister; Menon, Meena R; Moench, Marcus; Pelling, Mark; Roberts, Debra (Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2016)

Assessing Innovation Potential for Social Impact: Overview for Social Sector Leaders - Global Knowledge Initiative (2016)

Open Policy Making toolkit - gov.uk (2016)
This manual includes information about Open Policy Making as well as the tools and techniques policy makers can use to create more open and user led policy.

Open Policy Making toolkit - Low cost tools - GOV.UK (2016)

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

Monitoreo ciudadano en México: Participación ciudadana para mejorar la provisión de servicios públicos - Hevia, Felipe (CIDE, 2016)
Existe un amplio consenso sobre la importancia de los sistemas de monitoreo y evaluación para la mejora de políticas, programas y servicios públicos. Sin embargo, en la literatura especializada sorprende el escaso interés por analizar un tipo

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

Value for Investment. A Practical Evaluation Theory - King, Julian (Kinnect Group, 2016)
I am a public policy consultant from Auckland, New Zealand. My practice specializes in evaluation and economic analysis. In this booklet I set out a model for evaluating value for investment (VFI) in social programs. The model defines VFI as an evaluative question about an economic problem. It uses explicit evaluative reasoning to provide a clear answer to the VFI question. Methods are matched to context, to provide the specific mix of evidence (economic and/or other) needed to support a wellreasoned, well-evidenced evaluative judgment.

Reciprocity in International Volunteer Cooperation - Lough, Benjamin J. (Fredskorpset Norway, 2016)

Adaptive Management Self-assessment tool - mercy Corps (Mercy Corps, 2016)
The Adaptive Management self-assessment tool has been designed to help teams assess the extent to which they have a supportive environment for adaptive management within their country program. The self-assessment tool helps you think about five different areas that have been identified as important for supporting adaptive management: 1. Culture & leadership 2. Dynamic teams 3. Appropriate analysis 4. Responsive implementation & operations 5. Enabling environment (for example donor funding and relationships)

(Mis)communicating climate change? Why online adaptation databases may fail to catalyze adaptation action - Mitchell, Carrie L.; Burch, Sarah L.; Driscoll, Patrick A. (Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 2016)
Over the last decade a plethora of action-oriented research projects has been conducted in developing countries, exploring how to effectively adapt to the anticipated impacts of climate change. Many intergovernmental agencies and development organizations have chosen to disseminate their research results via online databases. It is unclear, however, whether these databases are useful in terms of actual adaptation planning and implementation. A systematic review of online databases has found at least 64 databases and tools online related to climate change adaptation. Despite the abundance of databases, this analysis reveals that the existing body of online databases generally lack the structure and mechanics to identify, extract, and synthesize both effective and ineffective climate change adaptation practices, projects, programs, and policies. Even relatively basic information, such as identification of projects’ projected versus actual costs is absent, which are crucial decision-making criteria particularly in developing country contexts where resource constraints are significant. In this paper we evaluate these online tools with a focus on identifying features that potentially could contribute to knowledge sharing and successful exchange of climate change adaptation projects and practices within a developing country context. We conclude the paper with recommendations for how to improve efforts to communicate climate change research, such as more nuanced needs assessments of potential users of databases. WIREs Clim Change 2016, 7:600–613. doi: 10.1002/wcc.401 This article is categorized under: Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Institutions for Adaptation Climate and Development > Knowledge and Action in Development Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Knowledge and Practice

More than just luck: Innovation in humanitarian action - Obrecht, Alice; Warner, Alexandra T. (Humanitarian Innovation Fund, 2016)
In South Sudan, a new water treatment system that provides a community with more clean water at a lower cost. In Sierra Leone, a poster explaining how to prevent the...

DAC - Mid-term Peer Review of Switzaerland - 2016 - OECD (OECD, 2016)

A Holistic Approach to Evaluating Research - Ofir, Zenda; Schwandt, Thomas; Duggan, Colleen; McLean, Robert (IDRC, 2016)

Winners and Losers in the Global App Economy - Pon, Bryan (2016)

All about behaviour: KAPE, Adaptation and ' Sticky' Institutional Change - Power, Greg (Politically Agile Programming, 2016)
This paper describes Global Partners Governance’s (GPG’s) approach to institutional reform and political change. Developed over the last decade of working in some of the most complex and sensitive political environments with politicians and officials in parliaments, political parties, ministries and local government, it describes the KAPE® (knowledge-application-practice-effect) methodology that we adopt to get ‘sticky’ institutional and behavioural change. Contents 1) Two dimensions of ‘adaptive programmes’: Flexible delivery and getting behaviour change 2) Enabling Change: KAPE and The Logic of Institutional Reform (Knowledge-Application-Practice-Effect) - K: Knowledge – Defining the problem and what to do about it - A: Application – Making Systems Work in Practice - P: Practice – Pockets of good practice and establishing ‘the new normal’ - E: Effect – Improved performance and the ‘Ripple Effect’ 3) Measuring Impact: Monitoring and Evolving 4) Conclusion: Behavioural insights, adaptive management and sticky change

Reflections from a Realist Evaluation in Progress: Scaling Ladders and Stitching Theory - Punton, Melanie; Vogel, Isabel; Lloyd, Rob (CDI Practice Paper 18, 2016)
Realist evaluation provides valuable insights into how and why programmes lead to change, and can generate transferable lessons to help practitioners roll out or scale up an intervention. However, as ...

Engines of Change: What Civic Tech can learn from Social Movements - Purpose; Omidyar Network (Omidyar Network and Purpose, 2016)

Models for Foresight Use in International Development - Rhydderch, Alun (IDS Bulletin, 2016)
This article sets out the components of the foresight approach that has been adopted by many governments in the developed world, and identifies elements of this 'dominant' approach that may hinder its uptake in developing countries. Instead, it suggests that a less rigid, more exploratory and normative approach may be better suited to many developing country contexts. With reference to the writings and practice of the creator of 'la prospective', Gaston Berger, it argues for an attitude that combines bold and inclusive thinking about how to create better futures with the pragmatic engagement with political and administrative systems that can help bring these about.

Doing things differently: Rethinking monitoring and evaluation to understand change - Saferworld (Saferworld, 2016)
Doing things differently: Rethinking monitoring and evaluation to understand change Learning paper Over the past four years, Saferworld has put in place a way of monitoring, evaluating and learning from our work focused on behaviour and relationship change. This paper outlines the process we have gone through to adapt, embed, and embrace an approach inspired by Outcome Mapping and Outcome Harvesting (OH). Key benefits of our monitoring, evaluation and learning approach are: It is simple, but promotes complex discussion and analysis. It allows conflict- and gender-sensitivity to be built into programmes; it promotes analysis of and adaptation to context. Bringing front-line staff and partners into wider conversations with others substantially increases cross-organisational learning.

State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI) - Approach Paper Series - SAVI (DFID, 2016)
We are piloting a new approach to identifying and supporting our partners.  This breaks with convention in many ways in order to improve impact. Our approach is summarized in the Introduction to SAVI’s way of working. We have broken our approach down into key components – depicted in the form of our ‘knowledge tree’ –...
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Dispatch on Switzerland's International Cooperation 2017–2020: Key points in brief - SDC (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, 2016)
The “Dispatch on Switzerland’s International Cooperation, 2017–2020”, is a report to the Swiss Parliament outlining the strategic priorities proposed by the Federal Council in this area. It includes framework credits for each of the five policy instruments used by Switzerland to implement its international cooperation strategy. These are implemented by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Human Security Division (HSD) of the FDFA’s Directorate of Political Affairs, and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER).

Swiss Cooperation Strategy Pakistan, 2017-2019 - SDC (2016)

Towards an Alternative Development Management Paradigm? - Shutt, Cathy (Rapport 2016:07, 2016)
Demonstrating results has been a concern in international development cooperation ever since it was started and in recent years there has been an increased focus on achieving and reporting on “results”. Despite the fact that everyone involved in development cooperation wants to make a difference there has been a growing criticism from practitioners about the “results agenda” based on a concern that the approaches used are not fit for purpose. In the EBA-report, Cathy Shutt, at the University of Sussex, scrutinizes the recent critical debate about results based management, and the main arguments and motives behind the criticism. She shows that the debate is not only a matter of obsessive measurement and reporting of meaningless numbers for political accountability, but also a matter of problematic assumptions and how we think about development, evidence and learning. In the report, Shutt also explores what could be learned from those who are not just critiquing results based management approaches but also proposing alternatives. Are these new alternatives an answer to the criticism?
Keywords: IMPORTANT

SROI Self-assessment tool - SROI Network (2016)
The online self assessment tool was created by the SROI Network in collaboration with Hall Aitken to help users judge how well their evaluation practices adhere to principles of best practice. The tool is comprised of a seven stage questionnaire, showing results as a spider chart illustrating areas of strength and areas for improvement. The questionnaire itself is structured around the seven principles of SROI. These principles include ‘involve stakeholders’, ‘be transparent’ and ‘do not overclaim’, and together make up the core framework around which SROI is based. Users receive a score for each principle, and an overall average, giving them an idea of to what extent they have successfully applied the principles. High scoring users can then use their score to guide them towards applying for assurance and accreditation. The tool provides guidance, support and more advice to people who want to improve the way in which their organisation measures their social value and assesses their service delivery but don’t know where to start.

An introduction to multi-stakeholder partnerships - Stibbe, Darian; Prescott, Dave (The Partnering Initiative, 2016)
This briefing document for the GPEDC High Level Meeting in November 2016 offers a definition of multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) and shows how they are being used, where they have come from, and what the different sectors bring to the table. It provides an overview of the challenges the present, what they require from individuals and organisations, and how they get started. The report was written with the support of the PEP Initiative, and funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting Framework & Key Concepts - USAID (USAID, 2016)
Although collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) are not new to USAID, they often do not happen regularly or systematically and are not intentionally resourced. The CLA framework above identifies components and subcomponents to help you think more deliberately about what approach to CLA might be best tailored to your organizational or project context. The framework recognizes the diversity of what CLA can look like in various organizations and projects while also giving CLA structure, clarity, and coherence across two key dimensions: CLA in the Program Cycle: how CLA is incorporated throughout Program Cycle processes, including strategy, project, and activity design and implementation; and Enabling Conditions: how an organization’s culture, business processes, and resource allocation support CLA integration. Organizations need both integrated CLA practices appropriate for their context and conducive enabling conditions to become stronger learning organizations capable of managing adaptively. The framework stresses the holistic and integrated nature of the various components of CLA to reinforce the principle that CLA is not a separate workstream—it should be integrated into existing processes to strengthen the discipline of development and improve aid effectiveness.

Program Cycle Road Map - USAID (2016)

Wildlife laws monitoring as an adaptive management tool in protected area management in Ghana: a case of Kakum Conservation Area - Wiafe, Edward Debrah (SpringerPlus, 2016)
INTRODUCTION: The wildlife laws of Ghana alienated the rural communities from forests and material well-being depended upon for their livelihood and this manifests itself in the progressive conflict between the park patrol staff and poachers from the fringes of the protected areas. CASE DESCRIPTION: The main aim of this study was to determine the impact of quantification of patrol efforts on indicators of illegal hunting activities that occur in rainforest protected areas, as a result of monitoring patrol operations and modifying the original plan. The specific objectives were to determine the optimal patrol efforts necessary to reduce illegal wildlife use to minimal; and the influence of the rainfall and seasonal activities on illegal wildlife use. DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION: The results indicated that as the patrol efforts increased the encounter with illegal wildlife use also increased until a certain point that the encounter rates started decreasing. Neither rainfall nor seasonal activities influenced the illegal activities and the patrol efforts. The protection staff of rainforest protected areas would work effectively to bring down illegal wildlife off-take to the barest minimum if monitored, quantified and provide feed-back. CONCLUSIONS: Illegal wildlife off-take can also be reduced by the protection staff if the original plans are made flexible to be adjusted. Recommendations for further studies have been made.

Future oriented conservation: knowledge governance, uncertainty and learning - Wyborn, Carina; van Kerkhoff, Lorrae; Dunlop, Michael; Dudley, Nigel; Guevara, Oscar (Biodiversity and Conservation, 2016)
Despite signiﬁcant progress in understanding climate risks, adaptation efforts in biodiversity conservation remain limited. Adaptation requires addressing immediate conservation threats while also attending to long term, highly uncertain and potentially transformative future changes. To date, conservation research has focused more on projecting climate impacts and identifying possible strategies, rather than understanding how governance enables or constrains adaptation actions. We outline an approach to futureoriented conservation that combines the capacities to anticipate future ecological change; to understand the implications of that change for social, political and ecological values; and the ability to engage with the governance (and politics) of adaptation. Our approach builds on the adaptive management and governance literature, however we explicitly address the (often contested) rules, knowledge and values that enable or constrain adaptation. We call for a broader focus that extends beyond technical approaches to acknowledge the sociopolitical challenges inherent to adaptation. More importantly, we suggest that conservation policy makers and practitioners can use this approach to facilitate learning and adaptation in the context of complexity, transformational change and uncertainty.

From political economy analysis to doing development differently: a learning experience - Booth, David; Harris, Daniel; Wild, Leni (ODI, 2016)
A study of how development efforts can be strengthened by an awareness of political economy, reflecting on the experiences of PoGo policy researchers.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Using Research Evidence - A practice guide - Breckon, Jonathan (Alliance for Useful Evidence, 2016)

Getting good at disruption in an uncertain world: Insights from Southern NGO leaders - Buckley, Lila; Ward, Halina (International Institute for Environment and Development, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Thinking and Working Politically: from theory building to building an evidence base - Dasandi, Niheer; Marquette, Heather; Robinson, Mark (Research Paper, 2016)
This paper discusses the steps required to build a robust evidence base for 'thinking and working politically' (TWP) in development. It argues that better understanding what works, when and why is an important step in moving TWP into mainstream development programming. The paper reviews the existing evidence base on TWP, building on this and on other literature on public sector reform and 'pockets of effectiveness' to suggest research questions, case study selection criteria, and a four-level analytical framework: 1) political context; 2) sector; 3) organisation; and 4) individual. The framework aims to help build a 'rigorous enough' evidence base to show whether and how TWP happens and whether or not it influences the effectiveness of programme implementation and outcomes. The paper also calls for more focus on gender issues, and on different – and often more fragile – political contexts.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Everyday Political Analysis - Hudson, David; Marquette, Heather; Waldock, Sam (Developmental Leadership Program, 2016)
This short note introduces a stripped-back political analysis framework designed to help frontline development practitioners make quick but politically-informed decisions. It aims to complement more in-depth political analysis by helping programming staff to develop the 'craft' of political thinking in a way that fits their everyday working practices. Everyday Political Analysis involves two steps: Understanding interests: What makes people tick? Understanding change: What space and capacity do people have to effect change? For each step five questions, accompanied by prompts, aim to help staff to conduct quick political analysis. The EPA framework can be used at any stage of the aid management cycle, and can help users to respond rapidly to unexpected change. We are keen to hear back from people on their experience of using EPA to help us adapt the framework. Was it useful (or not)? Do people tend to use just one or both steps? Are there missing statements or prompts that would improve the analysis? Please email us at info [at] dlprog.org.

Thinking and working with political settlements - Kelsall, Tim (ODI, 2016)
• In recent years, Political Settlements Analysis (PSA) has become increasingly influential in academic and policy circles • Despite its intuitive appeal, it seems difficult to use in practice • PSA has a natural affinity with Adaptive Development, Thinking and Working Politically, and Doing Development Differently approaches • By answering the simple diagnostic questions supplied here, development partners can identify the types of political settlements in which they work, and draw some broad operational implications

Monday morning in Kigali: what do you do when you get off the plane? Practical guidance for PDIA practitioners - LASER (Synthesis Paper, 1, 2016)
In order to help enhance the effectiveness of donors and development practitioners on the ground, LASER has produced a range of practical guidance and tools. These are primarily intended for the international development community engaged in designing and implementing investment climate programmes, though can also be used more widely by other stakeholders across sectors. General guidance and tools: Monday morning in Kigali January 2016 - what do you do when you get off the plane? Practical guidance for PDIA practitioners
Keywords: IMPORTANT; Practice

Rethinking Rigor - Increasing Credibility and Use - Lynn, Jewlya; Preskill, Hallie (Spark Policy Institute & FSG, 2016)
Evaluations of complex systems change strategies or adaptive, innovative programs cannot use the traditional “rigor” yardstick to measure quality. This paper proposes a new definition of rigor, one that applies in any setting, but particularly in complex, adaptive ones. Top Takeaways: 4 criteria for the new definition of rigor: - Quality of thinking - Credible and legitimate claims - Cultural context and responsiveness - Quality and value of the learning process Regardless of its other positive attributes, an evaluation of a complex, adaptive program that fails to take into account systems thinking will not be responsive to the needs of that program.

Case study: Embedding reform and exiting: LASER’s application of the hourglass approach to achieve sustainable results - Manuel, Clare (DFID-LASER Programme, 2016)
This case study describes how LASER has gone about enabling systemic change and sustainable uptake of reforms that address complex institutional problems in Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somaliland and Uganda. In each of these countries LASER has designed-in a sustainable approach from the start based on: (i) local ownership and leadership of reforms based on developing country (rather than donor) priorities; (ii) use of country (rather than donor programme) systems; and (iii) an understanding that the role of the donor / development practitioner is to support (rather than buy) reform. The case study uses LASER’s hour glass methodology, illustrated with examples from LASER interventions, to show how these principles guide LASER operations every step of the way.
Keywords: IMPORTANT; 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.

Qualitative comparative analysis: A valuable approach to add to the evaluator’s toolbox? Lessons from recent applications - Schatz, Florian; Welle, Katharina (CDI Practice Paper, 2016)

Summarising portfolio change: results frameworks at organisational level - Simister, Nigel (M&E Paper 10, 2016)

Collaborative Overload - Cross, Rob; Rebele, Reb; Grant, Adam (Harvard Business Review, 2016)
Too much teamwork exhausts employees and saps productivity. Here’s how to avoid it.

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 (Policy Research Report, 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

Exploring ways to reconcile accountability and learning in the evaluation of niche experiments - Regeer, Barbara J.; de Wildt-Liesveld, Renée; van Mierlo, Barbara; Bunders, Joske F. G. (Evaluation, 2016)
While evaluation is seen as a mechanism for both accountability and learning, it is not self-evident that the evaluation of niche experiments focuses on both accountability and learning at the same time. Tensions exist between the accountability-oriented needs of funders and the learning needs of managers of niche experiments. This article explores the differences in needs and expectations of funders and managers in terms of upwards, downwards and internal accountability. The article shows that as the multi-stakeholder contexts in which niche experiments take place give rise to various requirements, tensions in evaluation are essentially a specific manifestation of tensions between niche experiments and their multiple contexts. Based on our findings, an adjusted accountability framework is proposed, including several strategies that can reconcile a learning approach with accountability needs in niche experiments aiming to change current practices in a more sustainable direction.

How ICT4D Research Fails the Poor - Harris, Roger W. (Information Technology for Development, 2016)
Research can improve development policies and practices and funders increasingly require evidence of such socioeconomic impact from their investments. This article questions whether information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) research conforms to the requirements for achieving socioeconomic impact. We report on a literature review of the impact of research in international development and a survey of ICT4D researchers who assessed the extent to which they follow practices for achieving socioeconomic impact. The findings suggest that while ICT4D researchers are interested in influencing both practice and policy, they are less inclined toward the activities that would make this happen, especially engaging with users of their research and communicating their findings to a wider audience. Their institutions do not provide incentives for researchers to adopt these practices. ICT4D researchers and their institutions should engage more closely with the users of their research through more and better communications with the public, especially through the use of information and communication technologies.
Keywords: ICT4D; Policy making; Practice; Research; impact

When Does the State Listen? - Loureiro, Miguel; Cassim, Aalia; Darko, Terence; Katera, Lucas; Salome, Nyambura (IDS Bulletin, 2016)

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

‘You Have to Raise a Fist!’: Seeing and Speaking to the State in South Africa - Mills, Elizabeth (IDS Bulletin, 2016)

When Does ICT-Enabled Citizen Voice Lead to Government Responsiveness? - Peixoto, Tiago; Fox, Jonathan (IDS Bulletin, 2016)

Test It and They Might Come: Improving the Uptake of Digital Tools in Transparency and Accountability Initiatives - Wilson, Christopher; de Lanerolle, Indra (IDS Bulletin, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Opening Governance: What have we learned and how do we translate into better practice? - Halloran, Brendan (Politics, Governance and Development, 2016)
In their introductory essay to the recent IDS Bulletin on Opening Governance (the entire issue is open access), Duncan Edwards and Rosie McGee critically appraise developments in the open governmen…

Women and power: overcoming barriers to leadership ODI women and power coverand influence (ODI, 2016)
ODI have just wrapped up an excellent two year project on ‘Women and power: overcoming barriers to leadership and influence’ with a final synthesis report that is well worth reading. It’s an intell...

Moving Targets, Widening Nets: monitoring incremental and adaptive change in an Empowerment and Accountability programme. The experience of the State Accountability and Voice Initiative in Nigeria - Derbyshire, Helen; Barr, Julian; Fraser, Steve; Mwamba, Wilf (DFID, 2016)
Keywords: IMPORTANT; Practice

Transforming governance: what role for technologies? - Edwards, Duncan; Brock, Karen; McGee, Rosie (MAVC, 2016)
The technological innovations of the last two decades – cell phones, tablets, open data and social media – mean that governments and citizens can interact like never before. Around the world, in different contexts, citizens have fast-increasing access to information and communications technologies (ICTs) that enable them to monitor government performance and express their views on it in real time. In February 2016, a learning event in Manila, convened by Making All Voices Count, brought together 55 researchers and practitioners from 15 countries. They all work on using new technologies for accountable governance. They shared their diverse experiences, reflected on how they approach transformative governance, and visited Filipino accountable governance initiatives. This report shares some of what they learned.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

What is impact? - Hearn, Simon; Anne, Buffardi (2016)
• Impact is a multi-dimensional concept. Some definitions focus on very precise understandings of impact, while others cast a much broader net. • How impact is defined and used has a significant effect on the design, management and evaluation of development programmes. • Development programmes should hold explicit conversations with different stakeholders about how impact is used and understood, in order to come to a shared understanding. • There are six dimensions of impact that may help development programmes be clearer about what they mean.

Politically smart approaches to donor investment climate programming. A Guidance Note - LASER (Synthesis Paper, 1, 2016)
In order to help enhance the effectiveness of donors and development practitioners on the ground, LASER has produced a range of practical guidance and tools. These are primarily intended for the international development community engaged in designing and implementing investment climate programmes, though can also be used more widely by other stakeholders across sectors. General guidance and tools: Politically smart approaches to donor investment climate programming (and annexes) Revised February 2016 - sets out practical advice on how to adopt a politically smart (which requires being both ‘politically informed’ and ‘politically astute’) approach to programming. The annexes include a traffic light matrix for initial high level analysis; a problem diary template with examples; and an example of a flexible theory of change for adaptive, large scale programming
Keywords: Practice

Using Participatory Statistics to Examine the Impact of Interventions to Eradicate Slavery: Lessons from the Field - Oosterhoff, P.; Bharadwaj, S.; Burns, D.; Raj, A. M.; Nanda, R. B.; Narayanan, P. (2016)
This CDI Practice Paper by Pauline Oosterhoff, Sowmyaa Bharadwaj, Danny Burns, Aruna Mohan Raj, Rituu B. Nanda and Pradeep Narayanan reflects on the use of participatory statistics to assess the impact of interventions to eradicate slavery and bonded labour. It deals with: (1) the challenges of estimating changes in the magnitude of various forms of slavery; (2) the potential of combining participatory approaches with statistical principles to generate robust data for assessing impact of slavery eradication; and (3) the practical and ethical questions in relation to working with people living within a context of modern slavery. The paper draws lessons from the realities of using participatory statistics to support the evaluation of a slavery eradication programme in North India.

How to design a monitoring and evaluation framework for a policy research project - Pasanen, Tiina; Shaxson, Louise (Methods Lab, 2016)
Policy research projects face a number of challenges: policy processes are complex, involve multiple actors and often feature a significant time-lag between research and what may or may not happen as a result of it. To complicate matters further, the scope and scale of policy research projects are increasingly moving away from single research studies towards multi-component, multi-site and multi-sector endeavours. These factors mean that developing an overarching monitoring and evaluation framework can be challenging. But it is not impossible. The guidance note aims to support the first steps in designing and structuring the M&E framework (that is, what aspects or areas of policy research projects to monitor and evaluate, why, when and how). It builds on an M&E framework for policy research projects developed and tested by the Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) programme of the Overseas Development Institute, and draws on case studies of how it has been used by RAPID and other research teams.

Bridging the Gap: Synthesising Evidence from Secondary Quantitative and Primary Qualitative Data - Roelen, Keetie (CDI Practice Paper, 2016)

Balancing Inclusiveness, Rigour and Feasibility: Insights from Participatory Impact Evaluations in Ghana and Vietnam - van Hemelrijck, Adinda; Guijt, Irene (Practice Paper, 2016)
This paper by Adinda Van Hemelrijck and Irene Guijt explores how impact evaluation can live up to standards broader than statistical rigour in ways that address challenges of complexity and enable stakeholders to engage meaningfully. A Participatory Impact Assessment and Learning Approach (PIALA) was piloted to assess and debate the impacts on rural poverty of two government programmes in Vietnam and Ghana funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). We discuss the trade-offs between rigour, inclusiveness and feasibility encountered in these two pilots. Trade-offs occur in every impact evaluation aiming for more than reductionist rigour, but the pilots suggest that they can be reduced by building sufficient research and learning capacity.

From principle to practice: Implementing the Principles for Digital Development - Waugaman, Adele (2016)
The Principles for Digital Development (download PDF here) find their roots in the efforts of individuals, development organizations, and donors alike who have called for a more concerted effort by donors and implementing partners to institutionalize lessons learned in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in development projects.
Keywords: IMPORTANT

Appreciative Inquiry: Three decades of generative impact - Godwin, Lindsey N. (AI Practitioner, 2016)

Redefining Rigor: Describing Quality Evaluation in Complex, Adaptive Settings - Preskill, Hallie; Lynn, Jewlya (FSG, 2016)
Traditionally, evaluation has focused on understanding whether a program is making progress against pre-determined indicators. In this context, the quality of the evaluation is often measured in part by the “rigor” of the methods and scientific inquiry.

USAID Applied Political Economy Analysis - Field Guide - Cammack, Diana (USAID, 2016)
Political Economy Analysis (PEA) is a field-research methodology used to explore not simply how things happen in an aid-recipient country, but why things happen. It results in a written assessment with recommendations for a mission's County Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), project or activity design, or course correction during implementation.USAID's Applied PEA is a problem-focused method specially intended to be used by Mission staff to inform the design of aid interventions at any phase of the USAID program cycle and at any level of effort.